We decided to go to Kansas City for the weekend Spencer had off before school started. Its only about 4 hours away for us this time around...but it seemed to last forever. we probably left around 9am and got there around noon. Since our room was not ready, we decided to go to the Crown Center and do the Hallmark Visitor Center with the Kaleidoscope. Both are completely free and if you ask, they will validate parking as well...so it's a no brainer.
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| Tickets...we had to wait about 5 min in order to go in. |
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| The Kaledioscope- a big art/craft center where all leftover card material ends up. Kids have a blast. Imagine those kindergarten centers on steroids haha |
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| They had glue, tape, paint, whatever you needed. Some kid was building a puppet |
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| They have a machine that will make your creation a puzzle. |
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| They had a blast. |
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| The Hallmark Channel, believe it or not, has won numerous Emmys. So here we are, playing with them. |
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| he had the most fun with it. |
Since we spent more time than we had hoped in that place, we had to get a late dinner at what some people say is the best bbq in the world. I have tasted some good bbq in my days...this is definitely some of the best....whether it's the BEST in the world...you can be the judge of that.
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| Anthony Bourdain was here |
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| Has been mentioned on several media sites AND received numerous awards. |
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| Expect a line. We ate at 3pm and the line was the shortest I've seen, but still there. The kids hung in there, and they ate everything. That's saying something. |
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| It's a small gas station! I'm not sure why they have not ventured out and bought a bigger place. |
We did not eat dinner since we were so full from our late lunch, and just went to the hotel and rested. Some of us went to the pool in the hotel. Dom and Spencer were so excited to go. Ethan was too, but Spencer cannot watch both kids. So, Ethan stayed with me while the other two went. He did not take that well. Then about 45 min later, they come back saying the water was freezing. Apparently, online, it stated that the indoor pool was kept at a temperature of 80 degrees, so Spencer was expecting...a hot tub I guess. So he thought it would be cozy. It wasn't...at all. It was actually quite cold. So he didn't want to go back and take Ethan...which meant I had to. Didn't want to go to the pool, but hey, I got a break from Jacob. So, off we went the two of us....and it was COLD. I mean...not freezing...but just a tad warmer than ocean water. I guess 80 degrees is not what we think it is...haha. The guy measured it for me too....and he said it read 82. So, there you go....82 is actually quite chilly. It could also have been because it was indoor...no sun to warm it up and the AC was blasting in there. Ethan's lips turned purple but he would not leave. It took him a good extra half hour to give up. He's so weird. No doesn't like hot water....at all. Even in the shower...it has to be exactly in the middle...while Dominic prefers the hot setting all the way over. I can see Ethan doing the polar plunge sometime later in his life haha.
The next day, we went to the Lego Center. I was expecting to spend maybe three hours here...instead we spent almost 7! The kids would not leave. Jacob took like 3 cat naps. We ate sandwiches in there (not the best), and by the time we were done....the kids were SO wasted. It took us a couple of hours to recover and go to steak and shake...none of us wanted to go too far or wait in line for anything.
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| He's so excited |
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| Entrance. We bought our tickets ahead of time, so make sure we were going to go inside. Also, they can validate your parking here. You have to ask the lady taking lego pictures. |
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| Big playground area |
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| oh yeah...he was having a blast. |
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| Ethan was obsessed with making pizzas and would get mad when other kids came by and trashed his to make theirs. |
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| He says he wants these for xmas...oh goodness. |
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| Dom loved to build cars and let them run down the ramp |
The kids loved the rides, but I didn't ride any of them because I had Jacob. They rode multiple times though. They like the minifigure area and Dom always dreams to someday do the same in our basement...just like the LEGO movie. He's a goof.
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| Someday...he says....he wants a room like this...oh bother. This is too much organization for me... |
This was basically the highlight of the trip. The kids are already asking to go again...but I think we need to wait for Jacob to be older...so he can join in. We also drove to Union Station and saw a big dinosaur in the entrance. I think they had an exhibit of some sort...but since we dind't plan for it, there was just not enough time to see it.
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| This guy actually moved his head and tail side to side |
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| He's always cold. Jacob is always intrigued by Dominic. |
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| Bust! NO vendors...Dom was very upset. |
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| He found a seat and refused to walk |
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| We stayed Downtown to be closet to the Crown Center. |
This past month, we got a fence in our backyard. That was the highlight for projects...and then Ethan learned how to open the gate haha. So, for now, it's locked with a good lock. This kid is nuts. He likes to open the gate and walk around the house and sometimes even go down the street. It freaks me out.
