When Gramma and Papa Come to Town

My parents came into KC for their annual visit after living in DC for the summer. They go from DC to KC to Cali and sometimes throw in a trip to NYC and/or Vegas in there!

We are always so excited to see them and this time it was extra special because they were here for Capri's baptism.

They flew in on Friday the 19th and went straight to their hotel, the Westin at Crown Center. We all love to go to their hotel and check out the amazing view so we wanted to go meet them there. (I'm really frustrated because I thought I took a flip video in their room and of the view. I REMEMBER taking one, but apparently it doesn't exist. That does not bode well for my memory.) After playing in their room and getting tons of awesome souvenirs and gifts from DC we went downstairs to have lunch in Crown Center and visit the Rainforest Adventure exhibit.

Saturday was the baptism and fiesta. My Dad gave a talk at the baptism (as I previously wrote) and was a witness. They were both a huge help for the party. My Mom cooked and chopped with me. My Dad wrestled with and generally amused the kids. It was so great to have them both there.

Sunday we went to church and then hung out at the house. We also had the chance to drive out to the KC temple construction site. It was awesome to get to share our temple with my parents.

Monday, we had made detailed plan and doggone it we did everything in it! First we went to the National WWI museum and Liberty Memorial. We've lived here for SIX years and never gone. For some reason both Jeff and I thought that it was mainly just the memorial and then just a room with some exhibit stuff. Boy were we wrong. It is an amazing museum, AMAZING. It's huge, beautiful and so well done. I actually learned about WWI, which sadly I knew very very little about. Schools just do not teach that war, and it's really a shame. It is so historically significant and there are so many amazing stories that came out of that war. Like my Mom said, "WWI still affects everything that goes on in the world today."























For those wondering, that black hanging thing is the lens cap for the camera. Yes, people always offer to take pics of me but I'm stubborn and like to do it myself.

After the liberty memorial we headed to The Plaza. We had lunch at Panera, one of everybody's favorite places to eat. We started walking and soon found ourselves in the Apple Store.



The kids LOVE the Apple Store, it's pretty much their favorite place on earth. So while my Dad perused and then finally bought an IPad the kids got to play with gizmos to their hearts content. Oz was content to hang in his stroller and eat snacks till I realized his diaper had leaked. So I whisked him to the sidewalk outside for a very public and quick change. Gramma and Papa, with the help of Uncle Spencer, gave Oz this awesome Ovechkin jersey.
My Mom said that my Dad has been in different Apple Stores 3 previous times only to walk out without an IPad because they never had them in stock. Way to go KC with actually having what you display in stock!

After The Plaza we drove to the nearest Payless shoes where Gramma and Papa bought the girls new tap and ballet shoes. Gramma & Papa also had given the girls dance classes for the year at Diane's School of Dance for their birthday presents. Capri was beside herself with joy when they told her at her birthday party. Literally, she screamed! I knew she would be excited, she wanted to take dance last year but couldn't because of school (schedule wise it was going to be too hard). This year we're doing home school for all the kids (more on THAT later) so dance class will work. She talks about it on a daily basis and can't wait for her first class.

Our next and last stop was to Arthur Bryant's. Funnily enough, my parents had been before and we had not! It was really good food and quite the KC experience.



After dinner it was time to say goodbye which was hard for us. It was a great visit and we already can't wait to see them at Christmas time.

We really do love when Gramma and Papa are in town!