On July 10 Gertraud and her niece Christina arrived in Omaha. We had a wonderful few days with them exploring Omaha. Tristan, Colin and Liam had met Gertraud five years ago on her last visit when we drove to Washington together. Liam had just turned one and did not remember however, very quickly did they all mesh as if they'd known each other forever. (Fair warning this post may contain a lot of pictures)
Their first day here we hung out at Gramma's house for a bit then took Christina to Elmwood Park to play a little baseball. She had never played before and was interested in seeing how it is played.
We all got very hot playing baseball so we headed over to Stinson Park and played in the little splash area to cool off. Declan was a bit hesitant at first but after a while he got the hang of it.
The next day we went to Durham Western Heritage Museum to check out the T-Rex named Sue exhibit and of course the trains and history of Omaha parts.
In the evening they all played Just Dance on the Wii. Tristan had finally met his match. Christina beat him at almost all the games they played.
On Friday we headed over to the zoo. We are so lucky to live in a city with such an amazing zoo. (the downfall LOTS of people) Overall the crowds were not too bad until we went into a building. We packed some sandwiches and spent the whole day enjoying the sites.
After the zoo Lindsey and I took Christina and all the boys to the gym to swim in the outside pool. It was a bit chilly but they all had a blast and Christina had her picture taken with a lifeguard not just because he was cute but she said most of the lifeguards in Austria are old.
Saturday took us to the Madison County Fair, a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Schulz's farm and tractor rides with Uncle Jerry. It was a truly wonderful day spent touring the farms on foot, four wheeler, and tractor.
Later in the afternoon we went to the county fair. After we toured the open class building and saw all of Grandma's entries we headed to the rides. Uncle Brendan, Christina, Tristan, Colin, Liam and Declan all got bands and could ride as many rides as they wanted to. Some rides were calm.
And some were not so calm. This ride was called OMG! Boy was it ever OMG! It went very high while spinning the riders upside down. These pictures are from the first time Brendan, Colin, Christina, and Tristan rode the ride. They ended up doing it three times. Crazy!
They also went on some rides that were in between the calm and the not so calm. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger and see a bit closer some of their expressions.
Uncle Brendan was amazing all day go on ride after ride with everyone.
This was my kind of ride the huge slide with Declan.
We took a break about 7:30 to eat dinner and meet up with Grandma and Grandpa Schulz. They were hanging out it the food area talking to friends while we were on the rides.
This next picture is bittersweet. I found it on Grandma's camera a few days later. You can barely see Grandma but she's there just behind Liam.
After another hour and a half of rides we grabbed a cool treat to end our night.
The trip to the farm and the fair was a wonderful experience with many good memories made that day. We are blessed to have had that day with Grandma Schulz.
Sunday we did a little shopping with Christina around town. We found some awesome shoes and boots.
Once we got back home Papa had devastating news that Grandma Schulz was in the hospital and she wasn't going to make it. She had had a massive stroke. We said a quick good night to Gertraud and Christina and headed to Norfolk. It was very late when we left the hospital close to 1:00 in the morning. Gramma and Brendan took the four big boys home while Lindsey, Greg and Grayson and I stayed the night at the farm with Grandpa and Papa. Lindsey, Greg and Grayson left after breakfast.
Monday was Gertraud and Christina's last day in Nebraska they all went bowling and played laser tag.
A good 'ol Nebraska dinner of steak and corn on the cob was followed by roasting s'mores for desert.
These two silly boys miss Christina a whole bunch. Liam has been planning and saving for his trip to Austria ever since they left. Thanks for a wonderful visit. We all had a great time with you both.
A good 'ol Nebraska dinner of steak and corn on the cob was followed by roasting s'mores for desert.
Then there were some tearful goodbyes as Christina and Gertraud had to leave early the next morning.
These two silly boys miss Christina a whole bunch. Liam has been planning and saving for his trip to Austria ever since they left. Thanks for a wonderful visit. We all had a great time with you both.
