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

...And He's Single

The stats are in ladies. Yes, I'm talking to you Amelia, Abby and Lily. You better strike now while the iron's hot 'cause this hunka hunka burnin love won't stay single for long.

If you like an average sized guy, you are in luck. Weighing in at a whopping 20lbs and 28 inches long, he's just the right size. And with an 18 1/2 in. head circumference, his head is proportionate to his body. No bobble heads here.

And just look at that profile ladies. It shows off how nicely rounded his cheeks are. Lots of pinchability on those suckers. Pinch away ladies, pinch away.

His pastimes include annoying his brother, pulling himself up on furniture and walking along it, perfecting his army crawl, babbling, clapping his hands, and as of late, crying himself to sleep. He's a mature man, with mature tastes. Finger foods is what pleases this guy. Baby food is so two months ago.

Sporting a fauxhawk and old man sideburns makes him simply irresistible. Catch him while you still have the chance.

Ummm....Hello?

I know it's been a while, but in my defense, I'm lazy. So, to the three readers I have, you should know I'm lazy and have very low expectations of me.

That being said, I thought I'd catch up on the last couple of months. It seems we've become quite the nomadic family traveling here and there and everywhere lately. (Maybe I should have used traveling as my excuse for not blogging?) Anyway, in March I took the boys to visit my family in Pocatello while Chris continued to trudge through busy season. He happened to be in North Dakota the same time all the flooding and evacuations were happening. Lucky. Sam got to spend some quality time with his cousin Carter, and it was awesome. It seemed almost every minute of every day was like WWE Smackdown with those two. One minute Sam would be sitting on top of Carter just pinning him down. The next minute Carter has Sam in a headlock. Despite their odd way of showing affection to one another, they did manage to have some good times together. We spent a lot of time at the mall, at Wal-Mart, and eating ice cream. It don't get any better than that.

Testing gravity

Naked Cooking

Four kids, one bath...not such a good idea

One of the "nice" moments before it turns ugly.

Perusing the aisles of Wally World

"wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can...."

Chris flew from North Dakota to Pocatello and we drove back to Spokane together. We got caught in the worst snow storm. I didn't get any pictures, but if you close your eyes and picture white, that's what it was like. Luckily for us, we were in a caravan since everyone was going so slow. When we drive to and from Pocatello/Spokane, we usually do it in 3 segments. Pocatello to Dillon, MT; Dillon to Missoula; and Missoula to Spokane. Each segment takes about 3 hours. It took us 7 hours to get from Pocatello to Dillon. The funny thing is that when we got to Dillon, the weather cleared up and the roads were totally fine. So, like the fools we are, we decided to keep going. And the weather turned bad again. We ended up stopping in Butte to stay the night. Oh good times, good times. I wish I could do that all over again with two little kids.

Moving on.

Chris was scheduled to be on a client the first week of April in Eatonville, WA. The boys and I decided to tag along. It was a tiny town, about 20 minutes from Yelm, if anyone knows where that is. The whole "city" downtown area is about two blocks. We walked everywhere we went. It was so much fun though. The boys and I went to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma and the Northwest Trek in Eatonville.

After spending a week at home, we headed off to our old stomping grounds of Seattle. Sniff. I miss it already. Anywho, we spent many a day at the parks, zoo, and the Interurban trail. We did go to a Sounders game and had a blast. The only thing I know about soccer is that they run a lot and hardly score, so it says a lot if I had a good time. We dragged Chris's brother and his wife with us too. Before the game though, had dinner at Ivars downtown. Sam was beside himself excited by all the birds. I think I managed to get a few bites of my food in before Sam fed it all to them.

I think that's it for now. We're home for two weeks and then off to Pocatello for a week. We are such jetsetters.