Kansas Trip- Part 2

 The second Sunday we were in Kansas I decided to take my camera to church.  I had received a tip that Zack would be singing and I didn't want to miss recording it.  He was thrilled when he realized I had brought my camera. (NOT).

 The "middle" cousins.

 Anna, Emily, Ellie, Zack and Jacob

 

 Zack and I.  I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with him.

 The "twin" cousins, Zack and Jake. 

 My middle children.

Kansas Trip- Part 1

 Zack was so glad to see us!

 Playing at the park.

 Ellie, Grandma, Anna and Emily

 

 We were all so happy to see Zack.

 And Jacob.  All 3 of my little kids loved their cousin Jacob.

 Emma loved Aunt Becca.

 And Emily.

 And Grandma.

 The kids enjoyed playing in my parents yard with their lush green grass with no danger of fire ants.

 Badmitten was always a fun choice.

 Visiting on the deck.

 Grilling for dinner one night.

 Grandma bought him an art set and I'm not sure what he was thinking, but he put the green paint in his mouth.

 Emma loved this big orange tub to swim in.  When we first got there, the pool was still so cold and she was a bit scared of the big pool, so she played in this tub for quite a while.

 As did Ben!

We were having a great time!

On The Road Again- this time to Kansas!

 We left our home Friday evening May 31st, headed to Kansas City to visit my parents.  There was such excitement in our van- the younger children had no concept of how long of a drive this actually was, but Anna, Paul and I knew.  It was a fairly smooth drive, although we did hit bad storms around Paducah and pulled off the road for a few hours.  When they had passed (and Paul had slept), we continued on our journey.

 One of the landmarks we look for on every trip to KC is the Arch in Saint Louis.  It marks the beginning of the end of the trip.  We stopped there with our older kids several years ago, and Paul decided on a whim to take the younger kids there.  They were so excited!

 At the bottom of the Arch is a museum about the West and about how the Arch was built.  It was very interesting and Sam was thrilled to see names and hear stories about people he had learned about in history this year.

 They were amazed at the size of this buffalo.

 So only Sam, Ben and Dad went up to the top of the Arch.  I really had no desire to do so and Anna went up several years ago and didn't want to either.  So we waited at the bottom with Emma.

 The view from the top.

 Apparently when Paul picked him up and put him up here to see out, he thought he was going down and responded to that effect.  Paul still has the scars.

 The river was flooded.

She was all about the snacks.

We left the Arch and drove the last 4 hours to Grandma and Grandpa's house and arrived just in time for dinner.  We were so happy to be there and done with the trip!