The City of Fountains

Chris's job entails a fair amount of travel. The niche he works with audits government-assisted telephone companies.....which means when he does travel, it's usually to someplace rural or at least not very urban. There is on occasion though that he does get to go bigger cities. Recently, he was sent to Kansas City. I had never been to KC or the Midwest for that matter, so I decided that the kids and I were going to tag along for the trip.

There are a few things about KC that caught my attention. First, fountains. Fountains, fountains everywhere. I guess that's why it's known as the city of fountains. I didn't know that before we stayed there. Second, Midwesterners are the nicest people. Ever. Everyone is just so pleasant and friendly. Third, oh my gosh the humidity. I felt like it was sticking to me. I don't know how to describe it, but it was just thick and almost suffocating. Fourth, there are frozen custard shops everywhere. I think it's one of my new loves. Fifth, they have the biggest Wal-mart I have ever seen. Not only that, but we went there at 11 at night and it was packed. (I did get a wicked awesome Missouri tee for only five bones, holla.) Lastly, maybe I'm just used to being in Seattle, but people there cross the street whenever they want and they don't use the sidewalk or wait for the signal to cross. It was so wierd to see that. I guess Seattlites are just very obedient people.

Anywho, here's the breakdown of the week.

Day 1 -- Sunday

We arrive. The two flights went very smoothly considering we had two kids with us. I discover the humidity and think I'm going to die, but we forge on. We checked into the super awesome Marriott downtown and have a great view 'cause we're on the 19th floor. Sam and I take a nap while Chris does some re-con work and finds some places for us to hang out. Later, we go to Legends which is sort of an outdoor shopping mall. And guess what, it has a fountain. Sam just ran around this thing and played until he was completely soaked. The bad news was that we still had to go to the grocery store and pick up some stuff, but Sam didn't have any clothes, so we put one of my tanks on him. He seriously looked like some backwoods white trash hick.
Day 2 -- Monday

One thing I should note here is that KC is a very family-friendly town and has lots of FREE stuff to do. I took Sam to the Crowne Center, which again is just another mall really. There was a Lego exhibit there, and I cannot believe some of the things that were built with Legos. They were all put together by this artist named Nathan Sawaya. Next, we went to a place called Kaleidoscope. It's a place for kids to go "create". There's painting and stickers and coloring. There are so many artsy things to do there. Unfortunately, Sam's not quite into that stuff yet, so it wasn't completely successful. However, there was a fountain across the street, so that's where we headed. Sam ran around like a crazy man. Charlie was okay being a spectator. One girl came up to me and informed me that the reason the tiles were yellow is because people peed on them. Thanks! I'll be sure to let me little boy run around barefoot a little more on the pee-stained tiles.
Day 3 -- Tuesday

We got to stay in all day. It was pouring sheets of rain with thunder and lighting that lit up the whole sky. I wasn't about to go anywhere. But, we did get to pay $15 for a pay-per-view movie. Lucky. (I had to do something to keep the kids entertained.) However, by the time Chris got back from work, the floods had let up and we went back to Legends and ate at the coolest dinosaur restaurant. Sam played in the fountain again, got soaked, yada yada yada.

Day 4 -- Wednesday

The boys and I headed to Science City. This place had three levels of stuff to do. I was even having a fun time looking at everything and exploring. Usually I'm looking at the clock wondering if we've been there long enough and wanting to leave. So a good time was had by all. Later that night, we headed over to Liberty to get a look at Liberty Jail, or at least the replica of it. It wasn't the most pleasant visit as the boys were very restless and the sister missionary who was giving the tour apparently thought that anything above a whisper would scare away the spirit. I don't think I heard a word she said, but at least we got to see it I guess.

Day 5 -- Thursday

The kids and I crossed the border over into Kansas and went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead. This place was amazing. First of all, it was totally free to get in. Second, there was so much to do. We spent well over two hours there and still didn't see everything. The first thing we did was feed the goats. Sam probably would have stayed there all day if I hadn't dragged him away. The best part of it though was that for only $1, you can feed a bottle to a baby goat. I think this was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Sam, again, had a blast. I think he was trying to make sure every single goat got a chance to eat because if a goat was sucking on the bottle for too long, he'd yank it out and find another goat to feed. Of all the time we spent in KC, this was my absolute favorite thing. That night we went out for some famous KC barbecue at Gates restaurant. Sooo good. Enough said.

Day 6 -- Friday

We went to a KC Royals game. We saw the first inning. The rest of the time was spent at the playground that was recently built there. It had miniature golf, batting cages, 40-yard dash, mini-baseball field, a play area, and yep you guessed it, a fountain. Sam was too little to do most of the stuff so he ran between the playground and getting soaked in the fountain. Chris has a friend who lives there, so he met up with us at the game and brought his kids, Cooper and Gunner, with him. After the game, there was a fireworks show. The kids, of course, just ate their popcorn and watched with astonishment. Charlie has yet to appreciate the coolness of pyrotechnics. At least he's been prepped for the Fourth of July.

Day 7 -- Saturday

We spent the day in Independence and visited the Mormon visitor's center there as well at the Community of Christ Temple or the RLDS Temple.

We also made a quick visit to the City Market, but most of the vendors were closing up shop by the time we got there. It was still fun to wander around anyway. Also, a short stop at the park so the boys could run around for a while.

That night we hopped a flight home to Spokane. The first flight was not so pleasant. It was crowded, cramped and we were all cranky. But, the second flight was great. Sam watched a movie that lasted most of the flight and Chuck was a happy smiling baby the entire time. I think we got very lucky, or our children are getting used to traveling