Kearney Nebraska, a place to stop!

Pronounced Carney, Kearney Nebraska was one of our pit stops on our return trip.  It has a cool history museum that crosses I-80, we did not make it there this time.

We found an oasis in this surprise filled stop.  First, when I made reservations and made sure they HAD an indoor pool, I miss heard the man and they did NOT have ANY pool.  Talk about disappointed children!  He recommended a city park that had a splash area. 

We fell in love, IN LOVE, I tell you with this park.  Good thing because we spent several hours there.

 So it was about 75 degrees and a little, a lot, cool for us.  Sweetness stayed away from the water all together.

The splash area is just the start of the mammoth park.  There was a watch tower.

And from the top, we could watch You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, a play in the park!

And another little gem:

A Labyrinth!  Oh how I would love to have the space to build one of my own. Imagine greeting each day with a walk through the Labyrinth.

When we went back the next day, despite being there for a couple of hours we didn't make it back to the Labyrinth, and we were all disappointed by that.  The park has lots of trails, for biking, running, or whatever you choose.

 The park wouldn't be complete with a huge pond for fishing, paddle boats, kayaks and swans and ducks!

The next morning we had intended on stopping by the park for a few minutes to get the sillies out before hitting the road again.  However, we woke to a broken water pump.  Oh my, this van did NOT want to leave the Midwest!! More on all that later, but we were forever grateful that we knew of this park and it allowed dogs, and we could all go back and play while the van got doctored up, again.

 We came in from the other side and walked more of the trails.  Check it out, just for Grandma and Grandpa (mine and yours).

 She was still not interested in the splash area, but loved the pirate playground, the toddler playground, the other playground, yes, the park had 3 distinct play grounds plus the splash park and everything else.

Kearney, NE is on our list of places to stop, more to explore and places we love to return to.

Summer check

I had CJ in for a quick doc. appointment and I weighed all the kids while we were there.

CJ is at 48 lbs --of solid muscles! and 47.25 inches tall.

Here she is doing tricks on her scooter.

Sweetness has continued her slow and steady gain, and has gained 2 lbs since her birthday, six months ago.  32 lbs for her. I wish I could remember how tall she was....but she's about this tall:

And this little guy is on her heals coming in at 28 lbs.  He has gained 4 pounds in the last four months.

The Treasure Chest

Through the years, and various states we have lived in, any program that CJ has been involved with, that rewarded good behavior, she's never missed a reward.

Really!  How blessed we are to have her and that she is so well behaved.  I have a sneaky suspicion that while the other two will (are) also be well behaved, they will also be more inclined to push the boundaries a bit.  So let me take a moment and smile that she is so well behaved.

Okay.  I'm done.  For now.

This past Sunday I found out that Kindergarten also has a treasure chest.  No big surprise there.  The fact that she got to pick a prize was also not a big surprise.  However, the way it all unfolded, I was stunned, confused, and a bit concerned.

While at lunch on Sunday, Eric says, "Last night after bed time CJ came out and said, "I have something important to tell you. I think I have something breakable in my backpack." ".

Imagine a quizical look on my face.  ?    
I had looked through her stack of work, the teacher notes, pulled it all out, I did not see anything else in the backpack and certainly nothing that was breakable.  "huh?"

I looked at CJ. " I have a light bulb in my back pack. I picked it from the treasure chest."

A light bulb?  --becoming more confused AND concerned....

I ask her "a REAL light bulb?" 

Yes, I was questioning her ability to determine what  a light bulb is.

I asked her "was it like an eraser that looks like a light bulb, for a 'great idea' type of reward?"

CJ, "Well, I tapped on it and it sounded like glass. It looks like one of those," pointing to the hanging decorative lights above.

Hmmmm...."Eric, did you look in her bag for this light bulb?"

"No, I didn't know where her bag was."

As the mommy, and clearly the only adult in this situation, I could not think of anything except this light bulb in her back pack.  How the three of them had been playing school with this back pack. How a back pack gets abused with kicks and being sat on.  All I could think about was broken glass shards all over her back pack, potentially all over the house.  HOW DID I MISS A LIGHT BULB??????? HOW COULD ERIC NOT STOP ANYTHING HE WAS DOING TO CHECK IT OUT??

I wanted to go home.  RIGHT NOW!

But we didn't.  No, we stayed and ate our yummy meal.

As everyone was getting buckled up, I had more questions.

Where did you get this light bulb?

CJ,"I had to open the door to the closet."

OH MY WORD!!!  Did you take a light bulb from the supply closet?  Now I was laughing...this is really out of character for her...to snoop around in the school supply closet and take a light bulb.  But it did make more sense as to HOW a light bulb would get in her bag. 

I couldn't help it.  I made a joke.

"Next time, take toilet paper, we can always use more of that."

