Our first batch of company was my Mom, Gail (my sister), and Bob and Sam (my nephews). They were driving out from Virginia with a jam-packed car-load of stuff for us. The bulk of it was a quarter of beef that I had ordered from my sister back in the spring. (Back when the wagon-train had thought they were coming in the spring....but life happened and the wagon-train didn't come till late summer.) They were also bringing a half-bushel of peaches off of their own peach trees, some home-grown summer squash and zucchini, a few odds and ends I had garnered from my siblings "I'm getting rid of this, does anyone want it" personal yard-sales, and just random things people sent along. (By the way, Sally, Thank You for the new kitchen towels!!) Mom's car was stuffed full with four people, coolers, blankets to insulate the coolers, and all the rest of their travel needs and such. (I never really heard how comfortable the ride out really was....)
The wagon-train, stuffed to the gills, left on Sunday afternoon, stopped for the night in Kentucky, and arrived here late-afternoon on Monday. I was at work when they arrived, but Jason let them in and, in my family's typical style, they made themselves at home by unloading everything and
putting it all away before I got home from work. I believe Little Pumpkin had already made friends with her two cousins, Bob and Sam, while Sam had already made a buddy in Gunther by playing outside with him right away.
I heard that Bob told Gail, his mom, that Little Pumpkin was "the little sister I always wanted!"
We were supposed to have the pulled pork barbeque that I had been smoking all day for supper, but it wasn't ready yet. I honestly have no recollection of what we ate for supper Monday evening. I do remember that we went for a good walk later that evening which was good for the travelers after their long car-ride. It was on that walk that Sam mentioned that he'd rather be running, so I promised him that we would go running at least once while he was here! (You can read about that here.)
The following morning, Tuesday, I think we had Baked Oatmeal for breakfast and then everyone (minus Jason who had to work) went grocery shopping to see what that's like in Kansas. Our first stop was Orscheln's Farm & Home Store where I was to pick up some jerky making supplies for Jason.
After I checked out and realized that only Bob and Sam were with me, we finally found the flat-land tourists perusing the toy animals! We finally got everyone headed out of the store, but not before we found this:
I think she kind of liked it!
We mosied on down the road to visit Aldi's for the bulk of our grocery shopping, and stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home to get the last couple of items. The tourists found things in each store that they did not have in their stores at home, and they enjoyed seeing Aldi's as they did not have one in their area. The rest of the day was pretty low-key with a walk to our neighborhood swimming pool for everyone to burn off some energy. I think for lunch we had the smoked pulled pork, and Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps for supper. We also kind of planned out the rest of our week and figured out what was most important to do and see for everyone.
On Wednesday, we got up and I believe Gail made everyone Scrambled Eggs for breakfast. Bob and Sam made, and packed, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches for everyone's lunch along with lots of water bottles. Then we set off to tour the National World War I Museum in Kansas City. Since there were more people than would fit in any one car, we took two. Bob and Sam opted to ride with me every single time and this morning I took along some tunes to jam with on the drive: Veggie Tales "Bob and Larry Sing the '70s." (One of Little Pumpkin's favorite cd's.) As I was driving along, singing and dancing with Bob and Larry, I noticed that Bob and Sam were remaining pretty stoic- not jammin' out with me. I asked them if didn't they like the music, and Bob replied with, "I have to be in the 'spirit'." While that made me laugh, I also knew that Bob is a pretty quiet fellow by nature, so singing and dancing with an aunt that he only sees once a year at best could be a bit awkward!
After a minimally harrowing drive navigating Kansas City freeways and traffic, with much thanks for Bob's assistance in using "Doris the GPS," and managing to not lose Mom and Gail who were following us, we finally arrived at the museum. We had to park on the street down the hill from the museum, so we had a nice hike in the hot sun to get to the entrance. I did not take very many photos of this trip as I have found that managing an energetic 18 month old who does not want to be indoors kind of limits what all I am capable of at times. Our first order of business was to get our tickets, and then we went to stand in line to take a turn going up in the Liberty Memorial Tower. The Liberty Memorial that houses the museum was designed in the 1920's and is similar in design to the Egyptian Revival architecture. The Liberty Memorial Tower in the center stands 217 feet above the main courtyard and you can ride an old elevator part-way up and walk the remaining 45-step circular staircase to the observation deck. At the top of the tower it is only 28 feet in diameter, so it's not a very large space! We all made it to the top and enjoyed the view - Mom, Gail, and the boys tried to figure out what things were in the Kansas City Skyline.
Upon returning to the courtyard, we checked out both Memory Hall and Exhibition Hall, both containing lots of history, photos, names, paintings, artifacts, an much more. We spent quite a bit of time in each Hall as there is lots to read and see.
The younger patrons interest ran out faster than the adult patrons....
….so we ended up outside for a snack and water break even though it was blazing hot.
After a while, we decided to go back into the air conditioning to wait on Grandma (my Mom), who thoroughly enjoys museums and reading about historical things. There was an entire level below the courtyard and Halls that was part of the museum, too. It was about 1pm when we went to start the lower level and the museum host let us know that it could take several hours to go through all of the displays, videos, exhibitions, etc. We had not had lunch yet, and I had to work later that afternoon, so we decided to have our lunch at the picnic shelter up the road from where we parked. We all enjoyed the fine dining of PB&J sandwiches made by Sam and Bob.
