four days in Kansas

We took our last major excursion of the summer to Kansas to visit Andrew's family. The boys have grown so much in the two years since they've been them. I've been dreading the plane ride with the kids as Logan is not exactly 'sit still' material at 3, but they were fantastic both ways (note to self - always keep them separated for optimal behavior, bring a surprise bag of goodies and download lots of movies for the trip!). And hats off to United - both of our flights were on time, the flight attendants were great and paid special attention to the boys and we even got to see the cockpits up close! However, boo! hiss! to the $20 per checked luggage policy.

We stayed at a Embassy Suites, complete with pool and custom made breakfast each morning. Hotels are for kids what all night keggers are for college students - it just doesn't get any better! Running down the hallways, pillow fights, a million channels, and extra late bedtimes. And top it off with showering attention and sweets from loving grandparents, does it get any better?

And while Kansas might not be what you think of as an exotic, luscious and adventurous destination, I will say this. Wow, were the people nice! I mean, its totally true about the midwest hospitality. From the hotel staff to restaurant servers, and everyone in between, just really super duper nice and friendly. On a scale of niceness, Kansas people are way up there. And as another bonus, the weather was unseasonably cool, making it a pleasure to enjoy time outside and take a break from our humid and sweaty August Virginia weather.

Logan with Grandpa George...

Upon hotel check-in, it was off to the pool. Unfortunately, both boys had a mysterious episode of puking about 12 hours after their swim, thus resulting in a pool trust issue. We didn't venture back to the pool for the rest of the stay just in case. It was most unfortunate that Logan's puking episide took place down the front of my shirt, into my bra, after he had eaten macaroni and cheese and two cups of cherry Jell-O.

The next day, Grandpa George correctly thought the boys would enjoy some time at a fantastically kid-friendly arcade. Indoor glow in the dark putt putt, video games galore, train ride and go-karts. Fun for all ages! In total, we scored about 1,000 tickets which we turned in for some candy and a groovy fiber optic lamp for the boys room. We have Chuck E Cheese here, but this place was a million percent cooler, cleaner, and $50 worth of tokens lasted for hours.

Shooting the hillbillies!

Cycle boy strikes again..

If air hockey is a sport in college, Logan is going to major in it.

Of course being boys, they zeroed in immediately on Grandma Celia's treadmill and gave it a workout all weekend. Dylan had it going so fast I thought he would just fly right out the window. And Suki, the dog, decided to hop on with Logan:


The next day, under blue skies and 70 degree perfection, we all headed to an amazing children's farm called the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead. There were so many things to do and see, three hours didn't even do it justice. Incredibly, this farm was built and its managed by the city, and it was FREE. Bottles to feed the goats were $1, and fishing was $3. If we had this place in Virginia, we'd be there every week.

First, we visited the old country schoolhouse:

Hopefully this is not a vision of things to come...

I'm gonna need more cowbell...

Feeding the goats..

Notice in this photo, Andrew is still, nonchalantly trying to feed the goats..

Riding the pedal tractors...


Doing a little fishing - "little" being the operative word based on the size of the fish! (Disclaimer for animal rights activists - all fish were uninjured and released. They would have not even made one fish taco.)



Taking a little horse drawn hayride with Uncle Alex..

And last but not least, a few rides down the barn slide.

There are so many more photos I could post, but these capture the bulk of our visit. Now we're back home in time for the final week of summer vacation. Its T-minus 7 days until the beginning of the school year and we have to get ready!