Nebraska

Our last destination on our trip was North Platte, Nebraska. This is where I was born and my Grandmother (the boys call her Grammy), Aunt and Uncle live there. My grandmother turned 90 in April and is still living on her own. We love to hear her stories and spend time with her. We had not been there for three years, so we were due!

While in North Platte, we of course had to go to the Fort Cody Trading Post. It has a bunch of Western types of things and a bunch of junk, as well. Glenn got a necklace with a shark tooth (not Western at all) and Alexander bought some Civil War action figures (not Western, either). They enjoyed going in the back where they had a jail, covered wagons and a tee pee. But we didn't stay out there long as it was almost 100 degrees (later it broke 100 degrees).

I had planned on bringing them to A&W for root beer floats in a frosty mug (somewhere we went when I was younger), but was dismayed to find out it had been demolished for a large bank. Boo! So, we went to Cold Stone Creamery, which was not the same!

We went to Cody Go Karts with my parents. They came out a day after we made it there. The boys went on a little train that I thought went rather fast for something without seat belts, especially around the corners. We also went on bumper boats. Glenn went in his own and did extremely well; they are not easy to maneuver. Then we went on go karts. Glenn was with me and Alexander went with Nana. The first time Glenn and I passed them, Alexander said, "Hey, I knew we should have gone in a different kart." Then we passed them two more times. I told him later that I think it was the driver, not the kart. ;)

My uncle has a "monster truck." He brought it over for the boys to see. They were in awe and not only wanted to go in it but asked to go for a ride, which he happily obliged. 

 

Three years ago, I took a picture of the boys on these steps in front of a shack. So, I had to do it again. The lighting wasn't exactly good since it kept getting in Alexander's eyes, but Glenn really took great pictures. It's usually difficult to get a true smile from him. But today, he was all smiles!

We convince my grandmother to take some pictures. Here is my mom, grandmother and myself: three generations.

The Boys with Grammy

 

Grammy enjoyed Cubby!

Glenn has been writing a journal this summer. It's difficult for him to figure out what to write, but I wanted to share what he wrote about our trip to Nebraska:

My uncle brought over a monster truck. It looked like it was big and red. I had a ride on it. I went on a train, bumper boat, and go kart. I went on a bumper boat by myself. Mom and I go on the same go kart. We passed Nana a lot of times. Nana chose a slower one. Also, we came to Nebraska to see Grammy. We had breakfast with her. We played there a lot of times. We give her hugs to her. We love her every single day and night!

I love my sweet boy! 

Last of CT Pics and Niagara Falls

One of the days in Mystic, we stopped right next to the drawbridge for ice cream. Here's Alexander with Nana.

Daddy and Glenn

Alexander and I with ice cream on our noses

On the day we left Mystic, the boys and their cousin were watching tv together. Apparently they were comfortable because they stayed this way for a while. 

Alexander trying to take a nap while Cubby slept in his lap

Cubby found a cozy spot in the bag on top of our cooler.

Niagara Falls

We drove up to Niagara Falls on Alexander's birthday. We stayed on the American side. We walked all around Goat Island. It is an island in the middle of the Niagara River just before the falls. We found out that it was called Goat Island because a lone goat was found on the island. We thought it might have fallen into the river and came upon the island, getting out of the river. Then it lived there alone.

When we got to the falls, the mist was thick and we couldn't see much of the Horseshoe Falls. Here in the foreground is the edge closest to Goat Island and through the mist you can make out the other side of the horseshoe. Later, after our walk, we could see more of the horseshoe, but still not all of it.

This is a view from on top of the hill from where I was standing in the previous picture.

We ate at a grill that overlooked the falls. Here's the birthday boy!!!

The humidity and wind in the air messed with Glenn's hair. :)

Here's a smaller island right next to Goat Island. They are in the middle of a project to add landscaping and slate walkways. It looks really nice.

The American Falls with Rainbow Bridge in the Distance
Rainbow Bridge takes you between the Canadian and US.

 

 

 

 

We camped on a larger island up river called Grand Island. The next day, we went to Indianapolis. We camped there two nights. During the day, Bob went to an office to train on some equipment that he had purchased (something to do with liquid oxygen tanks). The boys and I spent the day at the campground. In the morning, we took a ride on some fun bikes. We rented one with two seats side-by-side and two steering wheels. Then we got another bike that was even lower to the ground and had a steering wheel. Unfortunately, I did not think to get a picture of this. They also had a nice playground and dog park. Then we went swimming and pet a horse. After that, the thunder rolled in and we were stuck most of the afternoon in the camper. But we did get another swim in before supper (while I did laundry).

First Week of July (CT)

Continuing on with our trip to CT...

