I think it was back in July that we talked about doing a family trip with Aaron, Kalie and the girls. I asked Aaron about it and he said just go ahead and plan it, but keep in mind that their plans are fluid because of Emma’s health. So I picked a date, September 11, since it was after Labor Day and maybe the parks wouldn’t be so crowded and most kids should be back in school by them . . .  possibly. We thought the best place to go to have a good time for just a couple of days, and to social distance would be Cedar Lake B&B out by Anselmo and just a stone’s throw from Victoria Springs Lake. We have spent the last five years or so at the B&B farmhouse for Junk Jaunt. It’s an older house with two bedrooms downstairs and three plus rooms upstairs. Very homey. It’s owned by Tom and Bonnie Mayo. Tom went to Southeast Community College with Dennis and that’s how we got started staying at their B&B.

Aaron and family drove down to our house that Friday morning. We had asked our neighbor girl to do chores for us while we were gone and we thought she could take care of Yogi too. She loves puppies so this was a win win situation.

On the way down, Margaret had thrown up on her pink Minnie blanket so I quickly rinsed it out and threw it in the dryer; and before long we were on the road. Since Margaret wasn’t feeling good Aaron thought the girls should ride with them until at least lunch time.

When Ken and I travel we try to stay off of the interstate as much as possible so for this trip we headed straight west from our place to Hastings with Aaron following us. We took along the walkie-talkies (thanks Jillian for that suggestion), so we did have a couple of “breaker, breaker for the coffee maker” calls.

We grabbed some Runza meals for everyone and drove to Mormon Island south of Grand Island to have lunch. It was a little breezy and slightly chilly so we wore jackets. After lunch we walked down to the closest playground so the girls could work off some energy.  The bigger kids (Aaron and Kalie) also did some swinging.

  About 2:00 we were back on the road and this time the girls rode with us. They always keep us entertained so the time on the road just flew by.

We got to the farmhouse about 3:30, decided who was going to sleep where and did our unpacking.  After that we took a walking tour of the farm before supper. After supper we drover over to Victoria Springs so the girls could play on the playground. It was a disappointing playground with just swings and a jungle gym thing to climb on. There was a merry-go-round thing that four people could sit on and each would pump and pull, but that was broken. After swinging we walked around the park for a bit and then headed back to the farmhouse.

Aaron and Emma slept on a blow-up mattress that they brought along, while Margaret and Kalie had the queen bed. Ken and I were up first Saturday morning and the girls found us in the living room. We asked them “how did you sleep”. Emma said good, but Aaron and Kalie came dragging out a bit later, while we were eating the rolls that Grandpa made for breakfast, looking like they could have used a little more rest. Emma tosses and talks in her sleep and Margaret, well she just talks a lot before going to sleep.

We decided to walk down to the cemetery which is about ¼ mile away.  The four of us have always enjoyed walking cemeteries and reading the headstones. Grandpa gave Emma his digital camera so that she could take pictures. Walking down to the cemetery, Emma took a picture of animal poop in the road. When we got to the cemetery she had a great time walking around taking pictures of most anything. She took a couple of some of the headstones, flowers that were on the graves, her boots, and then we heard her and Margaret laughing. Margaret had her mouth wide open and Emma was taking a picture of Margaret’s tongue and throat.  Then Emma talked me into opening my mouth so she could take another picture. After that she had to take a picture of my dupa.  She had a great time with that camera (good mydea Grandpa).

After lunch I stayed with the girls so they could take a nap and Aaron, Kalie and Ken went fishing. Tom lets us use his small boat when we are there. There is a charge for fishing for most people that stay at the B&B, but they let us take the boat out when we want – no charge. I heard that the fishing expedition didn’t start out too good, Aaron hooked Kalie’s finger when he was casting.  It must not have been too bad because she was a trooper and kept fishing. From the pictures taken, it looks like they caught some really nice fish and had a good time.

Emma kept saying that she wanted to go fishing, so after nap time we walked down to the lake. We were just in time because Ken, Aaron and Kalie had finished and were pulling the boat in. It didn’t take long to get the life jackets on the girls and launch the boat again. Earlier in the day Grandpa had let the girls go through his tackle box . They each found some pretty, sparkly worms (lures) that they liked.  Each time Margaret picked out a new lure she told Grandpa “I will take very very good care of it.” So they each had a pretty good handful of lures when all was said and done.  While out on the boat, Grandpa put a lure on Margaret’s pole that was just like one of the lures she had picked out.  She was so upset because Grandpa threw it in the water and she was worried that the fish were going to eat her lure.

I think the girls had a good time fishing. Margaret touched a fish and told Grandpa that it had blue eyes. From then on the fish were known as blue crappie thanks to Margaret.

While all the fishing was going on Kalie and I sat on the tailgate of the truck and enjoyed the great afternoon and the quiet countryside.

Aaron said sleeping arrangements had to change for Saturday night, so Emma slept with Grandpa and Grandma.  She dld do some dreaming and talking in her sleep and at one point she flipped around so her head was down near my leg. She started slapping my leg saying “Grandpa, Grandpa”. I flipped her back up to the pillows. There she could feel Grandpa’s face and everyone went back to sleep.

The next morning we had breakfast, packed and cleaned up. We took our group picture and then hit the road.  The girls rode with us the whole way home. We picked up Cane’s chicken and ate that on the way. I brought Pam along because the girls like playing with her.  I also brought her suitcase full of clothes so that had a good time dressing her for bedtime, playtime and then for the trip home.

Pam sat between the girls in the backseat and she got quite a bit of attention. At one point we had to set the timer so the girls could take turns playing with her.  We had some old country swing music going on the radio so Margaret had Pam by the neck making her dance around to “There Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” by Asleep at the Wheel.

Pam continued to dance right through the next song, “Do Wacka Do” by Roger Miller.  They think our music is pretty funny.

After the music Margaret had her pink Minnie doll and Emma was asking Minnie to tell her a joke. I couldn’t understand what the joke was but Emma thought it was pretty darn funny.

It was a great ride home.

We had an awesome time on this first family trip so I hope we will do this again sometime soon.