Road Trip - Day 2

Day 2 started with seeing the sites in Gothenburg, Nebraska. Went to the Sod House Museum which the kids really enjoyed. My mom has an old photo of family (one of my great-great grandparents?) in front of their sod house. I need to get a copy of it.

We stopped at the cemetery where my grandparents and great grandparents are buried, then it was off to the Pony Express Station. Couldn't get the kids to pose in front of it, so it is just my mom. The kiddos ran off to the playground.

We made one more stop at a historic site that interested me. The Swedish Crosses Cemetery. It is the grave sites of 3 children all from the same family. The grandfather was the blacksmith in town and made these grave markers.

Then it was back on the highway headed towards Omaha. We drove through my birthplace of Lincoln, and when we got to Omaha, we found a great hotel with a water park. So while my mom went off to dinner with my Great Uncle Fred and Great Aunts Wilma and Alma, I took the kids swimming (we needed to burn some energy... just didn't think the kids could hold still through dinner after sitting in the car all afternoon). We had a fabulous time, and Jack went down a big waterslide for the first time. I'd like to go back and spend a few more days checking out the Omaha sites.

Road Trip - Day 1 Photos

Think how much better these would have been on any other camera that was not a cell phone...

Summer Road Trip - Day 1

From home to Gothenburg, Nebraska
Kate, Jack, my mom, me and more than we need in the car
350+ miles
5+ hours
2 rest stops (the second only about 30 min after the first)
Uncountable hay bales and cows
Visit at my Great Uncle Morris's house
Dinner at my second cousin John's farm
Dessert of Dilly Bars for the kids and fresh picked mulberries over ice cream for the adults
Tractor rides for the kids
Most amazing sunset I've seen in awhile
Forgot my good camera at the hotel, but cell phone pictures to follow soon

Tomorrow's agenda: swimming at the hotel, tour of the Pony Express station, visit to the cemetery where my grandparents are buried, and a long drive to Omaha

Free Vegetarian Times Subscription

I'm always looking for good vegetarian recipes (we aren't vegetarian, but we do try to limit our consumption of meat... heard it called "flexatarian" years ago, and I like the term!) and am hoping to find some good ones with this offer.

Annie's Naturals is offering a free subscription to Vegetarian Times if you purchase either 2 Annie's Naturals products or 1 Annie's product and 1 Earthbound Farm product.  That is easy enough in our house!

Check out this Annie's Naturals site for all the info.

Last Week's Activities

Kate was in cheerleading camp last week and LOVED it.

Before camp started, I felt a little bad that Jack didn't have a special activity also, but it was good to have some time for just the two of us.  He got his own bike last week, so we did a mommy-son run/ride a few times.  I was pretty impressed that he was able to ride a full 3 miles one morning.  It was a pretty slow 3 miles since we had to stop to look at the river, butterflies, roly-polies, rocks, mud, etc.  I've also been informed that Jack's bike rides best "in mud, water, and rocks."

Grocery Alert

Did you see the article from the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) about the Horizon brand beginning to sell milk that isn't organic?  They plan to market it as "natural" and as a lower priced alternative to organic milk.  Just reinforces my commitment to avoiding Horizon products.  I have been avoiding their products already (although admit to sometimes purchasing it when no other organic alternative is available... an action that I am going to re-evaluate) because of the company's reported history of pushing the limits of organic values (like giving cows little to no pasture time).

You can read more about the OCA's boycott here.

What Is This?

Another busy week!  Lots of activities for the kids and then my friend Jennifer and her little boy Sam were visiting from Dallas.  We should them all the sites... the zoo, Garden of the Gods, the Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs, etc.  We'll be sad to see them leave.

Tonight a friend dropped off their CSA share since he is going to be out of town and can't use it.  I was pretty happy to see the kale, beets, rhubarb, and cilantro, but this veggie has me stumped.  Can anyone tell me what it is?  And then maybe you can also tell me what to do with it?

The mysterious veggie modeled by our friend Sam

Choose Better Body Care Products

Thought this was a good article from the Environmental Working Group, especially the "How To Read a Label" section.

Choosing Better Body Care Products

I need to go through my bathroom cabinet and look at everything.  I'm usually pretty good about what I buy, but sometimes I get caught up in the advertising and end up with something that I don't need or want.