Elizabeth turns 10 in Hastings, Nebraska

Trip Odometer: 3125
Miles Traveled Today:  70
Today Elizabeth turns 10.  She was so concerned about having her birthday on our trip.  Concerned the day wouldn't feel special, concerned she couldn't have a party, concerned she wouldn't see her dad.  I tried hard to give her a special day, finding a place where we could stop for the whole day and find some fun things to do.  I think I pulled it off. 

We all slept in and had a pancake breakfast. Then, Elizabeth opened her presents, an electric scooter and a book. She finds the electric scooter too fast and scary and is going to wait until she has her dad before she rides it. As I was getting ready to leave, I noticed that someone had stolen the license plate off the trailer. I don't know if they wanted a souvenir plate from Washington or if they plan to use it for nefarious purposes but it just means a headache for me. I think I lost it at our muddy campground in Waterloo, Iowa. We loaded up the van and drove to the Hastings Museum. The man who invented Kool-Aid was born in Hastings and part of the museum has displays about the history of Kool-Aid. The museum had a lot to offer: lots of taxidermy animals with information about their habits, a huge display of the history of guns, lots of antique cars, pioneer information and a “kid” room where they could learn about groundwater in Nebraska.

Anastaya and Elizabeth part 1

Anastaya and Elizabeth part 2

trying on pioneer clothes

After the museum we went to Valentine's Italian Buffet for lunch. The kids filled up on pizza, spaghetti, chicken strips and ice cream.

Next, we drove to the Hastings Aquacourt. It's a city owned water park.

There are four slides, two diving boards, a wave pool, lazy river, swimming pool, and kiddie pool with spray toys. It wasn't the adrenalin rush of the Lost Island Waterpark but for the little ones and Elizabeth it was more fun.

I thought this was neat, a rock climbing wall that drops you into the pool when you fall off.

I spent time looking at it, trying to figure out how we could do something similar on our small pool at home.

my birthday girl, holding a cow/duck she got from a vending machine

We stayed as long as we could and then ran some errands before heading back for camp. We went to Wal-Mart and she had a terrible time choosing a birthday dessert. They all appear so tasty.  She ended up with a big chocolate chip cookie with icing on top. Then, I went to Radio Shack to buy a new cable to hook the camera up to the computer. I don't know where I stuck the one I came with and that's why my blog posts are a few days behind. Elizabeth had requested her favorite camping dinner, Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper. We didn't eat until 7:00. When we got back to camp, it was extremely windy so I ended up making dinner in the trailer and I was so glad to have it.  Then, not having been in the water enough yet, they went to the KOA pool for an after dinner swim.

You know the saying that bad things always happen in threes? Well, I'd had the dead battery and stolen liscence plate and was wondering what was up next. I didn't have long to wait. The owner of the KOA came up to us just as Elizabeth was blowing out her candles to let me know that my son had been seen carving words into their nice wood deck near the pool. He handed Jacob a sanding block and told him to get to work. Jacob of course did not see what the fuss was about and was completely unrepentent. It's times like that when I really question my skills as a parent. Did I really teach him that it's ok to deface someone else's property? Am I going to similary disable the rest of my children?  Was I wise to undertake this trip?  What will he do next? 

I get to finish off the day with laundry.  I'm scrounging everywhere for quarters to try to get the clothes dry tonight.  We'll see what happens.  "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it".