Stars On Ice

Flashback to May 6, 2018

As Bailey has gotten older, I've enjoyed giving her experiences for her birthday presents.  This year her birthday experience was tickets to see Stars on Ice.  During the Winter Olympics, she watched the figure skating competitions and fell in love with some of the skaters who were going to be featured in the show.  There were also some former Olympian ice skaters, Meryl and Charlie, whom we adored while watching Dancing with the Stars a couple years ago.  This show exceeded our expectations.  It was more than just ice skating.  The show did a fantastic job combining skating with individual and group performances and some great music and entertainment.  We loved it and hope to catch another show in the future.  In the meantime we will have to relive this experience through the videos below.

Jason Brown

Shib Sibs

Charlie and Meryl

Karen Chen

Nathan Chen

Adam Rippon

It's Showtime--A Year At the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center

Flashback to Oct. 2017-May 2018

When I received the 2017-18 Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center Series brochure in the mail, I decided to take a closer look at the shows coming to Cedar Falls.  One of Bailey and my all-time favorite shows was going to be making a stop in March: RENT.  As I looked closer at some of the other shows, I got excited about the opportunity to catch more theatrical and musical performances so close to home.  Being an employee of UNI, I could get a discount on shows so I decided to treat Bailey and me to a year of 7 shows.  We were not disappointed.  Seeing live shows is something that we have enjoyed doing together so this was a great way to spend some quality time together.  This is a rundown of our 2017-18 GBPAC shows for the year.

Dirty Dancing--This 80's movie classic was always a favorite of mine.  Although it's hard to top the OG with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it was an enjoyable show.  We even got to carry watermelons at the pre-show entertainment.

Straight No Chaser--This acapella men's group from Indiana was one of my favorite shows of the year.  Their show is mostly cover songs with amazing harmony.  The first act was pop cover songs, followed by a second act of holiday favorites.  This group is definitely a must-see if they make it back to GBPAC.  Their Disney parody was one of the best sets of the show (see below).

The Lion King Parody

The Little Mermaid Parody

Shoulda Put A Ring On It

The Price Is Right--The organization it took to pull off this show was amazing!  Contestants Row, The Big Wheel and Showcase Showdown were all featured, along with Plinko, Cliffhanger and Punch-A-Bunch.  A UNI student even won a trip to Hawaii.  This would be another must-see if it comes back to Cedar Falls.  Bailey and I had a blast (and were glad we were not called up to the stage).

Gobsmacked--Reading through this show description, it sounded like the kind of performance that Bailey and I would like.  The show gave us Pentatonix-vibes and was a great evening of entertainment.  The beatboxer has won world-wide competitions.  He gave a solo performance which was jaw-dropping.

Rent--Still a family favorite that never disappoints, and always gets me in the end.  The music, the set, the plot, the actors....need I say more.

Riverdance--The acoustics of the clogging and the musicality of this show cannot be described in words.  It was an awesome show with extremely talented performers.  I cannot imagine the endurance it must take for the cloggers to put on this show.  Truly breath-taking!

Black Violin--This simple show was also amazing.   It incorporated cover songs, along with original pieces.  The music of a violin is so satisfying.

This year of GBPAC entertainment was something I will always treasure with Bailey.

Oh Bother--Black Hawk Children's Theatre Presents Winnie The Pooh

Flashback to April 2018

Drama runs in the Seegers family.  Not family drama, but rather a love for acting.  Bailey caught the bug in February and decided to try out for the Black Hawk Children's Theater production of Winnie the Pooh.  From the tryouts to the final performance and all the practices in between, she was in her acting element as Raccoon, one of Rabbit's cousins.  The commitment of the theater means evening and weekend rehearsals, along with long nights leading up to opening night.  Bailey had a blast and made some great new friends throughout the entire experience.  I loved watching her try out in February and caught every weekend performance of the show in April.  The director, Anita, saw lots of potential in Bailey as they worked together.  For one of the shows for the elementary school kids, she called on Bailey to step in for Owl since the actress for this role was sick.  She rose to the challenge.  Bailey has some mementos from cast mates to remind her of the friendships and joy this experience provided.  It is one we will always remember.

