Trip to Kansas City

    Two weeks ago, we embarked on a trip to Kansas City.  We had originally toyed with the idea of going to California.  It's been two years since we have been to California and we have been dying to go back.  Unfortunately, we waited a little too long to plan to the trip and logistically it was becoming too complicated to work out at the last minute.  Joey had already taken time off from work, so we knew we should go somewhere.  I had heard a lot about Great Wolf Lodge.  It's an indoor water park with several locations through out the U.S.  I looked up which one was closest to us.  I discovered it was in Kansas City.  I also discovered that Kansas City is only a 9 hour drive.  That seemed totally doable to us.  We booked some rooms and made our plans.  We didn't make too many plans for this trip besides going to Great Wolf Lodge.  We wanted to just sort of go with the flow. 

     Originally it was going to be Joey, Dawson, Ashlyn, Katy, Ella, Jameson, my mom, and myself going on the trip.  Bryan had some health stuff going on shortly before we were going to leave, so Katy didn't feel that she should still go.  So, it ended up just being Joey, the kids, my mom, and I.  We dearly missed Katy and the kids, but we still had an amazing trip. 

     We left on a Monday night and drove halfway there.  The kids were angels in the car.  We have a DVD player in our van and I tell you that thing is worth its weight in gold on road trips.  It keeps the kids very entertained.  

     We woke up bright and early the next morning and finished our drive to Kansas City.  Great Wolf Lodge is in a neat little area with lots of shopping and restaurants.  When we arrived, we couldn't check into our room for a little bit.  We decided to do a little shopping and get some lunch.  We ended up eating at the Trex Cafe.  The food wasn't very impressive, but the atmosphere was really neat.  We got to eat among the dinosaurs.  The kids loved it!

Joey and the kids with Trex.

Ashlyn waiting for her food.

They had a lot of fish tanks there. 

     After lunch, it was time to head to Great Wolf Lodge.  The kids were beyond excited to get there.  Great Wolf Lodge is really any kids dream. It is a huge indoor water park that is connected to a hotel.  The neatest part was that we could literally hop in the elevator, go down to the first floor and we were at the entrance to the water park.  It was also nice that it was indoors.  We didn't have to worry about it being too hot, rain, and slathering up every 15 minutes with sunscreen.  We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge for 2 days.  In those two days, we spent as much time as possible in the water.  We would wake up, eat a quick breakfast, and head down to the park.  We basically only stopped for meals.  We had an amazing time.  It was so nice to spend so much time with just the kids having such a good time with each other.  There is so much to do.  When it was time to leave, Ashlyn was very upset.  She decided she wants to live at Great Wolf Lodge.  We told her that we would definitely be going back and next time we would bring Ella and Jameson too. 
   We didn't get a whole lot of pictures.  With all that water it's a little risky to bring in a camera in case it gets wet. We did bring it in once so we could get a few pictures. 

The first glimpse we got of Great Wolf Lodge

The water playground

Dawson checking out the fountains

They had this area where you can go across logs using a rope to hold onto.  Ashlyn loved this and she was very good at it. 

Look at her go!!!

Splashing around

Loving the water

Playing some water basketball

Going for a shot

My water babies and me

We love swimming!

Ashlyn is one brave little cookie.  Nothing ever scares her and she is always ready to take on any new adventure.  I LOVE it!  They had a couple of water slides that she loved to go down all by herself.  She went down there slides a lot!

Here she is climbing the rope to head back up. 

Dawson waiting for Ashlyn to come down the slide. 

Taking a little rest.

   Another thing Great Wolf  Lodge had was a neat little arcade.  It was sort of like Chuck E. Cheese.  One night after Dawson went to bed, Joey and I took Ashlyn down there for some fun.  We had a great time playing games.  Ashlyn won a bunch of prizes and had fun picking out prizes. 

Playing some air hockey.

Skee ball

My attempt at skee ball

Ashlyn loves this water gun game.

More air hockey

Pictures Ashlyn and Joey took in the photo booth

    Sadly, our time was over at Great Wolf Lodge.  However, our vacation was not over yet.  We checked into a different hotel nearby.  Kansas City is famous for its BBQ.  Joey's favorite food is BBQ.  He did some pretty extensive research which included asking coworkers, about the best BBQ in K.C.  Of course, everyone has their own favorites.  The restaurant that kept getting mentioned the most was Oklahoma Joe's.  We read lots of reviews and people just raved about it.  So, one evening we headed over to check it out.  We were not disappointed!  I don't even like BBQ, and I really liked this place.  Joey declared it better than Texas BBQ.  He really, really enjoyed his meal.  We liked it so much, we ate there twice!

The outside looks very  plain. 

Joey and I both ordered the Z Man sandwich.  Its the most popular sandwich there.  It's sliced brisket on a kaiser bun with provolone and two crispy fried onion rings on top.  Man was it good!!!

Dawson relaxing in his crib. 

      On Friday, we really had no plans.  A coworker of Joey's had suggested that we go to Crown Plaza downtown.  He had heard that there was a really neat train restaurant there.  When we heard the word train, we knew we had to go.  It was a bit of an adventure navigating through downtown, but we eventually found our way.  Thank goodness for GPS!  We really enjoyed Crown Plaza.  They had some really neat fountains and other things to look at. 

The fountains

There was a Lego Land here, but we opted not to go.  I'm really wishing we would have because we heard really good things about it later. 

Ashlyn with a Lego man.

  The rain restaurant was called Frtiz's.  When we got there we discovered you had to wait in line to be seated.  I've never really waited in line to get a table. I've always put my name on a list and they have called you when your table was ready.  This was a little different.  We didn't time it very well, and we got there right at lunch time.  The line was pretty long.  The kids really wanted to eat there, so we waited in line.  I was amazed at how well they did.  

A train that was in line

Posing in a train.  Dawson was so excited. 

How cool!

   When it was our turn, they sat us in a both and explained how it worked.  The table had a phone which you picked up to order with.  A waitress brought out your drinks.  There was a train that ran around the top of the restaurant.  When your food is ready, the train comes along and drops of your food.  The kids thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  It was pretty neat. The food was pretty mediocre, but again this is a place you go for the experience and not really the food. 

Waiting for the train.  You can see the phone you order from. 

All smiles

Train hat

Here comes the train with our food!

The kids getting the food down.

More fountains

    We spent the rest of Friday doing some shopping and sightseeing.  We had a great day.  Ashlyn got to do some swimming that night in the pool.  She has turned into a fish!  Saturday morning was our last morning in K.C.  I had read about a farmer's market downtown.  My mom and I love farmer's markets and we just had to check it out.  We were blown away by how much produce there was for sale.  We had a great time walking around and admiring all the fruits and vegetables.  We picked out some good stuff to take home.  After the farmer's market, we got in the car and headed back for home.  We drove straight through on the way back.  I was a little concerned how the kids would do with all the driving, but they were amazing.  I was so pleased with how they did. 
   While our trip was short,it was packed with lots of great fun and adventures.  We really enjoyed going somewhere new and exploring a new city and sights.  Great Wolf Lodge was a hit with everyone and definitely somewhere that we will be visiting again.  It was a perfect trip to end our amazing summer. 

The farmer's market

A man blowing bubbles.  The kids loved it!!!

Look at all the fruit!!!

Downtown Kansas City. 

Ashlyn and her balloon cat.