Omaha Vacation

The weekend before Melissa's wedding was the only free weekend we had to get away this summer...so we traveled to Omaha to have some fun!

*There is an overload of pictures in this post!

Our first stop was the Omaha Children's Museum.  It's like a discovery center for kids.  Jace worked some gears trying to move some balls around, and played with a "tornado maker".

He played in a firetruck, went down an elephant slide, and played on a light piano.  He also worked really hard pulling a rope to get a chair to raise!

Connor was doing some discovery of her own once she was allowed to get out of the stroller...pulled herself up for the first time to get a better look at those water tubes!

Their special exhibit was a "Dinosaur" exhibit...so Jace dug for fossils.

And they had a train he could ride too!

Trying to get pictures of them together...

That was a Saturday, and that night we went to Bass Pro and did this...

and quickly learned that Cabela's shooting range is MUCH better.

We headed out to the hotel, and after quickly getting checked in we went to see "Planes: Fire and Rescue".  Well, Jed and Jace saw it and loved it...Connor just loved crawling around outside, and eventually napping in the car.

The next day we went to the Omaha Zoo.

The Sea Lion show was one of our first stops...Connor LOVED it. She was jumping, clapping, yelling, she absolutely loved it.  Jace couldn't wait to move on...

He had one thing on his mind: riding the camel.  Jed didn't think there was any way he would go through with it, but he was so excited and loved it.

This double stroller was a great garage-sale purchase.  The Omaha Zoo is huge, we did a LOT of walking, and it got hot. 

We took a train ride and thought the seats in the front would be the best.

They may have been, but it was too noisy up there!

I think Jed and Jace are looking for lions here...

By the end of the day, they were both exhausted.

And a few random photos...

Jace took this one...

And our little explorer...

I'm pretty sure those binoculars, or "Noc-a-lars" as Jace calls them, are backwards, but he's happy!

Fun with Cousins!

Jace, Connor and I went to 2 "new" playgrounds this summer...the new one at Troy and this one at Midway.  Colton and Kyler were out at Grandma's, so we took them with us and had some fun!

Connor really enjoyed hanging out!

They've all gotten so adventurous...

Muscle man!

As usual, Kyler was anywhere and everywhere...

I said, "Practice wedding smiles!" And these are what I got...1 out of 3 isn't bad!

Melissa's Bachelorette Party

For Melissa's bachelorette party we went to Manhattan, and started with a tour of some of her old favorite spots!  This photo is her duplex, the K-State is outside Call Hall, which wasn't open for ice cream darn it!, Bottom left is a view of her first apartment at KSU, and Mrs. Powell's Cinnamon Rolls on the Mall!

These pictures are all from the football stadium!

A view from on top of Manhattan hill (which was probably 1000 degrees...) 

Getting ready to hit the town!

Elevator photo of Melissa and Jennifer...

And the fun begins at Willie's....

The group at Willie's...Lucrecia Nold, myself, Kelsey Wohletz, Sarah Albers, DeAnn Harring; Front: Autumn Burmeister, Jennifer, Melissa, Jessica Lackey.

And some end of the night photos...

Feeding time...and playing time...

I love their expressions....Jace isn't sure what the heck Connor is eating...Connor is just happy to get food!

Our tough baseball player...

This summer we have spent MUCH more time playing baseball than playing in the sandbox...but we still love that sandbox!

Oh, and there's always Connor hanging around, waiting to "Cheese" for the camera!

Swinging, Splashin' and Firecrackin!

This was the first year Jace got to light any firecrackers.  *It should be noted there were NO other kids at our house except for Connor, otherwise he would not have been allowed to do this because he wouldn't have been able to focus!

I asked Jace if I could get a picture of him and Connor.  He said yes, but he wanted to write on the board first.  Okay....whatever it takes.

And more fireworks excitement.....