Nebraska Trip: Week 1

Tory, Aden and I flew to Nebraska for two weeks to visit my family. My aunt, uncle and cousins from Pennsylvania and Texas came back at the same time, so we all spent five full days together. It was wonderful to have everyone together again, but it was also super chaotic with so many little ones in the mix. There's 11 kids under the age of seven now and I don't think everyone (ahem, the grand-parents) are accustomed to that much screaming. Ha!

Last Saturday was an exciting day. My cousin Jen was in Lincoln, in labor with Baby Benjamin, while everyone else was at my parent's house for a pizza party. The kids ran circles around my parent's house and played together like they'd known each other all their lives (they haven't; most of them have only met once before as babies).

Sunday, our group headed to Hannibal Park for a picnic lunch. It was the perfect place to let the kids loose to run and play, and for the adults to hang out and catch up with one another. My brother Adam and his girlfriend Carley joined us for the picnic, and it was great to see them as well. Tory was especially excited; she idolizes my brother so much because "he's the tallest man in the world!" she says.

My niece, Brooke, is in youth softball this year and it's a true point of pride for my sister. My mom and my sister practiced hitting and catching with her at the park that afternoon.

Papa and Aden

My uncle Norman is the prankster of the family. He brought wax paper and slid down the slide on it causing the slide to be extra slippery for the kids. They shot down like rockets after he went through!

Something else to note from that day: Aden ate his first hotdog and was obsessed! I couldn't cut them into tiny pieces fast enough -- he scarfed them down as fast as he could. I guess there isn't anything like a grilled hot dog in the summertime. 

Monday, our crew headed to the Lincoln Children's Zoo for the day. I love this little zoo because it's the perfect size for small children, offers lots of shaded spots and is easily walkable for little legs. Plus, they have the cutest red train that circles the park. Definitely a highlight for the kids and I every time we visit. 

Nana and Tory

My sister Ashley, cousin Tara and little Thomas

My mom and her sisters, reunited 

The highlight of the zoo visit for Tory was the butterfly garden. A few butterflies landed on her finger, and she was in heaven! Brooke and Henry caught some, too.

Little Finleigh, in a happier moment early in the day. During our last stop, a goat bit Finleigh's finger in the farm area! It was in the petting zoo so I suppose that could happen, but I can't say I've seen that happen to anyone before. Poor girl cried so hard. She was okay though.

Tuesday, we all headed to Lincoln to see my cousin Jen and her kids -- Lauren, Reese and Baby Ben. We quickly took a picture of all 11 kids together before we overwhelmed Jen having just come home from the hospital. 

No one could get over Aden and my cousin Tara's girl Anna together. The two were born just 10 days apart and looked like twins with their blond curly hair. Adorable!

Later that night, we headed back to Hannibal Park to watch Brookie play softball. Henry, Thomas and Tory were all so proud of her. "You can do it, Brooke!" they shouted to her from the sidelines.

My Aunt Cindy, Uncle Bob, Cousin Tara and her kids left town on Wednesday. I extended Tory, Aden and I's stay for another week, so we'd have more "chill time" with my parents and siblings, and so I could visit some of my Nebraska friends. 

More to come from our visit to Nebraska ... 

22/52: A Weekly Photo Series

Tory, Aden and I are visiting my family in Nebraska for two weeks while Andi is traveling for work. This is my favorite time of the year to come "home" -- absent of the holiday chaos or winter weather wreaking havoc on travel. Our time in Nebraska is more relaxed this way, and the kids and I have a chance to connect with family and friends.

We held a big family reunion this past week -- my cousin Tara and her three kids flew in from Pennsylvania with my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Bob (her parents), too. Tara recently moved back to the United States after living abroad, so it'd been a few years since we last saw them.

My cousins Jen and Jes, my sister Ashley, and Tara and I have 11 kids between us all. A cluster of kids were born in 2010-2012, and four of the littlest ones were born in 2013. Baby Benjamin is the newest addition, born only six days ago. We try to take a picture of all the kids whenever we're together, and this time I ordered iron-on numbers for each child to wear on their t-shirts. If there's one picture that sums up our week together, it's this one:

So many blessings! Craziness, constantly!

It's pretty amazing how quickly these cousins took to one another this week. The older ones hadn't met each other but once or twice before and the younger ones never had, but somehow they laughed and hugged and played together like old friends.  

I love my cousins like siblings, and I love their littles ones just as much. Feeling thankful for the unconditional love of family this week.