Mall of America Holiday Trip, Year 7

This annual trip up to the Mall of America is one of my favorite holiday traditions with Bailey.  We always begin our trip with Dunkin Donuts before heading up north.  It had been quite a few years since Bailey had created a Build-A-Bear, but decided this year she would at the kiosk outside of Rainforest Cafe.  The dancing and sillyness prior to placing her heart inside of her newest creation was the same as it has always been.  She was a good sport and played along.  Sam the Moose is now the newest member of her Build-A-Bear family.  As always we spent the day shopping and eating our way around the mega-mall.  Bailey was so thrilled to find some Dangerous Woman merch at Urban Outfitters.  Minneapolis was going to host the Super Bowl so there was a display of oversized NFL helmets.  It was pretty cool to see.  We had fun taking our pictures by our favorite teams, as well as not-so-favorite teams.

Following a full day of shopping, it was time to head to our hotel room, veg out and watch Dick Clark's New Years Eve special.  One of the performers this year was BTS, Bailey's favorite K-Pop group.  She was totally fangirling during their entire performance and dancing right along with their Mic Drop performance.  This kind of joy cannot be wrapped in a package.  It was so much fun to watch her so happy!

On the second day of our trip, we decided to check out Ikea.  We'd always wanted to go inside since people raved about Ikea and it's right next to the mall.  To put it simply, we were pretty disappointed.  After about 15 minutes of looking at household items, we were ready to leave the store.  Little did we know that you had to walk through the entire store.  After walking and walking, we thought we'd never see an exit.  By the time we left I felt like we should get tee shirts that said, 'We got stuck in Ikea and thought we'd never get out'.  For those folks who think Ikea is all that, I say 'To each their own'.  Like many trips Bailey and I take together, this will be be one of those memories where we can say 'Remember when we got stuck in Ikea....'.  Aside from this, our trip was once again pretty awesome.     

Christmas Memories

Flashback to December 2017

Christmas 2017 was filled with our holiday traditions--Getting a Christmas tree at Wapsie Pines, strolling downtown Cedar Falls during Holiday Hoopla and pictures in front of the tree on Christmas Eve followed by the church service.  I've always been a fan of traditions on this holiday since it brings back wonderful memories tracing back to when I was young.  The Christmas spirit lives on.

This was our 2nd year celebrating our Seegers Family Christmas at Maple Lanes in Waterloo.  This bowling alley has a fun feature where you can take your picture and have it displayed on cartoon characters which are shown on the monitors above your lanes.  The characters re-enact a silly cartoon scene, depending on how you bowl.  It's pretty hilarious.  The day was filled with laughter and love.  The end of our time together was spent exchanging and opening presents.  Hope captured Bailey opening her present from their family.  Her reaction below is priceless and brings me so much joy every time I watch it. 

Rest In Peace, Grandpa

Flashback to November 2017

On November 2, 2017, my Grandpa Seegers was called to his heavenly home.  Memories of our time together at Wings Park a couple months before came flooding back to me.  My aunt Holly had taken the initiative to organize a family picnic in the park.  Leaving the park that day, my heart was full of gratitude for the laughter throughout the day and love for my family.  Little did I know that this would be the first and last time that our family would gather together like this.  Although I didn't see grandpa often, when I did, his face would always light up which showed me how much he loved me.  The visitation and funeral was an overwhelming showing of family, friends and community and showed me how much our family is loved.  Again, my heart was full.  The Grandpa arrangement on the casket was a perfect display of my grandpa's love for the harvest and farming.   The picture of a farm displayed on top of his casket at the cemetery was also a beautiful way to show how much he loved the farm life.  Rest in Peace, Grandpa.

Why So Serious!?!

Flashback to October 31, 2017

Bailey's Halloween costume this year was a follow-up to last year's Harley Quinn-inspired costume.  Her creativity and cos play-inspired costumes are such a fun way to celebrate this holiday.  Our neighborhood had a fair number of children stop by for candy.  After passing out candy, we found our way to IHop again this year for yummy pancakes and delicious hot chocolate.  How we spend Halloween together has changed over the years, but the time together is just as special as it's always been.