We spent the second week at my parents' house in Mystic. It is located in such a great place. We walked several times to Mystic's downtown by the draw bridge. It's very pretty and there is a playground on the way. 

We went to visit the USS Nautilis at the US Sub Base in Groton. They have a great museum with parts of subs and recreations. This gun was outside, so of course they had to sit on it for a picture. 

There are several control panels from various subs inside the museum. They could have spent hours flicking the switches, turning the knobs, and pushing the buttons. Hmm, how can we recreate this at home?

The USS Nautilis is a retired sub and was the first nuclear sub in the US fleet. They have a portion that you can tour. Alexander had to climb a bit to get through this hatch.

I couldn't fit the whole sub in the picture while having the boys large enough to be able to tell they were mine, but you get the idea of how big this sub is.

July 4th!

Nana got the boys balsa wood planes to put together and fly.

It's a hard life being a dog. ;) They did just get done exercising.

 

July 5th

We went on the Essex Steam Train. Their cousin is in the middle. They really enjoyed it, but it was hot!!! There's no air conditioning on an ancient train, and it got into the 90's that day with a lot of humidity.

I worked with Alice at the UConn Health Center many years ago. We became good friends. She now lives in MA and drove down for the day to spend time with us. I'm so happy she did! It was like we were hardly apart.

This is Alice's daughter with Alexander, we'll call Lil C. Alexander was extremely shy with her until later in the day. Don't you love her eyes!?! You can see Nanny, Poppy, Nana, Papa and Uncle Brad in the picture behind them.

We got Aunt Julie in this one, too! Here, Alexander is pretending none of us exist.

 

 Lil C was so cuddly and cute. We had a good time together.

After a quick lunch, we drove up to Gillette Castle in East Haddam. We didn't actually go into the castle, but walked around the property. Bob and I used to do this before we had kids. Here they are on a covered bridge.

Someone made kind of the top of a castle turret (not sure if I spelled that right) out of rocks. It had quite a path to get up to it, but of course the kids loved climbing up there. Alexander's trying to look tough while Glenn and Lil C have their sweet smiles on.

Daddy taking the boys dangerously close to the CT River, which was swollen above normal and moving very fast.

A beautiful bridge on our walk

Nanny and Poppy hiked with us and Lil C thought she should help Poppy get up the last hill.

Walking on train tracks that go nowhere

 

The start of our summer vacation

To thank Alexander's friends for coming to his birthday party, we made this in the driveway. They thought it was cute. We gave a picture to each of his friends.

The boys and I went to the farmer's market on our town square mid June. Near there, our town recently put in a splash pad by the town hall. We did not come prepared with swim suits. So, they were trying to dodge the fountains. Eventually, though, they were soaked.

You might wonder why Alexander has long sleeves on in the middle of summer. Well, that's because he has an independent mind. He wanted to wear his Spider Man shirt, despite the weather. At least he was cool after running through the water. 

On June 22nd, we set out for a 3 and a half month trek around the country (the eastern half, anyway. We stopped the first night just south of Washington DC. We brought our pop-up camper so that it would be cheaper to stay at all these places we wanted to see along our journey. Also, it gave nice cool place for our dogs to rest while we were out seeing the sites (yes, it has an air conditioner). 

We set out the next day on the DC Metro. Glenn liked to watch out the window. But Alexander commented on everything he saw. They loved it!

We had planned to walk on the National Mall in the morning while it was cool. But it was raining. So, we went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. They loved seeing all the different aircraft, although they didn't stay long enough in one place so that Bob and I could read about them.

After we left the museum, the weather had cleared up. So, we walked the length of the National Mall to get go the Lincoln Memorial. It's a long walk, and it was hot! But Bob and I enjoyed it. :)

The Washington Monument is still covered by scaffolding due to the earthquake.

The Lincoln Memorial steps

 

View from the Lincoln Memorial.

The boys found the DC squirrels to be very friendly. They didn't move out of your way when you walk down the sidewalk. We saw one squirrel eating a peanut butter cracker. I had to make sure Alexander didn't touch it while watching it. They also commented on how much meatier they are than our FL squirrels. 

We walked back to the Metro (which was almost all the way back to the museum). We got ice cream on the way back, just to cool off. Alexander's turned his mouth black!

The day after we were in DC, we went to CT. We spent about two weeks there. During the first week, we went to Bob's parents' house. Then we spent the second week at my parents'. We went to Ikea (had to with it only being a few minutes from Bob's parents' house).

 

We went camping in the middle of our stay in CT. We camped with my brother and his family and some friends. It was nice to just stay in one place camping for the sake of camping. The boys and their cousin made a sculpture out of wood.

Alexander with Papa (my parents didn't camp, just visited)


Glenn with Papa

Alexander pretending to sleep.

Glenn ready for bed.