Husker Football

So a couple weeks ago I got a chance to attend my first Husker Football game. I must say I was pretty excited to get away for a day with my hubby and enjoy the beautiful weather. What I didn't plan on, was that the sun would come out and it would get hot! And that I would be sitting so close to so many people!!! I ended up having to purchase a t-shirt because I had on long sleeves and was about to faint. And I'm also not a huge football fan to begin with, so by halftime, I was pretty much done with football. We stayed for the entire game, and it took us a good hour to get back to our car and get out of town. It was a good, good day! Thanks to the Goertzen's for thinking of us and letting us have your seats. Below is a picture of where we sat...90 rows up!

Here come the HUSKERS!!!

After the first touchdown, the fans release balloons. Not sure I've ever seen so many balloons in one place before.

This picture was taken at the end of the game when the stands had cleared out. You can see the wall behind us that was the skyboxes. That's how close to the top we were.

The day FINALLY arrived!

Not sure who was more excited, Ben or his Mom! Actually, Mom was excited that Ben was getting some much-needed time away from Mom. Today Ben started Preschool at Bethesda. I still can't believe he's that old. Next it will be Kindergarten, and then all of a sudden, he'll be off to college. He was so ready this morning that by 8:30 he had already gotten dressed, eaten breakfast, and brushed his teeth. These things usually take up until 10 to do! I think about every 15 minutes he'd ask if it was 10:30 yet. That's what time he had to be at preschool. Of course, I had to do the typical "first day of school" photos. Ben was pretty pumped about it.

I loaded 3 little ones into the wagon and we walked Ben to preschool. Jay Dee even made it home in time to help us and to watch Ben go to preschool. I think Ben was pretty happy that his Daddy came with him. This is a picture of Ben with his teacher, Gina Mestl. We're looking forward to getting to know her better through preschool.

The only thing Ben was upset about was when I picked him up. He had it in his head that he was going to get to walk home by himself, like the "big kids" do after school to our house. Why does he think he needs to grow up so fast?

Lincoln Children's Zoo

On Saturday, August 29, we took the kids to Lincoln to the Children's Zoo. We've been once before when Ben was about the same age that Madalyn is now. It was fun to see their faces as they saw all the animals. Ben got pretty excited at the following: one of Santa's reindeer!

We also decided to eat lunch at the zoo. It was such a beautiful day and while we were eating we kept having a friendly visitor who would pick up everything that everyone dropped. I loved watching the peacock, but we never could get him to show all this feathers. I really wanted Ben to see them. I remember my great uncle having peacocks on his farm and I always loved looking at their feathers.
The Children's Zoo is also a great place for the kids to play and experience things they don't normally get too. One thing they have is this giant rope spider web. Ben was so worried that a big spider would get him if he crawled into the middle.
They also have a new butterfly pavillion that wasn't there the last time we visited. Outside it is this BIG caterpillar. It took Ben several tries to get up on the thing, but he finally did. The only bad part about the butterflies is that it got cold a couple days before we went and so they weren't very active. Actually, I think several of them had died. But we managed to get at least one good picture of a monarch.

Another area in the zoo they have a "hands on" exhibit. This time they had out a rabbit, and even Maddie got in on the action. He was pretty soft!

Another great area is the petting zoo with all the goats. Madalyn just loved watching them stick their heads through the little feeding holes. She would stick her hand up there and as soon as one would get close to her, she'd yank her hand out and laugh. I also think she liked the noises they made. Her favorite thing to say is "baa" thanks to Papa's sheep. It was a great day!!

4-wheelers and Jet skis

We've had some outdoor adventures lately. Ben wanted to ride his 4-wheeler the other night, and to everyone's surprise, Maddie beat him on it, so he was forced to give her a ride. He wasn't excited about that, because he couldn't go as fast as he wanted to, but she enjoyed every minute of it.

We also spent some time at the Stauffer Pond on last wednesday evening. It is between here and Lincoln. We are part of the youth group leadership team for our church, and we are planning a campout for our youth this weekend, so we had an evening at the pond to make final preparations for our event. Mike and Kelsey got the jet skis out so we could ride and ski. Ben was pretty excited for a ride on the jet ski with Mike.

Madalyn however, wasn't so excited! I think she just hated the lifejacket. Because when we took it off, she just stood at the side of the pond and enjoyed the water hitting her feet.

I also managed to get in a little skiing, but we have no pictures to show you, sorry! Let's just say, I hurt for two days after that. Not sure when I'll do that again.

Birthdays and Reunions

Our days have been busy, which explains why I haven't posted for awhile. Lately they have been filled with birthdays and reunions. On Saturday, the 15th, we helped Jay Dee's grandpa, Walt Rempel, celebrate his 80th birthday. His children planned a party out at the "home place" for all the family, friends, and the neighborhood that they grew up with. It was fun to see everyone, and to meet new people. Below is a picture of Ben and Maddie with their great-grandpa Rempel.

