Omaha, somewhere in middle America, if you're right to the heart of matters, it's the heart that matters more. Or at least so Counting Crows says. But the question is, how do you get there?
Here's how one group traveled. It's very restful. Notice how in the second picture Eila is the only one awake. From what I hear, she did a great job with her first cross-country road trip.
As for Annika, Anders, and I, we decided to fly. So many thanks to Janet and Alesia for driving us to the airport at 4am! On the positive side, LaGuardia is absolutely gorgeous after its new renovations.
The kids were also excited when I got them ice cream during a lengthy layover--at least until Annika's watermelon flavor turned out to be disgusting. She coped with her disappointment with some art therapy. During the flight, she occupied herself be drawing some extremely sorrowful ice cream cones.
At last, Omaha! NomiAnn and Papa Kay have the best toys, both indoors and out.
You may notice we have a new friend in the treehouse. The next door neighbors have two darling little girls, McKenzie and Berkeley who were fast friends.
As for the older kids, they were delighted when NomiAnn took them back to school shopping. Talia's backpack seems quite appropriate for the kid who listens to Harry Potter non-stop.
Here we are visiting NomiAnn as she ushered at Jazz on the Green. What a beautiful evening for another airplane ride!
It wouldn't be Omaha without a trip to the zoo. Here we are enjoying lunch ouside the Lied Jungle.
Aquarium time.
We always love the splash pad.
Even more exciting was the new sea lion habitat. It was amusing to watch them wrestle and tumble in the water.
We were likewise excited that the Children's Adventure Trails reopened. It's not everyday that you get to brush a goat or hide inside a chyrsalis
A trip to the Omaha Zoo will always leave you excited to come back for more.
Equally exciting, however, was the potato cannon that Eli and Papa Kay constructed out of PVC pipe. Here are the engineers hard at work.
Loading the potato with a battering ram. Some aerosol hairspray and an igniter provided the fire power.
Back at home, Talia and Eli took over NomiAnn's sewing area. Do you think they felt inspired by Alesia? Pretty soon their scraps turned into the Hogwarts school crest.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn and Eila practiced some cello upstairs.
Here's Annika at church on Sunday, showing off her new haircut. I surprised myself and actually got it pretty straight!
I can do this myself! Oh wait--help!!
Annika provides an expert demo.
West Omaha really is a great place to summer. Here we are riding bikes along the papio trail. It was Anders's first time on a two wheeler, so Callie gave him a demo.
I don't have any pictures of Eila because she was far ahead on the trail as the bike expert. I do, however, have one of Annika sporting a new batman helmet.
NomiAnn and Papa Kay, thank you for making Omaha such a welcome place! Your home and yard are amazing, but even better is getting to spend time with you. And Callie, so many thanks to you, Eila, and Anders for sharing so much of your summer with us, both in New York and in Omaha. We miss you all, and can't wait to see everyone at Christmas!
Best backyard buds: Berkeley, Annika, McKenzie, and Eila.
Strong work, Anders!
All too soon it was time to bid Nebraska farewell and get back to Utah. Saying goodbye to cousins, aunts, and grandparents was hard, especially since Callie and her kids were staying in Omaha a bit longer. At least we knew that Costa Vida would be waiting for us in Utah.
2 comments:
Such truly inspiring, memorable and worthwhile memories!! Thanks so much for capturing so much of the essence of our time together in photographs!
Hmmmm! Someone once told me, "you know you are living a blessed, privileged life if you use 'summer' as a verb." We are all very blessed, and I hope humbly privileged in a service-oriented, family centered way.
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