Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts

Thursday, June 9, 2011

better late than never :: a weekend get-a-way

here is the sitting-as-a-draft-forever-post.

we were sitting around with our besties, and they said, "hey, we're going to kc in a couple weeks. you should go, too."

twist my arm, why don't you?!

so, we arranged child care for the 3 oldest, keeping max with us since he is a nursing fiend. saturday morning, we woke up "bright" and early--4 am--or if you ask me, the middle of the night, went to get drew and kyle, hit up starbucks, and headed to kansas city.
when we got to the plaza, we went straight to panera. i was in my wal-mart bermuda sweatshorts and a black tank--and i'll just say, i was judged. all the prissy girls were shocked that i would dare set foot out of the house looking like such a hot mess. whateva. i didn't care. 
we spent the day there, and i went to anthropologie for the first time ever. can someone cue the hallelujah chorus?! i had "pinned" some measuring cups on pinterest that i loved, but never thought i'd actually be going to one of their stores...so when i was there, i *had* to buy them:

20101796_095_b

i love them & use them all the time.

really, though, the plaza is not our kind of crowd.
we went to legends for awhile, (which was more our pace) since we had time to kill before we could check in at the hotel, and the guys found some great deals at the adidas store. kyle and i went to forever 21...since, you know, we don't have one in our city. ha.
we shared a hotel room--that's real friendship, guys--and had a blast talking, laughing til we cried and stuffing our faces with cheesecake from the cheesecake factory.

in the morning, we hit up the roasterie
 trip4

 trip5

and dreamt about what it would be like to live in that neighborhood.
picturesque, i tell you...and everyone rode bikes. yes, please.

on our way home, we went to lawrence, and it was there we found our groove.
trip1

trip3

trip2

antique shops, consignment stores, and a fabric store we could have spent hours in...
actually, i know we had to have been in there at least an hour.
we seriously lost track of time.
i think we lost track of time playing dress up, too.

while we were there, we had a chance to talk with and pray for a homeless family.
they weren't lazy beggars.
they had fallen on hard times.
they had things lined up, but until then, they just needed some help--
and love.
to take the time to see them as people, hug them, and encourage them
probably blessed us more than it did them.
that's one of my most vivid memories of our trip,
and i'm so grateful for that opportunity.

as much as we enjoyed the trip and our time together,
i think we all felt like the drive home took forever.
we missed our babies like crazy.
unfortunately, our babies didn't miss us.
that's why i'm so thankful for awesome grandparents.
not only will they take our kids so that we can have a bit of a break,
we don't have to worry about them & it's like a vacation for our kids, too!
thank you, dad, mom & tyler!
love you guys!

and thank you kyle, for letting me steal all of your pictures since i was lame and did not pull my camera out one time during our whole trip.

 the end.





Monday, October 19, 2009

Vacation Day 4: A Walk on the Wild Side

I really could have called this one "Lions and Tigers & Bears, Oh My" because there were all of those things here, but I already used that line for Day 2. Way to go.

On our way home, we checked out G.W. Exotic Animal Park. Every animal there has been rescued, and some of them have some pretty sad stories. Because of the type of place this was, we were much closer to these animals than we would be at any other zoos:

We had bags of food (cereal!) to feed the bears and monkeys:
IMG_5267

IMG_5268

***
Hyenas freak me out. Not sure why, but they don't look very nice:
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This is a Liger--Dad was a Lion and Mom was a Tiger, get it?! =P
IMG_5278

***
We went up on a high, fenced platform
to throw chicken down to the Tigers and Taliger.
They started circling while we put gloves on and got ready:
IMG_5286

 They got really vocal while waiting
This is a Taliger--
Tiger Dad, Liger Mom
IMG_5293


Pouncing on the chicken
IMG_5294

***
Any time we would walk by one of the big cats, they would watch Ali especially close. This mountain lion was pacing back and forth, eyes locked on her. Poor innocent Ali laughed and would yell, "It's playing with me!"
IMG_5366

***
After 4 days of vacation, everyone was worn out on the way home:
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IMG_5393


Friday, October 16, 2009

Vacation Day 3: Turner Falls

Normal people would put on their tennis shoes if they knew they were going to go hiking--especially if they knew they were going hiking in the mountains.

Not me.

I prefer to hike in my flip flops. I know, how gallant (or stupid?!), right?! In fact, I didn't even pack tennis shoes! However, I didn't fall or get injured, so we'll just say I was gallant.

 Moving on!

Like most great adventurers, we began our hike knowing where we wanted to go, but not exactly sure how to get there. Before swimming in the falls, we wanted to make it to the castle.

We started down the mountain and soon came to a cave:
Cave Entrance
Right behind Ali is where we came in. I know, I know...gallant!
              
CaveFam


Hike1

JRocks
The men folk got to do some extra exploring down in this rocky area.
I was a bit jealous, but I had my motherly duties to tend to--
Like hiking down a steep, very rocky part of the mountain with 3 children
(plus my Mom and siblings) in search of my manly, rugged husband.
Which really was ok with me--I want him to keep his spirit of adventure!

At last, we found the castle (nevermind that we found out it would have been MUCH easier to go a different way):
Castle1


Cross-Process Castle

Castle2

Castle3


After hiking back up to our vehicles, we had a quick lunch and went back down to the falls, where we spent the afternoon--

Turner Falls
Swimming in the freezing, but gorgeous falls,


Feet Dippin
 Relaxing beside the cool, clear streams,

Jax Nap
and napping in the Mommy-made shade.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Vacation Day 2: Llamas and Zebras & Camels, Oh My!

 On day two of our adventure, we ventured into the Arbuckle Wilderness, a part drive-thru, part walk-thru exotic animal theme park:

Ugly
I was a little frightened. First, this llama had some serious dental issues. Second, they spit.
Next, please!

In Your Face
Next we were greeted by some extra friendly camels.
This was my view--and at one point there were 3 of them in my face just like this.

Ali's Cup
This one snatched Ali's cup right out of her hand!
Our girls were riding with my Mom and Tyler.
From then on, (and still) she says,
"The camels were rude to me!"


Donkey


Hey You
This Zebra had his head in the van and Jason was looking the other way.
We tried to warn him and when he turned around, they knocked heads!

Turtle1

 I had Jason stop so I could take a picture of the sunbathing turtles
when all of a sudden they all started coming up onto the shore.
They knew there was food and they started coming from all over--
seriously close to 100.

Turtle2
They took the food and would "run" back into the water with it--too funny!
What's even funnier was that we were captivated by turtles in
an exotic animal park!


Arbuckle1
Dorky tourists =P



Friday, October 9, 2009

Vacation Day 1: Nature

Natural Spring Source
(I want this one printed BIG)
Wishing Well
 
Touch of AutumnHero

Sister Love

Chickasaw Mini-fallsRock Climbing

Bamboo & Bokeh