This past weekend we spent with my family in Kearney, Nebraska. We had a Phillips family reunion. Phillips is my grandma's maiden name. I was 13 when my great-grandparents passed away, and I haven't seen most of the relatives since then. So we had a good time telling stories and getting to know everyone again. The kids also enjoyed and indoor waterpark area. Ben was just a little too young yet to really enjoy it, mainly because he couldn't go down the two big slides.

This picture is of my mom pushing Maddie in her swing on friday. Can you see the smile on Maddie's face? One of her favorite things to do.

Ben, Grandma Joyce, Mom (Pam), Sondra, and Bert playing a mean game of Rummikub. I don't think Grandma's score was very good, because her 'helper' kept putting her tiles back in the draw bag. Oops!

This is my family picture. If you can't tell, we were a bit lazy and didn't feel like standing up. My mom (Pam), Dad (Gary), Ben, me, Jay Dee, and Madalyn.

My Grandma Joyce Burford, and her two brothers, Don and Jerry. Don lives in Kansas on the 'homeplace' and Jerry lives in Colorado. Grandma's other sister who lives in Kansas couldn't make it.

A picture of our extended family, with the Bullers, Ron, Kara, Penny, and Sondra.

My mom Pam, Penny, and Grandma Joyce.

This was after we got back home, and Ben and Papa were having some cookies before Papa and Nana made the trip back home.

York County Fair...and trouble!

Last weekend we headed to York two different evenings for the county fair. The plan was to only go for one, but on our way there, we got a phone call from my parents that they were headed our way, so we decided we go back for a second night so they could watch the kids ride rides and look at animals. These photos were all taken from the first night.
Ben enjoyed driving the big blue semi.

This was the only ride that Madalyn was able to get on as well. We wondered if she would last very long and she did quite well. She started being ready to get off right when the ride stopped.

So the rest of the train story goes like this...

The second night Ben wanted to ride the train again, so we let him. Instead of getting to go around 8-9 times, the train stopped after 2 times around and Ben had to get off. Our son had been kicked off his first carnival ride!!! I was a bit upset (Jay Dee would say overly upset!) Here's what happened.... Ben was in the caboose this time and as they went around he was sticking his head out the side of the car to look at the front of the train. The first time they came around, I leaned over the fence and gave him a thump on the head and told him to get his head back inside. Well it wasn't two seconds and he was sticking his head back out again. This time the train stopped and he had to get out. I was not happy that the carnival person didn't give him at least a warning. I think that if someone besides me would have told him, he might have listened. Although we've been struggling with that A LOT lately-listening. So if anyone has any parenting tips, I'd gladly take them!

On the way to the car, our sobbing son informed us of why he did what he did. He told us that the person in the caboose is supposed to help the person in the engine. Well he's right. You see we read him a book about trains on the average of once a week, and in that particular book it talks all about a guy in the caboose helping the engine driver. So our son was right...to some extent. Now if we can just get him to understand rules! I'm starting to worry about preschool.

Ben also wanted to ride the ferris wheel, so his daddy braved it with him (Neither Jay Dee or I enjoy rides anymore). He had a great time and loved it. He just didn't like it when daddy rocked the seat, or when it stopped at the top and rocked a bit.

August Already!

Okay, so I just realized that its been awhile since I posted, and now its already August 6! So where does the time go?

It seems that once again our lives have been busy. We actually got rain last weekend, and stayed home. Aren't you supposed to go somewhere when it rains? The one place we want to go is the Black Hills (I've never been), and this is not the time to go with Sturgis going on. So we didn't go anywhere, and instead we just spent time together which was wonderful. Plans for this week include baking bars for a Bethel Golf Tourney here in Henderson, a chiropractor appointment, and of course a trip to the York County Fair. I'll try to remember to take my camera and get some pictures. I'm sure there will be rides involved since Ben is getting bigger. The only problem is that I can't ride anything because I get sick, and he informed me that "maybe there will be a ferris wheel. I've never been on a ferris wheel!" Maybe this Mommy can manage that one...we'll see.

The only other thing we've done lately is go to the pool. That hasn't happened as much as I thought it would this summer. I'm already looking forward to next summer when Maddie is older and I won't worry about her as much. Watching two kids who can't swim is crazy! Ben will definitely be taking swimming lessons next year! So below are some pictures from our trip the other day. Maddie enjoyed playing in the little fountains, and she's not afraid of anything. Several times I pulled her up after she had fallen face first, and it never seemed to bother her.I FINALLY got Ben to go down the little slide by himself and realize that he can actually touch. He walked by it all the time in the water but it didn't click that he could touch I guess. The first time down this slide earlier this summer he didn't wait on me and was "sunk" as he puts it, and so he was scared to go down again. Now he can do it by himself which is a relief!

Maddie also likes this slide. We called Aunt Kara and Cousin Braden to go with us and so they met us there. So this is Aunt Kara helping Maddie up the slide.