Having Fun in Lincoln

On Wednesday I drove 8.5 hours from Wisconsin to Lincoln, Nebraska to spend a long weekend with our son Korey. His wife is in Fargo for the summer fulfilling her clinical requirements for her degree. Korey turns thirty tomorrow, and I didn’t want him spending his birthday alone. Besides, I missed him and wanted to see him :)

The drive was long, but pretty uneventful. Just lots of road construction and semi trucks. It’s rained quite a bit since I’ve been here. Just can’t seem to get away from the rain this year. I did notice the corn in the fields is quite a bit taller than in Wisconsin.

Yesterday I spent the day at Korey’s workplace, Carol Joy Holling Camp in Ashland, Nebraska.

The kids that attend summer camp do a service project, and volunteers were needed to help. I signed up to volunteer for one of the days I was in town. The kids are making treasure boxes and bean bags for residents of Mosaic, an organization for people with intellectual disabilities. The kids had fun using mod podge and tissue paper to decorate the boxes. Here are some of the finished products.

The second project was bean bags to put in the boxes to be used for hand therapy. There is also a men’s group making bean bag toss game boards. These games will be sent to Tanzania, Africa.  The kids had a lesson on friendship, advocacy and respect and then made their projects. Most of them really got into it.

It was discovered that I can sew. Therefore, I spent most of the day at the sewing machine making the bean bags and closing the ones the kids filled. Since we are in Nebraska, the bags are being filled with corn, not beans. The corn was donated by local farmers.

I had a great time with the kids and also meeting many of the camp counselors and support staff. I heard over and over again what a great boss Korey is. It makes a mother’s heart swell with pride to see their child succeeding at a meaningful career.

Today while Korey was at work, I visited the International Quilt Study Center and Museum, part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This museum was listed in the top 10 things to do in Lincoln on a couple of web sites. Admission was $6, which isn’t that much, but I was a bit disappointed in the amount of quilts on display. They have over 3,000 in the collection, but only about 50 are displayed at a time. There was a cool sculpture out front.

I made a double wedding ring quilt last summer for Korey and Cathryn’s wedding, so I know how much work it is using a sewing machine. This one was done all by hand. I can’t even imagine the time and love put into this beautiful quilt. The lighting was subdued and flash photography was not allowed, so the colors aren’t true.

There were quilts on display from around the world. It definitely seems quilting is an international activity. Many third world countries have quilting co-ops where women can make quilts to sell to tourists and earn some money to help their families. This quilt is from India. All of the design is done by sewing rows and rows of tiny stitches. Amazing.

One of the exhibits was a collection of wall hanging quilts done by Nebraska residents. The theme was trees. I love the one in the middle. The mirrored effect in the water was done by putting tulle over that portion of the quilt. Such talented people.

Tomorrow is Korey’s birthday. We are going to see the new Transformers movie and then out to dinner. Should be another fun day.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!