Busy Weekend

This past weekend was a busy, but AWESOME weekend.

Friday-I got a new yoga outfit!

Jake and I went on a date.  We had dinner at a new place called "Lantern Tap House", we will be going back!  Then we attended a fundraiser for The Jonah Project, "Buy Art, Not People".  We got this amazing painting that was done on a vinyl record.

Saturday-Allie and I went to the Lewis & Clark performance of "Xanadu".  I've always loved the movie, but these students were AMAZING!!!  We will be going to more of these!

Sunday-Allie and I attended the Lilac Tea Party.  We dressed up and went.  It was a fun experience, even if neither of us are really the "princess" type.

That night, all 5 of us went to see Jim Gaffigan.  It was SO HYSTERICAL!!!!  This was the first comedy show the kids have seen.

Phone Home!

It's official!  Both of my kids have phones.  Legit, grown-up phones.  I new this day would come, and neither one of them were really begging for phones.  It just seemed to be the right time.  I hope they always remember to call home.

Spring Break Highlights-part 6

The end of our trip can be summed up in one post.  On Friday, the kids and I went to "The Toy Store".  I ate lunch with Jeremy Woods at the old Godfather's Pizza I used to work at in high school.  Nana and RJ took the kids to see "Captain Marvel".  Mom introduced the kids to the fun of scratch lottery tickets.  We finished the evening watching "Mary Poppins Returns" and dying hard boiled eggs with whip cream.  It was a good visit!

On Saturday, we packed up our clean laundry and got ready to drive to KC to fly home.  Nana and RJ wanted to take their dog to the Humane Shelter's Open House.  So the kids and I went too, just to get some fuzzy love.  We drove to KC and got lunch at Minsky's Pizza.  Kevin Birdsell and his wife met us there.  We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  The flights home were smooth and enjoyable.  This was a very busy week, but we LOVED every minute of it.

Spring Break Highlights-part 5

Thursday, April 4 was a quick cap to Wichita visit and on to Topeka.  I got up and worked out at Rogue and got showered up.  The kids and I picked up Donna Shaffer, my 78 year old soul sister, and took her to lunch at Panera.  It was so nice to catch up with her.

We said "good-bye" to our amazing hosts the Kawabata's and hit the highway to Topeka.  Jake requested that I take a few pics along the infamous turn pike.

El Dorado Lake 

The Flint Hills 

The Dunkin' Donuts at Towanda

When we got to mom's house we unloaded our car and went to dinner.  I got my Jose Peppers!!!  Owen went to the Panera next door ALL BY HIMESELF, and then joined us when he finished.

Then we hung out and watched "Aquaman".  It was nice just relaxing.

Spring Break Highlights-part 4

Wednesday, April 3 the kids and I met Rachel James at a new breakfast place.  The food was good, the company was great!  We even tried one of the restaurant's homemade pop tarts.

Owen had taken orders for lunch to be delivered to Andover High School, so I picked up Wendy's for 5 of his friends and dropped it all off with Owen to hang out over the lunch period.  I got to meet for lunch at Ziggy's with Karla Stinson.  I love catching up on everything new with Newspring and my church family.  Karla's daughter will be getting married this fall, she informed me I am on the guest list.  There is another reason to make a trip back to Kansas.  After lunch I picked Owen up and we hung out at the apartment for a while.

Then for dinner we met our friends the Brumley's at BJ'S.  It seemed fitting since that was the place where we ate before moving to Washington.  Their daughter Penelope is just over a year old and full of personality.  We missed them, but had a good time catching up.

By the time we got home, the kids were worn out.  So they got ready for bed and I visited with Shandy.  Then we got the surprise, our friend Kris stopped by to visit for an hour.  This was something we were hoping would work out, but didn't know for sure.

Spring Break Highlights-part 3

Tuesday, April 2 we started with Allie and I getting our hair cut by our FAVORITE stylist.  Kyle is the ONLY person Allie trusts to cut her hair.  This is one way to guarantee an annual trip back to Kansas.  Her hair was SO LONG, that Kyle had her stand up so he could trim the bottom of it.

Then Allie and I met our friend and neighbor, Jillian for lunch at Fuzzy's.  It was so good to catch up with her.  She and I used carpool all the time with our kids.  I loved hearing about her kids and what they have been up to.

The kids and I then went to pick up my dad to spend some time with him.  We all visited the NEW Nifty Nut House.  And of course I bought some goodies that I promptly mailed home to great us after our trip.  We dropped Owen off at his friend, Jaxon's house to have dinner and hang out with tonight. We then visited a shop where the lady who makes hand crafted leather shoes, Jake and I each have a pair she made.  I picked out the leathers I wanted her to make me a pair of moccasins with.  I will post a picture when they arrive.