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| Finally a fence! and a couple of trees. |
Dominic started school and he was way more excited than I anticipated. He really wanted to ride the bus, but I told him maybe next semester. They email bus routes here, and it changed like 3 times, I was so nervous he would get on the wrong bus or take the wrong stop. He's awful at paying attention to his surroundings. He worries me the most. So, he had his first day and noticed that two of his classmates have the same bus as him, so he's excited for next semester. Several of his church friends (in his class) go to the same school but most are a year ahead (since he's a Dec baby), but he enjoys running into them in the hallways. He loves the spinner in the playground. They have a really nice playground. And pick up is so much shorter than at our last school. I leave home about 20 min before they let them out, and we still come home within a half an hour's time. It would take us at least twice that at our former school- more parents picked up kids I guess.
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| Goofy. |
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| He insisted on a hoodie even though it was 90 degrees. I guess they keep schools cold. Ethan will always hug and kiss his brother. Every mornings we take Dom, and we do a group hug. |
Our neighborhood has at least 5 buses with multiple stops....there's so many kids here. And I like how the stops are so short. They literally go from street to street. This was not the case in our last school. There was only two stops in our neighborhood....and we were nowhere near that. But since Dom transferred schools, he couldn't even ride the bus....even if he wanted to.
The bus usually gets to "our" stop at the same time we come home from picking up Dom. They're so fast! We get to say hi to all of our neighbors and kids. Dom even noticed a kid in his class in the bunch....so he's feeling more comfortable as time goes by.
Here in the area, we have late start and early release school- a totally new concept for me. This is unheard of in OK (but it actually makes a lot more sense). About once a month, kids start two hours later than normal, and at the end of each quarter, they get released two hours ahead of normal time. SO if you pick up kids, you need to be aware of those dates. Dom has already had one late start day and he says he wishes school was like this all the time. Poor guy....I would home schooling if he wasn't so annoying haha. We're too alike...one of us wouldn't survive.
I also ended up being home room parent again. I feel bad- I don't want to be THAT parent....but nobody signed up for it. I went to the first PTO meeting and once again...his class had no parent. This time it will be so much easier. Last year, I had to do a directory and every month keep parents up to date with PTO and school events. This year, all I have to do is coordinate the three holiday parties...that is it. It will be so much easier I think, but then again, I have Jacob..so we'll see. Quite a few parents have already reached out to me to help with parties....so I may just ask them to donate items or times. The PTO president said I could even ask for money and then buy the stuff with that. That was unheard of at the last school. All I could get was item donations, so this will be nice and easy. Last year, I did end up buying a lot of the goodie bags...which gets challenging when you have 25 kids...I mean...even $1 goodie bags turn into $30+ after tax. So, I had to be really aware of target after holiday clearances so I could find cute stuff to stuff the bags with, and it wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg.
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| Ethan's class |
Ethan is getting ready to start school. We met his teacher, and she loves Pete the Cat...just like him. His classroom has a smartboard, a computer, and an aquarium, and way too many crafts and toys. He's in heaven. I like this preschool, because they did not ask me for materials nor a backpack. Everything was included in the tuition. That's awesome! They even gave him a bag and a shirt to wear once a month. He doesn't have a playground though. His last school had an amazing playground with sun cover. He will have all kinds of holiday parties and presentations throughout the year. He's so excited to start. We also found out recently, his teacher goes to our church building but different ward...what a small world. And we also discovered on parent night that one of his church class friends is also attending (but it's in the other class), and her mom highly recommends this place (it's her fourth time coming here!). I'm happy we found this place.
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| Computer |
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| Puzzles...always puzzles |
Jacob is growing so strong and a bit lazy. The younger two come with me to workout. Ethan is kind of over it. He doesn't like the child watch area because babies cry too much. Ethan is so sensitive to baby cries. If Jacob cries for too long, he'll always come over to see what wrong. Sometimes, he even goes downstairs and tries to make a bottle (and a HUGE mess to go with it)...and early on in Jacob's life, Ethan would even put a pillow on his face haha. That doesn't happen anymore, I told him I'd rather him make a huge mess in the kitchen making a bottle than putting pillows in people's faces.
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| This is as much as he will do. |
I am trying to still catch up. Most pictures are not up and I have to cover all the nail holes the last owner left before I do that. I did decorate for 4th of July, and need to take those decorations out, so Halloween and Fall can come up. Once both kids actually start school, I think it will be easier to do these things. I would love to have a blog and pics about our new house....and the projects we plan to do...but I'll have to wait a bit more on that. But it's in the works.....
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