Wednesday - August 26th - SARAH day - felt sooo amazing to have my car all cleaned, went to Plaza and enjoyed lunch at Kona grill with me and my book and a Diet Coke. Shopped for hours until it was time to get the kids. Ahhhh... simply blissful.
Thursday - August 27th - our first rainy day. We went out to Little Monkey Buziness in Shawnee (one of my favorite places to take the kids) It was fun to be there and seeing Ellie really enjoying more of the place areas - Will could go up and down the slide all day and also started loving the zipline there too. So after about 45 minutes there, Will tells me he has to go potty really bad, and we made it to the bathroom, but not the potty in time. And of course, I didn't have an extra pair of shorts for him (AH- I know, what was I thinking??) Anyway, so we did the walk of shame and left way before Will was ready. But, I convinced him we would drive home, I would get a new pair of shorts and pack and quick lunch - and we would go to the library. The kids had a blast and Will picked out three new dinosaur books. We ate our sandwiches outside of the library (stopped raining) and had a lovely morning. In the afternoon, we walked up to the park and played until Daddy got home.
Friday - August 28th. We did our morning walk and then got ready to go to Shatto Dairy Farm w/ Marilee and cousin Liam. I am glad we didn't pay for the tour which was 1.5 hours, but we also missed out on some of the details - so I know we will go back someday. But, we really enjoyed seeing the cows, seeing how some of the milking is done, and means even more that we drink Shatto milk. It was quite a drive - 45 minutes from Bill and Marilee's (and they are 30 minutes from us) - so we did a bit of driving, but I have been interested in the tour ever since their owner spoke to my team at Cerner a year or so ago. We had a fun picnic lunch and also got some ice cream with Mimi!!
We actually got to have some friends over for pizza and drinks to do a late birthday celebration for Patrick. Was fun to see Adam, Brad, the VanDee's, Kevin - and it was a tad crazy with the littles running around, but wouldn't have traded it for the world. We are blessed with really great friends!
Saturday - August 29th - we had a nice morning of our usual (although I convinced P we should start our day with a morning walk) and we did Eggtc a little later than normal, which was nice, then followed up with a trip to Costco. After naps, we didn't have anything planned, so we started driving around (thinking we were going to a OP Fall Festival that I read about, only to find out it was listed for the wrong day) so quick thinking and we went to Crown Center for a really fun night! There was a free Storytime center that brought to life 6 children's books, and it was a really cool place. Will loved the Chica Chica Boom Boom area, which had this huge tree with letters on a pulley.... anyway, then we had such a fun experience at Char Bar for Patrick's birthday, we went again - another great dinner and fun atmosphere.
Sunday - church and nothing else stands out too much, so we must have just had a pretty chill day.
Monday - August 31st - Zoo day! Was trying to find some time to catch up with some of my college friends, and two of them were able to meet us at the zoo. We didn't get started until a little later, and it was the hottest day so far. I was glad my friend Mandy was able to meet us, and her two littles, and my friend Lauren (KC zoo hostess) we would have literally been lost without her :) So, it was fun to take the kids there, and I have learned another lesson, well, I don't know exactly what i would have done differently - but it's a FAR walk to the Africa area of the zoo (coolest animals live here in my opinion) and I was all about the walking workout, but with the sun beating down, and Ellie is just in the age that she doesn't want to sit in the stroller too much, she mostly wants me to carry her. Of course Will is running ahead of us most of the time.... let's say I was literally a hot mess when we left after lugging Ellie, the double stroller, trying to pull out snacks and huffing up the hills that have no shade :) It was fun, but wore us all out! I think I had 10,000 steps by the time we left the zoo at noon.
Tuesday - September 1 - I LOVE the first day of the month. Great time to start fresh and just something about it. I also know that September always seems to fly by - but start of football, fall and just always lots of fun. Anyway - Tuesday our outing was to Pump it Up - an inflatible bounce house place that I have wondered what is all about. Only open for open jump two days during the weekdays, so harder to get to. That place is awesome and huge!! Mostly geared towards 5-7 year olds, but Ellie and Will (and me too!) had a blast!! Lots of fun for the 1.5 hours they are open, and had some sweaty/tired kids, ready for good naps (have I mentioned that I think everyday I have taken a nap with the kids.... such a tough life.... :)) Then, after naps we took advantage of the warm weather and took a dip in the fountain by our house, and then to the real pool for one more time before it closes for the summer - which was really fun and the kids loved it!