Okay, she didn't like the joke and insisted that NO she wasn't in the supply closet that is just where the treasure chest is kept.  Sorry kiddo.  Back to the question...really? I light bulb?  Maybe I need to help supply prizes that are more like prizes.

So I asked her, "what other kind of prizes are in there"  Yes I was still wondering if she was dazed and confused at school and not clearly understanding what a treasure chest is versus a supply closet.

"Pencils, stickers, but only one light bulb".

"Did you take it because it was the only one in there?"

Huge smile and nod yes.

Okay, I am ready to go home and find this crazy light bulb.

But first, the book store.

And Target.

And gas.

And another potty stop.

Can we please just go home now?!?!?!?

"Please bring your back pack to me"

She brings only the light bulb.

I was relieved that it was in one piece.

And that it's not actually a light bulb.

However, a clear glass ornament ball, still seems a bit peculiar for a treasure chest, for kindergarteners.

I did on Monday, have a talk with the teacher.  Stating my concern for broken glass. She said she has had the prize box for several years, and forgot that that might be in there.  This is her first year teaching kinders, but agreed that this is maybe not a good prize and she would go through it and remove any unsuitable objects.  She also does keep the box in a closet.  I mentioned that in the future, I would rather CJ grab toilet paper instead of light bulbs, for safety's sake.  We had a good laugh over it...but really, concerned mother here- over potential shards of glass everywhere. No, I don't think I'm over reacting on that.

Tomorrow is Friday. I think the teacher mentioned this is a weekly opportunity.  We'll see what CJ selects this week, and I'll double check her bag!

Summer time treat, PEACHES!

I know I have been slacking...instead of blogging, I guess we've been busy, and I'm sure taking pictures, that I'll get caught up on some day, most likely when I'm about 92 yrs old and I can't find a single book to read, movie to watch, or cookie to bake.

Summer is not exactly the time of year that we get our most visitors, but this summer we did! In July!  Since Amy and Andre were on vacation, they were not interested in getting up and meeting at 5 AM to get some great hiking in, by 6:30 AM it is too hot.  So by 10 AM when they finally rolled out of bed, all outside activities were banned. It is currently monsoon season here as well, which means late afternoon thunderstorms are possible.  When they happen, roads flood and close, but the evenings can be great outdoor time and the sunsets are gorgeous. When the storms don't happen, it is just hot, sticky, and miserable.  Until I moved here, I had no idea that it could actually be too hot to go swimming.  To give you an idea, those of us who live here year round don't go swimming if it is cooler than 95 degress ---just a bit cool for swimming, however anything above 110, or 100 with humidity, is too hot, bowling or a movie indoors is a much better option!

That doesn't mean we didn't have fun with Amy and Andre though.  We played cards, had Christmas in July (I'll get that blogged too, soon, I'm sure) swam, played bumper cars, board games, bowling, and just various other activities.  We did a road trip to Wilcox on Saturday.  We had hoped to make it all the way to Stafford for Pioneer Days, but tire issues came up and we decided it would be a better option to head home before having big issues.

We visited Apple Annie's and picked our own peaches!!  It was great fun.

The best pick (pic) of the day!

The amount of peaches we picked, actually weighed more than he did.

Mmmmmm......

Fresh ripe peaches off the tree...you haven't enjoyed a peach until you have had one!

Peaches for everyone!

A hidden treasure, we found a nest with eggs, and as you can see, baby peaches too.

Maybe, we'll move to the country, and eat a lot of peaches.

Summer Funnies

Some times kids get parents to say things...that immediately following, parents ask themselves "did I really just have to say that?"  For example, I recently had to tell our five year old,

"No, you can not take a shower with a balloon."  Did I really just say that?

"why?"

Oh seriously, now I have to explain it?!?!?! "Because balloons don't take showers."

Then there are times when children say something so unexpected, and yet so seriously, that parents feel kinda bad, for a moment, laughing at what they said. But only for a moment, since these are the little things that get us through the day, chuckling.

While driving down the road (in IA, KS, NE,), Sweetness enthusiastically shouted "ROLLING PINS!!"

What could she possibly be talking about?

Well....

 Round bales of course!

And when they are lined up...they do sorta look like rolling pins

Thank you Sweetness.

And what can I say about the little man, he is always finding some new noise or a new way to make us all laugh.  Currently, he loves to point randomly at the ceiling, glance up, then try and get you to do the same.  He got all the wait staff and the manager on duty at the Olive Garden to look at the ceiling, each one asking, "is there a leak?" It was pretty hilarious.

This day, not so hilarious.

Okay, but when he did this....rather funny.

Daddy to Kjetil, "say momma"

Kjetil, "DADDY!"

"Say Momma"

"Daddy"

"Say Momma"

"Daddy"

"Say Chloe"

"Mom"

Since before he was born, I have joked that CJ would get him to call her Mommy Chloe.  And it appears, she has.