Leanne & Family come to KC

We had some visitors come up from Dallas to stay with us for a week and we were SO excited! Leanne and her crew were such amazing guests! We had a ball!

They happened to be coming the week before the Super Bowl which meant that KC was at it's greatest. First stop was to Union Station and Science City.

 

LET'S GO CHIEFS!

  

It was our first time seeing the train exhibits and they were AMAZING!
 

And while we were downtown we took some pictures.
 

Leanne & Ben are Patriots fans but it was still fun to show off KC a bit :)

Fancy hats at school!

Baby Daphne was the cutest baby and gave the best snuggles. 

We headed down to the Plaza to explore a bit and it was freezing. 

I am so obsessed with these pictures though. So dang cute!

Daphne was losing her little marbles in the car, so we stopped so she could nurse and I took these two to explore the Nelson-Akins Grounds.

The two youngest great-grandchildren. (Currently)

We had nightly glow stick dance parties.

We had a daily craft.

We explored some parks.

And Leanne helped me update some lights!

WE wanted to ride the carousel, but it was closed so the kids went up and down the escalator probably 20 times. 

More crafts.

We played in the snow for a bit. Snow is magical.

And we had tasting competitions. Ben got all 6 flavors right and it blew our minds! WE had such a great time and as Leanne and the crew pulled out of the driveway, I just brow down crying. I'm so grateful for family. Such a great week!

Phone Favorites: Las Vegas Day to Day

This is going to feel like my monthly phone dump and it probably should go there, but I wanted to have a separate post for Vegas. Here's Roo ready to head off on his first flight. How it is possible that he is one and hasn't flown before now blows my mind. E had flown 8 times in her first year. (Granted Jakob was working for an airline at the time and Roo was born on the brink of a pandemic.)

 Ready to go to Las Vegas!

Duke had to cart around this turkey with him over the holiday and write about what he did over Thanksgiving break (since we took them out of school.) It was a fun way to document some more adventures (as if I need help with that haha.)

there was puzzle building, and not just puzzle building but racing as they built. They crazy kids would time themselves and man, they are good!

I've said it once and I'll say it again. For me the grand adventures are amazing. They are a BIG deal and where a lot of memories come from. however, I feel like the small moments are where relationships are formed. Where you help clean potatoes, laugh over stories, race to build puzzles. That is where the magic happens.

Roo and Dory.

My goal next trip is to take more candid photos of Mom and Dad doing things together. Here they are peeling apple just laughing over stories as they chat away. I love watching them.

 Finding Gnomes.

Sprout was Gramma's helper and she was so sweet to let him help. He loved it. 

 

Family snuggles.

Duke's version of battle chess. 

Gramma set up tents which were SO FUN! There was a girls tent and a boys tent and they would often be found playing in their little tents. 

The kids got to decorate Gramma's tree.

Home Depot craft for the win!

That baby was on my back a few times this trip and he was so dang cute! 

Minute to win it, adult style. 

Man night 2020 - David was the victor!

Park adventures! LAs Vegas had some AMAZING parks!

 

Baby Linus.

They picked up rocks.... lots and lots of rocks!

Snuggles with Roo.

Soda cup lights.

Wheelbarrow rides were a favorite.

More playground fun!

Lots of music, this was a very musical trip!

Man, I was THIIIIIIIIS close to up and cancelling our entire trip. I was so scared of everyone getting sick and traveling and I am SO GLAD that we decided to go. This trip was good for my soul and even better for my children. It felt so good to be home!