Art and Fun

This past weekend my family and I went to Kansas to help my aunt celebrate her huge accomplishment. She had some of her art displayed in the Sandzen Art Gallery. It was a very short trip but a great one at that! We were happy that we could be a part of her celebration! Not only did my family go, but my parents, another aunt and uncle, and my cousin and his wife went too! Another one of my cousins flew in from NY to help honor the occasion as well! It was a big family party!

Anyway, we left first thing Saturday morning. The drive down was uneventful. It takes us about 4-5 hours to get there. We arrived at my aunt and uncle's house just in time for lunch. We wanted to eat at Ol Stuga- a favorite place of ours- but it was packed to the gills. I guess hunting season started that day and all the hunters were hungry too. So we ended up eating at Pizza Hut.

After our bellies were full of pizza, we went to Coronado Heights. When I was a kid, sometimes we would go up there for a picnic and to play. I have fond memories playing there with my cousins! Ever since Matt and I were married, I always told him that someday I wanted to take him there. This was the first time we were in Kansas that we had the time to do so. It was fun and brought back great memories- like racing up the stairs. Hey Wade- we forgot to do that this time!!
First we explored the castle.

The view from the top was pretty cool. You could see farm land go on for miles!

Alex, Me, Josh & Zach

Then we took a hike-being careful not to touch the Poison Oak. Luckily, no one got poison oak! Just a few little burrs.

Then we tried to fly kites. I wouldn't have called that day a windy day, but when you are at the top of a big hill somehow wind finds you. My Aunt Mary Carol and Uncle Harry were expert kite fliers!! This wasn't the first time the boys had flown a kite. I had attempted to try it once in our backyard. It was a disaster. This time was TRUE kite flying and they all and thought it was pretty cool- as did I.



After the wonderful time at Coronado Heights, we all went out to my late grandpa's farm.


My cousin Wade bought one of my grandpa's tractors and wanted to check it out before getting it back to Nebraska. He was kind enough to give the boys a tractor ride.

Of course on a farm, there are lots of fun things to see! Like cows...

and crickets....

and hedgeballs....

That night we had dinner plans at a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Salina. It was delicious!!

We were all pretty tired out after that day!

The next day we took it easy in the morning. Some of us went to church and some of us stayed behind. We were one of those families that stayed behind because one of Wade's friends (Zach- who is now my Zach's best friend) brought down a semi to tow the tractor back to Nebraska. You can just imagine my boys excitement when a HUGE semi pulled up!

Wade and Zach loaded my boys into the cab to check things out.

Needless to say, that thought it was heaven!

What I love most about this next picture is how HAPPY Alex and Wade look! It makes me giggle when I see it!

After checking out the inside, of course they needed to check the outside too.


To get some energy out before visiting an art museum, Allison and I took the boys on a little walk. There is a train across the street from my aunt and uncle's house. So we went to see that. On the way, Josh found huge leaves.

And all three found a puddle to play in.

Then it started to rain...so we had to go back inside. Later, that afternoon was my Aunt Rosie's art reception. It was lovely. We all went to the Sandzen Gallery to help her celebrate. This is her wall of art. It was a collection of her Christmas Cards and other prints she has done over the past 50 years. It was neat. A lot of them I recognized (and still have) from over the years. But it was also neat to see the ones she did before I was around.

Of course, there were cookies and punch to help celebrate as well.

After the reception, it was time for the Venn's to go back home. We all had a really great time that weekend. Thanks again Rosie and Mike for putting us up! We loved seeing you!