Trip to Nebraska!

That's right, our Wilker family of 7 finally went on a trip!  This trip gave me so much anxiety in the months leading up to it (seriously, like 6 months ago when Steve was first planning it I couldn't even think about or talk about this without my anxiety shooting through the roof).  I was so so thankful that once it got closer and it was time to make final preparations and pack the anxiety about it all was gone.  I was able to be relaxed and not have those extra worries or anxieties hanging over me.  Definitely a prayer answered for me.

We left on our trip on Saturday, July 15th and drove the whole day and made it to Lusk, Wyoming.  The drive to Nebraska is just no fun... well I should say the first few hours were gorgeous and then it just gets ugly and small highways with no places to stop.  When it was lunch time we were in the tiniest of towns where we found a small sandwich shop with no room to sit, so we ate our lunch on the grass in front of the tiny LDS church.  There was something that felt safe and comfortable about that.  We kept the three older kids busy in the car with one dvd and two kindles.  Technology on long trips for the win!!  The babies did pretty well considering that's by far the longest they have ever been in the car.  We stayed in a cute motel that night and got to have breakfast outside in the motel's courtyard.

We were in the car again on Sunday the 16th for the second half of our drive.  Always the longest part!!  We stopped in Valentine, Nebraska to pick up lunch and found a nice park to eat it.  It was so stinking hot! The humidity in Nebraska is crazy on top of the high temps.  Yikes!  We made it to the Wilkers' home about 7pm and we were so glad to be there!  They just moved into a much bigger and nicer house about 3 or 4 months earlier so we were excited to see it.  They are always so welcoming and welcomed us with dinner and a party for Kaley and I, well mostly Kaley! And of course it was a Moana party!

 On Monday we just relaxed in the morning and let the kids play while both John and Angie had to go to work for part of the day.  That after noon Angie, Steve, and I took all of the kids to a local little water park.  It was awesome and the perfect size for the group we had.  The older kids loved the wave pool with the tubes.  Kaley loved the kiddie playground in the water and did the slide on it again and again, each time giving us a thumbs up.  She was so brave! The babies got to play in the kiddie area a bit too.  Steve, Preston and I all got to go on the two bigger slides, one with a tube and one without.  It was so much fun and of course we were all worn out by the time we got home!

On Tuesday we went to the Elk Horn Museum right there in Norfolk.  A little Nebraska history, a little children's area, and a Johnny Carson exhibit because he was born there.  It was pretty good and the kids had fun.  We followed that by dinner at Pizza Ranch.

Steve, Angie, and Kaley did a little play for all of us.  It was pretty hilarious with costume changes and a whole lot of improv!

Part 2 up next!