One fine sunny September Saturday I took Justin and Michelle Rohrer's two oldest, Cadence Marie, since turned six, and Aiden John, since turned four, to favored children's sites/sights, starting early in the morning--hence the odd light--at Fontenelle Forest's boardwalk dinosaur display. Brysen James, one and a half, had to stay home, and we have since learned that #4 should be here in June 2010. I am in the curious position of being to them what [Great] Uncle Glenn and [Great] Aunt Myrtle were to me, since children do not understand the "great" generation gap. I am currently picking Aiden up at his pre-school and taking him to his babysitter's at noontime on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and not only do the teachers think I'm "Grandpa," but Aiden constantly questions me about how I know family history and how I'm Grandma Sue's brother.
Fontenelle Forest is in Bellevue, on the Missouri. I once was a member and hiked all its hilly trails and the marshland. It has ancient Native American sites as well as plenty of wildlife and plants (I startled deer more than once), including the Constitution Tree named for its age (c. 1787). Because another group were taking photos of this special tree, I read the inscription and explained, to which Cadence said, "Gosh, Uncle Bubba, it's even older than you are."
Actually, I think they enjoyed the small play area as much as the various life-sized replicas, not so much the learning area downstairs in the Visitors Center. But luckily we had been there almost at the opening hour, and they had the boardwalk to run as much as they wanted. By the time we left, the parking lot was full with more coming.
Our next stop was the Childrens Museum on the southwest edge of downtown, which was a favorite of my nieces and nephews in their childhood--now all adults--though these two didn't like the mad science part but preferred the shopping mart and some of the other features. Aiden demonstrated very quickly he could pull himself up on the pulley display, and Cadence got to play in the water, as she did all day when she could. She's either going to be a swimmer or a hydraulic engineer.
After lunch at Burger King's, their manners impeccable and their food all eaten, we went to Lauritzen Gardens for the model train display. Aiden got to spank the bunny, and Cadence saw a real lemon tree (she had said her favorite drink was lemonade).
Cadence totally surprised me when she immediately recognized the Eiffel Tower, probably from one of her favorite movies, Ratatouille, though none of the rest of the world architectural wonders (Japan's Hemedji Castle here). [I'll have a picture of the Parisian landmark in another entry.] Aiden was hypnotized by the bronze statue of a little boy holding a frog. Both loved the goldfish in the ponds and streams and large koi in the Visitors Center.
By this time, mid afternoon, Aiden plaintively asked if we could go home now. He and I were both dragging, though Cadence was still running ahead. But we did manage to climb the steps to Kenefick Park on the bluff overlooking I-80 and the Missouri into Council Bluffs for the Union Pacific's two biggest engines ever built, though you can tell from the next to last photo both were ready for naps. Cadence had lain down in the shadow of the great diesel, and always mechanically fascinated Aiden sat and watched the work done below on the Interstate's new bridge and added lanes. However, after we stopped for big lemonades--Cadence's favorite, of course--they laughed hysterically in the back all the way home. As the Bloomfield Monitor used to end items, "A good time was had by all." But it took me the rest of the weekend to recover.
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