Playing outdoors and an arm-wrestling wedding

Last Friday was the kickoff for a new season of free outdoors movies at the Sumtur Amphitheater in Papillion, so the Johnson Family rounded up a bunch of our friends from church and elsewhere to see the 2012 Pixar movie Brave underneath the stars. To give the evening a bit of Scottish flavor, the clan from Omaha Pipes and Drums were invited to come and play some bagpipe music for everyone, including a few Scottish folk dancers who did a jig or two for the couple thousand people in attendance (with Hannah and Lily joining in). The evening couldn't have been more perfect, though Hannah wound up staying well past her bedtime to see the movie in its entirety.

On Sunday, Vivian and I stopped by Aksarben Village for Lindy in the Park. Billy and Lindsey were on hand with their kiddos (among several others) for some outdoor Lindy Hop underneath the pavilion on the corner of 67th and Mercy Rd. Vivian and I had taken Hannah last year for the outdoor dancing experience, and this time she was actually able to dance with daddy on her own two feet. She really seemed to enjoy it, and she came home with a new word in her vocabulary: Dance! A handful of Jitterbug veterans were also on hand for dancing, including Dan Wondra (of course), and a rare appearance of Cliff, who joined me in taking pictures of everybody.

The weather on the following Friday was exceptionally gorgeous, so Vivian and I decided to take Hannah down to Haworth Park for the very first time. We hadn't been to the park since the horrible flooding of 2011, and much had changed since our Comic Genesis cookout there three years ago. The pavilions had all been torn down, as had several trees. A few new playground areas had been constructed, so Hannah got the chance to go down a slide or two. She seemed to enjoy playing in the dirt much more, however, especially crumbling clumps of sand in her little hands. Vivian also got to show her how a dandelion works before we headed for home.

On Saturday, Donna was kind enough to watch Hannah for the afternoon so Vivian and I could attend the wedding of her two co-workers, Cliff and Amber. It started off at St. Margaret Mary's Church feeling very traditional. Then the garters came off at the Comfort Inn and Suites as everyone started to arm wrestle. Cliff is apparently a competitive arm-wrestler, so in-between a reception dinner and bouquet-tossing, we had everyone joining in with a little hand-to-hand throw-down. And I mean everyone, from the best man to the bridesmaids to the flower-girl. Everyone except me, of course. I needed full use of both arms to take pictures of all the single guys ignoring the wedding garter. It was certainly a unique experience, and an example of what a wedding reception is supposed to be — fun!