Small and Smaller

There's lots wrastling (that's how we say it in these parts) that goes in our house.

 

 

Everyone gets into it, young and old, big and small,

 

small and smaller.

 

 

Parting Shots

A few more fun shots from our time in Lincoln.  All four "big girls" ready for bed.  The girls had so much fun having Emma over for a sleepover a few of the nights we visited.

 

 

Tikvah in the bouncy seat, but under the blanket.  Somehow the kids thought they were being helpful with this and that the baby would really like it.  I'm pretty sure it ended with Tikvah crying.

 

Joey sporting some sparkly sunglasses and a flashlight.  He thought he was hot stuff.  He is, but it's not really enhanced by the glasses.

 

Joey and Aunt Tami.  He knows who to make friends with...she buys the presents.

 

The questions usually start upon backing out of the driveway.  "When will we see Emma agian?  When are we going to come back and visit Grandma DeShon?..."  I'm grateful to live close enough now that I can say, it won't be long.

Birthday Bash

Cousin Emma has a birthday in June.  To celebrate her birthday, the kids and I took her to this amazing little place called Lost in Fun.  The kids played like wild people on all sorts of play equipment, in ball bins

Xandra and Emma

Aliyah, Theia, Emma, Xandra

and bouncy inflatables.

They had a grand old time

chasing and running

and eating pizza for lunch

and climbing up

and down.

And they haven't stopped talking about it or asking when Emma has her next birthday if they can go back to Lost In Fun. 

Like a Home Run

While in Lincoln one of our other adventures involved attending one of cousin Nick's baseball games.  Grandpa, while not an official coach, helps boss the kids around.  Unlike Grandpa's own children, these children actually listen to grandpa.  I have no idea why.

While grandpa was managing the team, Emma helped me manage the female portion of  my team.

The details of the game are a bit fuzzy to me, as Joey provides full time entertainment for me at events where there are wide open spaces, trash cans, parking lots, bathrooms without doors, and other people.  I did however have time to snap this shot of Nick at bat, cheer him on, and see him hit the ball and make it safely to base.

I also managed to keep Joey mostly out of trouble, which is just like hitting a home run in my world.

Wild Life

In June we took another trip to Nebraska to visit family.  This trip helped me remember how many fun and free or cheap things there are to explore with kids in Lincoln. It's fun, years later, as a mom, to experience a few of them with my own kids and my friends' kids.

On a warm, sunny morning we met up with my good friend Erin and her crew for a day at the Pioneers Park Nature Center.  To start our day, we stopped on the bison (pronounced with a z sound if you're in North Dakota and an s sound if you're in Nebraska) bench for a picture

and another picture.

From left:  Isaac, Noah, Xandra, Aliyah, Grace, Ellie, Joey looking on, Theia not pictured

After pictures we ventured inside and found a really big snake.

All of my girls surprised me by willingly touching it

and then being sad when it was back in its cage.

Joey found a snake, that may or may not have been fake, of his own by raiding a bin in the gift shop while we were distracted.

Outside we saw elk with amazingly fuzzy, large horns

from the safety of a bridge.

We also saw this large frog

and some geese, too.

After being outside we ventured to another section of the indoor nature center and saw these owls, uncaged

and perched both low and high.

 

After we'd thoroughly explored the nature center, we headed to the playground for lunch and then hiked up to the famous Indian statue.  This statue has been here for a long, long time or at least since I was a kid, which is seeming like a long, long time ago with each passing year.  We used to hike to it when I was a kid.  It seemed a lot bigger when I was a child.

After our hike to the statue we enjoyed some chocolate chip cookies and headed home.  On our way out of the park I took a picture of the famous buffalo (it may actually be a bison, but we always called it a buffalo growing up) statue at the entrance of the park.  I'm guessing if you dug through the shoebox of pictures my mom's got from my childhood you'd find several of me perched next to this statue.

We had to leave something for next time, after all.

Nests

Living in the country this spring afforded us the opportunity to watch nature at work.  Grandpa identified several birds' nests with eggs around the yard at the beginning of spring, and every few days we would peek into the nests and watch the eggs.

Eventually the eggs hatched, revealing tiny birds, who then grew and grew, grew feathers, strengthened their wings, and one day, left the nest.  It was amazing to witness nature at work so closely.

I feel the same amazement when I step back and consider the same process, albeit slower, is alive in my own home.

Cat Napper

Helpful Reminders

It's easy with five small children and lots going on to let important details escape my radar.

 That's where Grandpa and sticky notes

reallly save the day.

They're better than a string around my finger.

Even The Big Wheels

Joey mastering a Big Wheel,

in a world where,

even the Big Wheels,

are pink.

S'more Please

One thing that's become a tradition at the Pull Reunion is a campfire, marshmallows and s'mores.

Uncle Josh

Xandra



Bethany



Lisa & Ingrid

Laney with a bandaid from a fall that took her to the emergency room for stitches earlier in the week.  They glued the wound closed and sent her home with a fun bandaid.

It's a sweet tradition.