Viking Days

For Father's Day weekend, we drove an hour northwest to the town of Stromsburg for their annual Viking Festival. The town was settled by a group of Swedes and they've been able to maintain some of their culture. It's been 100° every day for the last two weeks - we were not looking forward to baking in the sun, but an overnight rainstorm and some clouds kept the temperature in the low 80's. 

We took advantage of the "Taste of Sweden" - the boys actually ate (and enjoyed) new food, including potatoes. We had Swedish meatballs, potato bologna, cheesy cold green beans, and homemade wheat & rye breads. We stopped by the butcher on our way home and picked up a couple packages of his potato bologna - it's yummy! The highlight of the trip was a demonstration of Viking combat techniques by a group of wannabe Vikings. JP found a knitting shop and was in heaven.

How Stuff Works

I brought a destroyed single cylinder mower engine for the boys to take apart. CP helped our neighbor's nephew tear it down. It kept them busy for an hour and now they understand how a four stroke engine works. 

No - they did not reassemble it. 

Downtown

One advantage of the boys being older is that we can now take them places without too much whining and fussing. They are slowly learning that going out to dinner or lunch is usually a good thing rather than a punishment. Their tastes are evolving beyond french fries.

We took advantage of a warm spring day to check out Yowie's, a new restaurant in the Haymarket. We were able to sit on their covered patio and watch the street scene. The boys were fascinated by the pedal-powered bar that was making laps. Seems like a lot of work and not a lot of relaxation.

Opening Day for Pool Season

Despite a warm and sunny March, April and May were cool and rainy. It wasn't until Memorial Day Weekend that we broke out of the depressing clouds.

Sunday was an absolutely perfect day for the pool. The sky was warm, blue, and cloudless all day.

Employed!!!

CP landed his first job last week at the new Valentino's. He's mostly working evenings, making tasty pizza for south Lincoln. His plan is to save up for a hot graphics card for his computer. 

... and the graphics card needs a more powerful power supply, and a faster CPU, and a new motherboard, and ...

I helped him thru the math and he got mad when he realized it's going to take 77 hours of work to attain his goal. I didn't have the heart to tell him about all the deductions he'll see on his first paycheck for fed & state taxes, social security, etc. 

Baby Bunnies

The G's backyard sprouted a half-dozen baby bunnies this spring. They were all in a shallow hole in their backyard. On one of the occasions that we had a 4" downpour, their hole flooded. CG scooped them out and everyone got to hold and warm their own little furball of cuteness. Within a week they have all left the nest.

Onward & Upward

Our friends' daughter graduated from LSW this year. It's hard to believe that she was only 5 when we moved here. This fall she's off to UNL. It was fun seeing all of the boys' friends from speech walk across the stage.

Solo Robin

This year we only had one baby robin in our nest. We knew there was something in the nest, but hadn't seen it. When I raised my camera up to snap this photo, he spooked and shot out of the nest trying his best to fly away. As soon as I backed away, he hopped across the yard and back up into his nest. Now he's gone and the nest is empty. Maybe we'll get a pair of doves using it next, like last year.

Zombie Pianos

Last night we went with two other couples to listen to the Dueling Pianos show at Brewskies down in the Haymarket. We had a fun evening, despite the zombie girl behind JP; didn't get home until 1:30. 

High Hopes

With the hail storms, all the dealerships are knocking a few $ off to move out their damaged inventory. GP hasn't had much interest in driving until we went car shopping. Now he's fully engaged and expects to get a new car. So far his favorite is the Honda Civic.  

Dogpile

Our friends' dogs love to curl up together. They meld into a big pile of fur.

Big Hail

This week we had a strong storm blow thru. I tried to beat it home, but didn't make it. I had to pull off at the gas station south of home and ride it out. My car got pounded! Not as bad as this truck - the worst hail was a few miles east. The sunroof, rear window, and one of the side windows were also broken out.

JP & the boys were home throughout it. They lost power, and the cell connections were overloaded as everyone tried to check on their families & friends. The tornado sirens started going off before the weatherman received notice from the weather service. It was mass confusion as tornadoes were spotted only a mile from the house.

We got about 5" of rain in two hours. The backyard turned into a river. The basement stayed dry.

Grille Season

We put new burners on our 15 year old grille and it's making even heat again. This year, JP found an awesome stainless grill surface so that we can try some new summer recipes. Just need some warm weather now.

Hairball

We took the kids to Omaha to see Hairball, an 80s tribute band. CP & I abandoned our seats and watched from the floor. This was the boys' first concert. CP was fired up. GP was not, but by the end of the show he was tapping his toes and singing along. The boys knew every song by heart. Kudos to JP for remembering to bring ear plugs!

The show was a solid 2 hours, complete with awesome effects and pyro fire. Hairball has two singers that alternate every two songs. They come out in full costume for each band tribute. The finale was Freddy Mercury. Bands covered were KISS, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Queen, Motley Crue, Poison, Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Journey, Bon Jovi, and AC/DC. What a show!!

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is one of our favorite deck holidays. This year was no different; the G's came over and we gorged ourselves on fajitas, fresh guacamole, and margaritas. 

