Nebraska trip

So, after leaving the house at 4 a.m. and driving for what seemed like forever, we finally reached our destination- Grandma and Grandpa Roberts' house!! We went through Colorado, so we saw a lot of gorgeous scenery on the way. The kids did really great on the drive. I made a map showing our route and the stops we would make, and printed a copy for each of them. Then at each stop they got something new to do (coloring books and crayons, stencils and paper, activity books, etc.). That seemed to help a lot. The only rough part was after we had turned off the interstate and still had several hours to drive through Nebraska farmland. We'd been in the car all day, it was getting dark, and it felt like we should just be there already! That part is always the toughest of the trip for me, too. But, we made it there! And we were in for lots of fun! The kids spent their days playing in the huge yard, sliding on the slip n' slide, petting the horses, watching the birds and squirrels at the bird feeders, making jewelry with Grandma, swimming at the Stanton pool, and of course, watching the Disney channel (cause Grandma and Grandpa have cable and we don't!). We also played at Skyview Lake in Norfolk, hit a really great 75% off sale at a second-hand store, watched the 4th of July parade in Norfolk (where the kids collected TONS of candy), and went to the Big Bang Boom celebration at Skyview Lake, where the kids enjoyed a blow-up obstacle course and we saw the best fireworks show any of us had ever seen. It was set to music and just incredible! Unfortunately, Taylor wasn't so impressed. He's never liked fireworks in the past, but we thought he might be okay because he was fine watching the Summer Games fireworks from our house a few months ago (he used to hide under his covers during them ). But, these fireworks were really loud and we were close, so he spent the entire show on my lap, hiding under a blanket and telling me to make the fireworks stop, he wanted to go home. Poor kid. It was so crowded there that I really couldn't have taken him away from the noise. But he survived. The girls totally loved it. The patriotic songs made it very inspiring and we all felt gratitude for our freedom and those who have fought so hard for our country.
The Tuesday before we left for home, we took a trip with Grandma and Grandpa to the Omaha zoo. Our favorite parts were the skyride going over the zoo, the butterfly dome, and the jungle, where we saw a blue monkey who was only a month and 1/2 old. We also got to meet up with the Heath family, who had lived next door to us in Blythe and were spending the summer in Omaha. It was a very fun yet exhausting day!
The following Friday at 4 a.m. we sadly headed back home. We went through Wyoming this time, and spent the night at Tami and Darren's house in Lehi, so the trip seemed much shorter. The next morning we headed back to Cedar City, sad for our trip to end, but so glad to be back home and to see Ginger (our dog) again. (Taylor had been saying over and over for several days, "Go home and see Ginger, go home and see Ginger....")
We enjoyed our time with Tim's parents so much!! As I looked through the pictures we had taken, I realized we only had a few of Grandpa Roberts and none of Grandma Roberts. I'm so sorry!! We are usually overkill on taking pictures, but this time I definitely wish we'd taken more! Grandma had knee replacement surgery just a few weeks before we came, and boy was she a trooper! She is recovering at an amazing rate. Wish I had pics of you to post, Mom, cause you look great!! So, here are the pictures that we do have. We are so grateful for family. We love all of you so much!











These horses live on the property surrounding Grandma and Grandpa's house. The girls named them Brownie and Butterscotch. We would husk corn for dinner and then feed the husks to the horses. Taylor loved the horses, too, of course! He just wasn't out there petting them when Tim had the camera.

The kids love playing in Grandma and Grandpa's huge, beautiful yard. We all played "red light, green light", including Grandpa! Their favorite game, though, was playing "tag hide-and-seek" with their dad. They also had lots of fun on the slip n' slide Grandma and Grandpa had bought for them.

We had lots of fun going to the 4th of July parade in Norfolk. They threw out tons of candy and the kids had a great time collecting it.

The "Big Bang Boom" celebration for the 4th of July was a blast! It was at beautiful Skyview Park in Norfolk. There were TONS of people there, and a local radio station was broadcasting from the park. They had blow-up slides and bounce houses, etc. This one was an obstacle course. They would race each other up one side, down a slide, through a maze, up the other side and back down another slide. As I mentioned, the fireworks were amazing. They were over the lake and set to music. They also had a huge flag on a crane with a spotlight on it while the National Anthem was sung. Got that on video, but no pictures. (Wish I had a cord to connect my video camera so I could post it. It was amazing!)

We loved the Omaha zoo! It was so fun to meet up with the Heaths, who now live in Arizona but were staying in Omaha for the summer while Chad works there. Darcy had seen on our blog that we'd be coming to Nebraska, so we made plans to meet at the zoo since our family was going to be there. The pics above are me with Darcy, and the girls with Dakota and Coltin. We hadn't seem them for years and it was fun to catch up! The pictures on the bottom are in the petting zoo. I feel for this pigmy goat who looks so very pregnant. Poor thing!!

The skyride over the zoo was really fun. Taylor didn't think it look so fun, though, so he stayed with Grandpa while the rest of us rode it. (Grandpa tried to take Taylor on the train while we were gone. Taylor had been fascinated with it. But I guess the noise was too loud when they were actually on it and they had to get off before it left the station.) Here is an Ashlee, a giraffe, and a leopard as seen from the skyride. :)

The butterfly exibit was really cool. You walked through a jungle-like atmosphere while butterflies flew around you. They were beautiful, and some of them were huge. The first one is an owl butterfly. Hmmm, wonder where it got that name? :)

My favorite part of the zoo was the Lied Jungle. It is a huge, indoor jungle that is amazing! We especially loved watching the blue monkey interact with her new baby. The baby blue monkey was born at the zoo just over a month ago! The lemers were also fun to watch, and we got there just as this sloth was being fed.

The desert dome is new since we were last at the zoo many years ago. It's a huge glass structure shaped kind of like a golf ball. Inside are desert animals, including meerkats, jackrabbits, foxes, snakes, etc. We went here right before the zoo closed, so there were hardly any people in it. It was pretty cool.

We also saw the aquarium, which has a glass tunnel you walk through with sharks and other fish in it. That was really cool, too, but we didn't get any pictures of it, just video.

What a fun day at the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa! By the time we drove the 2 hours back to Stanton we were all exhausted, but it was worth it!

The day before we headed back home we went to the Stanton pool. We also had a little surprise early birthday party for Grandpa while we were there. What a fun trip with lots of great memories!! Thanks for everything, Grandma and Grandpa Roberts!!