Kansas City

This past weekend, we took a short trip to Kansas City.  It was  a lot of fun.  It was Kevin's little surprise for me and Lauren and a nice getaway for him as well.  He has not had a day off since March 7.  He totally deserved this little getaway!  We were able to get a great hotel at a great rate through Hotwire .  If you have never used hotwire, then I highly recommend it.  It is a little different from other travel websites, in that you don't know exactly what hotel you are staying at until after it is paid for.   However, you do pick an area that is close to your destination and they give you the star ratings and what hotels correspond with the appropriate star ratings.  We have yet, to have had a bad experience.  We have strictly used hotwire for the last 3 years and always the best hotels for great prices!  THIS is where we ended up staying.  3 1/2 star hotel with indoor waterpark for $47/night!  The hotel's cheapest rate was $87/night.  We stayed for the whole weekend, including taxes, for less than $120!  The hotel is directly across from the KC Royals and Chiefs Stadiums, so we will definately be returning in the future!!  I even booked the hotel again for next weekend for my parents coming to visit.  I saved my mom $250 on hotwire vs. orbitz and travelocity.  How awesome is that?!  It helped that I knew the description of this hotel on hotwire and was able to basically know ahead of time where I was booking! 
We had a nice relaxing time.  We slept in, ate great food and visited a few great places.  Unfortunately the weather was not the greatest and were not able to do as much as we would have liked.  Kevin, however, enjoyed having cable in the hotel room to watch the NCAA tournaments since we have not splurged and signed up for cable service at home yet. 

We took Lauren swimming for the first time.  She was so adorable!  She loved it so much.  She was splashing around and kicking her feet.  These are the only pictures that I have of her swimming. I had to take them on Kevin's cell phone because I had forgot to pick up batteries for the camera on our way to KC.  I picked some up on Saturday but when we went down to the pool, some other kid had pooped in the pool and everyone was clearing out..YUCK!  So we took Lauren back upstairs and let her splash around in the bathtub.  We will get some more pictures and videos this weekend when we meet my parents there for Easter. 

On Saturday morning, we visited the National World War I Museum.  After a scary drive through the ghetto, we finally arrived and I was so relieved!  I am not joking when I say ghetto.  I'm talking people on the streetcorners at 9:45am..and they were not waiting for the bus..LOL 

They had a lot of interesting exhibits.  I wish that I could have seen more.  I had to step out of the exhibit for a while because Lauren had a poopy diaper and she was hungry.  They didn't have any bathrooms in the main museum and they did not allow food or drink.  I told Kevin that he could just go back in and keep looking around.  I thought Lauren had a poopy diaper, turns out it was just gas.   It was so rotten!! So after I changed and fed her, I was getting ready to put her back in the stroller and head back into the museam and I smelled the nastiness again..so I trucked over to the bathroom again and got her undressed, to find a very nasty diaper.  SO by the time I got the second diaper changed and her loaded up in the stroller and on our way back to the main exhibit..Kevin was walking out.  I was a little disappointed but he took some great pictures (on his cell..LOL because I had the camera with me)  and it was probably more meaningful for him as well.  If it were nicer out, we would have walked around the grounds and went up into the Liberty tower.  It was in the 30's and raining hard, so both of those things were out of the question. Maybe some other time!! If you like history and museums, this is a great place to visit! Another perk is it's FREE for all active, reserve and retired military men and women!!

After the museum, we headed to Arthur Bryant's BBQ.  Let me just say...OMG BEST BBQ EVER!!! When we got there at noon, the line was all the way to the door.  By the time we left, it was out the door and halfway down the block.  This joint has been around for many years and after eating there we know why!

Even Lauren had her first BBQ experience.  The meats were so tender, that our little munchkin was able to have a few tiny pieces of pork and brisket!  Her favorite though were the pickles and the white bread.  She was such a cutie, pounding on the table for more.  Here is a picture of her.  It looks as if she is not paying attention but this was me, holding her little grabbing hands back from the plate and her staring at the plate of food!  She was such a good girl all weekend. 

The rest of Saturday we just relaxed and napped.  Saturday evening we had a very light supper down at the hotel restaurant.  Lauren sat in her first big girl high chair. 

She is getting to be such a big girl.  She was 7 months old on Sunday.  She is now scooting around and can get herself pretty much anywhere she needs to be.  We are now in need of some major baby proofing in our house.  She hasn't quite figured out crawling, but I know it will be soon.  With her army crawling/scooting and the fact that she will get up on her hands and knees and rock, it will be very soon. I don't know if I am ready for that yet!

On Sunday, we slept in, packed up and headed out.  We did a little shopping.  Got Lauren an Easter Basket and some goodies, ate lunch and headed home.  Kevin and Lauren both took a nap yesterday afternoon while I was on the computer.  I would be lying if I said I didn't nap either.  At one point I woke up, head back, mouth open on the couch, 40 min. after the last time I had looked at the time on the computer.  We were all pretty exhausted.  We watched a movie and went to bed! 

I can't wait to do it all again next weekend.  My mouth is watering thinking about the BBQ.  After already having ate there, I know EXACTLY what I am going to get next time.  AHH I can't wait!!