What do elephants and trees have in common-- Part 2

Some family trees have beautiful leaves, and some have just a bunch of nuts. Remember, it is the nuts that make the tree worth shaking.
~Author Unknown

 My family does have its share of nuts but that makes it interesting when we get together.  And this weekend was no different.  It may be a little nutty that we hung out at the Arbor tree farm.  We also had our nutty family members wandering off to pursue their nutty interests- my older brother with his camera near by at all times, my younger brother examining the woodwork in many of the buildings, and my husband and myself getting very excited to see so many varieties of trees and learn their names.

After leaving the zoo Saturday afternoon we drove down to Nebraska City to meet up the the patriarch and matriarch of the clan.  We all checked into the hotel and then went out to eat at a pizza buffet. Arthur was on cloud nine.  Afterwards we drove out to the lodge and tree farm.  Some of us made the walk that evening from the farm through a half mile trail back to the lodge. What a gorgeous fall evening with a large harvest moon.  We walked by a group sitting around a few fires making smores and there was a wedding party going on at one of the barns.  Once we got to the lodge we kicked back in the great room lobby and enjoyed listening to a young lady play the piano while we chatted.  All around the lobby there were tree decorations and quotes and it had a wonderful "lodge" feel.

Sunday morning we were some of the first people at the tree farm.  Yet again we were blessed by great fall weather.  Our first stop was the mansion that was the home of J. Sterling Morton.  J.Sterling Morton is the founder of Arbor Day, and journalist, influential in Nebraska politics, and Secretary of Agriculture under Cleveland..  Story has it that he and his wife moved to Nebraska City from Michigan.  His wife said that moving to Nebraska was okay but wanted to plant all the trees they could to remind her of Michigan.  The land is covered with 270 species of trees.  Many of these trees are between 100-150 years old.  Arthur and I both enjoy trees but there is something even more spectacular when beholding a towering pine that is over 100' tall and a century old.  We felt small in a forest of such trees.  I was excited by seeing so many varieties that I had only heard about--Norway fire, American chestnut, Lindenwood, and Tulip tree.  Many of the trees were changing color as well.
Next was the highlight of the weekend-- eating brunch buffet at the Lied Lodge dinning room.   My mom was giddy about having us all eat here and she was completely right about the food being extraordinary.  We had potatoes with chives and goat cheese, a waffle bar, custom made omelets, and prime rib.  We also ate the best smoked salmon we have ever tasted- hands down.  Arthur even contemplated skipping dessert to have another portion of salmon it was that delicious--he decided to have both.  The dessert table itself was delightful.  I chose a slice of apple pie and a strawberry parfait.  We don't have fancy Sunday brunches every day but it is sure fun to be spoiled with an eating experiencing like this once in a while.

It was on to Tree Adventure-- the tree museum and activity area.   We watched a short film about the important roles trees play in the movies and then headed outside to the kids play area for awhile.  Arthur and I ventured on to one of the hiking trails and enjoyed a lovely walk in the peaceful woods.  We met back up with the rest of the fam at the Morton mansion again since they were doing some living history events there.  We were taking some family pictures in an area where the ground was covered with leaves.  Arthur and I started tossing them at one another for one of the pictures and our niece decided to partake.  She would throw a handful of leaves at Arthur and he would wail and shout and try to run away from her.  She would chase him about as he would yell and run backwards trying to escape.  Another little boy thought this looked like fun so he joined in trying to pepper Arthur with leaves.  Before long two other little girls jumped in too.  Arthur was running to and fro with a gaggle of giggling kids chasing him and throwing leaves at him having the time of their lives.  Once again it doesn't take too much to bring out the little kid in Arthur and it seems to attract kids because he makes it look like so much fun.

Before saying our goodbyes and making the drive home we picked up a bag of apples at the farm store  from the apple orchard.  We also shared some apple cider that really hit the spot.  It was fun to spend some quality time with my family and everyone really enjoyed the day.  It was fun to celebrate fall and the beauty of this time of year as well as the beauty of God's creation in different animals at the zoo and the variety of trees.  Of course all over the Arbor Day farm the motto Plant Trees can be found.  This week we pull into the driveway to find out all the trees in our front yard had been cut down which seemed slightly ironic.  Omnia Vincit Amor.