The month of June was a whirlwind, winding down with a week of work travel in Kansas City. Highlights of my week included a Royals game with friends Caley and Caleb, lunch with one of my favorite high school teachers, and a trip to the local H&M to buy Emmie some more $4.99 dresses. Amanda and the kids joined me on Friday, July 1, for a few days of fun before heading to Minneapolis to see Adele and celebrate Noah’s sixth birthday.
Friday, July 1
Amanda and the kids were loaded in the van and on the way to Kansas City before 10:00 a.m.
Caley, Nola, and I grabbed sandwiches at Subway, so we would be ready for lunch when Amanda and kids arrived. We had lunch at the station where I was working; as an added bonus, an ice cream truck visits the station each Friday afternoon. The kids and I all chose the same treat: giant bomb pops.
With Caley and Caleb attending the Brand New and Modest Mouse concert, Nola was spending the day and night with us. First on the agenda was a stop at Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead. We had fond memories of the family-friendly attraction from our 2012 visit with Noah and thought it would be a great place to go with our group of four kids, all age 5 and under.
The three older kids wanted to use a sifter to search for gems at the park’s mining camp. We split a large bag of “rough,” which contained gemstones among sand. In the muddy water, they could let the sand wash away and the gems be revealed. Noah, Nola, and Emmie were proud of their efforts and were happy with the small bags of gems each yielded from the activity. There was one big downside though, as the dirt and sand left large dirt spots on the kids’ clothing.
Nola was the only of the three kids interested in a pony ride, so she completed the short ride while Amanda grabbed waters for the kids and we ordered a half-dozen milk bottles to feed the goats. Although Noah loved feeding the goats during our 2012 visit, he left the goat-feeding to the girls.
Nola poses on the pony before beginning her ride.
Sending Amanda, Nola, and Emmie in with six milk bottles proved to be a bit chaotic with hungry goats quickly surrounding them. The frenzy was a bit too much for Nola, as she made a quick exit from the fenced-in area. Amanda and Emmie remained, while Nola joined in on the feeding fun from the outside.
Eilidh quickly went from mildly annoyed to completely unhappy at the children’s farm.
Noah and Nola made several laps around the kid tractor course, but Emmie failed to get enough momentum from peddling to move more than a few feet forward. Afterwards, it was back to goat-feeding, though this time with solid food instead of milk. Once again, Noah stayed away from the goats while Nola and Emmie took the lead.
The farm’s playground kept the oldest kids entertained for the remainder of our visit. Nola and Noah played especially well together, with their intense game of tag giving Noah a beet-red face. Everyone had fun going down the handful of slides, and a few “one-minute” warnings were required to wind things down so we could return to the van and move onto our next destination.
We decided to take a photo while the kids were running around the playground.
Nola taught Noah some gymnastic basics on the walk back to the car.
We next drove to downtown Kansas City for an evening at the LEGOLAND Discovery Center. Nola was a frequent visitor when her family lived downtown, so she happily shared tips for everything from navigating the parking garage to adjacent fountains to the Discovery Center itself.
We spent a couple of hours there, with the kids splitting their time between the large LEGO-themed play area and various LEGO building stations. We spent a few minutes perusing the mini-land, featuring Kansas City landmarks constructed of LEGO bricks, and took in the 4-D “Legends of Chima” movie which included 3-D effects along with wind and snow. Before leaving, Nola ensured Noah and Emmie picked up their free LEGO Club magazines.
I made a mosaic of Eilidh’s name and placed it in her stroller for a photo while she was sleeping.
The kids sported 3-D glasses prior to entering the LEGOLAND movie theatre.
Nola loved opportunities to hold Eilidh, who she’d met a couple of months earlier in Kansas City.
The kids posed with R2D2 and C3PO in the Discovery Center’s adjacent LEGO store.
For dinner and dessert, I planned back-to-back stops at SPIN! Neapolitan Pizza and Glace Ice Cream in Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza neighborhood. The thin crust pizzas were a hit with the kids, minus the toasted pine nuts which appeared on the “Five Cheese” pie. At Glace, Nola and Emmie each had a scoop of salted caramel ice cream, while Noah ordered a scoop of classic vanilla.
After a long discussion, the kids decided upon Zootopia for their nighttime movie. Emmie was most lukewarm to the choice, concerned about “scary parts,” but Nola reassured her and was careful to warn her to cover her eyes if any scary scenes were on the horizon. Not long into the movie, they convinced me to make a lobby run to pick a final snack for the night; the “Dibs” were a hit!
