Kansas City Weekend!

We were finally able to go to Kansas City this past weekend to spend time with family. For Christmas, Martin (Michael's brother) bought the kids gift cards to Crown Center in hopes of getting us to come visit him in KC. Finally, this last weekend we were able to go up there. Susie and Ed (Michael's mom and dad) drove in from Colorado to spend the weekend too!! It was so nice to be able to hang out and see everyone.

We got up on Friday and drove up there. We went straight to the Plaza and had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory...yum! Here's a photo of the kids sitting by the fountain outside the Cheesecake Factory.

Michael set up an appointment at the Mac Store while we were there!! He has been thinking of changing to a Mac!!! So, while he was meeting with them, the kids and I walked around the plaza. They played in a lot of the fountains...

and lucky for us, we found a toy store that was celebrating it's opening day. So, we hung out in there for a while.

After we were done at the Plaza, we headed to our hotel. The Westin at Crown Center. It was an awesome hotel. The location was perfect. After getting checked in and settled, Ed and Susie had made it to KC. Susie, Michael, the kids and myself headed over to Crown Center to check out the lego display that was going on there. It was really cool!!

Here's a sculpture of a man looking at his reflection in a mirror...it's made entirely of legos!

Here's Taylor standing in front of a sunflower lego flower...

And Zachary in front of a giant pencil...

There were also tables for the kids to play with legos. We spent a little bit of time here. Legos has become a new favorite of Zachary's within the last few months, so all of this was right up his alley!

After we were done looking at the legos, it was time to go to Martin and Melinda's for dinner. They live in a really awesome loft in downtown KC and have a wonderful view of the city. The pool is located on top of the garage. Here's one view from the pool area...

Having fun in the water!

Is she practicing for being a cover model or just a goof?

One last dip in the pool before it was time to get out.

On Saturday, we had planned on sleeping in, but were woken up at 6 a.m. by the sound of a guy on his megaphone. There was a run/walk event that was going on right outside our hotel. So, we got up and decided to go to Hallmark's Kaleidoscope...which was so fun and so neat. A fun creative place for kids...and big kids too!

Here is Taylor with Martin and Melinda. They are painting their paper crowns.


Here is Zachary on his way to paint his paper crown.

Standing in front of the cute kitty!

Here's the princess wand that I made for Taylor while we were there. It's made out of wrapping paper, ribbon and a chipboard star!

After Kaleidoscope, we went back to Crown Center and had lunch at Fritz's. I knew the kids (especially Zachary) would love it. It was a train-themed hamburger place. The food is delivered by trains that run along the ceiling. It was a lot of fun!

Outside the restaurant is a train that the kids loved sitting in.

Here's a few photos of us wearing our train hats!

When you order your food, there is a little black phone on the table. You call your order in and then when your food is ready, a train comes out of the kitchen and brings the food to your table. The rails are up close to the ceiling and above each table is a small platform that the train leaves the box of food on. Then, the platform lowers so you can get your food.

After we were done with lunch, the kids went upstairs and bought a few things with the gift cards their Uncle Martin had got for them. Zachary got a Star Wars Lego set and Taylor got a new pink-haired doll and a Barbie Jeep.

We went back to the hotel and the kids swam in the hotel pool. Then, we decided to go to Union Station. That evening we had dinner reservations at T-Rex that is in The Legends shopping area. It was a fun atmosphere...a lot like Rainforest Cafe, but with dinos. The service was horrible. I really enjoyed The Legends and would like to go back there someday to shop.

On Sunday, we got up and had brunch at Tom Fooleries on the Plaza. So yummy! We said our goodbyes and then headed back home.

Such a fun weekend!!

Hope we can do it again sometime soon!!