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 19
th 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.
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
Here are some highlights of things Sam has learned or said. Most of the "bad" stuff he learned from us, his parents, so what does that say?
Oh, how I love my Sam.
Proof that I actually got on the tube. 
Chris going for his first ski ride of the day.
Hamming it up for the camera.
Shannan and Shane taking a break after a long week. This picture says it all.
Anywho, here are some of Charlie's current stats.
I might add that the food was oh so good. I'm drooling just thinking about it. After that we headed over to St. Edward Park in Kenmore. This was the coolest playground ever. Sam ran around like a crazy man and pointed out all pictures of fish to me 15 times. Charlie, in typical fashion, did some snackin on the sand. Later that evening, we headed over to our friend's house for a barbecue. We had a good 'ol spread of hot dogs and chips. Let me just add that they were all-beef hot dogs and we had two types of chips. Jealous much? Les baked a cake for the occasion, which she didn't think was that great, but I must disagree. It was delish. They even got Charlie a present. It was some ball stack up toys. We whipped those suckers out Saturday and even though Charlie thinks they're pretty fun, (he gets all giggly when the balls roll around) I must confess that I had as much fun playing with them as Charlie did. Thanks Craig and Les. 