Prom 2016

For Prom, we headed back to IL so that CP could go with his childhood friend JN. They made a very cute couple.

CP with his James Bond uniform makes us both look like midgets.

The prom was held at the Bull Valley Country Club, just east of Woodstock.

I think the moms had more fun than the kids.

Spongebob Squarepants Pizza

What the heck?!? My favorite freezer food changed shape. These tasty $1.29 pizzas have always been round; now they're square. What's next - cubic tater tots?

Speakers

The boys finished up their year of LSW speech. Both earned their academic letters and "Performing Arts Scholar" awards. GP now wants to get a letterman jacket. It's awesome that they're enjoying it so much. At the awards ceremony, we finally realized that GP's team is made up of 95% girls. For some reason, all the boys in his class chose to be on the debate team. He will have his pick of partners next year for a duo.

One of the kids on the team put together a documentary as a class project. He won a college scholarship for it! Check it out here. The coaches that make the speech/debate teams happen are an amazing couple.

Sunscreen?

The years living in FL and AZ are catching up with me. The small spot I had removed from my chest turned out to need all the skin around it removed, too, so I had to go to a plastic surgeon. He cut out a patch 1-1/2 x 1" and stitched it back together. He said something about needing to use sunscreen. Something more than SPF 4.

Rainbow

We had the perfect storm for rainbows - at sunset with a clear sky to the west.

Mortar Man

CP cut down the tube that the new kitchen rug was on and built a mortar. He's ready for the 4th - thinks he will be able to launch firework mortar rounds from it. We'll see...

Fresh Eggs

We're now on the distribution list for fresh eggs again!! When we were in Mexico we really enjoyed the farm fresh eggs. The week we got back I found someone at work that deals in eggs, so now it's almost like we're back in Mexico. Except there's no beach. And no one makes the bed or does the dishes for us.

New Shower Door

CP has always struggled with the shower curtain in the basement bathroom. We found a sweet glass door @ Lowe's and spent an afternoon putting it in. Now all we need to do is chip out the old grout and apply some fresh silicone. 

Note: abrasive cutoff discs don't work well in a miter saw to cut flimsy aluminum extrusions. Next time: use a miter box and a hacksaw.

Outdoor Guitar

I picked up an old beat up guitar to have something to play outside while sitting on the deck. The armrests on the deck chairs are always in the way and would chip the finish on a nice guitar. The original paint on this one was black and it had some bad buckle rash on its backside. I sanded it down and gave it some stain and an oil finish. Now I can play outside in style without worrying about banging up a good guitar.

Swimming with Turtles

In  Mexico, JP set us up with an excursion to swim with sea turtles. She was told that it would be a small private group from our hotel and it was a short 30 minute drive to a secluded spot where we would have a very special chance to swim with the turtles. The van that picked us up was packed and it took us an hour to get to our destination. The "secluded" spot was a national park with a thousand other tourists on the beach and in the water. Nonetheless, we had a great time.

 

After swimming with the turtles, we went into the jungle and swam around in some cenotes (sinkholes). The water was crystal clear and chilly. The bottom of the cenotes dropped away to dark caves - I cannot imagine doing a cave dive.  

Valentin

This year marks our 25th anniversary. To celebrate, we went to Mexico for a week with our friends. We went back to the Valentin Imperial Maya (30 minutes south of Cancun) where we went five years ago for our 20th. It's a magical resort with something for everyone - white sand, solitude, parties, dancing, Cuban cigars, awesome food, and cold drinks.

The Gs and Ns made it more fun. I can't imagine going to someplace like this without taking friends along.

We had perfect weather every day - nothing but sun and 85°. 

Here is a link to the rest of our vacation: Vacation Photos

Nana's Birthday

Nana came out to stay for a week and celebrate her birthday in style at the Wilderness Ridge lodge. As usual, the food was excellent and very tasty. 

Last Snow?

Hopefully this was our last snow of the season: 3/19/16. It was a normal day and then out of nowhere a blizzard blew in and snowed cat & dogs for 10 minutes. Then, in true Nebraska fashion, the sun came back out and it was a nice day and the Gs came over and we made pizza.

BG has a huge basil plant that she harvests to make her own pesto sauce. It's incredibly delicious!

How to be a Dictator

CP's routine for speech this year is "How to be a Dictator." He made it to district finals - this performance was the night after finals - he was ready to change out of his suit and play video games.

G&G Visit

G&G stopped by for a few days on their latest cross-continent trek. It's hard to believe how much the boys have grown while we've been here in Nebraska.

Grampa got in an afternoon nap out on the sundeck.

Tight Fit

Now that we have three cars, we had to clean up the third garage stall so that we could get them all inside. Somehow JP did it while I was out of town.

Roadkill

L loves heat, whether it's from fresh laundry, the dishwasher, or a Nebraska sunny day. Whenever the fireplace is on, you can always find her relaxing in front of it. If she were any larger, she'd look like a swelled up raccoon taking a nap along side the road.

Neon Knights in Rocksmith

My favorite video game just got a little better. I finally created my own custom song. It's not really my own song - it's a Black Sabbath tune from 1980 - but I put together the files so that I can play/stumble along with rhythm or lead guitar and bass.