The Great Mall

So we have discovered a wonderful little place to hang out this winter when it is cold out & need to burn off some energy. 

The Great Mall.

Now I wouldn't call it "great" as it is pretty run down & hardly any stores left in it anymore but there are a few fun kid-friendly things to do while there. There is a fun place called Monkey Bizness that has huge inflatables for the kids to bounce around in, a play area with nothing but slides, an area for them to climb upward on & then slide back down - all for $4 - super cheap entertainment for a few hours & it wears Mason out.

After spending a couple hours at Monkey Bizness we then make our way over to the Great Plains Train Station where Mason could sit for hours watching all the choo-choo's make their way around the tracks. This kid is CRAZY for trains right now so it is a lot of fun to take him here! There are many different sets of tracks with little villages & landscaping set up around the entire track & the trains go round & round all day long. So neat to see - for "big" kids too & the best part = it is FREE!

We were there when they were all decorated for Halloween & when I took this pic I never even noticed the creepy "zombie-like" body coming out from underneath the trains in front of my child - lol :)

After we get our fill of the choo choo's we head on over to the aquarium store where they have tons of salt water fish tanks set up & all kinds of pretty colored fish swimming all around in them. They also have a few parrots & bunnies that are fun to see also. This little visit is FREE also :)

Since it is an inside mall & usually never busy we let Mason run ahead of us which is another cheap & easy way to wear this kid out.

So we were at the Great Mall for almost 4 hours & our little outing cost us $4.00. We had one worn out kid once we left who napped for almost 3 hours - WIN WIN! 

We will definitely be spending a lot of time here in the upcoming cold winter months!

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween :) 

I am super excited about this years Halloween festivities. Last year Mase was only 9 months old & was too young to go around the neighborhood....

Ugh - look at how little he was :( I so miss that toothless grin.

I was hoping Mase would get the whole idea of Halloween this year - picking out pumpkins, carving them, trick-or-treating. I think I was more excited about it than he was. He enjoyed picking out his pumpkin at the pumpkin patch but after we got home with it I decided against carving them with him. I knew he would want to try & "carve" the pumpkin himself & rather than make an unexpected visit to the ER we just left them out on the front steps. 

The holiday started out with a party in his room at daycare. I had signed up to bring dessert & fruit so I ordered these cute little mini cupcakes at my favorite cupcake shop - Gigi's Cupcakes: 

And for the fruit I made these super cute "Pinterest-inspired" jack-o-lantern fruit cups: 

I hollowed out oranges, used a paring knife to make the eyes, nose & mouth & filled them with strawberries, blueberries, pineapple & oranges. I was told that the kids loved them :)

Mason's daycare provider Tiffany sent me pics of Mase & their Halloween party. All the littles dressed up in their costumes & went trick-or-treating at the grocery store & Assisted Living facility behind the daycare. When they got back they played a round of "hit the pumpkin pinata" & had their treats at their party.  

Mason's costume was made by my mom several years ago for my nephew Tanner. It was too cute to only wear once so my sister handed it down to us & Mason wore it this year. How cute is this little lion??

Looks like they had a fun time :)

Later in the evening we had supper, put our costume back on, filled up the wagon & were on our way to cruise around the neighborhood trick-or-treating. He had so much fun going up to the houses & getting candy in his bucket. After we would leave one house he would sign "more" as we were walking to the next house - so cute! 

It was pretty cold out so we only went up one street of our subdivision & by the time Mase figured out there were suckers in his bucket the night was pretty much over for him.

Once we got back home, we poured out all his candy to examine what he got & he picked out every single sucker & lined them up for all to see. I think he gets his OCD organization skills from his Mama ;) 

We all had a great time taking Mason out for his 1st trick-or-treating event & look so very forward to next year!

4 coaches - 60 years

Last month Shane had mentioned to me how he would like to go to an event they were holding at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, KS to honor the 4 coaches who have coached the past 60 years of KU basketball. He mumbled something about having no chance in getting tickets & I didn't hear him mention it again. 

A week later I got my Rock Chalk Weekly newsletter via email & it had said there were still tickets available for this event. I immediately got online, purchased two tickets, printed them out & suprised Shane later that night. 

He was SO excited when I told him. He may or may not have told me that I was the most amazing wife ever :)

So we got ourselves a babysitter & had us a little "date-night" in the town & the building that we love - Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, KS!

Coaching legends Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams & the current head coach Bill Self came together for the 1st time ever on Joe Naismith Court where they all had coached & paid homage to college basketball & to relive their favorite Allen Fieldhouse memories.

