Trip to KC

We drove to Kansas City to visit some old friends for Memorial Day Weekend. The kids got along great (they've got an awesome stock of toys...including legos, swords, and a tramp in the backyard). The parents had fun catching up and sharing stories of the good ol' days. I have to admit the best part of the whole trip was Brian and Tom sharing true confessions about their 'relationship' with Keri Russell (who did, indeed, go to jr. high with them). Sooooooo funnnnnny! I'm laughing right now just thinking about it. Maybe sometime I will blog about it...or maybe you'll have to wait until I can tell you in person, which may be a long time for some of us. Anyway, we'll keep to the family va-cay for this blog. We had fun just playing around, going to a children's farm, eating dinner at the T-Rex Cafe, and doing quick driveby of my grandparents old KC home. Okay, I was also pretty excited to stop at Lamar's donuts-my fav, as well as pick up some KC Masterpeice for a picnic on our way home. It was a fun weekend. We really like KC a lot, but, oi, the heat and humidity. I forget that just about everywhere in the country is warmer than we are up here in MN. I realize that all through the winter, but I just forget to expect warmer weather in the spring/summer, too. Someday I'll learn. Anyway, here are some pictures-apparently we only took our camera out at the farm...

Brian and Tricia (I think Colin was the photographer on this shoot, because thoush they are a tall couple, I don't think they are giants.)

Ellie

5 Boys on a Fence

Feeding goats - Ellie preferred to place the food on the ground, rather than the hand feeding.

It was so hot, we definitely needed a popsicle break.

Mmmmm, and messy.

5 Boys on a Tractor

Ellie's most favorite pastime!

The boys insisted on fishing at the crowded pond.

The bait. (And yes, Tom saved the day-he helped the mom next to us with the fishing experience: After catching a fish her kids asked how to get it off, and she said I don't know, then she put it back into the pond and tried to shake it off the hook!?! I am not a fisher, but I think even I could have figured that one out. I suggested to Tom that he offer to help, which he did for that, and all the other fish they caught...)

We didn't have to wait too long... it's a well stocked pond, plus Dad knew the best spot to stand.

Cade was excited to be one of the first to catch one.

Aidan kept "reeling them in".

Seriously, Aidan probably caught as many as the other kids combined. Tom was pretty excited to see his natural ablility come forth-as well as the drive to fish, fish, fish! It's gonna be a fishy summer.

Colin's big catch.

Ellie's got her mom's approach-look, but don't touch.

The drive back to MN was long and leisurely-we made lots of pitstops at rest areas with playgrounds. It seemed to help the kids with the long travel, yet made the overall drive much longer-I don't know what the happy medium is. One lesson learned: do not spin Colin on the tire swing too long, then feed him dinner 20 minutes later. Yuck-o, just as we are back on the road. In addition to that excitement, Tom and I were excited to witness, and photograph, this milestone on our good ol' mini-van.

Yea Honda! She should be good for 200,000 more, right?