Defy Gravity

No we didn't go and see Wicked again.  Defy Gravity is a place in Omaha where there are wall to wall trampolines, even the walls are trampolines!  I (MaryAlice) heard about it on the radio and it just sounded like fun! At first I was disappointed by the crowds and the prices. It seemed pretty expensive for the time allotments they gave us. The times they let you jump seemed really short too since they were either 30 minutes or an hour. However, it didn't take long before we figured out that 30 minutes is more than enough! There were four of us jumping that day, Tyler and Grant (Alex's Brothers), MaryAlice, and I (Alex).  We all put on our wrestling shoes and waited in excitement for it to be our time slot!  We looked in and saw all the trampolines and couldn't wait to get out there!

It was finally time for us to enter into the arena!  We took to the floor bouncing!  There was a basketball hoop in there so Tyler started dunking it in!  I stated jumping at the walls and bouncing back, and bouncing everywhere!  MaryAlice started to do flying lead changes all the way across the court! For those of you who aren't horse nerds like me (MaryAlice) google it. 

Before we knew it, we were all very tired.  The thing is that we were only ten minutes into our 30 minute time slot!  It honestly was after ten minutes. At that point we were glad we only chose 30 minutes of open bounce time and wondered why anyone would ever want to do it for longer then that (they sell a 2 hour special)! 

We continued jumping in the big court until it was time for us to play some dodgeball!  MaryAlice and I were on a team against Ty and Grant, there were also several other players present.  It was intense even though we were tired from jumping and at a handicap to the new people who had just arrived. My team dominated the other team!  It was so much fun, and we were all very tired and very sweaty!  This is an understatement. Especially for the boys. They were literally having rivers of sweat pouring off of them. Their clothes were no longer the same color and could easily have been wrung out to fill a small bucket. Not to mention they smelled. MaryAlice made me change my shirt and sit on towel for the ride back. Can you blame me (MaryAlice)? He was literally soaked!!! Afterward we went to target to buy new shirts for the boys. Seriously, that is how gross they were.

Overall, it was a very fun experience. It just proved to be quite a work out! If you are looking for a way to beat the heat and stay inside and cool (like our original plan was) I wouldn't recommend Defy Gravity. But if you want an exciting new experience to work up a sweat this is for you! 

You can choose between open jump, dodgeball, and volleyball. They also have a lazer maze to test your skills even more! They do sell shirts there, but if you want to save a few bucks then I recommend bringing along an extra. Even I (MaryAlice) managed to sweat through my shirt (gross, I know). I also recommend reserving a time to jump before hand. Otherwise you may show up and have to wait for a time they can fit you in.

Click here to learn more about Defy Gravity!


(An old draft that was apparently completely, but never published. I think we were awaiting pictures someone else had taken. Oh well. There is now a Defy Gravity open in Lincoln also! We may just need to go again on a cold or rainy day and post again!)

Paint Yourself Silly

On July 23, 2012 (One year since MaryAlice and I (Alex) have been dating) we went to Paint Yourself Silly in the Haymarket region of Lincoln.  There were all sorts of ceramics that you can choose from to paint.  You also could choose from hundreds of colors to paint with.  I chose to paint a tall vase in all sorts of colors, I also wrote the date on it to remember the day by.  MaryAlice chose a heart shaped bowl.  It had many wonderful colors.  We are waiting to get them back from the shop, I am so excited to see the finished product!

Alex and I (Mak) with our completed items ready for firing

Like Alex mentioned, we went to Paint Yourself Silly on our one year anniversary. Don't let him fool you though, it was hardly a "romantic" event since both our moms and little brothers joined in on the festivities and painted their own ceramics of choice. It was fun to choose from their large selection of ceramic items. Then you had to test your art skills when deciding colors and how to paint your selected item. Some people go basic (like Alex) and just paint it one color on each side. Most of us broke it up into stripes and painted them all different. Then there is my two time art graduate mother who just exploded art onto hers. Both Alex and I chose items to paint and then later exchange for each other. So I even chose colors he would like.

It didn't take long for me to realize my lack of skill and how difficult it is to divide a heart shaped bowl into even stripes. As my time goal was running out I realized I needed to speed up quite a bit. However, it still took me quite a bit longer then all the others to finish. Hopefully it will be worth it though!

It was a super fun experience that I would recommend to anyone. Fridays are when you can paint two for the price of one and they also offer a flat fee for those of you painting maniacs that would like to paint all day. Their regular prices are the price of your ceramic item and then an hourly rate for painting which includes all of the supplies and up to 6 colors of paint. They kiln it for you and you pick it up after a few days.