 L-R: Bill Self, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, Ted Owens & ESPN analyst Jay Bilas

(photo credit)

Introductions were made for each coach first by a video montage of their years coaching at KU & then a former player from their time at Kansas came up to welcome their coach to the podium.

All money raised for this event was split 4 ways & went to a charity of the coaches choice. The tables on the floor in the above picture went for $5000. I counted 66 of them. Now take a second & do the math. Yeah - that is $330,000 on the floor alone. Later in the evening they announced that almost $500,000 was raised that night. WOW!

 Selfie of me & the hubs with a "photo-bomb" in the back :)

It was an amazing ceremony & to watch on the big screen & hear all the history that has occurred in this building these past 60 years was awesome. There were lots of laughs & even a few tears as each coach talked about their time spent here at Allen Fieldhouse.

So honored to have been a part of this special event & so happy to have put that big smile on my hubby's face :)

Cider & Pumpkins

 This pic was taken at the pumpkin patch last October:

This pic is from this year - same little boy, same pumpkin patch:

...except now he is a foot taller, runs everywhere, has a mouth full of teeth & says "cheeeeese" when asked! Crazy how much Mason has changed since last year! 

We went to the Louisburg Cider Mill & pumpkin patch again this year & had a great time! It was an unusually hot day for the end of October with the high being 89 degrees! Darn Kansas weather - you just never know what to expect!

Once we got there, we made our way over to the barn where they process the apples for the apple cider. They had just picked a ton of apples earlier this week so there were thousands of apples being processed through the mill. It smelled heavenly!

We ordered a bag of cider donuts to share & made our way to a table so we could sit down & enjoy our snack. I wasn't sure if Mason would like the donuts as he can be a picky eater sometimes but just like his Mama, he LOVED the cider donuts! I usually order a cup of hot cider to eat with the donuts but today with it being so hot I opted for a cup of ice cold cider instead - still delicious!

After we had a little "snack" & a took a few pictures we made our way over to the play-area where they had all kinds of fun things for the kids to do. This was the 1st year Mase could actually run around & do the activities & it was so much fun watching him have such a good time.

We played on the slides, the tractor tires, ran in & out of the teepee, picked out pumpkins, saw the goats/baby pigs & even went on a hay ride around the corn maze:

Mase is eating yet ANOTHER donut - he just couldn't get enough :)

We spent a couple of hours at the cider mill & ended up being a hot, sweaty mess by the time we were ready to leave. Mase was getting tired & was in desperate need of a nap so we said goodbye to another year of fun & on the way out we had to get a picture in front of the "How Tall This Fall" board:

I foresee this becoming an annual photo-op :) I just love this time of year!

Fall

The weather has been beautiful here these past couple of weeks so we have been spending a lot of time outside soaking it all up. Shane & I took today to get the yard cleaned up & bushes trimmed for the winter & Mason had so much fun "helping" us. 

We had a little bit of down-time in between cleaning so I grabbed the camera & snapped a few pics of our little man! Every time I look at these I sit in amazement & wonder where my little baby went :(

I just LOVE those lashes!

First time playing in the leaves!

20 months old & looking like such a little man!

Cheeeese :)

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall season so far! We are SO looking forward to Halloween & the upcoming holidays!!

WI Trip - Day 4

Ugh - 4:30am came way too early but that is the time I need to get up to get packed, load the car & make our way to the airport in Milwaukee. Mason slept the entire 1 1/2 hour drive & woke up just as we were filling the rental car up with gas. He really is a great little traveler both in the car & in the air!

We got checked in, made our way to the gate & I thought we had 30 minutes before we boarded the flight but I noticed they were boarding Southwest A group once I got up there so there was no time to change Mason out of his PJ's or go to the bathroom. Luckily for my it was a short flight! 

We boarded the plane, got settled in our seat & we were lucky enough to get an empty seat next to us so Mason was able to have his own seat. Once we were high enough in the air, I put his Mickey Mouse video on, gave him some pretzels, apple juice & didn't hear a peep out of him until it was time to shut the video off for landing!

Shane was waiting for us at the gate & Mason was SO excited to see his "Da-Da"! Ugh - warms my heart to see him like that :) The rest of the afternoon he wanted nothing to do with "MaMa" & clung to Daddy the rest of the day.

After getting our bags out of baggage claim we got settled into the car when I saw this:

I of course had to send this picture to my sister! I really enjoyed my visit to WI seeing family but I am SO very happy to be back in KC where it was sunny & warmer than 40 degrees!!

