Mama's Little Timeout

284/365

All fun things must come to an end. Today we headed home.

We managed to drive the 600 miles in 10 hours. We ate in the car and only stopped 3 times to go to the bathroom. It was a long trip! It seemed much worse than the trip up there but going home always seems that way to me. The kids really were pretty good for doing so much traveling but the last hour was really tough on all of us!

We made it home in time to head out to the lot and get a look at the progress that had been made since we had left.

Apparently digging the basement wasn't too bad, but when they went to dig the footings they hid rock and had to jackhammer it out. This added 2 days on to our timeline. The concrete guy said it was a good thing though because it has a nice stable base with all of that rock.

Jacob also managed to get a lot of clearing done on the back of the lot while we were gone. It looks good back there. I have never been all the way back to our property line because of the cactus but once I finally made it out there I love it. It is going to be a great place for the kids to play and explore!

283/365

Today we went and met up with family for lunch! It was a great to see everyone and meet the newest member of the group. I didn't get my camera out and get pictures of everyone but we did get this picture of the youngest set of cousins. My kids are with my second cousin's 2 boys. Mason is only a month younger than Jaci and Kellen was born last December.

After lunch we headed to the Bruning park. This is a favorite place of mine. I have so many wonderful memories from playing there when I was a little girl. There is just something about going back there that just puts me at ease and makes me feel so happy and at peace. Although the park has changed a lot over the years, I still get that same feeling when I go there.

While the kids played, Cindy and I had a great time visiting and taking pictures. Have I mentioned how awesome my Aunt Cindy is? I just love her...and I love how she loves my kids and how they love her!

There are a few things at the park that were there when we were kids.

Funny how those are the things that the kids went for and loved playing on!

They did enjoy the big new playset as well!

Hiding out....

We had a lot of fun and the weather was perfect! The leaves were changing and gently falling from the trees. It was awesome!

After we got in from the park we headed back out to the field so that the kids could get some corn and soybeans to bring home.

They wanted to bring home every piece they saw laying on the ground.

They got a pretty nice collection to show off!

We ended the night (the last night of our trip) with a party in the basement. This is something we have done on the last night of every trip to Nebraska and the kids weren't about to let us leave without doing it. They enjoyed root beer and Cheez-its at Pompy's bar. :)

282/365

Today we woke up and couldn't go out to the field early because the combine wasn't working right and needed to be repaired. The kids too the opportunity to head out and play a little more baseball.

They all did great!

I was especially proud of Tyler because he normally doesn't want you to pitch to him but he let Cindy and did awesome. He was so excited after he got a couple of hit and now he can't wait to get out and play baseball. Jacob is thrilled about that!

After lunch the combine was up and running again so we headed out to the field to harvest some corn!

I even rode along once with Jaci and really enjoyed it. These John Deere combines are really high tech! I couldn't believe all of the technology in them!

Jaci really enjoyed her ride!

Tyler was as excited as he could be to be harvesting corn. Pompy was worried they might not want to stay out the whole time they were working but they did. Each day they were out for around 3 hours.

Jackson went out on the tractor and actually preferred it because you are going and doing a lot more. He liked the combine but liked the tractor and grain cart much more!

My little harvesters!

Switching out...can you see how small the boys look next to the combine?

Tyler heading for the tractor.

A view of my grandpa from inside the combine.

The boys hard at work!

281/365

This is a day I am certain we won't be forgetting.

I was able to make my little boy's dream of riding on a combine come true.

When we first got out to the farm we had to wait for the combine to come in so the kids took turns taking pictures on the tractor.

Tyler was just beside himself with excitement. I seriously thought he might explode. He just had so much excitement and energy in his little body that he didn't know what to do with it.

It was AMAZING to watch!

Jaci wanted to get on the tractor but wasn't too sure about the combine at first, so she didn't go for a ride today. She spent time with Cindy and I doing some grocery shopping.

Somehow Jackson and Tyler worked it out where Jackson would have the first turn on the combine and Tyler would go with Farmer Doug on the tractor. He was excited because the tractor was a big John Deere tractor.

At one point while waiting for the combine to fill up, Doug even let Tyler take a turn driving. We were wondering what was going on when the tractor was driving crazy around the field and beeping the horn. Turns out Tyler was behind the wheel!

Jackson took his camera along to capture things from the inside of the combine. He actually has some pretty good pictures from in there.

Harvesting the soybeans.

The kids really got to see how things work during harvest. Here are Doug and Tyler unloading the soybeans from the grain cart and loading them into the bin.

After that, Doug got Tyler out and showed him where the beans went in the bin and showed them how that worked. It was such an awesome learning experience for them both!