Park & Olympic Swimming Trials

There is a great little kids park about 5 minutes from Brad's parents house, so we took the kids there one day.  It was pretty hot, so we didn't stay long, but Parker had fun on the see-saw with Daddy and Hannah almost fell asleep in the swing!

After the park, we went to visit Brad's Aunt Corrine at her house.  She is a hoot and we always enjoy getting to see her.  We typically see her at Thanksgiving, but since Hannah was born right before Thanksgiving this year, we weren't able to travel.  It was fun getting our annual picture with her and the kids.

That night, Brad and I went to a Triple-A baseball game - the Omaha Storm Chasers.  It's always fun and we usually go to at least 1 game when we are in Omaha.  It's a very fan-friendly and kid-friendly park.  We were going to bring Parker, but decided at the last minute that he probably needed to stay home, since the game started at 7.  Brad and I had a fun time and enjoyed a ballpark drink and pretzel!

One of the biggest highlights of the trip for us was getting to go to the Olympic Swimming Trials and seeing Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.  Brad and I have never been to a swimming event and these trials were quite the deal.  It was packed, people were standing and cheering, there were flames and music when each heat was over (to celebrate the winners), and they even turned the lights down each time they did the medal ceremony.  It was awesome!  We brought Parker along because we thought he would enjoy all the action and he did!

Phelps and Lochte getting reading for their heat (they are the 2 beside each other right in the middle).

Grandpa explaining to Parker what was going on (he had to explain to Brad and I too) - hah!  Thanks to Rolly for having great tickets for all of us to go!

Phelps - Lane 5 and Lochte - Lane 4

Every heat they raced against each other was this close!

Michael Phelps is quite a specimen when you see him up close!  

And, I had to put this picture in - this is a sunset in Nebraska.  We don't get to see this in the South because of all the trees.  The sun and moon look so big and bright and it's simply gorgeous!

Lauritzen Gardens & Bowling

Thursday, we went to Lauritzen Gardens (which is like the Atlanta Botanical Gardens) to check it out.  It was really, really nice, but hot, hot, hot!!  The gardens property is about 120 acres, so we thought we would be able to walk some of it.  Well, we walked around for about 20 minutes and we all got really hot.  We decided the best way to see a majority of the gardens was to take the tram and I think Parker was really glad we decided to do that - hah!

Parker and Dad checking out the bushes

Parker is focused!

Waiting for the tram!

Parker loved the tram ride!

We stopped at the little train area - it was so cute!  They had model trains running on tracks all throughout this area and everything for the model trains was made out of material found at the garden.  It was really cool!

Then, we got to ride up the big hill to see the huge trains.  These are actual train cars that were hauled up the big hill that welcomes you to the Nebraska state line into Omaha.  It is simply amazing how they got these huge train cars up this big hill.

I took this pic to show how high up we were and to think folks actually got 2 huge train cars up this huge hill - amazing!

Thursday night, we all decided to go bowling.  Parker seems to be a pro now, so I think he was ready to show for Grandma and Grandpa Kleeman!

Waiting patiently for the ball to be returned!

Getting some help from Dad

Focused and ready!

Hannah and Grandma Kleeman cheered and danced for Parker!

Parker did so good - he bowled a 104!!!  We were all so proud of him!  The first time he bowled was a 54, then the 2nd time was a 76 and now the 3rd time is a 104!  I wasn't able to get a picture of the line score because we were bowling for an hour and as soon as the game was over, the screen restarted, but Parker had about 6 or 7 spare frames!  It was unbelievable!

Our little bowler!  

To celebrate, we stopped in the arcade and played a few games.  Even Hannah joined in the fun - hah!  It was a fun family night and we all had a great time!

Omaha Children's Museum

I had to take this picture of Hannah in her cute shirt and matching octopus bow that a friend of mine made for her.  There is a headband that goes with the bow, but I like the bow by itself.
 
Wednesday we took the kids to the Children's Museum in downtown Omaha.  It was awesome and much better than the one in Atlanta.  Parker and Hannah both had a great time!

Parker and Dad had fun with the big lite-bright as Hannah just watched!

Then, we ventured over to the "big kids" area and Parker had fun watching the balls drop all over the floor from above!

We went to the farm area, where Parker got to check out the pig and the sheep.

Of course, we had to stop in the kitchen!

The museum had a 0-3 year old section, so we stayed there a while so Hannah and Parker could play together.  This area was nice because no one was there and it was perfect for Hannah to be on the ground for a while and for the kids to play together.

It totally looks like Hannah is showing off her little bow and proud of it in this pic - hah!

Parker checking out the corn stalks

On the 2nd floor of the museum, they had a Wizard of Oz themed area.  This wind tunnel was a simulator for a tornado and Brad and I thought Parker would love it.  So, we paid our $2, and Parker took inside this cylinder type enclosure and the wind went from 0-78mph within a matter of seconds.  It was awesome and Parker loved it!!  His facial expressions cracked us up!

Parker loved the bubble table.  This kept him interested for about 15 minutes!

After the museum, we came home and ate lunch and the kids took naps.  Then, once both kids were up, they played a little bit together.  It's so sweet to see them interacting more and more each day!

Even Jake posed for a pic with Hannah!

Hannah took her first crawling steps while we were in Nebraska - she can do about 4 "crawls."