Family Vacation 2013

 Last week we took a much needed family vacation to Omaha, Ne.  It was only four hours away from home so the trip was not too bad with three kiddos.  We had a great time and were not ready to  come home and face all of our daily responsibilities.

 Rolling hill of Nebraska ~ Beautiful corn fields.

 Picnic lunch at a park in Avoca, IA.   We had the most perfect weather,  warm but there was almost always a breeze. 

 Walking the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge between Iowa and Nebraska.

 Fun day at Omaha's Henry Doorley Zoo,  if you ever are in the area this is a zoo you must visit.  It was so nice and lots of things to see.  We did not have time to see it all.

 Brenna and her Daddy riding the Skyfari ~ this is a sky lift that take you over some of the zoo.

 Our three cutie after supper at Cracker Barrel.  One of Piper and Mommies favorite places.

 We visited the The Durham Museum ~ the former Union Station.   Very neat place.   Here are Eric and Piper sitting on one of the original train benches. 

 Look at this cute little girl I found on vacation.

 Of course we had to visit Farmall Land~USA.   Eric has talked about visiting this place for a long time and it just so happened to be on our way.   He was in red tractor heaven (and so was a certain 4year old.)

Blake seemed to enjoy himself too,  Brenna said "I think I will take a nap."
  We had a great time and are already look forward to the next trip we can take together.  

Fantastic Friday

With summer vacations and road trips approaching I thought I would share with you some of things I bring along to keep Piper entertained and happy in the car and also some neat ideas I have found on Pinterest.   *click highlighted words to go to Pinterest link.
1.  If your child loves to do puzzles, color, play with cars or magnets these trays are a must.  We did this and Piper loved it.

2.  A very hand way to keep snacks organized and not get squished.

3.  BooginHead Squeez'ems ~  fill with your own puree.

4.  Always pack a favorite blanket and a pillow.   I love the idea for this pillow,  I will be making it before our summer vacation(no more head on her knees for Piper)

5. Fist Aid Kit is a must, you know how crazy kids can be and you also know that someone just might get sick.  Germs are rampant!

6.   I love this idea for packing kids clothes,  you put the outfits together but they still get a choice.  I did this last year and it made getting ready for the day so easy.


I know there are many more ideas for travel out there and I would love to hear from you.  Which was your favorite in this list?   Maybe you have "pinned" or just have so great travel tip for kids or adults,  if so please leave a comment or link.   Thanks for joining me for another Fantastic Friday.

Minnesota Vacation

 Our first stop was the Little Brown Church in Nashua, IA.  I am sure most of you are familiar with the song about this church, well it was my Grandad Norwoods favorite song and we had it played at out wedding in memory of him.  So naturally we had to stop and take a look at the church especially since it was not even out of the way.  And now we will continue with our time in MN,  Enjoy!

 We had lunch at the American Doll store in the Mall of America,  such a neat experience,not real cheap but worth it for the fun my little girl had.

 Piper loves Dora and so meeting Dora was the highlight of her trip, she is now  convinced Dora is REAL.

 Loved visiting this place, fun stores, amusement park and don't forget lots of yummy food.

 Just a piece of interesting art.

Just a cool old Mill, now turned museum.

Hope you enjoyed the peek at out vacation photo's,  we had a great time and made some good memories.

Vacation Down South

Hello everyone, wow it has been a long time since I have posted, vacation is over so I guess I should update you on all the happenings. Piper and I went to visit my family in LA for two weeks and had a fabulous time. We went to the beach in South Louisiana with my parents, brother and his girlfriend, great people= great fun. The above picture is of Piper with her Grumpy, they were both tired from a playing at the beach.
Matt and Beka at the Jungle Gardens on Avery Island, this is the island were Tabasco sauce is made.
Piper and NeeNee checking out the Tabasco museum.
Uncle Matt hosing Piper off after eating a Popsicle~ she loves her Uncle Matt.
Mommy and Piper loved the beach. It was a wonderful vacation, I love spending time with my family.

Vacation Fun

We had a great little vacation to St. Louis, it is so much fun to spend time together as a family.

At a St. Louis Cardinals game, Go Redbirds!

And of course we visited the Arch. Piper and Eric loved going up in it, Mommy not so much.
The Magic House Children's Museum was lots of fun. How do you like the next president?

Road trips are so much fun!

Shopping at the Magic House, she enjoyed this very much.

Idaho Vacation Highlights

We had a great time with my Aunt and Uncle in Idaho, vacations just go by way too fast. Piper loved flying on a airplane, everybody complimented us on how good she was, that made us very happy.

It was good to see old friends again and also make new ones. You can never has too many friends.

Piper took right up with Baby Kaylin, she got to be the bossy one for once.

Good ole Idaho onions.

Piper and Uncle Max had a great time playing and laughing.

Piper was a great kitchen "helper" to Aunt Adonna.

Bruno and Piper became fast friends.

Someone got stuck!

Eric had a blast riding snowmobiles with Uncle Max and Kirk, they had lots of stories to tell on each other.
Thank you Uncle Max and Aunt Adonna for inviting us to come and see you and for showing us such a great time. We loved every minute of it and we love you very much too.

Ready for vacation

Well we are ready for our vacation, at least Piper said she was when she came in dressed like this. Our little family is head off to visit family and have a relaxing time. I might post while I am away I might not. Stay tuned for pictures of our trip or in Piper speak "ride airplane, Donna's house."

Vacation 2010

We had a wonderful time on our vacation to La Porte, Indiana for the Red Power Round Up. Eric took his International 1206 Wheatland to the show, there was red for as far as the eye could see. We heard that there were over 1,000 tractors at the show. Miss Piper is a true farmers daughter, we took her to the zoo and she did not get one bit excited but the minute we saw all the tractors she got very excited and began making motor noised and pointing. Click on this link to view my facebook album of some of the pictures. We took 265 pictures, of which over 200 were tractors, you have to be a real tractor nut to want to see all those. Enjoy.

Vacation Highlights Part 5...the end

1. Matt & Beka checking out the car show.
The last day of vacation we went to a car show that had over
500 cars, there was a lot to see. Eric of course had a great time.

2. Pretty in Pink!

3. A view of some of the cars from Inspiration tower.

4. Modge and Piper looking at cars and more cars.

5. Miss Piper loved her Uncle Matt & Beka, she was always grinning at them.

Well that is just a few pictures of our fun family vacation, we had a wonderful
time and did not want to leave. I have the best family in the world. I can't
wait to see them again.