Anniversary Celebrated ..... Early

My husband and I are preparing to celebrate ten years of marriage in a few short days. We decided last year that we wanted to go big and take an entire weekend away. We booked the cottage connected to the Lyons Twin Mansions in Fort Scott, KS back in February and just waited for May to come. Did the weekend go as planned? No. However, did we enjoy ourselves and get in a lot of rest and relaxation? YES!

We finally made it to the cottage at 8pm on Friday night and spent the evening unloading and getting settled in. Kids were wound up and didn't crash until nearly 2am. Jeremy and I enjoyed laying on the King size bed, watching the over 50" tv and chatting. It was VERY relaxing so we did it most of the weekend!

 

We ate breakfast across the street at the twin mansion to the main Lyons Mansion. This was the ONLY complaint we had with our stay. Both days we ended up spending an hour and a half from getting to the dining hall, to paying for our meal and leaving for the cottage. It was INSANE. There wasn't that many people in the dining hall when we were there. We were assured though that Miss Pat would look into the situation and we were comped a bowl of fruit on day two. The food was Ah-MAZE-ing though so it was definitely worth it.

The cottage had a swing in the storage room that Chloe just fell in love with. Chloe also took her best naps in the swing and in her stroller!

On Saturday we decided to take a one mile walk to Fort Scott Historical Site to look around and take pictures. It was a toasty walk but the way home we had some shade and a really nice breeze. Chloe passed out at some point on the walk home from all of the excitement!

Saturday night, the weather was SO beautiful ... we just HAD to utilize the beautiful backyard. The kids played outside while we cooked. Then the kids ate at the log table while Chloe chilled inside to start winding down. They fell asleep MUCH earlier, thank goodness. Jeremy and I didn't though ... we, again, were up late chit chatting about life!


On Sunday, we packed up and went to Gunn Park to hang with a great friend who lives in Fort Scott. I don't have those pictures yet as my husband and I haven't combined photos from the trip yet. But we had lunch and wore Chloe out. She slept the WHOLE WAY HOME and woke when we dropped Jeremy off. She was giggling and playing games until we got home and then didn't want to go inside. She stole the kids Rock-Em, Sock-Em Robot finger puppets and I just HAD to snap a picture!

Top the evening off with the kids getting to see a solar eclipse ... and you have the perfect weekend!

Back from Manhattan

Well, we left Kansas City at noon on the 23rd of July, and we returned to Kansas City at 4pm on the 27th. Here is a summary of our trip. All of the pictures are currently on my facebook page. Not sure if Multiply will let me upload all 400 some odd photos!

We got to Manhattan and Bullfrog was still on his meds so he couldn't go and play outside yet so we played inside Mema's house until the parade started. Thursday evening consisted of going to the parade and then the rodeo. The kids were so tired that after the rodeo, they crashed only minutes after finishing their bath.

On Friday, our game plan was simple: hit the spray park, go see the animals at the fair, eat at the pork bbq, and then have fun at the carnival. Our game plan almost derailed though, as hours before we got to the fair, piglets were born. Peanut LOVED the pigs. Bullfrog just loved all the baby animals that were on display. They got to hold a pig too and that made both of their days. Again, the kids were pooped afterwards but only Peanut had trouble winding down.

Saturday morning I woke up early and made sack lunches for 4 as we were off to Mema's. We had quiche for breakfast, even though the kids didn't eat. They were too busy watching Wizard of Oz for the first time EVER. *How did that happen?!* We then went to the zoo. After the zoo we went to CiCo pool. The day ended with Peanut attempting to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels. Even though the ideal plan had failed, we put the training wheels at the highest level and Peanut basically rides without training wheels now. Needless to say, she trusts the wheels but not her Grandma Mo. *sigh*

Sunday came and reminded us that we didn't have much time left in Manhattan. Our plans for Sunday were simple: Church and relax. Well, we didn't know that we would have a kids fest in our cul-de-sac. Peanut & Bullfrog got to enjoy the WONDERFUL weather with a few of the neighborhood kids in the circle. They rode bikes, played tag, jumped on the trampoline, threw balls to the dogs, and anything else that sounded fun. I think we had about 15-16 kids playing together. It was loads of fun. We chose to eat at home on the patio and then after everyone had gone home, Grandma Mo and made her wonderful ice cream cones. Peanut & Bullfrog ended the night watching fireflies. It was wonderful. What great weather!

Monday was our day of packing and leaving. The kids played for about an hour while I did laundry and packed the car up. After that we went to the spray park for one last hurrah and then off to say bye to Mema. The ride home ... well as you can imagine after the weekend we had ...

Elk Falls Trip Cont.

After the trip in the mud, my mom, aunt, and great uncle were off to their high school alumni reunion. That meant we had the B&B to ourselves for the night. We got the kids through the bath after I showered and put them in their new pajamas. They colored in their color wonder coloring books and watched Transformers until the other adults came home.

Elk Falls Trip

I want to start this by saying this MAY be more than one blog. I do have 2 young kids so I can't be on the computer for extended amounts of time. Also, Several of the photos have had corrections made thanks to my wonderful mother helping me out on some.