nebraska...day one

we made it (only nine hours) to the benders...and can you believe they put on a special bubble show just for us?

bauer instantly bonded with luke,

and i think the girls kind of liked each other too.

after quick snacks...

it was time to change into matching dresses (courtesy the benders) and head to bobbie's for dinner. while the kids played in the backyard...

tommy took it upon himself to teach vivian some of natalie's softball moves...

now you all know i'm no sports enthusiast, but folks...that looks like one serious batter to me!

after a yummy dinner with "special bobbie made chocolate milk",

we headed to the kid's school playground....and this was the scene at the hotel not too long after we arrived.

isn't that how you measure a successful vacation?! ;)

nebraska...day two

we met this morning at cathy's office, and everyone was ready to go...

we decided to make a quick playground stop before lunch.

nicky is so stinking funny....and cute!

one of the MANY attempts at a group photo....

bauer enjoying the rocking turtle? (what is that thing?!)

and vivian and nat (no...i mean what is THAT thing...is she posing?)

when it was time to head to lunch, the boys made their mom's proud, safely holding hands. :) lunch was at valentino's where this cute couple met many years ago...but i'm sorry to say even as cute as they are...

undoubtedly, THIS in val's new spokesperson. HANDS DOWN!!

after a quick change of clothes we were off to the lincoln zoo.

the kids were too excited to pose before the butterfly exhibit...

where vivian held her first butterfly!

and bauer tried, too!

next it was on to the turtles, (vivian's look is an accurate interpretation of her mother's feelings about turtles in general, but i digress....)

luke and bauer preferred the smaller version.

the sea lion.

and of course, leo the paper eating lion.

at this point bauer needed a small break, which he took.
and the other children pretended to be birds in the "nest".

AND beautiful butterfly girls.

baby dinosaurs...AND

the perfect way to end every zoo visit...a ride on the train.

we made a quick stop by the rose garden...where if i do say so myself, we attained the BEST group shot of the trip!!!!

and the children ran wild through the maze....

and peered too closely into the fountain (for cathy's liking)...

and played follow the leader, and ran some more! what an AWESOME day!

nebraska...day three

now i ask, wouldn't you have traveled across the country to spend the day with these great kids? did i mention the kids' ages are 9, 7, 5, 3, 1? yeah, and we color coordinated, we were a sight!! :)

this day we headed to the state capitol...

the kids loved the "hall of heads"!

natalie and vivian were as thick as ever...

but didn't mind luke jumping onto their motorcycle at our next stop, the children's museum!

wait, there is one more cycle enthusiast!! :)

the "thingy"? (what do you call those things?) was a big hit, too!!

bauer did a bit of shopping...

and a bit of pizza delivery!

even the big kids checked things out!!

vivian explored her options for a future in farming...

or possibly medicine?

bauer just explored. ;)

nicky and vivian had a bit of a water war...

not quite sure who won, because it had to be broken up when they turned from guns to buckets! ;)

next, it was off to ivanna cone for a snack, and even though it began to rain...

i don't think these two noticed!

we decided indoor swimming might be the best way to end the evening. luckily, the kids weren't hard to convince! ;)