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.)

Exploring the Frontier Town of Itty Bitty Weston

Diaper bag? Check.

Portable high chair? Check.

Parker's lunch and snacks? Check.

Doors locked? Yes.

Did Cash go out? Yes.

Water bottle? Got it.

One of the best parts about this year is taking the time as a little family to explore our year-long-home-away-from-home here in Kansas. And regardless of how long or short the drive is, Honey and I run through that checklist every single time we head out.

Recently  we spent a Saturday afternoon visiting the charming little nearby town of Weston. There is so.much.history in this part of the world! Where we currently live was at one time the very edge of the frontier and getting to see that part of our history first-hand is a fun bonus to living in Kansas.

Home to "Buffalo" Bill Cody, the oh-so-adorable town of Weston, Kansas is just a short drive from our house. 

We walked along ancient brick sidewalks as we poked in and out of shops from antique stores, candle-making shops, western-inspired furniture markets, funky clothing shops, this town had a little bit of everything!

There were plaques on nearly every single one of the buildings to explain what that particular building once was. We enjoyed reading about the former butcher shops and saloons that once lined the streets of this pioneer town!

We had a fabulous lunch in a wonderful little 1800's-farmhouse-turned-restaurant. Just the walk to this particular eatery was lovely!

We ate right across the street from what just might be the most picturesque cottage this side of the Mississippi. I mean, who lives here?

The three of us had such a great time checking out the town of Weston.

And since it was Saturday afternoon, and a warm one, and it sounded so good, we finished off our fun family day with a chocolate malted milkshake!

Now the only question is, where to next?!

House Hunters Army Style

Since we are in Kansas for one year for Honey to go to school at the General Command Staff College for Army officers ranked as Majors, we decided that it made the most sense to live in Army housing located on Ft. Leavenworth.  This is the first time either of us have ever lived on an Army post. 

Honey did attend West Point which is technically an Army Post but since that was college he doesn't count that. So that makes this a first for both of us!

Selecting our home was much like House Hunters on HGTV – I wish I would have recorded our experience! House Hunters Army Style...

For those not familiar (do any seasoned Army wives read this blog??) I have outlined how The On Post Housing Process works (in a nutshell) along with our personal experience.

Before you move to post - 

1 - In March, we were required to turn in the top three neighborhoods we would like to live in. 

We were able to go online to view the neighborhood layouts, home floor plans, square footage, etc. for each of the different neighborhoods and homes. We learned that all of the homes in a neighborhood are identical. So once you pick a neighborhood you are also picking the single floor plan for that neighborhood.

2 - The Ft. Leavenworth housing office takes your selections and assigns every family to a neighborhood, not to a specific house. By May they notify you to let you know which neighborhood you were assigned to. 

We got our top pick! We were excited because as it turned out, not everyone got their top pick. 

Once you get to post - 

3 - When you arrive on post you sign in at the housing office and they let you know which houses in your neighborhood are coming available. 

We went straight to the housing office the minute - and I do mean the minute - we arrived to Ft. Leavenworth. We drove from Clanton, Alabama directly to the Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas housing office (with one overnight stop in Columbia, Missouri). And yes, I had to pee when we got there. 

4 - You go look at the available houses. 

The good news? There were three available houses in our neighborhood for us to see. Just like House Hunters. (Some friends of ours arrived a few weeks earlier - because she's due with Baby #4 any day now - and when they arrived there were NO houses available that day. They had to come back the next day. Really!?)

The bad news? They would not be ready for us to move in for 2 weeks. AND we weren't able to see the inside. That didn't really matter to me because the inside is the exact same for every house. So the inside doesn't make a difference at this point. 

5 - You select the home you want and the housing office assigns it to you and tells you when it will be available. 

We quickly made our decision after looking at all three homes. I had already created my DO's and DON'Ts list for our on post home and although a short list, it is a bit of a tall order for Army housing...

I DO want to be on a quiet street, preferably not on the corner.

I DON’T want the neighborhood playground in my back yard.

I DO want access to a field or some green space very close to our home for Cash Dog.

I DON’T want to look out of my back window directly into someone else’s back window.

And one house? Met this criteria! While you can see the neighbors behind us, there are some tall trees between their house and ours. You can also see a community play ground but it is far enough away to not be a noisy bother when Mommy needs quiet time Parker needs to nap. There is plenty of green space for Cash, even a walking trail nearby, and as an added bonus, the house is on a cul-de-sac!

6 - Once you have an address assigned, you call your army-contracted moving company to give them your new address and the date you have from the housing office as to when your house will be available.

Our home was not scheduled to be available until July 24 which would have us in a hotel for two weeks. TWO WEEKS?! But after Honey and I questioned the housing office on the reason for the delay, they realized that there wasn't a need to wait that long. The house was being patched up and freshly painted, then cleaned, then carpets cleaned, then inspected. They revised the date to July 17 and and we have scheduled our boxes and furniture to be delivered on Thursday, July 18. Which means only ONE WEEK in a hotel. Much more palatable than two weeks. 

By the time this blog is posted it will be after July 17 but since we won't have internet service for a few days while we move I pre-wrote and scheduled this post!

7 - Then you check into a hotel and wait for your house to become available.

Our hotel is a suite with a small kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom. 

The pros? I have to admit it is nice to have this *down time*. We are loving exploring our new community and catching up with friends who are here. It is nice not to wake up to a to-do list each and every morning! 

The cons? Oh, where do I begin? There is a family (of elephants?) staying the the suite above us. They are So.Loud.All.The.Time. Then the a/c unit only has too controls: hot or cold. Pick which one you want because there is no middle ground. And finally, let's face it, we're in a hotel. Space is at a premium and I don't know how much longer we can live like this!

So meanwhile we are living the part of House Hunters that you don't see on TV. House Hunters Army Style! Place another checkmark in the column marked "New Army Experiences" for me. 

I look forward to posting about our family adventures as we get to know Kansas City and Leavenworth over the next couple of weeks! And I very much look forward to hopefully posting about our new digs on post!

Farewell to Our Tennessee Home

Saying Goodbye is so hard to do but Army families become experts at it. Before we left Tennessee we said goodbye to several friends and made the best of the time we had left! 

Also because we were in the process of moving out, we "camped" in our own home and "picnic'd" in our living room. I learned that living among a maze of boxes for three days is not for the faint of heart. This move is truely a test for this new Army wife!

Here is a review in pictures of our final days in Tennessee and the BIG MOVE!

Celebrating with friends at a Luau

Jack, Parker & Cole after dinner at a friends home. Jack and Cole's dad went to college with Honey!

Parker Bear trying to take a sip of Daddy's beer (he didn't get any):

Visiting with friends one last time:

Saying goodbye to our fun neighbors:

Cash and Honey taking a rest during the big move (see the boxes? They were everywhere!)

This is how more than one moving day nap took place. I would be lying if I said I didn't love it!

Finding a good place to nap was difficult for everyone:

Before our bed was disassembled it worked for Parker's pea pod as long as the movers were also taking a break. Moving is L-O-U-D ! ! !

Our Kitchen. 

Luckily Parker was able to find time for reading:

This was half of the NO PACK PILE:

Moving Day - on Day Three the truck came so everything could be loaded:

All three days we ate lunch like this in the living room. Dinner was out to eat!

Saying goodbye to our home!

Out to dinner:

Once our house was empty, we stayed in a dog-friendly hotel before we left Tennessee to head to Atlanta.