Colorado vacation #1

We're now on our way to Colorado for our second family vacation and family reunion. Already I'm wondering what we were thinking. We've left the comforts of home (where I can confine them to their rooms if necessary) and now have to deal with the younger two in a confined space. They've not exactly been ideal children on this trip so far and it's left me wondering what purpose the toddler years serve. Is it to develop more character? Don't I have enough? Where do they get the strong will from? Oh yeah, me. Too bad children don't come with an instruction book. It surely would make parenting much easier. Any ideas on how to deal with an otherwise-sweet 5-year-old with angry outbursts and a propensity to pout when he doesn't get his way would be welcome.

Anyway, back to our vacation. We left yesterday early morning and got to Lincoln around 12:30. We drove straight though to one of our favorite restaurants, Grisanti's. It is an Italian restaurant with the best garlic bread ever. After we were seated, the manager came over to our table to say hello and we told him that we had traveled all the way from MN to eat there. At first he didn't believe us, but then we told him that we were on our way to CO and that we used to live in Lincoln and that we loved Grisanti's. He had 5 children and said that his kids could survive on the garlic bread but that, unfortunately, he couldn't send us a supply of bread. So instead he gave us a bottle of the Italian dressing that they use on their salad. We ordered one entree and three kids meals to split between all of us. With the bread and the bowl of salad they brought to the table, it was plenty. The kids meals came with ice cream and they brought out 4 bowls of ice cream even though we only had ordered 3 kids meals. We managed to get out of there for only $28--pretty good I thought.

After lunch we ran down to Scheel's and did a little shopping in the clearance section. Dan got a jacket and a new pair of shorts and Ellie got a new pair of Keen shoes. By the time we were done shopping, it was time to check into the hotel. We had gotten The Cornhusker (a Marriott hotel) downtown on Priceline for only $50--a steal. We checked in and attempted to take a nap. Natalie and Darin decided they'd rather play with each other than lie down, and then Natalie threw a royal fit when she got in trouble. After our failed nap attempt, we walked down to a coffee shop that Dan used to frequent, but it was closed and was now and Iraqi restaurant.

Then we walked over to Lazlo's where we were going to eat supper. Since the kids were tired and not all that hungry, we only ordered one entree and two kids meals. They split our entree back in the kitchen onto two plates and gave us a very large amount of very yummy garlic mashed potatoes. They had forgotten to bring out the wild rice and ended up bringing us two servings of wild rice. Once again the kids meals came with ice cream and again they brought out four. So we got out of there for only $25!! Unfortunately Natalie was so tired that she had a meltdown at the end of the meal so she and I waited outside while the rest of the family finished their ice cream.

After supper, in the sweltering heat and humidity, we walked over to Hazel Abel Park where Dan and I had some of our wedding pictures taken. It has really fallen into disrepair and there was now a place with a slide, a merry-go-round and a swing. They are working on revitalizing according to a sign on the fence, but it was disappointing to see the current state of the park. It used to be a beautifully landscaped place. We were very happy to get back to the air conditioned hotel.

While we were in Lincoln we also drove by our old apartment. It was the top floor of a house and the main floor was an old doctor's office where the owner of the house (who was a retired, very odd physician) used to come and pretend he was still practicing medicine. We knew he had died about 6 months ago so we wondered what had become of the building. When we drove up to the house, we were appalled at the state of the house. It looks like it hasn't been mowed in 6 months and looks like it just needs to be torn down. It really was a dump. Thankfully we don't live there anymore--although the yard wouldn't be overgrown if we lived there.

We are now on our way to Colorado and are about half way there. We should arrive mid-afternoon and are looking forward to less humidity.