Back to back trips

I got home from Arkansas and had a few days to do laundry, attend Bible study, teach an Awana lesson and also re-pack for a trip to Wisconsin!  I had offered to babysit (or I should say kidsit) the grandchildren while Adam and Jill attended the Gospel Coalition conference in Indianapolis.  I had intended to leave on Thursday and go up to Nebraska to see the Crane Migration,

but when I looked at the map of Nebraska, most of the roads in eastern Nebraska were closed due to the massive flooding and destruction of roads!  How would I even get across the state to Iowa on my way to Wisconsin?  And much of western Iowa was flooded also.

Please pray for the people of Nebraska!  Especially the farmers.  I've heard that possibly over 1,000,000 cattle have died!  Plus hogs and crops destroyed also.  It will mean rising costs at the grocers for sure!

So I resigned to seeing the crane migration next year.  And anyway, Al might be able to come with me then.  But now snow was in the forecast Friday so I decided to leave Thursday anyway. 

As I was leaving town, it began to rain.  I decided instead of going on Highway 50, I would take 1st street all the way to the turnpike, as that way looked clear whereas it looked stormy going on 50.

 It was a good thing, because a post from a friend who works at the school in Walton, showed this picture of hail there and I would have been driving right through Walton at that time!

 Driving past our children's old school, Berean Academy.

 One thing I love about 1st street is that there is hardly any traffic at all.  Perhaps the entire road, I met 3 cars in the 39 mile stretch!

 I love the wide open spaces!

 I haven't been on this road for awhile.  It looks like they have changed the sign at Cassoday.

 Here's the old sign.  Perhaps I just missed it, but I sure didn't see it.   Perhaps they are no longer the prairie chicken capital of the world?

How I love to drive through the Flint Hills!

I didn't capture a picture, but here's one I found online.

It takes my breath away each time!

I love country roads and do NOT LIKE to drive through cities AT ALL!  So I turned east before hitting Kansas City.  At Ottawa, I went east on 68 to Harrisonville.


"Interesting" mail box.

I was going to go north on 7 to Buckner, but my Tom Tom (which is outdated and is too old to update at this point) took me back into KC instead straight north!  I should have turned on my Google Maps on my phone for this part.  It began to pour rain in buckets and then I had to deal with all those lanes of traffic.  YUK!! 

But as I prayed for the Lord to help me not freak out, I made it back on to a 2 lane road and onto 24.  Al called to ask me how it was going, so I told him. 

"You might find somewhere to stop for about an hour and let the rain pass by you.  It looks like you are just travelling right along with the storm."

 I decided to take his advice.  And where I stopped to pass the time will be on the next post.

Games

Our grandson loves to play games!  I remember when I was his age and playing lots of games with my dorm mates.

Eli gave us some new rules to play with playing Uno.  If you are given a Draw 2, you can also put down a Draw 2 if you have one and the next person has to draw 4!  and if that person also has a Draw 2, the next person has to draw 6!  And you also draw until you can play so you can have 1 card left and then end up drawing 20!  This game can go on for a long time!

I remember our dorm father, Uncle Verney, built one of these out of wood for us.

We played it with a ping pong ball.

Eli had the new version of Sorry, which includes Fire and Ice.  The game goes very fast.  I showed him the old fashioned rules, the way I used to play it.  He ended up liking it a lot, and we played several rounds of it.

Look how close we all were to winning!

We also played a Bob Ross painting game.  The rules are a little complicated, but it really is fun!

What games does your family enjoy playing?

After church on Sunday, it was time for me to head back to Kansas.

First, out to eat!

Staci and her dad were finishing up their travels in Israel and would be back soon!

Silly good-bye waves!

Enjoyed the time!!

Time in Arkansas

Josh and the kids were with us for a few days and then I followed him back to Arkansas.  I thought maybe I could help him out a little since Staci was in Israel.

Before getting to Fayetteville, we stopped about an hour north to visit with my Aunt Betty and Uncle Bill.  Aunt Betty is my Dad's youngest sister, 10 years younger.   Aunt Betty just went on hospice that day.

We didn't stay real long, as Aunt Betty was not up to much visiting.  

But we were so glad to have what time we did have.

When we got to Josh's, the kids showed me their pets.  They are kept next door at their other grandparents' house.

Except for Joby.  He stays with them.

This time, I slept in Elijah's room.  Eli slept in his daddy's room.  In the early morning, there were deer outside Eli's window.

Eli's best friend lives next door on the other side.  They played every day!

This is their fort.

It rained one day, but the days were getting nice and we even ate out on the deck.

Emeri loves to read.  A LOT!

And Eli loves his nerf guns!

One day I took them to Hobby Lobby to buy some crafts.

Elijah got a log cabin to paint.

It was a house for his mice!

The mice have tunnels under the bedding with exits here and there.

Emeri purchased 5 canvases that were on sale.

She loves to paint!

I treated the kids to Braum's.

Eli showed me his drone.

He flew it up onto the ledge.

But dust began to fly everywhere!

Well, who dusts up there where no one can see, right?

Time to get out the vacuum!

Walking the dog and getting the kids out to exercise.  

And then time to make cookies!  Emeri likes to bake! 

We watched March Madness and checked our brackets each night.

Sad to see KU lose!  Boo hoo.

When the tv wasn't on, various pictures scrolled through the screen.  

My favorite children!

So very grateful for time with my son and his family!