The Sista's Visit: A Catch Up Post

My mom is the oldest of three girls. In our family we commonly refer to the three of them as "the sista's". When they get together it's a real hoot! There is so much talking a laughing that you have to listen fast to keep up! When the three of them decided to come visit us in Kansas I was so excited to say the very least!

They came for a wonderful 4-day trip in October. Here is an overview of my fabulously fun weekend with "the sista's"!!

I picked them up from the airport first thing in the morning. We drove into Kansas City for lunch and then to Parker's physical therapy appointment. They loved watching him show off his skills!

That afternoon we went to the World War I monument and museum. It was such a gorgeous day and we loved strolling around the park at the monument! That's Aunt Sarah on the left, Aunt Angie in the middle, and of course you know Twinkle on the right holding Parker Bear.

We talked a lot about this monument. None of which I will be sharing here on the blog.

From the base of the monument, the view of Kansas City is so pretty! Historic Union Station is that big building right in the center. We headed there next...

No trip to Union Station is complete without a stop at Parisi. Their coffees and teas are legendary and in fact, one of their recipes won in an international competition! So of course we all got a treat!

We walked around Union Station admiring this beautiful place. It's hard to imagine it full of train travelers at the turn of the century!

We got to go to an incredible train exhibit and Parker was beside himself with all the trains to see!

We walked over the train tracks on the "people bridge":

It was a great first day in Kansas City!

The next day we toured Fort Leavenworth. There is so much to see on our historic post. We started our day with a trip to the old jail for photos and lunch at the restaurant inside part of the old prison.

Then we headed to the historic levy. This is the very spot where many covered wagons crossed the Missouri River to the Kansas side to begin their journey on the Oregon Trail. Such history here! The levy is still standing even though the river has moved just beyond that tree line.

And here we are in one of my favorite spots on post: the head of the Oregon Trail! See how the land is carved there behind us? That is from all the covered wagons, horses, oxen, and people that traveled up the hill from the river on their way out west. I love visiting this spot and standing there thinking about all the pioneers and what that must have been like for them!!

While we were there Parker discovered that his sunglasses had a major flaw!

Next we visited the remains of this fort built by the first soldiers at Fort Leavenworth. 

 Typical! Angie photo-boming Twinkle and Parker!

Next we went for a walk around the historic sections of post to look at all the big, beautiful homes where the generals live and caught this amazing view to the river!

We walked to one of my favorite places on post, this historic church. It looks like a gingerbread house!

We had such a great time touring Fort Leavenworth and seeing so many historic places!

The next day we went to nearby Weston, Missouri, for lunch and shopping. Weston is just an adorable little town. It was chilly that day so we all bundled up!

We did decide that it was NOT too cold for chocolate milkshakes from the old fashioned soda fountain!

That night we had dinner at home… 

And "the sista's" surprised us with their new body art. 

You never know what they are going to do next! Fortunately these were just fake tattoo sleeves. But the face my husband made when they revealed these to us at dinner was *priceless*!!

That night we went on the Haunted Fort Leavenworth Tour. It was very cold that night but the weather was perfect for a walking tour filled with ghost stories!

Angie was really glad she bought a mid-weight jacket for the trip...

Volunteers and folks who live on post told actual accounts of historic stories from around post. Many of the stories included sightings and encounters with ghosts!

The next day was their last day. Parker soaked up every possible minute of fun!

We went to lunch with Honey...

And "the sista's" showed him how much they just LOVE him! He said they were welcome to come back for another weekend. In five years…

We spent the afternoon at the Plaza walking around and shopping. We also stopped for cupcakes before heading to the airport!

It was such a wonderful visit, we are already planning to do it again when we settle in to Nashville! (Which may surprise my husband since he is not expecting to see all three "sista's" together under our roof for five years.)