Easter bunny visits Nebraska

Despite six previous grandkids, I don't think our old spring hobby horse had made it out of Mom's basement for any of 'em. It's the "Cheyenne" model from the Wonder Products Company in Collierville, Tenn., and is in nearly perfect condition. See how the adjustable frame "grows with the child"? And that it's "styled in an exciting running pose"? Just don't tell Landon that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled them in 1987.

We took Jack's bike up with us, and he loved riding it sans sidewalks.

Friday evening, we all went to ElBee's, our family's favorite Mexican restaurant — with the best flour tortilla chips anywhere!

Marv & Mom.

I don't know who loves the other more — Landon or his cousins.

Back at Mom's, catching some quick playtime outside as the sun goes down.


Awake early Saturday morning, Landon mastered the old-"skool" mailbox shape sorter.

Then Jackson and I went with Mom into Bennington to see the big, new bald eagles' nest. My niece, Schuyler, said that the male and female pair fly overhead during her high school track practice. (I've never known them to live in that part of Nebraska before.)

Though you can't tell from this angle, it's just a block away from the center of town. (This field of ours, on the edge of the Papio Creek, used to be the site of Bennington's old ice house.)

We also wanted to check on the new evergreen tree that Mom just had planted in Centennial Park, right across the street, in memory of Dad (both of these sites are just a stone's throw away from the house in which he was born). This concolor fir now will become the centerpiece for the community's annual Christmas-tree lighting ceremony.

Of course, Jack couldn't help but play on the playground equipment.

And — just like a small town — we ran into my best-friend-from-high-school's mom, who was there with two of her grandchildren.

Jackson and I even got Mom to ride on the teeter-totter with us!

Parting shot — Dad's new evergreen and the eagles' nest.

Later that evening, Nicky made chocolate-covered strawberries for Easter the next day.

But Schuyler couldn't wait.