June and July 2019

June 2019

Boat Fun

Dad came to Lincoln one day and brought his little boat and took us for a boat ride on Holmes Lake, which is a nice little lake in the middle of town. The kids enjoyed doing a little driving of the boat and we even did a little fishing, but we didn’t get a single bite.

Carol’s Trip to Florida

Carol went back to Wakulla Springs, FL and Gainesville to visit some friends. She stayed in the historic Lodge at Wakulla Springs and enjoyed a few days at the springs, river, and the beach. It rained for her entire trip, but she still had fun and got to spend time catching up with friends. Even saw a few manatees.

Splash Park

On one of the days that Carol was out of town, I loaded up the kids and drove to Beatrice and spent a little time with Gramma and Pa at a local park that has a little splash pad. It was a nice little area that wasn’t there when I was growing up.

Pioneers Park

On a separate day, while Carol was out of town, Mom and Dad came up to Lincoln and we went hiking around Pioneers Park Nature Center. The kids enjoyed seeing some animals, like Geese, Frogs, and Buffalo. Jenna enjoyed using Gramma’s walking stick. Luckily there were two in the car, so Jenna could have her own.

Backyard Fun / Camping

Grant and I decided to sleep in the backyard again this year, like we had for a previous birthday of his. This year we upgraded our sleeping arrangements by using blow-up mattresses and even ran an extension cord out to the tent so that we could run a fan. The kids also had fun setting up the slip-n-slide and going down the hill.

Jenna’s Dance Class

Jenna has started taking ballet and tap dance class and really seems to enjoy it.

Matching Dresses

Nana made Jenna and Carol matching dresses. Didn’t they turn out cute!

Nephew’s 1st Birthday

Our youngest nephew (my Brother’s son) turned 1 in June and we were excited to be able to go to his birthday party.

Random Pictures from the Month

Grant and Daisy, Lucy and Daisy, Nate and Daisy and Silly kids.

July 2019

Gardening in Nebraska

Carol wanted to grow a little garden here in Nebraska like she used to do in Florida. I built her a 4 ft by 12 ft garden area and put some fencing around it to keep the critters out. Unfortunately, I didn’t take into consideration that our dog Daisy would be able to jump over 3 ft high rabbit fencing to dig, so I had to replace it with heavier duty 5 ft tall fencing. That seemed to do the trick. Carol decided to grow a variety of veggies and herbs and we ended with quite a crazy garden! We seem to have an endless supply of frozen cherry tomatoes. Here we are 6 months later and frozen tomatoes are being added to every dinner that Carol prepares.

July 4th Holiday

We went down to Beatrice to celebrate Independence Day with my parents and brother and his family. My Mom had begun having some pain and difficulty walking and was getting around with the help of a wheelchair. Even so, we enjoyed time as a family. Carol continues to be a pyromaniac and Grant is following in her footsteps.

Pool Visit

We made a trip over to one of the local pools in July 2019 that had a very cool splash pad area. We met a friend of Carol’s and her kids there and everyone had a good time.

Lincoln Zoo Visit

We made another visit over to the Lincoln Zoo this year and the kids enjoyed it just as much as the previous time we’d gone. This year they added giraffe and tiger exhibits. It was a 100 degree summer day, so our heat training in Florida came in handy.

Weird Al Concert

My Dad turned 70 this year and I decided to take him to a concert for his birthday and it just so happened that Weird All Yankovic was in Lincoln during his birth month. Truth be told, I told Carol that I wanted to go when I saw he was coming to town but she wasn’t interested in going with me. THEN I realized it was in Dad’s birth month and asked him if he’d care to go see Weird Al. He said he would. So I bought tickets and Dad and I went. It was actually a really good show at the outdoor amphitheater at Pioneers Park. Dad recognized some of the older song parodies and enjoyed some of the silly original songs by Weird Al. Somehow I knew my Dad would enjoy it.

Dad’s 70th Birthday

By the time that Dad’s 70th birthday actually came around, my Mom’s condition had worsened to the point that there was no other option than to have surgery. She had to have a section of one of the bones in her neck cut away and several vertebrae in her neck fused together to stop pressure from being put on her spinal cord. She had successful surgery, which stopped further damage from being done, but it required her to move from the hospital where surgery was performed into a rehab hospital to continue her recovery. So we had to celebrate Dad’s birthday at the rehab facility here in Lincoln where Mom stayed for 3 weeks or so. While it wasn’t how we’d liked to have celebrated Dad’s special day, we enjoyed being together and loved seeing the progress that Mom had already started to make.