The Storm Redux

Check out this footage from the storm last night. Wow. And we were in the middle. Sweet.

DCI and tornados

DCI. Drum Corps International. Santa Clara Vanguard. Concord Blue Devils. Loud. Exciting. Too much fun.

Except when it isn't.

We get excited for DCI every summer. We've been taking James since he was 2 years old and Oliver since he was 5 weeks. (So what if I'm trying to get my kids into drum corps?) It's a great little vacation time and we usually have an amazing time. Who wouldn't?! It's all the best things about drums and horns. Walls of sound that flatten you wave after wave. So it would be an understatement to say we were really looking forward to DCI.

But it was never meant to be.

Fact: Weather in the midwest is as readable as a book.

Fact: high humidity means a storm is on the way.

Fact: Storms in Nebraska are fast and mean.

Observe in the photo a gently overcast sky without threat of rain.

I'm serious about this time frame. NOT 5 MINUTES LATER:

This is a serious storm cloud- these kind of clouds are FAST.

proof: 30 seconds after I took this photo, the tornado sirens went off.

That's right. Tornados.
This is that fast fast FAST cloud moving towards us. We saw it. 3 minutes later we were running for shelter.
It's an interesting thing being caught outside when the tornado sirens sound. When you hear the whine it kind of sounds like a very close fire-engine until you realize that it's not moving anywhere. By that time the wind is blowing so fiercely you can hardly hear anything at all. The air moves past your ears so fast, it just sounds like "shhhhhhhhhh" but longer, louder, faster. I know these descriptions can't possibly put you in the moment. But it's exciting in a heart-pounding, electric, run-for-your-life, kind of way. Woo!

By the time we made it to the high school, the storm was in earnest.

They (the organizers) kept us in the high school for 1.5 HOURS! Until it was safe for us to go outside.

Mind, it was still storming.

But not tornado strength.

And DCI was cancelled.

We were crushed.

The end.

Mutual of Omaha Presents....

Mutual of Omaha presents the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo!

This place was FANTASTIC! And I mean that. I've never seen some of the animals they had there- never even heard of them before! We saw some crazy stuff and some normal stuff. But the Crazy stuff is always more exciting.

Here is one example of crazy stuff: These are Mekong River fish. This photo was taken from a height of about 20 feet. Those monsters are ENORMOUS! Each fish was at LEAST 10-12 feet long. I've never seen a fish so large. A crocodile this size would be scary. A shark this large would be terrifying. These fish were just noodling around.

My handsome husband and darling james.
My boys at the fish funnel. James thought they were cool and started singing his preschool song "slippery fish" which sounds like " sippwree fsh".
The shark with the craziest teeth I've ever seen. He needs serious orthodontic help.
James thought that shark was the coolest thing ever!

Oliver was such a trooper! It was 97 degrees outside with 90% humidity. The air was heavy, thick and hard to get good breath from. But he never complained! Probably because we tried to stay inside the exhibits as much as possible.
James got to pet a penguin. That was really fun for him. And me. I got to pet one too. They are not as smooth as they look. I was expecting something as slick as a fish, or as soft as a, well, BIRD. But they had very hard feathers which were rough and tightly packed. Interesting.

Oh, and I hope the Peccaries really enjoy the binky that Oliver donated to them. It really meant a lot to him.

Forth to the Fourth

The Fourth of July was a really neat holiday this year! Bill and Kathy (mom and dad in law) came out from Livermore, CA; Jesse came out from Provo, UT; Devany and her family came out from Salt Lake, UT; and we came from the opposite direction all to converge on Jared and Jeanne in North Platte, NE. That's a whole lot of Dailys.

Here we all are after dinner on sunday night.

Here's my super-cute husband! I love to get together with him and his family! They are all so fun- and here's the proof: Drue is smiling with his teeth!
The explosive stockpile. That's enough TNT to carve a new grand canyon. Well, maybe not. But it was MORE than enough for the men and kids to enjoy. Or not. James is not a fan of firecrackers.
But all my boys LOVE LOVE LOVE the Carousel. A quick story.

We spent a little time in this lovely little park called Cody Park- so named after Buffalo Bill Cody, who lived and ranched in North Platte. This was a charming little park with the most fantastic miniature amusement park. There were 5 rides and all were sized for kiddos. There was a train, a spinning car ride (kind of like Tilt-A-Whirl), a swing ride (like the High Flyer Swings), a caged Ferris Wheel, and a carousel. James likes the Carousel. Oliver LOVES it.

We took O on just to see how he would react. We knew he loved to ride when we tried to remove him from the horse- horrors! That kid can scream! But here they all are- enjoying the ride.
James on 'Ol Blue
Oliver on his third or fourth horse
Grammy and James- These two are inseparable.
Oliver decided to show off his walking skills. Unfortunately, I was not able to catch it on camera- he's a sneaky little bugger. Oliver was trying to do three things here: 1. Walk. 2. Clap for himself. 3. Sit down. Hence the odd (shoeless) position.
These two must be related
Kathy and I
Bill and Kathy and the rest of my family at the 3rd of July pancake breakfast. They were whole wheat pancakes. We didn't eat very many. I'm not against Whole Wheat. I love it. But these pancakes were..... less than desirable.
Jesse. We were so happy to see him again! He was a frequenter of our home in Salt Lake and James (not to mention D and I) LOVES him. It was so great to spend time with him!
We had a great weekend. And we'll see them all again next year!

Fun in a room

My boys have so much fun in their room together!

James made himself LEGO FINGERS!

Oliver actually climbed up there by himself. He's an adventurous little bug.

Martin's Revisited

We somehow convinced our friends, the Baggerly Family, to come with us to Martin's Hillside Orchard to take advantage of the short strawberry season even though they had already been picking. We got to Martin's and found that we had been thwarted- most of the berries had already been picked! Curses!

BUT, I was able to get a few shots of the boys:

Ethen Baggerly took James under his super-spy protection and the two went off Bug Spying together.

James and his favorite toy of the moment: Terrence the Tractor.
James almost never looks at the camera!
Maybe that's a genetic thing....
When he found this tractor- it was all over! He tried to climb into the driver's seat- I had to intervene.

We love the Martin's place- but I can't WAIT for apple picking season!

coming soon

I promise to have pictures and witty commentary up by tonight.