The Midwest, In All It's Glory

As if we didn't have enough fun the first time around, we returned to Nebraska and Kansas for more "action:)"

Playing at Lake McConaughy- awesome sandy beaches and warm water. We made a little afternoon trip out of it and even managed a stop at Ole's to see the famous Polar Bear, Elephant head, Giraffe head, etc. A "must see" on I-80:)

Laugh if you must, but TRACTOR PULLS are the COOLEST thing ever! As you can see from Zach's reaction, they are simply mesmerizing! Really though, if you ever have a chance at this pure redneck form of entertainment, run to it! It was well worth every pennie and the 100* 90% humidity we suffered through to watch it! Ike's favorite tractor was name "Mean Moline." He still pretends he is Mean Moline every once in awhile.
Perhaps just as good as the tractor pull itself is people watching at the tractor pull. Lets just say we have a whole new respect for redneck children and what they must go through at home... Ok, I better share... I saw a little kid with BEAUTIFUL long curly blonde hair. In fact it was so beautiful that I pointed it out to Ben. THEN THE KID TURNED AROUND... yep, it was a BOY with lovely blonde locks down to his hips age appx. 2 yrs. with a shirt on that said "My Daddy Drives a Caterpillar Machine" sweet.

How can you not eat PLENTY of CORN on the COB or cookies for that matter?? It's the midwest for heaven's sake! Zach LOVES it:) This was the day he discovered said love.

My cousins with Ike- they look pretty tough, eh?! They played nurf wars for what seemed like hours. Ben was on a team with Justin and Mallory. Ike, Josh and Madison were the upstairs team. Nurf darts were flying everywhere. It was a sight! Ike is still talking about going back to visit these guys and when that will be. He had a blast (and we did too)! We also got to see my cousin, Danielle and my Aunt Jen of course, but I missed that photo op:)



Ike prays every night that we can go back to North Platte to the bumper boats and that he and Grandma can choose red again. Yep, it's bound to be a tradition now:) Besides bumper boats, he also LOVED the Childrens "mah-zoo-zem" including the dentist room, doctor room, pizza shop, bank, grocery store, school house, farm, art room, music room, and car racing room. It was a huge hit! (he prays for that every night too)!



Zach and Gramps enjoying the tractor pull- can you tell it's HOT??

Grandma Pokorninininini (as Ike calls her) We just call her Grandma :) I love this lady so much. She is truly someone I look up to and miss everyday. Sniff. What a good lady.



Well, I missed getting pics of the rest of my family in Kansas, but this is my Aunt Mary. She is so fun! In fact, she is so fun that she was caught on many occasions taking my kiddos for walks to the pond, to see the birds, to the Library and Park! Crazy lady:) I love her and am so glad she has left such a good lasting impression on my boys. I hope they always remember the goodness of our family in Kansas. Wow, I really miss them now. Maybe I can talk Ben into moving to the Midwest after school???

 We had such a good time in the Midwest. I really do feel like it is my growing up home. I miss it, maybe someday I'll even miss the humidity:) We were able to spend lots of quality time with our family and with each other. We took walks or runs every day. We also went on an awesome day trip 4 wheeling with my dad to Halsey National Forest (in Nebraska- weird, I know, but really cool). We went to Cody Park to feed the ducks and ride the carousel innumerable times and even checked out a tandem bike to ride around town (for free, no less)! The river in North Platte is beautiful with the nice river paths and I had a blast running there (turns out I can run FOREVER in the midwest)! Oh, I also should mention, I had a wonderful time Garage Saling and ended up with some real steals- like a new kelty baby backpack for $5! Sweet! Thanks everyone, we had a wonderful time!