KC Day #3: Science City

Day #3 of the trip was Father's Day!  The boys had cards ready for Sean, then after breakfast they headed to Union Station for Science City with Grandpa Dan and Grandma Pat!

 Happy Father's Day to the most amazing husband.  You are such a good role model for our boys and for that, I feel so blessed.  Love you, babe!

 Trick table at Science City.

 Fun with fans and sand...

 Grandma Pat lending a helping hand

 Four Beilmans in a helicopter.  Carter is ready for take-off!

 The water table--a big favorite with the boys.

 Indoor tree house--how cool!

 Two boys on a train.

KC Day #2: Beilman Family Reunion

The main reason for the trip: The Beilman Family reunion!  Sean really enjoyed getting to see everyone and the boys loved playing with their cousins!

 Sean with his parents, his brothers Mike and Todd, and their families. 

 Cousin Olivia pushing the boys on the tire swing.

 Grandpa Dan with his siblings and Aunt.  

 Father's Day was also Grandpa Dan's 70th Birthday, so they celebrated with a big cake!  Mom B & Kristine also had the cool idea to send out prepaid postcards to 70 people, asking them to write their favorite memory/story of Grandpa Dan and mail them to him for his birthday week surprise.  Love that idea! Hope you had a Happy Bithday!!

 Carter took this one of Sean. 

 Carter with cousin Samantha. (She just got a full ride scholarship to Rockhurst University in Kansas City--way to go, Samantha!!!)

Cousins Hannah & Samantha keeping the boys entertained.  Sean was most grateful for your help!

Too Good Not to Share

A friend posted this on Facebook today & I thought it was well worth sharing.  The five days I had without my kids and husband around gave me a rare opportunity to live my former life for a while (the only responsibility I had was myself...remember those days?).  I enjoyed the peace & quiet for about 24 hours, then I was ready for all of them to come back!  I missed the chaos and mostly, I missed my boys and the love they share with me on a daily basis.  Can't imagine not having them!  Like Lisa says below, one day I'll blink and they'll be in college...I'll have all the free time I want.  Just thinking about that makes me sad, so today I'll let the house go and enjoy the happy chaos that is my wonderful, blessed life.

http://lisajobaker.com/2012/06/encouragement-for-tired-moms/

KC, sans Mommy. Day 1: Legoland

That's right, even though I am the one from Kansas City, I was not along for this recent trip in which Sean loaded up the boys, drove 12 hours from Denver to KC (it took longer because 4 1/2 hours were with the windshield wipers on full blast since a torrential downpour followed him all the way to Topeka!).  Instead, I stayed home to work (start pity party now) while Sean went to the Beilman Family reunion and stayed with the boys at Mimi & Grampy's house.

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Hugging my boys goodbye.  It was hard to let go!

Now to the fun part: Legoland Discovery Center at Crown Center

Uncle Josh, Grampy and Mimi went with Sean and the boys!  

 Sean said that each Legoland has a miniature replica of the city where it's located, all made of Legos of course.  Here you can get some scale of how small everything was:

 Kauffman Stadium (where the Royals play, folks).  

 Downtown KC

The Emerald City (above) from the Wizard of Oz.  Let me just clarify that Kansas City (at least the cool parts) are in MISSOURI.  The fact that the Wizard of Oz is represented here is a bit confusing, since the movie takes place in Kansas.  However, the city does straddle the state line and there is an industrial, boring side of Kansas City that lies in Kansas.  *It is probably my biggest pet peeve when I tell people I am from Kansas City and they say "Oh, you're from Kansas?".  Okay, I'll move on...

 Dorothy's house, in black-and-white...

 ...transitions to Munchkin Land, in full color!

 The Country Club Plaza, complete with working fountain!

 Sean took this photo to show me that the bright green tees I packed for him to dress the boys, in an effort for them to stand out in a crowd, backfired since there was a huge group (there were about 50 more kids, not pictured) of summer camp kids at Legoland...all dressed in, you guessed it, BRIGHT GREEN SHIRTS!

 Taking in a 4-D Lego Movie with Grampy

 Riding the flying wizard ride with Daddy.

 Sorry for all the photos, but I loved the progression of the next series:

 How many Beilmans can fit on a Lego cycle?

 Mimi's in charge!

 After a full day at Crown Center, everyone met for dinner.  Including, Aunt Natalie (who is due to have our baby niece next month!!) and Sean's parents who had just arrived for the reunion.  What a day!