Upon discussing the rest of the afternoon, it was decided to go on home and for Mom, Gail, Bob, and Sam to return to finish the museum the next day. (The admission tickets are good for two consecutive days - probably because it takes that long to see the entire museum!) We loaded up our two-car caravan and Bob again helped me to navigate our way back to the freeways. As we were driving down the road, it was a bit quiet. And then Bob said, "I think I'm feelin' in the 'spirit' now." It took me a little off guard, but then I realized we didn't have any music playing. I laughed and asked him if he was ready to groove to Veggie Tales now. So we be-bopped our way back down the road toward home.
We had a bit of extra time that afternoon, and I had at some point promised Bob and Sam ice cream at a locally owned ice cream shop. So we stopped at a place called "Sylas & Maddy's Homemade Ice Cream" on our way past. This place makes TONS of ice cream flavors, and they make their own waffle cones in-house! Gail had stayed in the car with a sleeping Little Pumpkin while the rest of us went in to get ice cream. We each got a single dip (which is more like 2 or 3!) in a waffle cone, but I don't remember what flavors we all chose; I think someone got Cookies and Cream, I may have gotten the Kansas Twister, Mom got the Butter Pecan Praline maybe? I'm not sure. I do know that Sam wasn't able to finish his cone, so I went and traded places with Gail so she could go inside and enjoy the rest of his ice cream.
After the ice cream, we went home, I got ready for work, and they all fended for themselves that evening. In the morning, Thursday, we had a bit of excitement as they were trying to leave for the museum again, and I was trying to leave to take Little Pumpkin to an appointment. We all got left, but the results of that day made the rest of the week, and their visit, umm....unique. (Check out the post "Don't Flush the Toilet Paper!" for more details!) The museum goers returned much later that day reporting that you could spend hours in the rest of the museum, and that it was very worth going to see.
While Jason was working Friday morning, the rest of us went to The Moon Marble Company and got to observe a hand-made marble demonstration. It was really very interesting to watch and the gentleman did a great job! This unique place not only made marbles, but had a giant selection of toys and marbles for sale. On our return, we stopped into Wagner Auto Repair and Classic Cars, a shop Bob had spotted on our way to the marble place.
Bob and Sam, as well as Mom and Gail, thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the older cars!
They took lots of pictures, and all of the cars were for sale!
Even the two little pedal cars were for sale! (If they hadn't been priced at a few thousand dollars, Little Pumpkin may have gotten one for Christmas.) We ended up being gone longer than anticipated and we were a bit late in getting back for Jason's special home-made pizza that he had put together for us. And, if that wasn't enough excitement for the day, later in the afternoon we all (including Jason) went to the local waterpark! I think everyone had a blast riding the lazy river, going down the slides, and Bob and Sam enjoyed taking their Grandma down the BIG slides!
Bob and Grandma (my Mom)
Gail and Sam
The waterpark was a fun time for everyone, including Little Pumpkin who LOVES the water. Afterwards, we treated everyone to hamburgers at the local burger joint.
On Saturday, we all went on a road trip to The Shatto Milk Company. Their products are sold in the local grocery stores and I looked them up to see if we could go take a tour. It was kind of strange going to tour a working dairy farm, as that is what my family did for many years; we kind of already knew how it worked. But, we thought it'd be interesting to see and learn about their bottling and local sales process. As it turned out, I did not make the tour reservations soon enough and they didn't have room, but our out-of-town guests - Mom, Gail, Bob, and Sam - were squeezed into the farm tour anyway. (Many thanks to Shatto Milk Company for the accommodations!) Jason was quite alright to sit-out the tour, and we just mosied about their little farm store, sat on the nice porch swing, and Pumpkin and I went to pet the three-day old baby calves!!
We also took some photos with their little milk truck. It actually runs, by the way!
After the tour, we all picked out a product to sample: chocolate milk, strawberry milk, cheese, and such. It was after 12 noon again when we headed on down the road towards home and it was decided to stop and eat along the way. We were going to go to Cracker Barrel, but Jason decided to introduce our guests to Joe's Kansas City Barbecue for authentic, and the best, burnt ends! It made for a late afternoon getting home, but it was enjoyed by everyone.
That evening I took Bob and Sam swimming one last time in our neighborhood pool while Mom and Gail figured out supper. On Sunday, they joined us for church, and a lunch of leftovers, before starting to pack up their stuff to head home.
Our Guests....plus Gunther and Little Pumpkin
They left Sunday evening with a much lighter load, and a bit more room, to drive to St. Louis where they would spend the night and then tour the Gateway Arch the next day. After that, on their remaining drive home, they intended to drive through Carlisle, Kentucky to try and find Daniel Boone's cabin. There were many hours spent on Google, and Google Maps, trying to locate exactly where this cabin was at to no avail, so they anticipated doing some random driving in search of it. I never heard exactly how that part of the trip went, but I do know that they found, and explored, the cabin!!
And, that concludes the first round of our "Loads of Company" in August! It was a jam-packed week in some ways, along with some interesting circumstances half-way through the visit, but I think we all enjoyed it. Many thanks to Mom, Gail, Bob, and Sam for making the drive out here to visit, and for going sight-seeing all over Kansas City with us! Also, many, many thanks for all the work they did while here: freezing peaches, washing dishes, making meals, doing laundry, folding ALL our laundry, cleaning, and the list goes on and on!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of "Loads of Company!" as we had new guests arrive Monday morning!
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