Kansas City: Our mini-vacation

Since Scott and I are going on an adults-only cruise later this summer with Chad & Leslie, we thought we'd plan a trip not too far from home to get away with the girls for a little bit. We heard about this fantastic resort in Kansas City called Great Wolf Lodge. The rooms are all designed for kids with either a cabin, a tent, or a cave in the corner of the room just for them. We got one with a tent, and it had bunk-beds and their own TV. They thought it was super cool! But, the best part of the whole place is the massive indoor water park. It has 5 water slides, a lazy river, and several play areas. We all had a fabulous time!
They also had an outdoor pool and play area. We stayed outside most of the day on Wednesday because the weather was just perfect!
You can barely see the girls in this picture, but they're behind the waterfall. There's a bucket way up close to the ceiling that fills up with 1,000 gallons of water and dumps it every 5 minutes.

Weeeeeeee!! The blue slide was our favorite....
But, yellow was pretty cool, too, because most of the time you're in total darkness.
Before we left, I searched the internet to try and find a fun place to eat on Wednesday night since it was Payton's birthday. I found a place called T-Rex that was supposed to be close to our resort, and boy was it ever! It was in this huge shopping center right next door. It's the only restaurant of it's kind in the U.S., and it had robotic dinosaurs, several fish tanks, and meteor showers every 30 minutes (it got dark and loud, but nothing ever fell from the ceiling...). I had read that people go there more for the atmosphere than for the food, but I had to say - we chowed down that night! At one point, Holland even said, "Goodness mom". You know I ate a lot if she made that comment about me! Then we secretly told them it was Payton's birthday, and they brought out an ice cream sundae and sang Happy Birthday to her. I think it's one she'll remember....

We had to be checked out of our room by 11 on Thursday, so I went to the fitness center and ran for a while, then came back to the room and took a shower and got ready. Scott and Holland wanted to hang out by the pool for a while, so Payton and I thought we'd drive over to the awesome shopping center and do some shopping. Sidebar: Running works completely different muscles than any other type of exercise known to man. And since I had also ran the day before, I had sore muscles in places I'd only heard about once upon a time in one of my Anatomy classes. Needless to say, we didn't shop. We found a movie theater and sat and watched Kung Fu Panda. I had already gotten tickets for an exhibit called Bodies Revealed for later that afternoon, so I somehow mustered the strength and we went to that. It was totally worth it! All kinds of real human bodies and body parts on display. But, of course not everyone appreciated it as much as I did. At one point, Payton made the comment: "I'm gonna have trouble sleeping tonight". It really wasn't that bad. It was a great learning experience for them (even though it was more for me than anyone else). Then we asked one of the locals where we should go for the best BBQ in KC, and she said, "Have I got a place for you!". She sent us to Jack Stack's, and it was out of this world! We were so glad we had asked!

We found our way back to the awesome shopping center on Friday and found some great deals (not really, but we like to tell ourselves that...), then ate at Cheeseburger Paradise. Yummy!! On Friday night, we went to see the Royals play the Cardinals. It was fun, mostly because we really didn't care who won the game (The Royals did, if you care. Sorry Brandi!). We were worried about the weather because they kept saying on the news that the storms were supposed to hit around 7 - the same time the game was scheduled to start, but they held off until we got in the car after the game was over.
Payton & Scott sharing popcorn. Look at how dark the sky is! Then we left the game and got lost in KC at 10:30 at night, but that's all I'm gonna say about that. We are safe at home now, and that's all that matters, right?? All in all, it was a fun family trip, and we've all come away with great memories!

Happy Birthday, Payton!!

Yes, I know that this is one day early, but we're leaving this afternoon for Payton's surprise birthday trip and won't be back until Saturday. I'll take lots of pictures of our adventures and post them once we get back!

Payton - You are my Godsend. Even though you may not have been "planned", you have been the greatest surprise of my life, and God knew that I needed you. You have the most wonderful spirit - kind, gentle, loving, and always enthusiastic. But more than anything else, you are the most passionate person I know. No matter what the task or challenge might be, you will give it your all and nothing less. I absolutely love that about you. Everyday is so much sweeter when you're around. I've smiled and laughed more in the 8 years that you've been with me than I ever did before. You are God's reward. I must have done something right to be blessed with such a beautiful soul that I get to call my child. You are light and laughter and joy all together in one little person. You are, and will always be, my baby. I love you.

