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| Not every day we come across a caterpillar that can carry all the cousins. |
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| Zoey would ride in the car forever if it meant she could forever eat Oreos. |
We left after school and work on Monday and made our usual pit stop at a hotel that has rooms big enough to fit our whole family. And of course, has a pool.
We slept pretty well but our wake up call was a phone message from a neighbor we haven’t met yet asking if we had a couple of Jersey cows. Turns out, they’d gotten out and wandered down the road, and were taking a nap under her tree. She wrangled them into the barn and the boy who was keeping an eye on our farm walked them back down the road to our house.
Once that fiasco was solved, we packed up and got on the road, making record time to Nebraska (because I don’t mess around when it comes to road trips).
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| Kids make everything fun! |
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| Cotton rather likes not living with a rooster. |
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| I used to slip behind the columns, too! If I tried it now, I might get stuck… |
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| Evelyn working up her nerve to get close to the edge. |
We saw Nebraska’s unicameral in action and heard the (in)famous (depending on who you’re talking to) Ernie Chambers take the floor. Imagine that! Government proceedings in a government building!
Definitely one of my favorite childhood pastime and every time I come back to Nebraska for a visit, I’m in awe of how a location can hold so many memories.
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| I love this mural! |
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| Lydia is stylin’. |
…a favorite climbing tree that I used to scale and now Claire is learning to conquer…
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| Homemade animal cookies? Yes, please! |
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| Zoey has the funniest expressions. |
The next day, we headed to the children’s zoo, another spot I frequented when I was younger but hadn’t been to in several years. We fed the goats…
…and Henry was fairly positive that he was going to catch a peacock if only he could jump high enough.
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| Kaylee and Claire were neck and neck! |
We took a tour with Grandma and Grandpa Eliker around their property and talked gardens, plant pruning, and home renovations (some of our favorite subjects!).
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| Grandpa helping zip Henry’s coat. |
The last day, the rain rolled in, so we spent the morning at Morrill Hall, another place I went to a lot as a kid but hadn’t been back to for at least a decade. Again, if you’re in Lincoln, Nebraska, GO.
The second we got in the door, the girls paired up with their twin cousins and ran off to explore the natural history museum. I love that our kids love science, history, biology, engineering, etc, etc as much as Jack and I do.
It was touch and go there for a minute when Evelyn almost got scooped up by her favorite, weird-looking bird/dinosaur thing. She survived.
Lydia gave carrying Zoey a try. She decided she might not be ready to carry a baby that’s half her weight.
They also had a sweet augmented reality display where the kids, using sand, could move it around and it would make a moveable map.
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| Don’t get squished by Archie! |
We left on St. Patrick’s day and everyone got into the spirit, even Jack. See the tiny strip of green painter’s tape on his chest? No leprechaun pinching for him!
Though I know the road back to Indiana well, there’s always something to see. This time, it was bald eagles and soooo many snow geese.
I don’t know how other kids do it, but I’m always really impressed our kids are able to drive through five states without literally exploding. They come close, but no one has succomb yet.
We made it home in time to make sure all the animals were alive and well (and where they were supposed to be…I’m looking at you, Dolly and Parton), play a bit before bedtime and “unpack.”
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| This is what unpacking means to the kids… |
It was a quick trip and we didn’t get to see Jack a lot since he was working, but boy, oh, boy, was it a fun one, especially reliving some of my favorite childhood memories with my own kids.
It was just the kind of vacation I needed to recharge and have a break from the daily grind. Now, back to it!
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| Do you know how hard it is to get a bunch of kids to look at the camera at the same time? Nearly impossible. |
