Our new favorite park!

Derek left for annual training this morning. He'll be spending two weeks at between his armory in St. Joseph and Fort Leavenworth. Last night, the kids "helped" Derek pack and Belle was hoping to sneak along in the suitcase.

This morning, the kids and I ventured out to explore a new park nearby. It was an amazing find! The kids played their hearts out for two hours. When we got home, Jackson put himself down for a nap!! Unbelievable! 

We visited Brumble's Forest at Meadowmere Park in Grandview. If any of you live nearby, you should check it out! While this park had all the usual amenities like a playground, slides, and swings... they were just so uniquely put together. The climbing mechanisms weren't simple ladders-- they could be climbed several times using different techniques. I loved the creative play and I'm certain that's why my kids were entertained for such a long time!

Isn't this so much more fun than a ladder??

Days at the park are so much fun! We'll have to go back when Derek can go with us! 

Sesame Street Live

Thursday evening we took the kids to see Sesame Street Live, which is basically as it sounds... basically a live episode of the tv show. We dressed the kids up their Elmo apparel and headed out to "skyscraper town"as Jackson likes to refer to downtown. We ate at the Whopper Bar before we made our way to the Sprint Center.

We arrived early to check out the play zone!

Hanging out in Big Bird's nest!

A quick visit with Grover.

Of course, we had to visit the star of the show... Elmo! 

And Jackson took a quick minute to play on Elmo's piano...

"La-la, la-la, La-la,-la Elmo's World..."

We found our seats and waited! 

And just one photo to prove I was there too! :)

And once this started....

My kids were mesmerized.

I wish I could have bottled up Jackson's excitement. I swear, I will never forget his amazement. Although we had told him we were going to see Elmo, he really had no idea what we doing. And when the cast came on stage; he just could barely believe it. He looked at me with a the biggest smile possible and said, "Mom! I love it!" Oh, it was so wonderful. 

Murray was there with the letter of the day.

After all of that fun... it was time to say good-bye. Literally. The kids both waved and said good-bye!

It was such a fun thing to do! Jackson said his favorite thing the singing. And I tried to ask Belle if she had fun, but she replied in typical Belle fashion with "no." But I know better. She sat so perfectly still, that's how I KNOW she had fun. Great Grandpa, Derek, and I... we all enjoyed the show too. But I bet we can all agree that the best part was seeing the kids so happy.

Take me out to the ballgame

Taking Jackson to a Royals game was high on the list of things to do this summer and we finally made it happen last weekend. We met up with friends and had a great time.

Elizabeth snapped this photo of my family and it might be my new fave family pic!

Friday night games are the best-- it's buck night

and fireworks!

We joked that the entire evening seemed like a date for Jackson and Chacey. I'd love to say these photos were totally staged for cuteness sake, but it's not true.

The date even ended with a kiss. Jackson was content with chest-bump send off, but when Elizabeth told the kids to say good-bye, Chacey looked at Jackson and said, "give me a kiss." I made sure to mention that if a wedding is in the future these two, that we would fulfill the traditional role in paying for the rehearsal dinner and the rest was up to them. :)

Meanwhile-- here's what the rest of us were up to...

We browsed the museum before the game

Belle got to hold baby Tenley... and instead of being all sweet and gentle, she 'bonks' her nose. Ha. I'm so glad I was able to snap this shot. It wasn't quite what I was expecting to get, but it's just so cute. 

And Belle cheered for the home-runs!

Mooooooo-stakas!

And when she got antsy, we handed her a bag of cheetos to keep her occupied for awhile.

And when I tried to get a cute picture together, she was being a total stinker and she wouldn't put that tongue in her mouth...

So I joined her! Look at her dimple chin!

We won the game and the fireworks after the game were fantastic as usual. It was a perfect ballgame experience!