WI Trip - Day 3

This morning we all got ready to go to church to witness this little cutie get baptized:

My mom had made Dana's baptism gown & as usual did an amazing job on it!! She looked adorable! The baptism took place after service & then family pictures commenced:

My sister, her family & Dana's Godparents Steve & Meghan

Dana with Grandpa & Grandma "Farm" 

My child being an angel - only because he is watching Mickey Mouse during the baptism! Hey, sometimes you have to pick your battles...
 

Me & my sweetie pie!

  
After the baptism, we headed home, got changed, watched a little football & relaxed while the kids napped. After they woke up, we headed to the apple orchard to pick apples for my sister's seasonal crop collection. She is really into making her own applesauce, apple pies & then freezing them for the winter. Ugh - she inspires me to be so much more domestic than I already am!

We ended up picking more than 70 lbs of apples & at $0.60/lb that was a real bargain! Mase enjoyed picking apples also but I think he liked eating them more than picking them. Every time I turned around he had another apple in his mouth :) We will definitely have to go pick apples back in Kansas City when we get back home!

 

It was so cute watching the kids fill their bags with apples & trying to tote them around:

Love how my little Cael is representing the Jayhawks on his pants (lower rt-hand corner)

Once we got back from apple-picking, the kids played football outside while the adults got dinner ready. Mase stumbled upon this fun toy & LOVED riding the Gator. Looks like Santa may have to bring him one of these in the future ;)

The kids were exhausted from the days activities so they all went to bed early while the big "kids" stayed up watching football & enjoying our last night all together. Unfortunately, Mase & I are going to be getting up early tomorrow morning to make our way back to KC!

It has definitely been a fun, busy weekend!!

WI Trip - Day 2

Today we all woke up to a cold & rainy day which was disappointing as we were all heading to Riverside Park for the Down Syndrome Walk. We had all hoped that it would clear up & the sun would shine but unfortunately that didn't happen. No worries though - this family of mine, we are troopers....we grew up in South Dakota where the weather is always unpredictable & you make the best of what you are given & Dana's Daisies did just that!!

We all got dressed in our "gear" complete with matching t-shirts, bandanna's, cute little pinnable daisies (made by my sister's step-mother-in-law) & took some pictures while we were still dry & presentable:

 

Even though the weather was less than desirable, we still managed to be able to enjoy lunch & the kids were able to see & pet the animals at the petting zoo, jump around in the bounce houses, get their little faces painted, do bunjee jumping, play on the swings, slides & have a good time. Dana & Mason missed out on a couple hours of the festivities which was ok with me since everything was so wet.

Despite the weather, the turnout for the event was pretty impressive & I was amazed at how many of my sister's friends braved the weather & came out. Before we all gathered for the award announcements & the walk we managed to get a group picture of Dana's Daisies - which unfortunately this isn't everybody but a good majority of our group:

Around 1:45pm everyone at the event made their way to the front of the park for announcements. The speaker announced that Dana's Daisies had raised a total of $4600 & won 1st place in donations made by a team for the DS Walk & yours truly won 2nd place for individual donations raised which totaled $1595! To those of you who donated - THANK YOU!!

After all the announcements were made, we were on our way to complete the 1 mile walk around Riverside Park:

L-R: My sister-in-law Meghan, sister Jen & me

L to R: My brother Steve, SIL Meghan & nephew Caleb

 Walkers for Dana's Daisies

After the mile walk was completed we quickly gathered all our things, tore down the tent & made our way to the cars as it was really starting to rain hard. Once we got home we all got into some dry clothes, warmed ourselves up & enjoyed dinner all together.

And look what my sister gave me for being the top fundraiser for our team:

I will be sipping my coffee from my new mug with pride :)

Way to go Dana's Daisies!!

WI Trip - Day 1

Today Mason & I boarded an early flight & made our way to WI to visit my sister & her family. Shane wasn't able to go as he had a lot of things going on with his mom this weekend (which is a whole other post) so we unfortunately made our way to WI without him :(

 

 Airport selfie

It was a big weekend planned in WI! My brother Steve & his family along with my parents & several of my sister's in-laws all made the trip to participate in the Down Syndrome Walk for my niece Dana as well as attend her baptism on Sunday. Unfortunately my other brother Chris & his family were unable to come & were greatly missed.

After an uneventful flight & drive to my sister's we spent the afternoon hanging out, catching up & Mase enjoyed playing with all his cousins!

 

It is so fun getting to see all my nieces/nephews & see how much they have grown since the last time I have seen them! It always makes me wish that we lived closer to them :(