21/52: A Weekly Photo Series

One of our family's favorite things to do at the cabin is go for "Ranger rides." The countryside near our lake place is surrounded by hundreds of miles of scenic ATV and UTV trails connecting through areas of Wisconsin. We tend to ride close to our cabin and surrounding towns, but have occasionally trailered the Ranger to farther destinations in Wisconsin to check out different trails and loops. The best part is, it's something our whole family enjoys doing together. We can ride for an hour or make it a day's adventure; there's road maps and restaurants perfect for pit-stops along the way.   

The first thing that comes to mind when most people think about trail riding is probably ATV-ing or four-wheeling. An ATV driver straddles a quad and steers using handle-bars. Differently, we own a UTV (or Utility Task Vehicle) that seats up to 5 people. Our Polaris Ranger Crew is outfitted with seat belts, a roof, a windshield and doors for roll-over protection and has a heater that makes it comfortable to use all year long. We've added car seats for the kids, a blinker, a rear-view mirror, a horn and a registered state license plate so it's legal to drive on the road. This set-up is ideal for our family because we can all ride together in one machine. 

Last weekend at the cabin, Andi, Tory, Aden and I went for a long morning ride. We saw some amazing sights on our journey, which is one of my favorite things about "Ranger rides" -- you never know what you'll come across. There's breathtaking scenery and wildlife around every turn. On this particular morning, it was dreary and cool with intermittent spurts of rain which made for a lovely drive.

Our cabin road, now densely covered by lush trees and shrubs:  

Spotting all the different animals during rides is Tory's favorite part. On this day, we saw cows resting in a pasture, horses, deer, bald eagles and various types of smaller birds. We've also seen donkeys, sheep, groundhogs, sandhill cranes, ducks, geese and bears to name a few.

We passed by Staples Lake Bar & Grill -- one of our favorite restaurants at the lake. I suggested we stop in for an order of deep-fried pickles to-go, but Andi quickly nixed the thought. "That's a bad idea," he said. Well yes, consuming deep-fried anything is always a bad idea, but it tastes so good!

More riding through the back country ...

We hopped on the ATV/UTV trail near Comstock Creamery and followed the path toward Cumberland. Recent rains left big muddy puddles on the road. "What do we do when we see a puddle?" Andi typically asks Tory. "Splash 'em!" she'll shouts back.

Though not on this day, as both kids were fast asleep in their car seats. Tory and Aden are powerless to the natural roar of the Ranger's engine. Rides are *just* bumpy enough to lull both kids right to dreamland, giving us parents a few peaceful minutes alone.

While riding along the same trail, Andi and I saw one of the neatest sights -- a white-tailed deer and her brand-new baby fawn together. We could sense the doe was afraid of us (though we stopped and let her pass, not intending to cause any harm) but she didn't run; she didn't want to leave her baby. The legs of the tiny fawn wobbled as its mother slowly guided him across the trail into the woods.

UTV riding adds a new element of adventure to our time at the lake cabin. We explore terrain normally off-limits by car or by foot, and it allows us to take in sights we otherwise might miss. So far, we'd clocked over 800 miles on our Ranger! I'm so thankful Andi's introduced this recreational past-time to our family, and for all the memories we've made on the trails together.

Life Before Blogging: Bahamas Cruise 2005

Back with another Life Before Blogging post; this one, a recap of the first vacation Andi and I took together -- a four-day cruise to Nassau, Bahamas.

The year was 2005, and Andi and I hadn't even classified ourselves as an couple yet. We obviously liked each other very much, but were co-workers for the same company and trying to keep our feelings on the down-low. What first began as an idea for a group vacation with several co-workers, quickly morphed into plans for Andi and I to go on a four-day cruise together following business meetings in Chicago.

  

I hadn't been on many vacations, let alone traveled outside of the United States before, so Andi took the lead in booking our trip. The plan was to depart Chicago after our work meetings wrapped and "lay over" in Miami on our flights home to Minneapolis and Sioux Falls. (Andi lived in Minnesota at the time, and I lived in South Dakota.) The company we both worked for had a loose travel policy, so no one would have noticed /or even cared that Andi and I both booked long lay-overs in a city logistically opposite of our home states. The Carnival cruise ship would leave Miami, spend one day at sea and one day in Nassau, before finally returning back to port in Miami.  

Unfortunately, the best laid plans often go awry. It was mid-December and a terrible snow storm blew through Chicago on our last night in town. We trudged through the storm to attend a work dinner on the final night, followed by drinks and dancing at a local club. Nightlife was a big part of our company's culture. I think a few members of 98 Degrees were at the club with us, but the details remain fuzzy because I drank way too much alcohol that night. At some point when Andi realized leaving Chicago in the inclement weather might be a challenge, he dragged me away from the bar and back to our hotel where he spent several hours on the phone with the airline trying to re-book our trip. If we missed our flights from Chicago, we'd miss our cruise line's departure out of Miami.

