Weekend Trip - part one

We are just back from a long weekend in Kansas City, MO. We had a great time. We have intended on visiting KC for a while. So, when we were trying to decide where to go on one of our free weekends, Shannon reminded me of all the fun in Kansas City. We started off doing the Priceline Bid thing for our hotel. It worked pretty well. We definitely spent a lot less on our hotel cost. It can be a little tricky and is not the way to go if you need certain amenities, but it really worked out well for this trip. We did have to make a palette on the floor for Jaylyn because we just had one full size bed. But, she didn't seem to mind.

We left on Thursday after TJ got home from work and made our 4 hour trip with lots of "are we there yet?" comments. I am certainly sad in these moments that our portable DVD player is broken. :( Overall, the girls are pretty good car travelers. Once we arrived at our hotel, we discovered an interesting coincidence. Our hotel was the location of the American Idol Auditions. In fact, the wing that our room was located, was the same wing as the auditions. So for the next two mornings, we rode down the elevator right into the middle of the rows of people waiting and could peek into some of the ballrooms where the groups were singing for the cameras. All of the American Idol staff people were everywhere with their clipboards and head sets. At certain times the security officers had to check our bags and run the metal detector over us in order for us to get to our room. We were even walking by as the camera man was capturing one of the auditioners leaving the area. I'm sure we will be edited out. Ha! Here is a picture of the lines out the hotel in the morning.And here is the very disappointing picture I tried to take of one of the rooms of people before I was yelled at by an American Idol staff member. Apparently I was not supposed to be taking pictures. Oops! I didn't know! So, the one shot I have is someone walking in front of my camera. Nice.

So, did we get to meet the judges? . . . No. They weren't there. The audition stuff was set up two days at our hotel and then the last day was moved to some other KC location where I think the judges were supposed to be there for a short time. We did see some of the auditioners who seemed to do well for the early round judges. We got to have our own audition experience at the pool one night when a couple of them were singing for each other in the hot tub. TJ saw another guy playing his guitar and singing for a crowd of teen girls late one night. Very amusing.

So, besides the American Idol excitement, we did have some other KC fun. Friday we hit the Crown Center. It is a nice shopping center with some interesting shops and restaurants. We ate lunch at the famous Fritz Railroad Restaurant. There are trains all around that deliver your food right to your table. Jaylyn and Adley loved it.

Jaylyn enjoyed the train "window" at our seat where a train car would continually move by.

Adley enjoying the trains.

One of the delivery trains making its drop.

Our food being delivered to our table.

Here it is!

We also toured the Hallmark Visitor Center located there (free). They had a cute "passport" for the kids to stamp as we went along. Then they have an area where you can see some of the Hallmark machines making cards and paper cut outs. They also have a bow machine. You push the button and it makes a package bow for you while you watch and sends it out for you to keep. Here is the bow machine - which you can't see very well. Jaylyn waiting for her bow.

Later that evening we also hit a fun playground called "Penguin Park". I don't think I even got a picture of the 20-something foot penguin. The kangaroo was much more fun.

Jaylyn climbing on the tail.

Adley liked the long bridge.

Driving the fire truck.

Riding the elephant.

Slide!

Weee!

This is the inside of the kangaroo. There are stairs to climb and a small slide
inside the kangaroo to slide down.

A view from the inside of the kangaroo.

Another highlight of KC was how much cheaper the gas is there than here. In some places, almost a whole dollar cheaper. Hooray for Kansas City. So, now you can get a kick out of our gas price pictures. Ha!
Another fun free place we went was a Nature Center with hiking trails. It was very similar to a nature center we have in St. Louis. It had a lot of neat things for the girls to look at and touch. Jaylyn liked feeling the snake skin and antlers and turtle shell. Hey, when it isn't alive and the animal is no longer with the part, she is fine with it. Hee hee! It really was a beautiful day for walking the trail too.

Jaylyn's wing span vs. the bald eagle's wing span.

Exploring outside.

Walking the trail.

Aren't they cute?

Two pretty girls by some pretty wild flowers.

Well, that is part one of our trip. . .