Yoo 636 - Nebraska: Saturday

The Saturday we spent in Nebraska is going down as one of my Top Ten Favorite Days of 2014.

I woke up to the smell of waffles wafting all the way from the kitchen down the stairs to the furthest reaches of my basement bedroom. It didn't take long for me to throw on a sweater and follow my nose up those stairs to breakfast. Upon reaching the landing, I found my dad sitting in the old blue rocking chair, reading the news on his laptop, with the following confession: "I may have mixed up the french toast and waffle recipes half-way thru."

Sure enough, eggy waffles. But nothing a gallon of syrup couldn't mask!

The siblings eventually joined in and it became very easy to procrastinate my planned long run with bonding time. If I remember correctly, this involved Roscoe and seeing who could successfully army-crawl under him without getting trampled.

Eventually I got into my running clothes but then Adam's football uniform side-tracked me on my way out and all too soon we were lining up in the living room so I could test it out.

I'm especially fond of the picture of Christ between us..

Greg was sitting on the couch, reminding me that this was a bad idea, but still prepared to document the display.

Not surprisingly, I got owned. Several times. But emerged with a new, healthier appreciation for football. Those pads definitely did not turn me into the Hulk like I'd previously suspected.

Roscoe helped me up. Good boy.

Finally, two hours later than planned, I leashed pups up and we headed on our run in the country. The air was crisp and the combines were harvesting and it's been long enough since high school track that I love running on those country roads again.

We returned with enough time to join the family in the "what do we do with the rest of the day?" debate. My idea to go to the pumpkin patch won out. Everyone rolled their eyes but then they loved it.

It was a lot more than just a pumpkin patch. I attempted a corn maze for the first time in my life. Is this not crazy considering I grew up in Nebraska? I guess I got my fill of corn fields actually WORKING in them. Tourists.

We didn't actually finish the corn maze. At least not at the designated "end". Ok, Adam and Greg did. But mom and dad and Jordan and I wandered forever until we finally ended up emerging back at the start.

Next year...

Prairie golf was a highlight. I just about knocked Greg in the head with one of my shots though. But a 9-year-old complimented my sunglasses! They're the same ones I got for free at the DC marathon expo...

More importantly, we didn't keep score so we'd all still love each other at the end.

Not pictured: tractor rides and animals and kettle corn and homemade icecream. My only regret is that I didn't get to ride the cow train. Or chuck pumpkins.

Speaking of pumpkins, Greg and I did leave with 4 pie pumpkins and plans but Roscoe has since gotten bored and defaced a few of them whilst unsupervised.

From there the day migrated to Wal-Mart in Hastings so we could buy a couple new frisbee golf discs and get mom some caffeine, cleverly disguised as dad's drink. This was an "ah-ha!" moment for Greg as he now understands that this is a family tradition and not just my own annoying quirk.

When we arrived at the frisbee golf course around Lake Hastings, we froze for a few moments while passing the "Professional Frisbee Golf Tournament" banner and seeing a bunch of really serious frisbee golfers milling about. No way were we going to play in front of people who knew what they were doing! But they were on their way out so false alarm.

The game was a hoot. My mom had an uncanny ability to narrowly miss Greg with each of her throws, even when he was standing behind her. Greg had an uncanny ability to be annoyingly good and break the NOT KEEPING SCORE rule. Though he made up for it below. The leaves were golden and the sun was shining and I found myself on the ground in laughing fits at times. There were several close calls but we finished the game with all of our limbs.

Play continued on the back nine while my parents went to buy sandwiches for a picnic. This is when we discovered a hole that actually required throwing across the lake. Greg and Adam went for it, but not before Greg prefaced the throwing with "Don't attempt this hole if you're not POSITIVE you can make it across the lake."

He then proceeded to throw his frisbee into the lake.

I died laughing and then I died again when he took his shoes off and actually ventured in, determined to rescue his frisbee. The water was COLD but I don't think I've ever seen him more determined in all my life. I was quite in love with him at that moment, bracing my overcome-with-laughter body against a picnic table.

He wasn't successful but we did find a nice frisbee that one of the "professionals" had left behind so we left with an even count.

Also of note, Adam rescued his frisbee from the very top of a tree.

We have much progress to make when it comes to frisbee golf. Clearly.

And to end this Top Ten of 2014 days, movie night. Well, Roscoe and I went for one more run in the country as the sun was setting and THAT was spectacular. Then movie night. Nobody actually made it thru movie night awake, but still.

I loved that Saturday.

Have a great day :-)