LegoLand Discovery Center

Checking out the mini Lego city.

Hannah and I played with the giant Lego blocks while the boys played in another area that wasn't safe for 2 year olds.

Yes, Andrew's hair is wet. The boy was having so much fun running around that he was dripping. The indoor play area had lots of climbing, running, sliding, jumping and the boys took it all in! Then we moved onto the build-your-own-Lego-car-and-race-it area.

Even Hannah found some Duplo blocks and built a car to race.

Giant wheels might make the car go faster!

On your mark...
Get set...
GO!

Hannah quickly tired of racing and found the Lego Friends section and Karoke! The girl was not shy about singing into the mic, even when she didn't know the words! I couldn't help but laugh and she kept yelling at me in the mic to stop laughing.

Lego 3-D movie!

And then it was time to get some lunch and head for home. We had lots of fun on our short mini vacation, but we were tired and ready to go home and check on Max and Ruby.

Mini Vacay - CoCo Keys

Just another beautiful summer day in Kansas.

Hannah had no fear and went down the slides like a pro.

Andrew was also a pro running around the big kid's slide and had no fear of the giant bucket of water that dumped every 15 minutes.

Happy and tired little swimmers

We decided to take the kids on a mini vacation to Kansas City before school started. We started the adventure at CoCo Keys. The kids had so much fun. But then in the middle of the night, for no reason, the hotel lost power and we lost a couple hours of sleep. *sigh* But we rallied and went to Lego Discovery Center after a hearty breakfast at Denny's.

CoCo Key Water Resort

Hannah wasn't too sure what to think about all the water and noise at first!

But then we took a float down the lazy river and she was all about the water!

She's laughing, not crying!

 

Andrew had a little fear at first and wore a life jacket.

But when he realized the water was only a couple inches deep, he got a lot braver!

Jonathan practiced swimming in the shallow water.

Hannah watched Jonathan and Andrew go down this slide and decided she would try it too.

This girl has NO FEAR! It also helped that I caught her each time before she landed in the water!

The best big brother helping his little sister up the slide steps.

Andrew is at the top trying to decide which big slide he would go down.

He also showed no fear after an hour or so and went down every slide!

Keith catching Jonathan as he came down the slide.

Keith trying to show Andrew that it's OK to get a little water splashed in your face. Andrew wasn't sure at first, but by the end of it, when the big bucket dumped on him, he just wiped his eyes and kept going!

The flash didn't work on this picture like I had hoped, but I still like it!

Time to go to our room and get ready for bed.

After baths, we went back to the entrance to take this picture and get some ice cream!

Hannah thought she could have a slumber party with the boys. She was very disappointed when we told her she had to sleep in her crib.

For one last quick trip before school started, we went to Coco Key Water Resort in KC. We had never been, but had heard that it was lots of fun and all indoor. So, Keith took off Friday, and we drove up and played in the water until we were exhausted and pruney.  Then we attempted to get everyone to sleep in one room. After the boys settled down and stopped being silly they went right to sleep, until 6 am when Jonathan fell out of bed. Hannah and I managed to go back to sleep for a couple hours after that happened, but the boys did not. After a yummy brunch at the hotel, we packed up and came home, exhausted and happy. And ready for school to begin on Monday!

Branson Vacation - Part 2

On the 4th, we took the Branson Scenic Railway tour on a REAL train. Jonathan was ecstatic! It was a 40-mile trip through the Ozark foothills and at the turn-around point we were in NW Arkansas. We went through tunnels and over trestles and had a little lunch on the train. We were able to walk through the train and each car had a different style of seating.

Hannah and Andrew checking out the scenery.

These pictures are out of order, but I'm too lazy to fix it. This was taken at the end of the ride. It was about an hour too long for Hannah and she was ready to do something else!

Andrew trying on Daddy's sunglasses to kill time.

Sorry the picture is dark, but this was our excited train boy!

Andrew wanted to take some pictures. This was right after we got on the train and before the a/c kicked in to cool us all off!

Our view of the inside of one of the two tunnels we went through.

Going over a trestle - you can see the engine as we rounded the curve.

This was the view at the turn-around point. Our tour guide said this was his favorite spot in the fall and I'm sure it is quite breath-taking when the leaves are changing colors.

Family photos with our train engine

This may or may not have been the boys' favorite part of vacation - excessive screen time.

The train station was honoring military members and veterans on the Fourth and so Keith and I received half-price tickets! Mom and Dad offered to watch the kiddos in the afternoon so Keith and I could check out the outlets. We shopped fast and hard and came home with some great bargains. We laughed that we couldn't remember the last time that we had gone shopping together without children. It was such a treat!

On Thursday, our last day in town, Grandma and Grandpa thought we needed to take in a Branson show. So we went to see Grand Country's Amazing Pets. I was not very excited about the show, but it was great for the kids, and they loved the magic show and the dog and cat tricks. Since we've been home, Andrew said he now believes in magic. We asked him why, and he said, "Magic is the only way they could've gotten those cats to do those tricks!"

In the afternoon, the boys went swimming again and Hannah and I took a LONG nap. She and I were up half the night. Poor girl started a fever and didn't sleep well. It wasn't until we got home that I figured out what was wrong with her - Hand, Foot and Mouth virus. So fun. NOT. Adam started it the same day she did and so we are assuming we picked it up at the family reunion. Jonathan started the virus a couple days later and then Keith got it a week later. Such a horrible virus. Blisters on the palms of their hands and bottoms of their feet and sores in their mouth, all of which appear after two days of high fever. Fortunately, Andrew and I didn't get it. I'm pretty sure Andrew had it when we lived in ND, and I must've had some version of it somewhere along the way.

We were still reeling from the effects of sickness over a week later, and I vowed we would never go on another vacation ever again. Check back next summer. I'm sure I will have forgotten the torture of sick children on vacation.