KC Vacation -- Paradise Park & Great Grandparents

On Friday morning, we went to Paradise Park in Lee's Summit.  We spent most of our time there in the "Edutainment Center", where Cooper got to play with blocks, play in a ball pit, do pretend play in a little pretend HyVee store, bank, and kitchen.  He also spent time playing outside on the playground and pretend fishing.  It wasn't very busy there since school was getting started back in the area, which is good and bad.  I'm not sure that I would have loved being there if it was packed full of kids, but at the same time, he didn't really have anyone to play with (besides mama and daddy).  There are a lot of things to do at Paradise Park for older children too, including laser tag, mini golf, batting cages, game room, bumper cars, etc.  It only cost around $10 for all of us to get in and we had fun!

Just woke up...and getting upset as he has a HUGE blowout!

We stopped at Eric's grandparents on the way home on Sunday.  They hadn't met Hudson yet, and we don't get much time with them (especially with just them).  Eric's grandma made us a wonderful lunch and we enjoyed spending a few hours with them and it's always fun to watch them love on our boys.  This was the perfect way to end our vacation!

KC Vacation -- Deanna Rose's Farmstead

During our vacation, we looked up some family-friendly things to do.  One of the places I had seen some different friends post about was Deanna Rose's Farmstead, which is located in Overland Park, KS.  It is designed to be like what an 1800's farm in Kansas would be like.  There are tons of animals, beautiful gardens, a fishing pond, pony rides, and more.  Another great thing is that it's super cheap!  It was $2/person for Eric and I and then Cooper and Hudson were free, with some extra charges for some of the activities.  My brother and his family met up with us and we had a lot of fun.  The kids loved getting to feed the goats (bottles and pellets) and it was great to see all the animals and explore around.

It happened to be "Safety Day' when we there.  Cooper got this great firefighter helmet and there were tons of kids around to explore a firetruck, ambulance, and even the Children's Mercy helicopter.

We explored the teepees.

It was time to feed the bottle to the goats...and (shocker), Cooper was all about it.  He wanted to pick and choose which goat got the bottle.  He would try to force the bottle in goats' mouths that didn't care and then only let the eager ones get it for a couple of seconds.  Hilarious!

Our nieces Clara and Kaylen loved feeding the goats too.  They had both been there before and Kaylen said that feeding the bottle was her favorite part.

Clara was excited to feed the pellets to the goats.  She had her money and was ready to spend it!

And then there's Hudson :)

Cooper wasn't old enough to ride a pony (which I doubt he would have anyways) and the fishing ponds were closed due to an algae problem, so we mostly explored around the property and fed the animals.  It ended up being a pretty warm day, but we had a great time.  The kids also spent some time playing on one of the playgrounds and we ended our time together with a trip to Oklahoma Joe's.  We went to one of the restaurants (not the original one at the gas station) and the food was great!  Since it was already almost 2:00 in the afternoon, the wait was only about 30 minutes :)  We had another fun adventure on vacation!

KC Vacation -- swimming

One of the highlights of our trip (for Cooper) was the swimming pool at the hotel.  This kid surprises me.  He can be so apprehensive and nervous about things, especially new experiences, but he LOVES the pool.  It doesn't matter if it's just our little blow up pool in the back yard, a hotel pool, or the big splash park, he LOVES it.  We bought a little floaty thing for him to wear and I wasn't sure if he would like it, but he put it on...and would "swim" all around without Eric touching him.  Cooper also loved to climb the ladder and then jump in-- and did that over and over.  We went to the pool all three nights at the hotel!

KC Vacation -- Royals game

We took a few days last week to take a little family vacation to Kansas City.  In the car, we were talking about the different vacations we have taken in our (almost) four years of marriage.  Tennessee, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Colorado.  We love to travel, but the thought of a long trip in the car or trying to navigate airports and airplanes with an almost two year old and a two month old, made me want to stay home.  We wanted to get away somewhere/anywhere though....and so we picked Kansas City.  My uncle had won an overnight stay at a hotel through a silent auction in Blue Springs that he wasn't going to use--and gave it to us at the end of last year.  It was getting close to expiration, so I'm glad we were able to use that gift certificate for one night and then we stayed another two nights (Thursday - Sunday).

When we got into the city on Thursday, we went straight to Kauffman Stadium for an afternoon Royals game.  Two confessions: (1) I'm a little sad that Cooper has now been to 2 Royals games and 0 Cardinals games. (2) We didn't stay for the whole game....we left in the 5th inning.  It turned out to be a hot afternoon, so as nap time approached and Cooper got more red and sweaty, we bailed and missed the five-run 6th inning.

I went to the breastfeeding room to feed Hudson, and while I was in there, I got a text from Eric that they were going to check out the kids area in the outfield.  I was shocked to see this as I came walking up.....  If you remember from last month at the zoo, Cooper wouldn't ride on a moving animal.  He loved this ride on the carousel!

Kauffman has a great kids area!

We stood in line to meet Sluggerrr....and he got close enough for a high five.

The only way a picture was happening was with Eric holding him--look at that red and sweaty face!

This was a great way to start out our vacation.  It went surprisingly well with both boys and was a lot of fun.  The Royals are 1st in their division, so there were a lot of people at the game and an exciting atmosphere.  Now we just have to get the boys to Busch Stadium!!