Family Camping - Easter Weekend

The Kussatz family is very blessed because we were able to spend the entire Easter weekend together.  Not only were we able to celebrate Easter with an Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning, we also celebrated Michael's 40th birthday which was April 22. 

We all met at the Platte River State Park which is between Lincoln and Omaha.  We had two cabins that slept eight each which was perfect for 17 people and two dogs!  The weekend included grandma, the Nelson party which included all five; the Kussatz family which was four plus Elvis the boxer/lab puppy; and the Ahlberg party which included all six of us plus Bailey's friend, Jami, and AJ.  The weather was a little chilly but was perfect for having a campfire most of the time.  There was plenty of hiking, playing, hanging out, eating, games, Easter egg decorating and just an overall great time. 

All the grandkids on top of the tower at Platte River State Park.  There were many takes of this shot.  It was tough getting nine kids to all smile at the same time!

The grandkids again. Fun picture!

All 16 of us!  Even tougher to get 16 people all looking and smiling at the same time!

Even Cody got into the egg hunting.  Candy and money was involved so can you blame him!?

Drew chasing down as many as he can!

 

Trent is lower to the ground so he did really well!

Jace enjoying a cup of coffee and the warm (smoky) fire.

Thanks to everyone for making it work and especially to Mom/Grandma for allowing us all to get together.  Love you!

Miscellaneous Stuff

Here's a picture from our "prom" this year.  We may have been the only married couple at prom!  (We were chaperoning North Star's prom.)

And here's Trent riding his bike with no training wheels!!

Spring Break & Boston

Jace and Trent spent some special dad/son time together before we left for Boston.  They headed to Omaha and went shopping for a new Transformer and then they headed to the Holiday Inn that had a small water park.  The next morning there was more water park-ing and Trent said the water slide was faster than the night before, "It was AWESOME!"  And then they headed to the Omaha Children's Museum.

And then Jace and I were off to Boston!

We were scheduled a three-hour layover in Milwaukee and so it worked out that we were able to do dinner with my dear friends, Tim and Heather Petersons.  It was great to catch up with them and have them meet Jace.  Upon returning to the airport and looking at the departure board, we saw a great big: CANCELED.  Bummer...but we were given flight vouchers, a hotel room and food vouchers and were able to get into Boston the next morning at 11:00.  

The weather was a bit chilly when we got there.  Our plan was to walk Boston, so that's what we did--despite the weather.  As you can see from this first picture (taken on the USS Constitution) it's a little windy and a little snowy!  The USS Constitution is a huge boat made entirely of wood.  We were able to tour three different levels and check out the guns, ammo, sleeping quarters, etc.  

Over the next two days, we walked ALL OVER Boston.  It was a lot of fun.  Not only is the history amazing, so is the food!  We followed the Freedom Trail which highlights many of the historical locations in Boston.  It's pretty cool...it's this red line that's either painted or bricked for a couple miles throughout the city.  

Some of the highlights of our trip:

Our hotel was across the street from the Boston Garden.  Each night we were there, there was either a Bruins hockey game or a Celtics basketball.  We would have loved the chance to see the changing of the floor from ice to parquet basketball court every other day!

The North Church was very interesting.  There weren't pews, there were little cubicles.  Every family bought their own little cubicle and these were handed down generation after generation.  The organ, though refurbished, is the original.  They still have Sunday services. 

Mike's Pastry is a legend in Boston.  A couple who was also stuck in Milwaukee told us about it and said we had to go to Mike's and that it was right off the Freedom Trail in the North End neighborhood.  Sure enough we found it on Friday and decided to check it out.  It was a little crowded, but not too bad.  Got a couple treats, boxed 'em up and headed out.  As we were walking around, several people commented on our box of Mike's.  "Oh my gosh! Mike's...I love Mike's!"  "Oh great, now I can't go home before I stop at Mike's.  If my wife knows I saw Mike's and didn't get any, she'll kill me."  "Mike's is the best! Most people might worry about someone running of with their purse but you better protect that box of Mike's or something will run off with that!"  Saturday night after we ate dinner, we decided to stop by Mike's again for a few treats.  And the place was packed!  I know this picture doesn't do it justice, but Jace decided to fight the crowd and it took him 15-20 minutes to just get up to the counter to place his order.  When we walked out, there was a line out the door and halfway down the block.  And it was cold and about 9:00 on a Saturday night! 

A beer at Cheers!

Checking out Fenway Park.

Some of the interesting rivalries!

 We had a great time and always appreciate those who help us out with the family while we're enjoying time together.  We wouldn't be able to do it without all of you!