Then & Now

It's been almost 12 years since Scott and I got married. I searched through my photo albums the other day and found this picture. The precious flower girl is my then 9-year-old cousin, Leah. There was never any question who would be the flower girl in our wedding because we were very close growing up despite the 11 year age difference. Now, fast-forward to yesterday.....

The bride in the picture is Leah, and the junior bridesmaids are my girls. What an honor it was for them to get to be a part of her special day. Now I'd like to make time stand still because I don't even want to begin to think about their wedding days....

"Can _______ spend the night??"

I guarantee - if I had a dollar for every time I've been asked this question this summer, I'd be one rich chick right now! And the sad thing is they haven't even been out of school for 3 full weeks yet! So, on Monday I let them each invite a friend over to spend the night. Holland called Marley, and Payton called Cecily. I will have to say that my girls have both picked such good girls to be friends with. I couldn't have picked any better myself. They spent all of Tuesday morning playing out back with a couple of frogs they found in the pool (I feel the same way about frogs as I do about snakes - gross!). Then I took them ice skating. For 4 girls to be so extremely excited about it, they didn't last very long - 30 minutes and they were done. I don't blame them, though. Who wants to be where it's 30 degrees when you can be where it's 80?? So, it was back to the house for pizza and swimming. Good friends and good times!!

Happy Father's Day to all of the great dads I know!

And what a great day it was!! Mom and dad came over for the afternoon, and we had so much fun together! That is, until I asked dad to take a look at a leaky faucet we have in our hall bathroom and an hour later he came out and let me know that we definitely needed a plumber. Sorry, dad - that's really not why I invited you guys over, I promise!! So, we ate and played in the pool and enjoyed the beautiful day!

My favorite dad in the whole world!


The girls - just chillin!
Payton taking a ride on Scott's back while he vacuumed the bottom of the pool....
And, the hottest dad I know! It takes a real man to ride a scooter barefoot and partially clothed.

HAPPY 40TH, MOM & DAD!

I know this picture is a few years old and mom is no longer a brunette, but it is my all-time favorite. I think it captures how truly happy you are together.

How do I even begin to tell you guys how great you are?? I think back to the beginning when Grant and I were small and remember how much fun we always had as a family, whether it was the church events we never missed, going camping for the weekend, or even the day-to-day at home. You were always fun to be with, and you always made sure we knew how important we were. Throughout our teen years, you somehow found the perfect balance between giving us freedom and setting the boundaries of what was expected of us. I know we both had so much respect for you that we accepted the rules and consequences to avoid ever disappointing you. Then came the big decisions - what to do after high school, where to live, who to marry - and you gave 100% of your support and then stepped back. I think you knew you had done your absolute best in raising us, and you trusted us to do what was right. But what mattered more than anything else was that you showed your love for the Lord in everything you did. You instilled in us from the beginning that giving your heart to Jesus and following Him faithfully would be more important than any other decision in life, and you were right. So, as I look to you guys and the 40 years you've been together, I can only hope that Scott and I will be just as much in love and will come as close as possible to being the kind of parents that you've been to me and Grant. I love you more than you can imagine!

What time is it??

SUMMERTIME!! (That was for all of you High School Musical fans out there. You know exactly who you are....) So, here we are at the end of another school year. It doesn't seem possible, but the girls just finished 2nd and 3rd grade. If you'll go back and look at the very first blog I ever posted, it was of the girls first day of school in August ( Holland crying, Payton excited). Well, it ended up being one of their best years ever. From the brand new school, to the awesome teachers and principal, to the new friends made, we love it at Shaw and are so glad now that we got transferred. So, here are pictures from the last day of school on Friday. It was all fun & games (kinda reminded me of the last day of school on the movie "Grease", minus the carnival rides. Oh, and no one remembered to wear their second-skin, black shiny pants either.....).

Payton playing tug-o-war. Her side lost, but only the red-head ended up in the pool. Smart move picking the end of the rope there, Paty.

Holland playing "musical dots". Same as musical chairs, only you have to stand on a colored dot when the music stops. Here she is saying, "Get off my dot, big boy".
Payton & Cecily
"It's too bright! Hurry and take the stinkin' picture!"

This is from a sleepover after the last day of school that got mixed up in the others. Payton & Meghan - I think the glasses make them look a lot alike.
This looks like a really sweet group hug, but they were all really trying to capture her while some other kids were getting the sprinkler....
The days of innocence when you always had to be holding hands with your buddies.
Run, Paty, Run!
Faster, Holland, Faster!