Do you have a place that you like to go to get reconnected with yourself? A place that always seems the same no matter how much around you has changed? For me, that place is my grandparents home in Arcadia Nebraska. Arcadia is the quintessential small town in my oinion. Arcadia is a speck on the map in the middle of nowhere, where everyone waves at you when they drive by, and where people ask "who do you belong to" when they don't recognize you because they know that the only two reasons that you would be in Arcadia are 1. you have family there or 2. you are lost.
My grandparents and I are still very close. Even though I never lived in Arcadia as a child, my grandparents would always make the effort to come and visit for long stretches of time so that they could really be a part of our lives. I have great memories of my grandfather spending Christmas break at our house every year in Kentucky and driving me to basketball practice every day. My grandmother loves nothing more than to cook and plays cards like a pro.
Needless to say, my grandparents have always been there for me so I didn't think twice about loading up my family and jumping in the car when my grandmother called and said..."you need to come visit...this summer! Nothing's wrong, I just miss you"
I miss you too and I love the great sense of peace that I feel when I pull in to the driveway and see my grandparents house...always the same...always inviting.
Tell tell signs that you are in the heart of Nebraska, red barns and Go Big Red,
with perfectly lined corn fields as far as the eye can see.
These are the things that I think of when I look back on my childhood and my memories of Nebraska.
Chance loved running around my grandparents house. He did laps and ran in circles from the kitchen to the living room through the bathroom and back again. I think his favorite thing was to stop and hop up on my grandmother's little scooter. Lucky for us he never quite figured out how to make it go.
We talked around the kitchen table for hours and covered everything from how to make the perfect home made chicken noodles to WWII. My grandfather even stayed up until 2am on Friday night telling me all of the stories that I guess I was too young to hear before. So amazing! I can't believe my granfather is in his 90's and still remembers as clearly as he does. He is truly amazing and it was very special to have had this time with him.
Did I mention that my grandmother taught me how to make home made chicken nooodles.
I had a 10 mile run on Saturday so I really didn't feel too guilty about indulging on the perfect meal on the farm. Nothing beats f.r.e.s.h. corn on the cob from my grandpa's farm. Especially when it is paired with my grandma's noodles over a hot bed of potatoes.
We ate so much that even Max and Chance needed to lay down and stretch after lunch.
After a quick cat nap to recover, how else would you spend the afternoon other than picking your grandma's brain for all of the recipes that you never want to lose.
I sat down with my grandma at the table and combed through her recipe books for all of my favorites. I knew that I needed a step by step for some of her better recipes though. Sometimes you just have to have someone show you what a "dab" of mustard looks like. I was beginning to think that I may never be able to duplicate my grandmother's potato salad even with the recipe, but luckily she was able to walk me through it step by step. Whew!
My grandpa kept Max busy all afternoon as well. One of my grandpa's wishes was for Max and I to have his 1968 tow behind camper so that we could take Chance on some outdoor adventures. I kept going out to the garage to check on Max, but he said that he really enjoyed spending time in the garage with my grandpa. We have no idea what we are going to do with our gift of a camper (but that will be shared in an entirely different blog post).
After our respective cooking and fix it lessons, it was time to pack up the car and head out to the lake for a family picnic.
On our drive to the lake, Max and talked about our childhoods and things that we remember most about them. Things we loved, things we didn't, and opportunities that we want to make sure that we give Chance.
Max said that he remembers thinking that I was crazy before when I told him that I thought driving through Nebraska was beautiful. He said that he could see how I would feel calm driving through the rolling hills and the rows of corn and sunflowers. He even said the thought it was "kind of pretty too" but he wouldn't go as far as to say it was beautiful :)
We made it in time to watch the sunset over the lake and we found my aunt and uncle's land.
We met up with Uncle John, Aunt Linda, and my cousins with their kids. My Uncle John and Aunt Linda are kind of special to us because they are on both sides of my family. John is my dad's brother and Linda is my mom's sister. Isn't that crazy? My mom and her sister went on a double date in high school with cute brothers and they both ended up getting married!!! My cousins Tyce, Travis, and Trenton had all four of the same grandparents that my sister and I had.
This was the first time that Chance was able to meet Chase, his double cousin??? Who knows what that makes Chance and Chase. All I know is that they are related in some way and it was fun to watch them play. Max tried to put Chance in a cowboy hat but it didn't take. Weird because he will wear his snow beanie all day...
Chase was right at home in his cowboy hat though!
My little neices Kailey and Camryn
We loved sitting out at the lake, relaxing and wathcing our babies play.
My mom was pretty happy to have us there too.
What a great way to spend the weekend. We loved every minute of our time on the farm.
