Kansas Recap

Dan and I were in Kansas for about 4 and a half days after our stay in Colorado.  We planned the trip so that we would be there to celebrate Dan's 31st birthday and for the 4th of July.  Dan had always told me about his family's 4th celebration and I wanted to see what it was like. Although we were in Kansas at the beginning of June for services for Grandma, we wanted to keep our vacation plans to visit with everyone again and enjoy the holiday festivities.  I'll share about the 4th in a separate post and recap our Kansas trip in general today. Yay!

When we landed in Kansas City, Terri Mom and Allen Dad (that's what I call them) took us to Chick-fil-A for lunch and Legends Outlet mall.  It's like a tradition. Then we went to heaven!  I mean, Hobby Lobby.  I've spoken of my love for Hobby Lobby before and how deprived I am here in the city with next to no accessible craft stores. So, Terri Mom always lets me go when we visit and this time we got to go TWICE!

Dan's parents live in a very small town close to an hour outside of Kansas City.  It's super cute.

We played with Baby...

Dan took me to see Lake Fort Scott...

We went to Uncle Willy's, played with his huge dogs Sierra and Buck, ate great food, and watched copious episodes of The Americans (which he had kindly recorded for us).  He is the one that got us hooked on that show and let me tell you, Season 4 does NOT disappoint.

We went and had dinner with Dan's friend from high school (and groomsman), Jeff, and his wife, Cheryl. And I watched Dan and Jeff play tennis together (they were tennis partners in HS)...

 

We celebrated Dan's birthday...

We walked around town and admired the big and beautiful skies over Kansas...

Unfortunately we had nearly two full days of rain during our visit but it was still pretty outside. 

We played with fireworks and smoke bombs in anticipation of the 4th...

And Dan attempted to destroy some of his old toy cars and plastic dinosaurs...

We visited with family and ate tons of great food - a trademark of any Kansas vacation.

And last but not least, Terri Mom and I sewed window valances for our bedroom!! We picked the fabric at Hobby Lobby and Terri Mom walked me through measuring, cutting, folding, ironing, pinning, sewing, more ironing, more pinning, more sewing.  Lots of skills and experience gained! She was a gentle and patient instructor and kept me company the whole time. Her machine was so nice and let me start slow and steady and work-up my confidence.  I'm still intimidated by my machine but I feel a little more brave about trying again.  I'll share the full reveal of our handiwork just as soon as I have a chance to hang them up this weekend!!

Now for our trip favorites tradition...

1) Favorite thing you ate
2) Favorite thing you did
3) Favorite thing you got

Dan:
- Ate: Pull-apart rolls (this boy could live and breathe off of his mom's pull apart rolls)
- Did: Fireworks
- Got: new backpack

Steph:
- Ate: grilled hot dogs that Uncle Willy made plus Aunt Judy's jello poke cake 
- Did: watching all the cute cousins enjoy the fireworks
- Got: the window valances Terri Mom and I made together

Check back tomorrow for an artsy look at Kansas in black and white!