Last Days of Summer Vacation

Why is it that every year summer just gets shorter and shorter?  No, seriously.  Not just in a gee-whiz, days-fly-by, nostalgic kind of way, but literally.  Never before has school overlapped with my sister Callie's birthday until this year when the kids were back in class on August 12th.  Jeepers!

The specter of school looming so prominently on the horizon spawned a tremendous desire to play hard during the final days of summer.  While I'm grateful our kids enjoy school, I cherish the time we have all together.  Here are a few of our adventures:

The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.  This magnificent man-made structure spanning between Nebraska and Iowa still pales in comparison to the masterpiece God painted in the sky.


Hey ho, the gang's all here.

Brooklyn and Eli, headed for home.

Storm Chasers Game.  Thanks to the free tickets the kids earned through their summer reading program, we enjoyed a fun evening watching the ballgame at Werner Park.

Brooklyn sings, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!"

Posing with Casey, the Storm Chaser mascot.

Annika snuggles in with Daddy Jason.  Jason made the best play of the evening before we even got into the stadium when he chased down a fly ball that had been hit into the parking lot.  Pretty awesome beginning!

Lego Exhibit at the Children's Museum.  Before school started, we squeezed in a visit to the Children's Museum to admire their new Lego exhibit.  The kids were jazzed about the steamboat after our recent voyage aboard the Minnehaha. 

Annika looks ready to speed away in her Lego car.

We even braved some play time/ roller skating fun at Skate Daze.  Annie certainly loved the carousel!  The girl behind her was super sweet, using some of her own tokens just so Annika could ride again.


With budgies to feed and Skyfaris to ride, we never tire of the zoo.  Eli waited so patiently before he finally got to hold a bird.

Playing at the Joslyn is doubly special because we get a great view of Central High School where NomiAnn works.

Talia Lily "Goofball" Wheeler.

Don't you think all pioneer women smoked a pipe as they drove their covered wagons across the plains?

Perhaps more realistic are the kids bickering in the back.

Brooklyn had a special experience this summer when she earned a free bike from the Charles Drew Health Center for completing some volunteer service.  Here she is picking up her new wheels after a morning of training on bike safety and nutrition.

Her new bike is gorgeous, with 18 gears plus a matching purple helmet to boot.  What a fantastic program to encourage community service while helping kids get active!

Home Improvement.  While most of our fun may have been outside, there was plenty of action going on inside as well.  After a great deal of perseverance and hard work, Jason perfected the upstairs plumbing so that we could redo the ceiling--finally!--with little danger of leaks. Here he is thinning some drywall compound to texture the ceiling.


Nothing like spreading glop all over the area you just worked so hard to sand!

Fortunately, the results look great.  Jason may need some time to do his projects right, but the quality of his work is impeccable.

Last but not least, here's Annika, feeling grateful for a cozy nook to keep her safe.  The poor gal scraped a long swath of skin off her pinky finger while playing on the glider outside.  Good thing her siblings know just how to take care of her!

And there you have it--the last days of summer fun.  If only school could be so cool!