Nebraska: The Good Life

Marin and I drove to Nebraska with our friend Bridgette and her two kids.  It’s always exciting to go home and catch up with the family AND it’s particularly exciting to get out of the Texas heat.  Fortunately, we were there before the heat wave hit the Midwest-thank goodness. 

Marin absolutely adores her cousins and she was exhausted trying to keep up with all of them!

Swimming with Conner & Ashley was fun, but squirting Conner with the water gun was a whole new level of excitement!

We met our newest cousin, Braelyn who was visiting from Alaska.  Her eyes are the deepest brown you’ve ever seen!  What a dolly!

We visited Grandma ‘Lene’ and enjoyed tickling her!

We had a nice time seeing Grandma Ruthie too!  I hope I am this spunky when I’m 92! 

Sitting in the fort with cousin Hannah couldn’t have been a better treat.  I could barely take this picture with Goldilocks telling me to, “Please leave.” 

Haley carried Marin around every chance she got!

Hannah is already 5’8” and has more to grow!  Watch out UNL!  Here she is standing next to my shrimpy sister.

Cousin Morgan barely let Marin’s feet touch the ground especially when the other kids brought out the fireworks.  Marin was terrified.  Fortunately, she was so exhausted by nighttime, she slept straight through the loud fireworks shows.

The cousins lighting a ‘boomer.’

A quick little birthday celebration for Haley’s 12th birthday.

It’s hard to believe that 12 years ago, I was teaching in Lincoln & babysat the two older girls while this little princess was being born.

 

We took a quick drive up to Yankton, SD to see Gavins Point Dam.  Before we went to the dam, we stopped at a little aquarium.

The turtle and this ‘kissy fish’ were Marin’s favorites.

Due to the torrential rains & record snowfall, there’s more water than they know what to do with—so many homes have been lost or are under water.  Too bad they can’t figure out a way to channel the water to Texas to relieve us from the drought.

This is what 160,000 cubic feet of water per second looks like.  Consider that 150,000 cubic feet of water would fill a football field instantly to a depth of four feet.  Crazy, right?

My handsome brother.

Aunt Gigi capturing a few photos.  This is the largest flood the dam has seen in almost 60 years.

Farmer Dad schooling his grandson.

Me, my dad and a 16-week Christmas cookie.

My momma with the girls.  Marin kept asking, “Are we moving?”  The force of the water was amazing!

Time to go! We had a great trip home and Marin was a real trooper on the ride to and from Texas.  I’m pretty sure we won’t be making the 14-hour drive any time soon once the baby arrives!