Day 6 of our visit to K.C. was Thursday June 4th, and my dad's only day off during the week. Dad made us a wonderful breakfast and Katie and grandpa spent some quality time together while I got ready for the day. Then Katelyn and I headed to Jen & Anton's so my dad could run his errands, do his yardwork, and take a much-needed nap!!
Ever since eating at The Rainforest Cafe in Florida, Katelyn has been asking to visit the T-Rex Cafe during our visit to K.C.. Both restaurants are owned by the same company which was explained to us during our lunch at The Rainforest Cafe. Katelyn saw in a brochure we received that they have a Build-A-Dinosaur(same concept as Build-A-Bear)at T-Rex Cafe, and she was not going to forget that anytime soon!!! So that afternoon Jen, Anton, Katie, and I headed to a new (to me) development in Kansas City, KS called The Legends which has great outdoor shopping, a Cabela's, hotels, and just happens to be home to The T-REX Cafe!! I'm telling you it's really cool!! There are lifelike dinosuars that move and make sounds. The food was good too! And of course the Build-a-Dinosaur! Katelyn made an Apatosaurus and Anton made a Pteradactyl. I bought each of them a baby dinosaur to go with their adult ones. Jen surprised Katelyn & I with matching t-shirts as souveniers(BTW-we wore those home on Sunday!!) After our time at the T-Rex cafe, we did some shopping(they have a Gymboree outlet, and you know I can't pass that up!!!!). As a special treat we were able to attend Anton's Tae Kwon Do class later that afternoon, and the instructor let Katelyn participate too. I was very impressed with Anton's skills, concentration, and commitment! Katelyn did great too; she did her best to keep up with the older boys! Katelyn and I were also invited to dinner at Jen's and to spend the night. The spaghetti supper was delicious and the accomodations perfect. Jen, Eric, and Anton-thanks for having us!!
Day 7 was Friday June 5th and our last day in Kansas City. Afer a tearful conversation with Katelyn on Wednesday night("I miss you daddy...I want you to come to Kansas City...")Mike had purchased a 1-way ticket and was flying in to drive back to Denver with us. What a great dad! Right!! He told me after talking to Katelyn on the phone, "Even if I have to charter a boat, I'll be there!" These are the moments when I really love my husband.
So we still had the whole day before Mike was due to arrive, and we'd need to pick him up from the airport. I had called my friend Kathy to let her know we were in town so we planned to have lunch with her that day at Houlihan's. Kath and I have been friends since 1994, my first year of teaching. We share a lot of history, good times, hard times, lots of memories! I'm so glad we've stayed in touch all these years! Kath-I only wish I would have taken a picture of you and Katelyn for my blog! Next time for sure!!!
After lunch with Kathy, Katelyn and I met Jen and Anton at The Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park, KS(another wonderful FREE activity for kids, although we happily gave a donation!)Deanna Rose was designed to depict a turn of the century farm. There is so much to do and they are continuously adding to the activities. Here are some of the things we did: visited a 5,000 sq. ft. dairy barn and saw a real live cow being milked(pretty cool for city kids); visted a Native American earthen lodge made from 600 logs and filled with artifacts & furs, surrounded by 3 tepees that the kids could go in; visited Helen's country schoolhouse, a re-creation of a 1900's one-room schoolhouse; petted goats, calves, and ponies; played on the Prairie playground; and went for a walk on the nature trail. There were many other things we didn't have time to do, but when we return to K.C. in a couple of years we definitely want to: fish in Grandpa Bob's fishing pond, bottle feed a goat, go on a pony ride, and possible take a horse-drawn wagon ride!!!
Unintentionally at first, Jen and I have been alternating years visiting back and forth. I was in K.C. 2 years ago, they came to Denver last summer, Katelyn and I went to K.C. this summer, and next summer they plan to come to Denver. Jen & I made a pact to keep this going for as long as the kid's schedules allow it! Pretty cool, huh!!
After a tearful good-bye to Jen and Anton, Katie and I headed to the airport to pick up Mike. And that night, after grandpa Tom got off work, we all went out for barbecue-Zarda's BBQ, Mike's favorite! Then it was time for another tearful good-bye to my dad and we headed for our hotel. Thanks for letting us stay with you dad-I love you!!!
to be continued....
2 comments:
When we moved, they had just opened up the Cabela's. We would take Rebecca there just to look at the animal displays. I guess I'm not surprised there is a whole shopping center there now...
It is so hard to only see friends every so often. The goodbye's are the hardest. Sounds like such a fun and busy visit. What a sweet thing for Mike to do too, to fly all the way there, just to drive you guys home. Ahhh!
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