 These were some of the colors I picked from.

 These are the two I settled on.

This is the design they will be like.

The 4 of us then met my sister after she got off work at a local tattoo parlor.  My sister has been thinking about getting a tattoo since I got mine.  It seems fitting that she get it since she turned 40, and that was when I got mine.  I was the lucky one who got to go back with her to get it.  It only took 10 minutes and came out PERFECT!!!

Finally, we went to Il Vicino for dinner.  It was SO GOOD!!!!  I definitely miss this place.  A long post, but a very memorable day.

Spring Break Highlights-part 2

Monday, April 1 I woke up early and went to work out at 9:00 with my old trainer and bootcamp crew.  Little did I know that half of them had switched to an early time...except for today!!!  Yep, my whole crew was there and I found out that some of them had just decided that morning to attend the later group.  Lucky for me!  After my workout, I went to the lady that ALWAYS did my facials.  Olga is this old Russian woman who loves to dote on me.  She's very big in Chinese New Year, so last year when we moved she sent me with a crystal dog to put in the kitchen window of my new house for "good luck".  This was perfect and relaxing after just working out.

I then drove to Zoe's Kitchen to meet up with some of my closest Wheatland moms...Shandy, Erin and Amy.  It was SO good catching up with them and the food was delicious.  I went by Panera to pick up lunch for my kids, they had been taking it easy at the apartment and getting showered up.

At 3:30 we went to pick up Justin and Collin.  Remember that Collin forgot the date for bowling!  So I took the boys and Allie to Aviate to jump and hang out for an hour, followed up with ice cream from Freezing Moo.

Dinner was at our friends the Brotskys.  Terri was so nice to make us enchiladas and other good food, unfortunately we weren't that hungry after having ice cream.  But we did have an AMAZING time checking out the new things they've done to their house and filling them in on all that we have been up to in Washington.

By the time we got back to the apartment we were exhausted.  We hung out for a brief time with Shandy and then went to bed.

I'll end with a few pics and post again for part 3.

 Olga's daily devotional.

 Post workout and post facial pic.

 My lunch dates for Zoe's Kitchen.

Collin, Owen and Justin at Aviate.  They had the place to themselves.

Spring Break Highlights-part 1

We flew into Wichita March 30th around 5:30 in the evening.  Our first matter of business was to eat dinner.  So we met my sister and dad at McAllister's.  It was a good visit and while we were winding down, in walked a few of my favorite families from Newspring Church.  It was so nice to get some hugs and catch up, even if it was brief.  I told them we were planning to attend the 11:15 service the next day and hoped to see them again.

After dinner, I dropped Allie off at the Brotherton's house to have a sleepover with Natalie.  I also picked Jake Brotherton up to join Owen for a sleepover at the Kawabata's house.  We stayed in their attached apartment while we were in Wichita.  It was PERFECT!  We had a garage opener and were able to come and go as our schedule allowed.  Plus, we got to hang out almost every evening with them before going to bed.

The next morning, I took Jake B home and picked Allie up. We then went to Newspring.  I forgot how busy the 11:15 service was.  We got there 15 minutes early and it took that whole time to walk in and get hugs from EVERYONE.  Owen and I just barely made it to our seats when the worship started.  The message was AMAZING!!!! Boy, do I miss this church.  After service, I went around to get some final hugs in.  I even arranged to have lunch with Karla Stinson on Wednesday!!!

The kids and I met the Norris family (minus Dave) at Panera for lunch.  It was so good to catch up with them.  I'm praying they find a time to visit Washington.

The BIG plan for Sunday (besides church) was to meet with a couple of the kids friends for bowling and Freddy's.  Allie invited Peyton and Sophia.  These girls have stayed in contact all year via FaceTiming.  My sister came as MY friend.  Owen invited Justin and Collin.  Unfortunately Collin got confused as to when the bowling was and didn't make it.  But we made plans for the next day to see him AND Justin.  After bowling the boys did a VR game and the girls played in the arcade.  We went to Freddy's and had dinner and custard.  Sophia got necklaces from her trip to Hawaii for all the girls.  (Allie has worn her's everyday since!)

I'll end with a few pics and post again for part 2.

Allie at Natalie's house.

Jake, Xander and Owen at Xander's house.

Sunday breakfast the boys made!

The bowling crew!

 I even saw my friend Janna!!

 Peyton, Allie and Sophia with their necklaces on.

My sister and me.

 The boys checking out the games as the girls play.

 The girls all won ducks!!

Justin and Owen fighting zombie robots.

I saw Rachel at Freddy's (and set up a breakfast during the week).

 The boys took a pic with cardboard Freddy.

The girls enjoying custard.