I was oblivious to all of this, of course, because I was three sheets to the wind. Not my proudest moment. Andi and I hopped in a cab and headed to the airport, turning 360's on black ice covering the freeway. Some time later, Andi finally convinced an airline ticket agent to re-route us through Fort Lauderdale by telling the lady he'd planned to propose to me on our trip. (Spoiler alert: he wasn't; we weren't even dating yet!) From Fort Lauderdale, we rode on a charter bus to Miami and made it onto the cruise ship just in time for take-off.
 

For some reason unbeknownst to me, Andi decided he still liked me after all of that and asked me to be his girlfriend while we waited at the airline gate in route to Florida. I happily said yes, and we embarked onto one of the most memorable trips of our lifetime.

The trip itself was nothing spectacular; it was lovely, of course -- white sand beaches, beautiful blue water, and cruise line food buffets as far as the eye could see -- but the real magic was the chemistry between Andi and I. In those few sun-soaked days, we started our life together.

Thinking back to that trip reminds me of the many reasons I fell in love with Andi. His determination, creativity and ability to never take 'no' for an answer (to name a few) have shaped the nature of our lives today. Andi opened my eyes to a whole new world of travel and adventure on that trip, and for that I'll always be grateful.

Memorial Day Weekend 2015

Plugging back in to regular life after a wonderful long weekend at the lake cabin. As is typical this time of year, Andi is traveling for work (almost) non-stop for the next six weeks but thankfully, we were able to be spend Memorial Day weekend together. The kids and I picked up Andi shortly after he arrived in Minneapolis on Friday afternoon, then`high-tailed it to our Wisconsin cabin to start the long weekend. We were determined to squeeze in as much family time as possible because our next stint without Daddy is 18 days long!

Not sure what kind of weather the next few days would bring (it almost always rains Memorial Day weekend), the four of us hopped in the pontoon boat for a trip around the lake immediately upon arrival Friday night. The sun was warm and bright, and practically the perfect opportunity for Popsicles. Aden is obsessed with these freezies!

We woke up Saturday morning to bright and sunny skies, so the four of us headed outdoors first-thing for a pajama boat ride. This is one of our family's favorite ways to begin a summer day. No time to brush teeth; just slip on some flip-flops, fill up our coffee cups and throw together some breakfast food for the kids. We've usually got the whole lake to ourselves, and it's such a peaceful way to start the morning. 

After our boat ride, Andi and I decided to capitalize on the good weather and complete some yard work. I outfitted the kids in swimming suits and sunscreen and let them play on the beach while Andi and I picked weeds and cleaned up the lakefront. The water isn't all that warm yet (60 degrees back in the bay by our cabin, and around 55 degrees in the main part of the lake), but that didn't stop Aden from bee-lining directly into the water at first chance. He contently splashed in the shallow water and built sandcastles with Tory while I kept close watch nearby. 

Tory and Aden enjoying a playtime snack break while they watched Andi finish up yard work. 

  

Sometimes, I'm still amazed these two lovely kids are ours. Pinch me! I love this life.

Around noon-time, the weather turned cloudy with intermittent rain and stayed that way for the rest of the weekend. No bother; we still had lots of fun doing other rain-friendly activities around the cabin. And, at least we were able to squeeze in a few boat rides and beach time before the forecast turned gray. 

Sunday, Andi and I loaded the kids into the car and drove North to Hayward, Wisconsin for the day. Hayward is one of my favorite small towns in Wisconsin, mostly for their Musky Days festival that takes place in late June. It has such a welcoming hometown vibe; I love it. On this day, Andi and I planned to buy a floating swim platform from one of Hayward's marinas and stop for lunch at a local farm called Farmstead Creamery and Cafe. The cafe produces their own produce, meats and dairy on-site and makes wood-fire pizzas from scratch every Saturday in the summer in addition to other sandwiches, salads and breakfast foods. We weren't there for the big Saturday festivities, but still enjoyed a nice picnic lunch on their grounds together. 

Aden loved having the freedom to roam around the farm grounds and explore. Tory loved the homemade gelato. I loved the road trip with Andi -- listening to music, talking, and laughing the whole way there and back.

We spent most of Memorial Day Monday going for a long Ranger ATV ride in the countryside, and prepping our cabin for another quick remodeling project. 

Why can't every weekend be a three-day weekend? This long holiday weekend at the lake truly felt like a vacation giving Andi, the kids and I time to unwind, spend time with cabin friends and reconnect with each another. I'm still riding the high from such a great time at the lake, and pining for the day we can get back there again.