The summer trip begins: Milford

This summer we again embarked on a five-week cross country road trip, and I think I can say that every stop exceeded my hopes and expectations. We saw so many good people, and so many interesting things and places. In reviewing our photos to put together some blog posts about our trip I was a bit overwhelmed by how much we were able to do. And no major issues arose: no car issues, no stomach flu, no trips to the ER. It was just one good day after another. We got a bit burned out a few times and spent a fair amount of time sitting around watching world cup soccer that won't show up in these blog recaps, and we did find ourselves shouting "no more biting toes!!!" in the car one afternoon, but the good memories far outweigh the bad.

The trip started out with a visit to Nephi's brother Aaron and his family in Milford, Nebraska. Milford is a tiny town about twenty miles outside of Lincoln, and it feels like it is 1953 there. There are all these lovely, tree-lined streets with kids riding bikes around wearing no helmets, and lots of pretty, older, well-kept homes. I liked it a lot! Of course, the main attraction was cousins, and our kids had so much fun playing with them. We also liked seeing the house that Aaron and Bethany have been working on this past year. It is older, and they have redone or are planning to redo almost everything, from the roof to flooring, kitchen cabinets to plumbing. And they do it all themselves. It is an overwhelming and impressive task.

We were in Milford for Father's Day, and the kids presented Nephi with a sweet candygram, composed by Joseph.

After church the kids played some board games together.

On Monday we headed into Lincoln and saw the natural history museum at University of Nebraska (located near the massive, shining football stadium). It was an interesting museum, and there was a special display on this enormous prehistoric snake that lived in South America called Titanoboa. It was 48 feet long and could eat alligators! There was, of course, a display reenacting this impressive feat.

We then ate some pizza and went to the state capitol, which is a skyscraper that dominates the skyline. From the top you get a nice view of Lincoln and corn fields. We went on a short tour and I learned that the legislature is unicameral, nonpartisan, and that legislators earn a whopping $12,000 per year.

There was some nice art around, too.

Ben liked jumping from animal to animal in the floor mosaics.

That evening we had Family Home Evening together and went swimming at the neighborhood pool. It was a lovely few days together. Bethany made us feel at home and kept us well fed, as evidenced by the fact that the boys kept mentioning how much more they liked what Aunt Bethany cooked than what we ate at home, and suggesting that I get the recipes for every meal that we ate. Thanks for welcoming us, Aaron and Bethany!