Some Summer Fun in Nebraska

We decided to head to Nebraska this past weekend...for no reason other than to say hello to whatever family that we could, see a dear friend and her newest born (back in December...yikes), visit Grandma Denise at the cemetery, and sneak in a date night with Kyley!  We were very anxious in anticipation of this trip or the drive actually...after our last trip to Nebraska in April for Kyley's birthday (could that much time already have passed???)!  We even went as far as making sure we had her new car seat purchased and broke in, dvd player and "Happy Feet" in tow, cheerios stocked and plenty of music and other activities.  Well, I am very happy to report that it was a wonderful, peaceful drive.  Kyley did awesome outside of the fact that she decided sleeping was not necessary in the car.  Oh well, I guess if that is the worst of it...we will deal!  She pushed on through like a champ!

Friday night we stayed at Great Grandma Dorothy's in Prague.  We had actually never stayed there as a family, so it is kind of neat to have created that memory and experience for Kyley.  Grandpa Bob and Great Aunt Dale came to visit, and we had a really nice dinner and visit.  The funniest part was when Great Grandma said she would watch Kyley play while we ate...little did she know that when she set Kyley down...she was off.  I guess she was not aware of how mobile Kyley had become since she visited over Father's Day weekend.  Kyley, as always, had fun causing trouble with her Grandpa Bob and showing off to Great Aunt Dale.  She was worn out by the end of the night and raring to go the next morning.  We visited her Grandma Denise at the cemetery before we left town.  There was a portion of this poem/quote on a stone by her headstone that we had not seen there before and I wanted to share as it really is so fitting.  Kyley is so blessed to have visited both of her special angels last week.

God saw you were getting tired
And it was not meant to be,
So he put his arms around you
And whispered,''come to me''.
With tearful eyes we watched you
And saw you pass away,
Although we loved you dearly
We could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating
Hard working hands at rest
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best!

Saturday we headed into Omaha to have lunch with both Grandpa Bob and Grandpa Des, Uncle Mitch, Aunt Christine and Cousin Mason.  Well, once again...Kyley was passing out the kisses to the baby.  She loves, loves, loves little kids and is always wanting to hug and kiss them.  It was so much fun to see all of them and to see Mason and Kyley together.  She was doing plenty of showing off for everyone, and Mason was doing plenty of smiling!  Seeing the two of them together made me think there really is a little bit of Smith in her...not all her daddy:)!

Everyone else that we wanted to see had busy schedules, so we decided to have a date night with Kyley.  We stayed down in the Old Market in Omaha at the Mariott...not Kyley's first hotel stay but the first one for fun!  We had a gift certificate to use at Omaha Prime, so we took her there...and to our surprise there were quite a few other children eating there.  Anyway, she was an angel, and we got to enjoy one of the best dinners ever!  After dinner we took her on a Magical Journey carriage ride...something that he Grandma Denise would have loved to do with her.  It was so much fun, and honestly Kyley truly enjoyed it.  She was a smiling, happy chatterbox.  Our horse, Luke, was quite entertaining for her too.  Mommy and daddy also enjoyed the ride.  We took a riverfront tour, and we got to see the flooding and how bad it truly is (and it was not at its peak)!  It was one of the best date nights ever, and we all got plenty of sleep despite the storms that ripped through the city...in fact, it rained while we were on the carriage.  We will be doing that again soon!

Sunday we were off to Lincoln for the last stop on our weekend tour.  We went to visit one of mommy's oldest and dearest friends, Jada and her two girls, Ruby and Sophie.  We had not yet met Sophie due to the doctor's restrictions during the winter and other schedule conflicts.  Well, Sophie could be Ruby's twin.  It is unbelievable how much she looks like Ruby did when she was a baby!  She is very adorable and laid back.  Ruby is still as outgoing as ever, and so much fun to be around.  Kyley had fun playing with the girls, and mommy had fun catching up with Jada.  We miss them so much!  We even had time to get our favorite for lunch...yep...Lazlo's!  It was the best end to our trip that one could ever imagine!  And, it was a great ride home!  Thank you Graco Smart Seat and "Happy Feet" for being Kyley's favorite movie ever!

We are already anxiously waiting for our next Nebraska trip!  We love our home and living in Wichita, but we sure miss our family and friends back in Nebraska.  It was so great to get some Summer fun in with some of them before the Summer is officially over!