WARNING!!!!

Below is the promised slide show of our trip to Omaha. I'm warning you, it's 186 photos of my kids and Rusty enjoying every moment (well, almost every moment, but you'll have to look through all the photos to see which ones weren't so enjoyable :D ) of our time up there. And I say my kids and Rusty because out of the 750 photos taken, only one is of me. Again, you'll have to go through all of them to find the one and only. We had a few bumps along the way, like when I tripped on a wood frame in the middle of a walking path at the zoo. I cut the bottom of my toe open and found out later that night that I split the top left quadrant of my toenail off, too! It was no wonder it felt like I nearly broke it! Anyway, after having to walk on my gimpy toe for over half of our trip around the zoo, I finally saw a nurse's station. The nurse there was very kind and gentle on my toe and dressed it nicely. One thing though: she didn't put on gloves OR wash her hands before she started cleaning up my toe. If you know me at all, you can imagine how appalled I was at seeing this. I'm thinking, 'If this woman didn't wash and glove up for my dirty, bloody, flip-flop wearing toe, she probably didn't wash up on her last victim, er, I mean patient...' *shudder* I still get a little woozy when I think about it. I just have to keep convincing myself that I was her first and only patient that day. And there was the moment we all had been waiting for at the children's museum. The one where Lydia was supposed to be overjoyed and giddy when meeting her favorite red, furry monster...*sigh and slow head shake* But the pictures of the carousel ride are much better this time around since I had my feet safely planted on terra firma.

But those were the only bumps on our journey. By the way, did you know that they grow corn everywhere in Nebraska? I mean EVERY. WHERE. Like, in the middle of town, next to a sports bar, behind a hotel, around a hospital, in the medians of outdoor shopping malls...and this was just in the 10 mile radius around the hotel where we stayed at in Omaha. I realize it's called the Cornhusker State for a reason, but come on! They are doing nothing to dispel any of these stereotypes regarding the state.

Anyhoo, we also got to eat at a really cool place called California Tacos. It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. It was delish! When I ordered our chips and queso the guy behind the counter said to me, 'Corn, flour or mixed chips?' I tell you I thought I could hear trumpets sound and angels sing! And for just a moment I thought I was back in Salina, ordering at La Hacienda. If you're ever in Omaha, I would highly recommend stopping by for a visit, no matter how tricky the parking, right Rusty? *wink*

So, as I mentioned before, here are 186 photos from our trip that I found worthy of sharing with you. And you'll be happy to know that no, I didn't include every picture of every animal at the Henry Doorly Zoo. Now that would just be overkill! *snickering*

Our Omaha Trip Slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

In Case You Were Wondering...

Yes, I intend to post photos of our trip to Omaha. But you see, the problem is that I took 750 pictures during those 4 days and I'm still trying to sort out the ones that I think are good enough not only to keep, but also narrow down the ones I want to post. I'm working on a slide show and so far, I'm up to 105 photos and almost finished! I thought I could keep down to only 10% of the photos, but well, there's no way.

First Day of 3rd Grade

Cade started the third grade on Wednesday. Really. Can hardly believe it. He was pretty excited about it too. I'll admit I wasn't quite ready to send him back to school. And Lydia. Poor Lydia. She misses her 'Brugga' so much during the day now.

I wasn't sure how the morning was going to go since it was as dark as night and raining with lightning moments before we left for school. Thankfully, the rain let up just as we were leaving, but we didn't get to mill around in front of the school and catch up with past classmates and get more pictures together like we have on previous first days of school. But don't worry. I got plenty despite the missed photo op session.

*wink*

The obligatory first-day-of-school-in-front-of-the-door picture.

This crazy beast of a bug was waiting for us right in front of me on the windshield when we got in the car.
Ug-leeeee!

Is it me or does this little saint statue seem to be shrinking every year?

*sigh*

Getting situated in his desk.

Lydia was getting situated as well...

Yay! Another boy in his class!

Lydia was anxious to see her 'Brugga' again after school.

Riley B. had a good first day, too!

Riley C. came over to say hi to Lydia.

Tammy and Riley came over after Lydia yelled, "Beymer!
Beeeeee-mmmmmeeeeerrrrrrr!"

Yay!! He likes 3rd grade!

Celebrating with lunch at Freddy's.

What? Why can't I use my shirt for a napkin?

Mmm-mmm!

Fun at the Shawnee North Family Aquatic Center

Yesterday, I took Cade, Lydia and our friend Riley B. to the Shawnee North Family Aquatic Center, or as we call it, 'The SNAC.'
It's a favorite of ours, but we haven't been able to make it out this summer until just now. It was especially fun for the kiddos because we saw some friends of ours from school as well as our cousin Dustan who is a life guard there. Lydia wasn't sure of everything at first, she just wanted to go 'simmin', but she acclimated quickly and had a blast!

More Adventures from the Adventuremobile

Last week (or was it the week before?) we visited the Adventuremobile again and to my surprise the animal du jour was TURTLES!!! There were 3 pretty good looking specimens there and Lydia went nuts over them. As soon as she saw them (from like a mile away) she started saying, 'Hi turtle. Hi turtle. Hi turtle.' It was a pretty precious moment for me to see the glee on her face and to see her get so excited over turtles. (Hey, it's the little things, people.) She couldn't get enough of these little reptiles.

'Hi turtle. Hi turtle. Hi turtle.'

'One. Two. Three. Three turtles!'
(Yes, she actually said that!)

'I touch? OK!!'

Even 'brugga' was enjoying the turtles.

Check out his little red beady eyes.

'Bye turtles. Bye turtles. Bye turtles. See ya.'

WARNING!!!!

The following slide show contains photos only a mother and giddy grandparents might enjoy. We're talking 74 pictures of birthday memories that I have deemed necessary to share with everyone when really, let's be honest, most of you don't really want to see. Or do you? Perhaps you'd like to see if a yard can really handle the abuse of nearly 20 kids and 2K water balloons. Whatever the reason, they're here for all to view. So, fair warning. Look if you like. Enjoy!

Cade's 8th Birthday Bash

Make a Smilebox slideshow