Our Trip to KC!!!

It's been about 7 months since we visited Kansas City, so we thought we'd head back out there to celebrate my Grandmother's 80th birthday! And Jake got to come this time, so that was fun. The flight was uneventful, thank goodness!

Here's Lydia at the KC airport waiting for the luggage. She loves her "munny" (bunny) and her backpack!

My mom had to work so we hung out at my Aunt Becky and Uncle Bob's house for the day. Lydia was sooo tired. Here she is sleeping on Great Auntie Becky's lap!

They bought a Wii so we got to play it that night. No offense to my family, but it is hilarious watching the older folks play. It takes a while for them to get the hang of it and watching that sight is pretty funny. Then we had smores in their firepit out back! We knew we'd be up late so we decided to stay the night!

The next night we all went to downtown KC to the Power and Light district. It's brand new so I didn't know much about it. It was pretty cool...restaurants, live band playing outside, they had a bowling alley. Anyway, they've been trying to revamp downtown for quite some time so I think it's a great new edition!

On Thursday, Jake and U. Bob went to a Royals baseball game, which they won. And while they were doing that Mom and I took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's house to visit.

Here's Lydia and Levi on G and G's swing outside!

That night was very exciting and scary! We were under a TORNADO WATCH but mom and I didn't think much of it (if you grew up in tornado alley you were used to this kind of thing). Then suddenly the tornado sirens went off so we thought we should start heading to the tornado shelter! So here's Jake, a Utah boy, running frantically to the car yelling for us to hurry up and I'm sure, at this point, he's dropping all kinds of swear words. You should have seen the look on his face. It was filled with fright. Then here's mom and I saying, "Ok, well I'm going to use the restroom before we leave and Lydia needs her diaper changed...and maybe we should grab some snacks in case were gone a long time." It was so funny watching Jake. I'll never forget his face :)
When we went outside, I saw the scariest thing I have ever seen in the air...A WALL CLOUD. This kind of cloud can drop a tornado at any time, so of course we had to get a couple pics. I have never seen a cloud this scary before. This exact wall cloud dropped a tornado in Desoto (about a 30 minute drive from my mom's) and that storm was traveling at 65 mph and we were right in it's path. It started raining and the wind started blowing...the storm made it to us in about 15 mintes.
Here's what a wall cloud looks like!

Jake and Lydia in front of the storm!
Luckily, a tornado didn't form and we were safe. Ahh, feels like home again. We'd go the the shelter about 3 times a year all growing up! It's second nature to me by now, but I'll never forget Jake's face!

On Friday the 13th, we went to Worlds Of Fun! It's the amusement park in KC and one of the best I've been to, I must say. I know I have Lagoon now, but I have to tell you that WOF kicks Lagoons trash! Lagoon is so pitiful compared to my glorious WOF. We have the best roller coasters.

Here we are on the Mamba, one of the fastest, tallest and longest coasters in the world!

Here's their newest ride, The Patriot! It's one where your feet dangle in the air!

The Frandsen's enjoying a water ride!

They have this adorable section of the park called "Snoopy Camp" and it's all for kids and it's a HUGE area.

Lydia LOVED Snoopy! She was so cute with him.

Ride On...
They have taxis that you can drive around a course.

Here's our awsome train, very large and spacious!

On Saturday, we celebrated my Grandma's 80th b-day outside at Antich Park. We had a wonderful time.

Eatin' some fried chicken with all the fixins...

We played football...

Frisbee...Lydia loved trying to catch the frisbee with Daddy.

We had a water balloon fight!

And we also had a hula hoop contest!

Here are some of your contestants...

The two finalists, Steve and Erin.

And the winner is...

Erin!!!

That's right folks, I'm a winner, a hula hoop winner!

Us with the grandparents!

The 7 great-grandkids...all boys except one precious little girl. At this point in our trip, Lydia is starting to get sick and that's why she's crying.

On Monday the 16th, we went to dinner at Oklahoma Joe's BBQ. Jake had a goal of going to as many BBQ restaurants as he could (if you don't know, KC is known for it's BBQ). Anyway, this little place was inside a gas station, believe it or not. BUT, those are usually the best places. And what do you know, it was! So delicious...the best brisket sandwich I've ever had. Jake said it was one of the two best BBQ joints he's ever eaten at. Thanks David for taking us there.

After dinner, we went to Loose Park. It was absolutley gorgeous there...a photographers dream. We walked by the lake...

and fed the ducks!

Here's the whole family!

Lydia got so sick on this trip. It started with a fever of 102 for 2 1/2 days. The fever finally broke (good thing because the next morning we were going to the ER) and she had the worst cough and runny nose for the rest of the trip. But, being the great kid that she is, this is still the face she kept, although I could tell she was so miserable!

Jake flew back home on Tuesday, so he wasn't there for the rest of our adventures.

On Wednesday, we headed out to Leawood to see my cousin Steven who is a hero, also known as a fire fighter. We had so much fun getting a tour of the station from him.

Lydia and I outside and inside the fire truck.

Lydia is so tiny compared to that monster of a truck.

One of the other firemen, Curtis, put on all the gear for us. And to all you single ladies out there, Curtis is available!!! If you're interested just let me know!

Here's David sliding down the pole. A little secret: the firemen don't use the pole. It's all for show. Their sleeping quarters are on the first floor.

Here we are with the hero himself, my cousin Steven!

Thanks for the tour! We had a great time.

Our last activity of the trip...we went blueberry picking at an actul blueberry patch. We had such a good time. I didn't know what to expect, but it ended up being a really fun day, although it was SOOO hot and the humidity was outragiously high.

Inside the store, they had bees making honey...

Here we are at our patch #3. Thanks Nora for the invite.

Lydia and Levi were very well behaved even though it was sooo hot. Lydia loved picking berries then eating them straight out the bucket. It was so cute! She was going to town on those berries.

They even had a train ride. Lydia didn't go, but Levi LOVED it.

As we prepared to leave, Lydia was just exausted. She was so cuddly. She slept all the time, due to her being sick, all the running around and the weather was so draining. One day, she even took a 4 1/2 hour nap. I know!! Crazy!

On our way to the airport, we stopped by my G and G's house one last time to say good-bye. In her tree there was a nest with little baby birds in it. The mom was flying back and forth to feed them the whole time we were there. It was so cute that I just had to take some pics of mother nature at its best.

Here are the birds waiting for their mom...so cute how their little beaks are wide open.

Here is mom with the food. I love how their yellow beaks are shining in the sunlight.

Here's our 4 generation picture.

We had a perfect time and I'm so so so grateful for every member of my family. Everyone is so different and so unique. I love you all and can't wait to see you again! I'm going back in September to meet my newest little nephew who is due the end of August!