Railfest 2012

So one of the big things here in North Platte is Railfest.  They hold it every September.  It is always 3 days and since most of the stuff is free, we of course go.  Seriously, when you live this close to the world's largest changing yard, you can't be surprised about train celebrations.  This seriously has to be Nolan's favorite event.  He may like Christmas better but you never know.  I do know that nearly a year later he is still talking about Railfest and not so much about Christmas.

Railfest is usually Friday, Saturday and Sunday so we attend basically 2 full days worth.  Basically we do everything twice.  Nolan was seriously in heaven.  First we went out to Baily Yard to see the different engines.  Most of these are "nrr nrr" trains, or diesels.  Trust me, Nolan is very particular about the difference.  They also have one "whoo whoo" train, or steam engine as well.

Nolan looks tiny next to the big "nrr nrr" engines

Shelby sitting in the shade of the Katy

Nolan had a blast walking along the tracks

Giving Dad a tour of the "nrr nrr" engines

Enjoying the trains in the morning

Shelby standing in front of the "whoo whoo"
train

There is also a little train museum there and while we were going through on Friday, the local news station took footage of Nolan and Shelby and they made the evening news.

After looking at all the engines, we went over to the National Guard headquarters where they had the miniature train display set up.  I am certain that if Nolan still loves trains when he is older, he will want his own miniature train collection.

Nolan's favorite display: Thomas and Friends 

Miniature Trains

They have a lot of detail and a lot of little quirks

Thomas and Percy zooming around with normal trains

Outside the mini train display

After we were done cooling off in the air conditioning and looking at all the miniature train displays, we crossed the street over to Cody Park to look at some of the train equipment and to ride the little train.  The kids also enjoyed a blow-up slide and a bounce house. The kids also had their picture taken on the train ride and made it into the local newspaper.

Heading into Cody Park

Going on a train ride with some friends

Shelby liked wearing her hat backward

The train rides

Nolan taking a picture on the caboose

Some fun in the bounce house

This was definitely a lot of fun and one of these years Mom needs to come out here so she can enjoy all the cool train stuff with us.

Birthdays 2012

So for our birthdays this year we actually did separate celebrations but I somehow didn't get any pictures of Ryan.  He had a nice cheesecake, which is deinitely one of his favorite things to eat in the world.  We also got him a set of golf clubs.  He went golfing earlier in the year and really enjoyed it.  We even went on a date to the driving range.  I am sure that Dad can imagine me at the driving range and is laughing his butt off.

For my birthday I made myself a Beatles cake.  Yes, even after nearly 20 years, I am still infatuated with the Beatles, however I no longer want to grow up to marry Paul McCartney.  I like Ryan better.

Abbey Road on a cake

Nolan is pretty cute and excited for cake and ice cream

My super cool Beatles card and the Dr. Quinn
complete series

Cake and cheerios...yup Nolan had cheerios

July 2012

Just because NebraksaLand Days was over in June, didn't mean there wasn't plenty of other things to do.  One of our favorite activites in the summer is going to Cody Park.  They have 5 rides that kids can go on for really cheap.  The coolest is this really old carousal that I of course don't have a picture of.  They also have amazingly good soft serve ice cream for a nice cheap price.  With the crazy high temperatures last year, we went for ice cream a lot.

Shelby on the train

Nolan's definite favorite ride is the big swings

We ride this one over and over and over

Because of the ridiculous heat last year, we didn't play outside nearly as much.  I'm really not kidding when I say it was oppressively hot last year.  I would go to work out around 9 am and it would already be over 90 degrees out.  It was just HOT!  We played in the house a lot so sometimes we had to get creative with the kids.  We taught Shelby to drive, I taught Nolan & Shelby to dance (cuz Ryan can't dance to save his life), we added a puppy to our home, Nolan learned to drive a stick shift, Shelby tried to go out with the trash and Nolan found a new house.

Shelby driving around the house

Dancing in the living room

J. Lou Johnston named after Lou Gehrig

Driving Stick 

Shelby trash

Nolan's house

One of the other things Ryan and I did during the hot summer was go to the Demolition Derby.  Pat had gotten free tickets somewhere and he and Bobbie weren't going to use them so we snagged them.  We actually even ran into our friends Jason and Sammy completely unplanned so that made it even better.  Yes I know the demolition derby is totally redneck but when in Nebraska....

The pink car is a girl driver. She didn't do so good.

Demolition Derbies are actually pretty fun

Check out the dirt that driver is kicking up

Fianl round

Miscellaneous Shelby Stuff

So I noticed that somehow I skipped some stuff about Shelby.  First of all we took her one year pictures in April while the tree in our back yard was blooming.  Shelby has always been a very adventerous child and so it seemed fitting to take her pictures in the tree.

This is her official 1 year picture

She sure had fun being in the tree

Exploring the yard

Oooo, a sprinkler

Hey! It got me wet!

 Also, we finally got Shelby's room and bed all done and arranged.  Needless to say, I have rearranged it a few times since but her room is really cute no matter how you do it.

A panoramic shot of Shelby's room

Sun over a birdhouse

I love the cute paint job in her room

Too bad I can't do this myself

There's something in almost every corner

She loves stuffed animals and dolls

The bed that Ryan made for her

Getting Back On Track

Alright, so we all know I am not very good at keeping this thing very current.  Thus, I have made myself a new goal and hopefully, by writing things on my calender, I will be better.  My new goal is to at least post something on the first of each month.  I am not kidding when I tell you that I am even writing down on my calender "update blog" like it is a scheduled event.  At least the first little bit I will be trying to catch up with life but after that, hopefully it will be more current to my reality.
My last blog was about taking the kids to the circus last summer, but that was by no means the only thing we did all summer.  The arrival of June also means the arrival of NebraskaLand Days.  We went to quite a few of the activities including the Antique Tractor Display & Heritage Days, the Antique Car Display & Parade, the NebraskaLand Days Parade, the Kids Fun Festival and Mutton Bustin'.  It kept us busy but it was a lot of free fun.

One of my favorite cars

Ryan always says he wants a little
Dune Buggy

Love the color on this one

Nolan had a blast looking at the cars

Shelby mostly slept

They got lots of candy and Shelby got
a cat

Waiting for the big parade to start

There are always some cool carriages

Nolan really liked this float

Gotta love that a lot of the floats are religious

"Nothin' Nothin'"

Nolan liked the tadpoles at the Kids
Festival

Fishing for goodies

Mutton Bustin' is awesome

 Also in the month of June, Shelby graduated from hanging out with Mom & Dad to going to Nursery! It is nice to be able to sit through class.

Can't forget the chocolate milk!