Wednesday - Sept 2- my 2nd SARAH day! Whoo hoo - this day was about getting in a great workout, showering, getting a mani/pedi, meeting my sister for lunch at Rye (lovely food, lovely company) and then getting a massage... mmmmmm. Then, I did have to go into work to meet my group for our project work - and everyone was joking about how strongly I smelled (seriously, the pedicure had WAY too strong of scent they put in this rose smell and it was gagging me and stuck on my shoes for over a week after. yikes!
Thursday - Sept 3 - Overland Park Arboretum. I was actually debating on if I really wanted to take the kids out there or just hang this day. So glad we went!! It was beautiful weather ( a little warm, but not too bad) and a bit of a drive, no biggie though - the kids love being in the car, and we had a great time. That place is just breath-takingly beautiful. It is so peaceful (not too many people there when we arrived) and the kids loved the turtles and fishes in the pond, the truck/play area after walking through the trails and seeing the gardens, and then the model trains. What a fun place!!
Thursday evening - off to the lake!! Whoo-hoo!!! Arrived by 9 and kids and us all slept awesome - hooray for that!
Friday - Sept 4 - woke up and had breakfast at Old Kinderhook (found off Yelp and didn't realize it was a country club - sorry we were in our comfy clothes -whoops) Luckily not many people in the clubhouse for breakfast and I don't think they minded our relaxed attire- but great breakfast and we are picky about our spots!! Then, we drove about 1 hr 45 minutes to Silver Dollar City for the day. I had a little sticker shock at the price for adults ($65/person!!) but just went on in. The place is kept up really nice, and at first was a little worried there were only ride for adults/big kids. We got there at around 11, and Will rode a few rides before lunch and we found a few kid areas which was great. There are lots of hills throughout the park!! We got a few breaks from the heat during lunch and there was a great indoor kids area that was A/C and had 3 levels of this air compressor nerf ball launching - seriously I think there were 10,000 of those balls flying all over the place. It was Will's favorite spot though and we had fun in there for awhile. We also took the train ride, which Will was so excited to do and it was good, except for this weird little skit they did in the middle of it - P and I were like, what the heck just happened??! Anyway, we found a few rides, we pushed the kids to do a few others they may not have otherwise :) ha! and left around 5. Ellie missed out on a nap, so she was ready to go and we decided to let her sleep a bit and we stopped and got some food (and Coldstone for dessert!!) in Springfield. It was a really fun day to do something different.
Saturday - Sept 5th - woke up at my favorite place - the lake!! Took our time playing, having breakfast, went on a walk, and then got swimsuits on for the pool, water table and right when all was set up - Daniel, Gwynnie, nolan (and Amy and cody) all arrived!!! Weeee!!! So much fun playing with our cousins and we had a great day/night.
Sunday - Sept 6th - Mom and Don met us before church and we were finally all together. We got to go on a fun boat ride and was the first time all the kids got in the water/aqua pad - was really fun though to actually cove with the kiddos!! Did lots of playing, relaxing, and more playing.
Monday - (Labor Day) - more fun playing
Tuesday - Sept 7th - was really rainy day - so we went in to Osage Outlets for some shopping in the rain - and decided a rainy day was a good time to pack up, clean and head back to KC. Luckily, my Mom was coming with us - and P was still off, so we got to go out to dinner together when we all got back to KC.
Wednesday - Sept 8th - got to do morning walk with Grandma Bobbie and Daddy!! Whoo-hoo!! Love having my peeps together - we didn't have any specific plans today - but did need to take some things back to mall - so we went out to Legends for a bit in the evening and had fun playing in the fountains
And that's it for now. We have 2 days left.... only 1 with the kiddos, so my time off is wrapping up, but it's been awesome and I'm ready to get back to the grind (kind of)
Ellie is getting such a little personality on her and I love when she dances - she does the funniest things with her arms (like flipping a pancake) and really just makes us laugh so much. I hope to get it on video sometime, but she is just the best. She has gotten quite attached to me though over this time, and seriously can't even sit in her highchair - she always has to be sitting on my lap- which of course I started to love, but now it's kind of crazy! :) I don't really mind though and love having her in my lap/holding her as much as I can (but seriously Ellie, every once in awhile it's nice to sit in your stroller, high chair, etc and give Mama a little break :))
Will is the sweetest - seriously, this age is so fun and I love how he puts things together, and is so perceptive. He is just fun to be around and I love my little guy so fiercely.
Ok - better wrap up the longest post in history I think :) At least my blog history. God's blessings to you all!