Click here to find out more about Paint Yourself Silly!

Afterward we broke free of our families and went out to Olive Garden for our romantic one year anniversary dinner. We were even adventurous then! Both of us ordered new dishes that we had never gotten before. Most adventurous of all was that we got calamari! And if you know Alex that really is impressive! 

Once we had finished our meal Alex surprised me with a one year anniversary gift! A ring to go with my matching necklace that he had gotten me for Christmas.  I love the ring so much! Not to mention that it came with the promise that some day there will be another ring to come ;)

Overall, it was a wonderful day and I'm glad to have been able to spend a year with such a wonderful guy!

I (Alex) greatly enjoyed our evening at Olive Garden.  It was very nice to break away from my family and have some alone time over supper.  Like MaryAlice said, we both got something new to eat.  The calamari was very interesting.  It took a little bit of coaxing myself to finally eat it and it turned out to be not that bad.

With MaryAlice's ring I got her, I was welling up with excitement to give it to her!  She had loved the necklace I got her for Christmas, but rings are her favorite type of jewelry so I was very excited about it!  She has been waiting anxiously to get it back from the jewelry store from getting resized.

Our day was super fun, and I was very happy to spend it with my girl.  I can't wait to have many more fun days to come!

-Alex and MaryAlice

Indian Cave State Park

This weekend was a weekend to "celebrate" Alex's birthday. I (Mak) gave him a few options of different adventures to choose from. He chose a voyage to Indian Cave State park.


After a quick lunch we were on our way to the park voyaging through small town Nebraska. Finally we arrived at Indian Cave and paid the modest $5 daily pass charge. Not too shabby.

Me and Alex

To begin with we just drove to find a place to park and start exploring. We decided not to use a map and rely on our sense of adventure and my vague memories from when I was there 10 years ago. Driving through the narrow road that winds through the trees was beautiful! Finally we arrived at the area where you could go on horse rides through the park (which we decided not to since we weren't really dressed for it). I showed him the horses that I had remembered riding 10 years ago!

A Main Hiking Trail

After looking at the horses we drove a little further and explored the living history log cabin area. It was fun to see everything being recreated! We learned a lot about lye soap (I ended up buying 2 bars at $1 each) and how it is made. Then we explored the candle making station and the blacksmith's shop.


Right next to the candle making building we thought we spotted a trail. It wasn't the best maintained and had some overgrowth, but we took off on our voyage. I walked on the more beaten path while Alex-just so he could hold my hand-would walk through the grassier parts. We eventually wondered whether we should turn around, but decided to keep going. Eventually the trail let out at a road right by the Missouri River overlook. 


Then we found a map and another trail head. We concocted a way to hike back to the living history area where my car was. Then we would plan on driving to the cave which was actually quite a ways away still. Now we started on our hike back on a much nicer trail. We met some nice people who insisted the trail went on forever. During this conversation Alex found probably seven ticks on him! The wonderful ladies were more fired up about it then he was! They insisted that we use their bug spray and we reassured them that we had just taken a much brushier trail. 

Me and Alex by the riverbank

We continued our hike and ended up right on the bank of the Missouri river. It was so beautiful. After a short break to appreciate God's beauty we carried on. The trail passed the Halfblood Cemetery. At this point we were starting to get quite exhausted from our work out and were hoping for the winding path of ups and downs to end. On our way we passed a family complete with small child and a baby in a stroller. I have so much respect for the father who had the determination to push the stroller on this crazy trail of steep hills and narrow paths full of ruts and inconvenient tree roots. What a man! It was hard enough completely on my own. 


At last our hike was over and none too soon! On our way back to my car we explored the schoolhouse and general store before having some water that thankfully stayed cool in the trunk of my car. Now it was finally time to make our way to the pride of Indian Cave: the cave itself!

A shot of the cave

After exploring the cave and attempting to find the Indian hieroglyphs among the many graffiti carvings, we were ready to conclude our adventure. However, there was one more draw that the park had left and it drew us in with its sign proclaiming "Bake Sale". There was indeed a bake sale, but it was at a muzzle loader  shooting range which WAS FREE! So Alex and I both shot off a round from a pistol and a rifle. We didn't have any luck with the pistol, but proved to both be decent marksmen with the rifle.


Then our adventure finally came to a close. It was a great day and we plan on exploring the rest that Indian Cave has to offer on another one of our adventures!


For more information about Indian Cave State Park click here!