A Kansas City weekend

We spent last weekend in Kansas City.  We bought the older 2 kids each a refurbished Nintendo DS.  Alison has been wanting one for several years.  They needed headphones for school, so we started with that present...of course their reaction is not what we expected, but they really were excited and we definitely got our money's worth out of them.

Second best thing we did= took Colin's carseat on the plane.  The tornado was contained and with fruitsnacks and the iPad, he was a happy camper.  He actually slept on the plane too and I got to read an entire book!

The kids really are troopers when we travel.  Everything went smoothly, but it was still a long day.  When we got to Kansas City, we headed over to our friend Lydia's house for a little high school reunion.

Picture courtesy of Alison:

Alyson and Brett, Ben and me, Lydia and Kyle, Brett and Diana

All of our kiddos, with 2 more on the way!

I love the look Colin is giving Courtney in this picture.  He was in love with her and hilariously called her 'Park Mint' the entire time.  It didn't matter how many times we said Courtney, he still called her Park Mint.

It didn't take long for Ben and I to feel old this night.  Alison was the oldest of the crew and while we're done having kiddos, everyone else was in the middle of baby-ness.  However, I am so thankful to have friends still having babies.  I really loved being able to serve my friends; to hold their babies while they ate and sweep the floor while they rested.  I've been in the 'sleep deprived - spit up all over my shirt- constant crying baby' shoes before and it was nice to step into different shoes and be the person helping.

Lydia, me and Diana.

We have a picture just like this of us in college.

Saturday morning, the kids played in the White's unfinished basement, Lyd and I sat and talked and the boys played video games.  It was so refreshing for me!  

We had lunch at Fritz's, a train restaurant. A train delivers your food and the kids were in complete awe.  Plus you got to call in your order on a phone and they had kid shows playing on a TV.  It certainly was a treat for our kids who don't eat out much.

Colin and Courtney waiting for lunch

The last time we were together with the Whites, we were on a trip in Mackinaw Island and Alison was just learning to walk.  They generously let us stay with them a few nights and it was so fun to see our kids together.

 

After lunch, we met Elizabeth and Kent at Lego Land. 

Eli was in heaven.  

He was in a trance building at this table and I'm sure he could have stayed there all day.

The only thing that pulled him away was this huge play area.  While the kids were having the time of their life, I won most negligent mom award.  Alison assured me she would keep an eye on Colin, but must have forgotten because she came running out alone after about 10 minutes.  I panicked and found Colin stuck in the middle of the play area.  He was too little to climb over a huge block, but had been trying his hardest for probably 10 minutes.  There was a sweet little girl trying to help him, but she too was too small.  Even the other girls mother was trying to help...all making me look really bad.  Good news is, Colin thought he was awesome and kept saying "I can do it mommy!"...not even phased at being stuck. 

Ben took Alison on this ride twice and Elizabeth took Eli.  I'm so very proud of them!  I couldn't even watch it twirl without feeling nauseous, so they win points in my book.

We spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon hanging out at Nana and Granddaddy's house and ate lots of ice cream :)

Elizabeth also took us on a little shopping trip and did a good job of spoiling us.