Fun-filled Weekend in K.C.

On Saturday, we drove to Kansas City to stay at Great Wolf Lodge with my sisters and their families. We left a bit earlier than everyone else and got to KC in time to stop at Independence Center for lunch and to pick up a couple of things. The girls got to ride on the two story carousel that they have there and enjoyed that, but Olivia's favorite thing was the escalators. I guess she has never ridden on one before. At first, she was afraid and very clingy and then she soon became a pro and couldn't get enough. I think Jason took them up and down many many times. After that, we picked up a couple of additional things--2 more pink bears that the girls made at the Build-A-Bear Workshop. These have sparkles in the fur so, I am sure, to the girls, that makes them MUCH different. They had a great time making the bears though and the first bears that they made over the summer are a favorite toy for each of them.

Olivia's favorite part is washing and brushing the bears at the station after they are all put together. She loves the air comes out of the sprayers and she stayed over there long after the rest of us had moved on to the birth certificate stage. The bear's names are: Pink (Olivia's) and Mary (Jocelyn's).

After making the bears and walking around the mall, we went to the hotel. We had never been there before--it is BIG and has a log cabin theme. The rooms are nice and there are a lot of places for the kids to play. There are games throughout the hotel, an arcade, places for bedtime stories and a themed restaurant where some of the tables have tents draped over them. There is also an indoor water park for the kids (and adults to play). I was itching to go down the slides, but as Cathy and I joked--it is a 1:1 ratio to watch the kids when they are that little and we didn't want any accidents to happen so I stayed bolted to either Olivia or Jocelyn's side. Olivia was quick. She was up and down the big obstacle course as fast as she could go without many breaks. We ended up ordering in dinner (well pick-up) from the BBQ place down the road. (What else do you eat while your in Kansas City?). After dinner, the kids got to go to the arcade. This was Jocelyn's favorite part--"playing in the arcade with my cousins and getting to spend time with them".

This morning, we woke up, ate breakfast and checked out the stuffed wildlife at Cabella's. The girls were VERY impressed by the animals and enjoyed seeing them up close. We drove home and made pretty good time.

This afternoon, as I type this, Olivia has crashed on the couch. She crawled up next to me while I was watching TV and said "Rub it mine leg" and then it was "Rub it mine back" and then I didn't hear a peep our of her. I had to take this picture even though I couldn't get a good angle. You can see in the background on the floor she has made two beds for her stuffed animals. She used dish towels for blankets and she told them that is was naptime and they needed to get to sleep. Very cute :)