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Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Kansas U Football Game: A Catch Up Post

You know what goes with college football and road trips? Lederhosen. At least that was the case for our college football-roadtrip in October...

While we are here at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for Honey to complete a master's level program required of him by the Army, my ambitious husband is also getting a separate master's degree from nearby Kansas University.

Since he is a student at KU we headed out watch them in a college football game! The main campus is located 2-hours away so we decided to make a weekend out of it. It would be Parker's second college football game since he went to a game at West Point in 2012 when he was 5 months old!

A gentleman that my husband flew with when he was stationed in Germany, lives near the school and was having an Octoberfest party at his house before the big game. (That's where the Lederhosen came in…) Here is a review in pictures of our weekend and Parker's second college football game!

We got there around dinner time and went immediately to fill our bellies and then to bed! We had a big day coming up!
The next morning, Parker was appropriately dressed!
First stop was the Octoberfest Brew-Ha-Ha! The german food was quite good! My husband was an old pro at naming the dishes. It was all new to me...
I didn't get any pictures of the party scene but there were several gents dressed in full German attire! They were even drinking from authentic beer steins. For a minute I really felt like I was in Germany!

Parker was unsure about this new cuisine...
Finally it was game time!
Parker had a great time! He watched some of the game, played with his truck on the bleachers, snuggled with me and eventually, took his afternoon nap!
Even though KU lost, we had such a great time together!
We were so exhausted that night that we just ordered take out and got comfy. A great way to end a fun weekend making memories in Kansas!

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Saturday, April 12, 2014

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.)

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Saturday, April 5, 2014

Twinkle & Bing Winter Visit Recap

When Twinkle and Bing (my parents) come visit, we cover a lot of ground! From the historic Carousel museum to the Truman Library, from the Federal Reserve Bank to the grocery store turned chic cafe my great-grandparents owned many years ago, plus the Amelia Earhart childhood home museum and lots and lots and lots of playing, we stay busy and have too much fun at the same time!

The day after Twinkle and Bing got here we went to the local fire station to check out the equipment. That same afternoon we visited the C.W. Parker Carousel Museum and rode a very old restored carousel.
Parker's face when he saw the carousel:
Going for a ride!
Having too much fun with Twinkle!
We toured the museum for a bit too.
And then Parker took a nap while Twinkle and Bing finished the tour.
The next day we headed to brunch...
 and then went to the Harry Truman Presentidial Library. It was about an hour's drive from us in Independence, Missouri. Parker was happy to explore!
And we had a great time checking everything out!
 The next day we took off to historic Union Station to see the train exhibit but unfortunately it was closed as they are updating it. This was Parker's face when he found out the exhibit was closed!
 So we headed to the Federal Reserve Bank...
 to take a nap while Twinkle and Bing explored. 
 We had lunch at our favorite, Cafe Gratitude. This is the restaurant that was a grocery store owned by my dad's great-grandparents many years ago!
Parker showed Twinkle and Bing his new tricks too!
 And took Twinkle with him to Kinder music class...
 And showed her his play group!
 The next morning we had lunch in town where Parker walked all around the restaurant!
 And then headed here, to the Amelia Earhart birthplace and childhood home. (Isn't it lovely?!)
 Parker explored every nook and cranny!
 We loved having them visit! Parker enjoyed the extra snuggles with Twinkle...
 And all of the playtime with Bing!
As for Cash Dog, he loves having Twinkle and Bing visit too but he loves that they bring his brother Truman to play with every day the most. These two are inseparable!! So sweet.
It was a very full week with lots to see and do and plenty of downtime at home to catch up as well. We already can't wait for them to come back!

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