Brown Eyed Girl Meets a Blue Eyed Boy: the 4th in nebraska

So I am a little behind on blogging. This week I'm focusing on getting caught up so bare with me.

A few weeks ago we spent an extended 4th of July weekend at Johnson Lake - located in the middle of nowhere Nebraska - with my siblings and their families. Lily and I took off Tuesday morning, stopping in Des Moines to spend the afternoon with my best friend Katie and her little one Harper, and had dinner and stayed the night with my sister and brother in law in Ankeny. Jimmy then drove from Chicago to Des Moines that night, after a long flight from China, and we hit the road bright and early the next morning for Nebraska with my brother and his family also.

We knew the drive would take about 7 hours from Cedar Falls so we thought by driving to Des Moines the day before it'd break up the trip for Lily and I. However, it took us a good 7 hours from Ankeny due to stops and driving a little slower with the boat in tow. However, Lily did good on the drive, for the most part, but we were already for some fun once we arrived at the lake.

We had rented 3 "cabins" side by side for the 3 nights we were there and although it was more or less an oversized trailer divided into 4 seperate "rooms" - it was close to the lake, they each had their own bathroom and kitchen, and it was really all we needed for a messy few days on the water and beach.

Wednesday night once everyone arrived we headed into the local town for dinner and fireworks. While the town left little to be desired and had us slightly concerned for our safety a few times - the fireworks were great and the kiddos loved running around the open field we found to sit in. We may have been a bit close though as we found ourselves continually dodging falling ash! After a late night stop at Wal-Mart for our groceries for the week we were all "home" and tucked in for a good night's sleep.

The next few days were spent playing on the beach, tubing, skiing, jet skiing, and relaxing in the water. Although the water activities were lacking for me and my little sister, who is also pregnant, it was a lot of fun and the kids all played so well together. There are 5 of them altogether - ranging in age from 14 months to 6 years so you can never be sure how it will work out but they did great and really enjoyed their days together. Crazy to think that next year there will be 2 more added to the mix!

Each evening we adults enjoyed some time around the fire, after putting kiddos to bed and really just enjoyed being together. Families are such blessings and it's really special when you can enjoy being together for extended periods of time.

Our final night - Friday - we decided to tackle dinner out at a lakeside restaurant to celebrate my sister in law's birthday. We brought along cupcakes and enjoying singing to her, showering her with gifts, and chasing kiddos around a restaurant :)

Then our family hit the road bright and early the next morning in hopes that Lily would start out the car ride with a few hours of sleep, that didn't quite work out! But she did great on the ride home with the help of mommy in the backseat, the ipad, snacks, and the occasional nap. We left earlier than the rest so that we could make it back in time for a good friend's wedding reception to wrap up our weekend.

It was a fantastic weekend with family and one I hope we make somewhat of a tradition - maybe not going to that same place but meeting up somewhere along the way. Hope you enjoyed your 4th as well!