Nathan preached at a church in Omaha yesterday, so we all decided to tag along and have a mini vacation. We ended up at the Lauritzen Gardens, which is certainly a hidden gem! 100 acres of various kinds of gardens tucked away in the heart of Omaha. It's well worth the price of admission!
The rose garden
The train garden. There was a garden dedicated to model trains. The tracks are built from tree branches, and I believe 9 model trains run the whole time. There are also miniature replicas of buildings in Omaha. This was definitely the kids favorite place in the gardens.
Pretty girl, pretty waterfall.
The Hitchcocks were a big philanthropic family in Omaha. We've seen their name in several different places. They had very good taste!
A Hitchcock in the Hitchcock garden.
Bird of Paradise -- gorgeous!
It was a beautiful day with the super-soaked blue of an autumn sky.
We found this amazing praying mantis. It was about 3 inches long.
Inside the cabin in the children's garden.
This beautiful sundial was in the rose garden and told very accurate time.
This summer while we were in Kansas, we had a surprise birthday party for Papu, who turned 70 on August 9! I think we pulled off the surprise part, and everyone had a very good time at Micah and Christie's new house.
Christie's beautiful seaside birthday cake.
Charis, Katy, and Z
Me and Simon.
Mom, Patty, and Uncle Kim.
Leya
I love the look Leya is giving Papu.
Caleb, Uncle Frank, and Micah.
Me and Papu.
Z, Faith, and Eden watch Papu open cards.
Yaya
Ann and Leya
Papu loves to play a game with the little grandkids in which he makes an observation that is blatantly false, and they correct him, over and over. This video is hilarious because he finally trips up Eden, much to everyone's delight!
And in this video, Eden and Faith dance the chicken dance to the birthday card Eden picked out for Papu.