The kids pose on the sofa bed before the movie began.
Nola had fun taking photos on our camera, including this one of a happy Amanda and Eilidh.
Saturday, July 2
With Zootopia running until almost midnight, we were late to get around on Saturday morning. Emmie was the first awake, around 9:00, with Noah and Nola waking up at 9:30 and 10:00, respectively. They joined me on a trip to the Doughnut Lounge, where we collectively consumed a half dozen doughnuts and four orders of doughnut holes.
Emmie was excited for Nola to comb her hair!
We picked up to-go lunch for Amanda at The Mixx, then Caley came to the hotel to pick up Nola. She and Noah spent a half hour playing in the empty parking lot before we finally parted ways and began the second-half of our Saturday, which was set to include a mommy-daughter pedicure and mommy-son movie night.
As we set out for some pre-pedicure shopping, our vacation took an unexpected turn as we discovered Amanda had left her wallet and driver’s license in Ankeny. While completely understandable given she was packing for and traveling with three kids, the lack of ID meant a decision was needed as how to handle Monday’s flight to Minneapolis. After some discussion and a drive back to the hotel to confirm the lack of a wallet, we decided to end our trip a day early and break up the drive north with two nights home in Ankeny.
We booked Amanda and Emmie slots for pedicures at Sweet D Nails and Spa, a well-reviewed place close to the hotel. Emmie got a huge kick out of her sparkly gold toenails; Noah, Eilidh, and I went to the nearby Target, picking up a few novelty food items and getting our Starbucks fix for the day.
Noah had a cookie dough cake pop and peach green tea lemonade at the in-Target Starbucks.
The rest of our evening was pretty low-key, splitting time between dinner at Blanc Burgers and Bottles in Leawood, Kansas, and shopping at the Oak Park Mall. Once one of our favorite dining spots in the Kansas City area, dinner at Blanc was disappointing. I walked away from Oak Park with the most new clothing items, but Amanda managed to find a few deals for the girls at Crazy 8.
For some unknown reason, the kids requested to pose by multiple mannequins in J.C. Penney.
Among the photos, there was only one mannequin casualty. Emmie was adamant it was an accident.
Sunday, July 3
Noah was asleep before 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night. While this could easily be explained by a busy start to our Kansas City trip, his tiredness was accompanied with an overnight fever. He was back to normal after waking up, but we still scaled back from plans for the day, only meeting Caley and Nola instead of their whole family.
We arrived at Union Station a few minutes ahead of Caley and Nola, giving us time to explore the expansive interior. We snagged a few photos, and I took Noah and Emmie into a model train exhibit setup in the City Gallery room. Noah was especially impressed with the two custom LEGO railroad layouts among the dozen-or-so displays.
We had brunch at Harvey’s a two-story, open restaurant inside Union Station. I typically am skeptical of buffets, but the wide selection of high-quality mains, sides, and desserts won me over. Everyone had the buffet, except Noah, who ordered a corn dog from the kids menu. Brown sugar ham, mashed potatoes, perfectly-cooked bacon, and warm apple crisp were my favorites.
After brunch it was on to Science City, an expansive and highly interactive museum located within Union Station. From the large water exhibit coined “Every Last Drop” to the dinosaur dig to “The Science of Energy,” the areas were well-thought-out and provided plenty of hand-on learning and fun. The only small downside to the museum may have been the large crowd, which was not unexpected on a holiday weekend.
Nola was completely dedicated to maximizing energy generation in the Power Wheel.
Noah contributed to a large foam structure, which ultimately crashed into him in hilarious fashion.
Eilidh waited patiently as the older kids had fun at Science City.
Noah watched as his paper contraption circulated within the wind tunnel.
The Bicycle Generators were one of several exhibits where humans could generate energy.
Emmie watched for the light and fan to be activated following Nola’s spinning of the power wheel.
Nola poses after crawling through a tunnel, part of a construction exhibit.
Eilidh relaxed on a bean bag while the older kids ran through an obstacle course they constructed.
The museum provided more than two hours of entertainment, and the kids could have easily stayed longer. Caley and Nola joined us for one final ice cream run to Glace. We said goodbyes before final stops at Starbucks and HiBoy on our way out of Kansas City, where we ordered a round of hamburgers to devour before the drive home.
Noah skipped ice cream but sampled a piece of chocolate.
Roughly the twelfth photo I’ve taken of the HiBoy sign.