Kansas City

This past weekend, as kind of a last minute thing, Jay and I went with Scott to Kansas City. In January every year, there is a landscaping show. It worked for us to travel up with Scott, spend some time with him and leave on Sunday. Scott rode back later in the week, and now we are all home. Saturday evening, we had the pleasure of dining with some of Scott's co-workers. Jay has a new crush. Terri, the marketing gal from Lebanon, she and Jay really hit it off. He was such a big boy, and behaved himself so well the entire time. We stayed in a very nice Sheraton in Overland Park and had fun swimming, cruising the landscaping show, swimming and eating more.

We were so glad dad invited us along!

Looking a little tired, here we are after a delicious dinner out. We rode in a taxi(Jay's first ever) with the 2 salesmen and the marketing gal, and went to the Hereford House. This is a well known steak house in KC, and it is delicious. The children's menu, included bacon wrapped filet and that is what Jay ordered. He ate the enitre thing, no surprise here coming from two very carnivorous parents.

I really enjoyed looking around at the art work on display.

Here is some of the art in the hotel. From what I hear, Scott loved this picture(L) last year too. I may have to do some checking around. It is of a Hereford bull in a storm. We happen to have used Herford Bulls for a while.

Scott and the salesmen, in front of the Missouri Mulch booth.

Notice the mulch samples are in barrels, sliced in half and divided into 6 sections. Pretty cool.

This was just some of the cool art in the hotel. This was in a little enclave by the elevators. I took lots of pics, but thought these funny guys were pretty cool .

It's not every day Jay gets to ride a 5 foot tall Rooster. Ours would be shakin' in their feathers. This was at a metal sculpture booth. Now really, who would want this in their yard? Especially when we have the real thing, ours poop and everything!

Not only was this hotel very nice, it had a great pool. Jay and I were lucky enough to be the only people swimming at the time. He spent most of his time underwater, as I'm sure I did at that age- through high school swim practices :)

Landscaping shows and swimming can really wear a guy down. Jay and I just about fell asleep in these cozy chairs at the pool. It was enclosed in glass on 3 sides, and was clear, not smuggy or stinky. It felt like we were outside on a sunny, warm day. Our favorite place to be.

On our way out...

My travelin buddy, packing his own suitcase and clothes. What a big boy!

On the way out of town Jay and I stopped by Rainforest Cafe. Ever since the year before I had Jay and visited a RFC with my mom and her friend in Houston, I have waited for the day to take my own kids there. It really is a "magical" experience. The place is filled with plants, animals and sounds. Every 15 minutes there is a thunderstorm, that is so real you can almost feel the rain. We took Jay, the summer he was 2, but he didn't remember it. This trip was the best. He absolutely loved it. The monkeys squeal, tigers purr and the ceiling looks like a beautiful starry night. The food is great, and our waiter was an extra bonus. He did magic tricks for the kids as he stopped by to check on things.

I had a really hard time finding the right setting for the lighting there, but here Jay is in complete awww of everything.

Some of the elephants in the restaurant, they move and flap their ears, in very real motions.

After leaving the restaurant, we walked outside to see the snapping alligator. The alligator is life size and hurls itself at you ,when you walk by. Jay was thrilled to try to get coins in his mouth, as he opened it. Quite a few bounced off his sharp teeth. Jay loved it!

For a vacation of less than 24 hours, we had a blast. One day we will take a vacation that is maybe a week long. We were so glad dad invited us along. I think he may have liked it pretty well himself.