Activities from June to September 2018

June (2nd Half):

The Move

As I mentioned in the last blog post, we relocated from Florida to Nebraska in June of 2018. The cross-country was quite the adventure. Due to some unexpected termite issues with our house in Gainesville, we ended up needing to be out of it about a week before we were leaving town.

So we got all of our belongings moved into ReloCubes and spent the last week of our time in Florida living out of a hotel. Then we got on the road for three long days of driving. We finally arrived in our new home in Lincoln, NE on June 17th, Father’s Day. Grant found a climbing tree in the backyard and was pretty excited.

For a few days, we had to sleep on blow up mattresses and get creative with cooking while we waited for our belongings to arrive. Once they arrived, we were thankful that Carol’s sister Laura was able to come and help with some unpacking. The kids were especially excited to welcome our first out-of-state guest.

New Family Member

We were excited to arrive in Nebraska in time to celebrate the birth of my first nephew on my side of the family. My brother and his wife welcomed a healthy baby boy named Beckett into the world during the month of June. Jenna was especially excited to meet “baby cousin” in the hospital.

Random Pictures from the Month

Silly Grant and Silly Dada.

July:

July 4th Holiday

We were excited to be able to host our first holiday in Nebraska for Independence Day. My parents drove up from Beatrice and my brother and his family came over from Omaha to spend part of the day. Andrew and Alicyn didn’t stay for fireworks because they needed to get baby Beckett home, but Gramma and Pa stayed and let off some fireworks in our backyard. We were very surprised about how into fireworks the people of Lincoln are. The neighborhood almost looked like a professional firework display with everything that was going off. My Dad got into the act by setting off some firecrackers.

Click on this last image to see Pa in action.

Great-Grandma Bonnie and Great-Grandpa Bob

We were glad to be able to get over to Kearney, NE in July to visit my grandparents who are both in their 80s. We really enjoyed spending an afternoon with them. Jenna still talks about seeing Bonnie and Bob and can’t wait to go back.

Sprinkler Fun

Grant is thrilled that we have an underground sprinkler system in our yard here. Carol and the kids put on their swimsuits and tested out the system. It was great fun running through the sprinklers. I even came up from working in my office in the basement to participate a little bit.

Visit from Nana

Nana came up from Kansas for a weekend visit to see the new house. We all enjoyed seeing her. We went driving downtown to show her a bit of the city and we’d like to go visit the State Capital with her the next time she comes to town.

A New Fence

we had a family friend who is a contractor put in a wood privacy fence for us and Grant enjoyed helping Marvin work on the fence (and climb into the holes dug for the fence posts). Even with the fence, we get to see some pretty sunsets from our backyard.

The Lincoln Children’s Zoo

We enjoyed a day at the local zoo. I was impressed by the number of animals and we all enjoyed our time there. Jenna saw the horses and it was her idea to go for a pony ride.

Random Pictures from the Month

Hanging with Abe Lincoln, silly Grant, injured Nate, silly Grant, a pretty sunset, breakfast with Jenna, Cute Lucy, Jenna holding Beckett and Grant and Jenna in a shopping cart.

August:

Another New Family Member

My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dan, who live here in Lincoln, got a new puppy and invited us over to meet him and get him used to kids. He is super cute and we all enjoyed seeing him.

Baby Bunnies

We found three baby bunnies in our backyard and enjoyed watching them grow. Two of them successfully left the yard. The runt of the litter didn’t make it, but it was a good lesson about nature.

Trip to the Lake

We decided to explore the area and make a trek over to Wagon Train Lake, which is about 20 miles from here. We got a bit lost on the way there due to some roads being closed, but we enjoyed splashing around in the lake after having a picnic lunch. A special thanks to some teenagers who helped Carol blow up our floatie with a battery powered pump, since we couldn’t find any place to plug our electric pump in.

First Day of School

We didn’t get a great first day of school picture this year, but both kids are going to the same Elementary school. This will be the only year that they will be at the same school together.

Random Pictures from the Month

Silly Nate, silly Grant, Carol with her claws out, Grant and his dog, and Lucy wearing shades.

September:

Grandparents Week at School

Gramma and Pa were able to come up and eat lunch with each of the kids for Grandparents Week. The kids enjoyed having them and Gramma and Pa liked getting to see the school.

Gramma and Pa’s

One Saturday, I took the kids to Gramma and Pa’s for the day while Carol was out of town visiting family. We enjoyed spending time with them and covering them with silly string! They had harvested a few peppers and tomatoes before we came and sent some home with us. Went out to the Homestead Monument and watched people make rope, candles, and horseshoes like they used to in the past. There was a woman there playing a a very old Zither, which was very beautiful and she let Jenna help her play. Grant enjoyed checking out the old Kensington Hotel, which was very fancy back in the 40’s and 50’s and it is used as an assisted living facility now. And the kids enjoyed playing at Gramma and Pa’s house.

Carol Family Visit

As mentioned above, Carol went to visit family in Lawrence, KS and got to spend time with her sisters, mom, nephew and niece (who was in town for Labor Day weekend). They celebrated her Mom and niece’s September birthdays as well.

Mid-week Family Time

My brother and his wife came to Lincoln one Thursday. Andrew and I enjoyed going to breakfast together and then came back to our house to work. Since he also works a job from home, he was able to just set up his laptop and work from my office in the basement. Meanwhile, Alicyn and Carol were able to spend some time together. The kids were excited to see them when they got home from school and I enjoyed getting to hold Beckett. These are the types of things that we are glad to be able to do now that we’ve moved.

School Fun Night

The Elementary School that the kids attend had a carnival type event and Grant and Carol had a good time. Jenna preferred to stay home that night, so she and I did something else fun. Grant especially liked getting his hair painted blue and getting to jump on a trampoline while in a harness that let him jump really high.

Husker Game and Bellevue Berry Farm

We enjoyed spending a Saturday with Andrew, Alicyn and Beckett in Omaha watching a Husker Football game (we didn’t enjoy the outcome!) and then going over to Bellevue Berry Farm where they had a lot of fun activities and a pumpkin patch.

Jenna’s Field Trip

Jenna’s class at school went on a field trip to Roca Berry Farm. Carol got to go along as a chaperone. Each kid got to pick out a pumpkin from the patch and play on all the fun equipment. They had a nice time.