Brinley & BBQ

We left Colorado without a charger for our camera, so I have no pics of the boys meeting our sweet niece, Brinley, for the first time.  Luckily, we were able to see her twice during our three days in KC!!  After buying a replacement charger, we were able to get some photos of Brin at the Smokehouse for a family dinner.  

She loves Aunt Christy!

Josh with his sweet girl and Uncle Sean.   

 

Aunt Christy and Grampy

 The whole gang, sans Josh.  We love Kansas City BBQ!

Davis was very concerned when Brinley would cry.  BTW, she was the best-behaved of all three grand kids during our family photo shoot before dinner.  Go figure!

My wonderful mother & me.  Sure wish we lived closer!

Some of my faves from our family photos.  Brinley is such a sweet baby!  I am so happy for Josh & Natalie, and what amazing parents they are to this little girl!  Can't wait to hold her again...

Kansas City Zoo

Our second day in KC was spend at the zoo!  It has been over 15 years since I visited the zoo and I loved all the updates.  The KC Zoo is quite a bit bigger than the Denver Zoo, has a train and trams that run throughout the property, and a "Sky Ride" (a ski lift for you Colorado folks) that gives you an aerial view of some of the larger exhibits.  Plus, we were able to get 50% off the price of admission by showing our Denver Zoo membership card...can't beat that! 

The coolest exhibit was by far, the polar bear.  He swam right up to the glass and pushed off, giving us an awesome view of his huge paws and sweet face.  So, so cool.

 The carousel was also a big hit...

...especially the MU Tiger!

 Couldn't pass up a ride on the train!

 It was all fun and games until Mimi fell down in one of the Africa exhibits.  She hobbled back to civilization and I got her an ice pack for her banged-up knee.  We decided that it was time to go home at that point.  The 100 degree weather didn't help, either.  We got Icees to go & hit the road!

Good Times in KC

We started our 10-day Missouri vacation in Kansas City, to visit Mimi, Grampy and the rest of the Milne crew!  Our first outing was to Fritz's in Crown Center.  It is a train-themed restaurant with train tracks along the ceiling that allow little electric trains to deliver the food right to your table--how cool is that?!  The boys had a blast and I kept wondering how we have gone this long without knowing about Fritz's...now we know!

Watching anxiously to see if the next train down the track would be our train.  

Making the next lunch delivery...

Here it is!! 

 Playing at the dinosaur exhibit.

 Kansas City's newest attraction--Sea Life Aquarium!

We had fun exploring the sea creatures and the boys had fun running and trying to get lost at every possible moment.  "Busy" does not begin to describe these two!!!

We ended the day with some frozen custard from Sheridan's.  A KC favorite--yummy!!!

(I think he likes it.)

Hot Wheels

Guess who's got a new project car?  That's right, Sean finally has a Karmann Ghia to restore & this is the happiest I've seen him...maybe ever!  (With the exception of our wedding day & the boys' birthdays, of course.)  ;-)  She's not much to look at now, but give us about 10 years & this sweet ride will be the envy of the neighborhood, I'm sure!

1st Day of Preschool!

Carter started his last year of Preschool today & he could not have been more excited.  He woke up and went through the morning routine without complaints (very unusual), knowing that it was all in preparation for leaving to go to school.  I stole this "First Day of School" idea from my neighbor, who saw it on Pinterest.  

Davis cannot wait until it's HIS turn to go!  The whole time Carter was at school, Davis kept saying "But, Carter's my best friend!"  As in...how could you leave him at school & separate us for 2 1/2 hours??  

 It makes me so happy to see Carter's enthusiasm towards school.  Not a tear shed or a second thought given to mom leaving him this morning!  We are thrilled to have him back with Ms Glo & Ms LaDonna for his second year.  He ran to Ms LaDonna this morning--we love, love, love his awesome teachers!!

 Carter's name is on a green gumball.  :-)

 Davis darted into the classroom as soon as we arrived to pick Carter up.  He is beyond ready to be a big boy like his brother!  Mom, on the other hand, not so much...

Date Night!

Last Thursday, we went out for drinks, dinner & dessert...can't tell you how long it's been since we did that! It was wonderful.  So much fun to try a new restaurant and just enjoy being a couple instead of parents for the night.  I must say, I probably had one too many margaritas but for some reason I really wanted to make the most of our night on the town.  The next morning at work, I questioned that decision.  Oh well!!

 The view from our table at "Linger".  http://lingerdenver.com/ The place happens to be an old mortuary (Olinger's, for you Denver folks), but it's not creepy at all.  Kind of a cool story/concept, actually.  

It overlooks this great ice cream place called "Little Man" http://littlemanicecream.com/ (pictured).  We had some de-lish small plates at Linger, then waited in line for ice cream--totally worth the wait!  Our friend, Katie, recommended Linger and my cousin, Taylor, suggested the ice cream place.  Both were a hit!  

*On a side-note, we were waiting in line for ice cream with a couple who were recently reunited after not seeing one another for 12 years!  They grew up together as childhood friends in NYC, then she moved away in middle school, while he stayed in New York.  Over a decade later, they reconnected via the internet!  Now they are 20-somethings and we got to see them on their first "date"/his first trip to CO...I'm pretty sure they'll get married some day, so it was very romantical to meet them & hear their story.  Now we're all friends on Facebook, so I'll let you know how everything turns out & if we get invited to the wedding. ;-)