To say we were excited for our Thanksgiving break trip to Kansas City might be an understatement. With Jeremy's very limited vacation time we don't get to take trips very often so we were very excited for the chance to get away and have 3 whole days of family time! We had been planning to leave Friday morning, but half way through our Thanksgiving feast I asked Jeremy what he thought about leaving that night and letting the kids sleep through the drive. We checked with the hotel and the rate was actually very cheap due to the holiday so we decided to go for it. I'm so glad we did!
We arrived at our hotel at about 11:40. We were hoping to carry in our sleepy children and transition right to bed as Jeremy and I had a LONG day. They however woke up enough to get excited so it was after midnight before we finally got everyone asleep. We met up with Rick & Leeanne who were already in Kansas City at our hotel.
We enjoyed a lazy Friday morning of staying in or pjs after a late night...at least until the pool opened.
Friday evening we headed to the downtown area. We looked at all the fancy window displays and Christmas lights.
There were several live musicians playing Christmas music including this bagpipe. Grace thought it was very interesting. I think Faith just thought it was loud.
We did decide to be brave enough to take the girls in the Christmas shop.
I also had to check out this cupcake bakery we spotted called Cupcake A La Mode. We all shared a cupcake with peanut butter icing. It was very rich and yummy.
The highlight of our evening was taking a horse drawn "carriage" ride. We opted for the economical sleigh ride. It worked out great because we all fit in one row. Here is Grandpa buying our tickets.
Checking out a fountain.
We had to wait about 25 minutes for our ride. This was definitely the most challenging part of the evening. In our rush to leave we had forgotten Titus' stroller. For the most part it worked out okay, but it definitely would have made this evening less work if we had it with us. Here we are all loaded up and getting ready to go.
Most of the downtown was lit up and the girls loved all the lights.
Here is the horses that pulled our "sleigh."
We enjoyed just relaxing at our hotel.
One of my favorite parts of our stay was how economical it was. We stayed at a Drury hotel. They had a continental breakfast with hot food, free soda and popcorn throughout the day, and a hot "snack" bar in the evening with food like tacos, sandwiches, and hot dogs. Since a fridge/microwave was included in our room at no extra cost we didn't pay for a single meal on our entire trip! We ate breakfast/lunch at the hotel and then ate the leftovers we had brought along our of our fridge. It was awesome!!
Saturday afternoon we headed to the Crowne Center, a family-oriented shopping center for all the holiday fun they had going on. We began by stopping by the Crayola Christmas Land. This was a very creative way to keep kids entertained while waiting to see Santa.
There were slides, tubes, and all sorts of things for them to climb on and through on their way to Santa.
There was even a chalkboard for doodling. This was great because with it being the weekend after Thanksgiving it was CRAZY (i can't emphasize that word enough) busy everywhere.
There was no way Titus was interested in staying in the line, but the girls persevered.
Grace telling Santa she wanted a "castle to play Barbies with"
Santa asking Faith what she wants. She replied, "I will just share the castle with my sister." I think he was a bit shocked by that answer.
I was so impressed with the genuine care and concern and authenticity of this Santa, we aren't big into going to sit on Santa's lap but this one was definitely a neat memory. We snapped a picture of another family on the way out and they offered to return the favor. Faith was not impressed with a stranger taking her picture.
The Crown Centre is also the home of Hallmark. We went to a place called, "Kaleidoscope" that offered 30 minute free art sessions. It was kind of a like a mini children's museum with all the exhitibts centered around art. It was packed as well! The kids loved it and I would love to go back when we could experience it on a less crazy day.
Painting with melted crayons that glowed in black light.
Their Christmas trees painted and colored with neon that glowed in black light.
Painting station complete with an "oven" that dried their pieces.
Loved this cool truck bench, would love one for Titus' room.
We also wen to see a huge gingerbread village made by the chefs at the hotels there, complete with a train that went around it.
The girls saw several Christmas "characters" that were greeting children.
The mayor's Christmas tree. It was huge and gorgeous all lit up in the courtyard area. They also had ice skating, but we weren't brave enough to try that quite yet.
The courtyard was filled with a playground, the kids loved this and it was the only non crowded thing we did since it was pretty cold outside.
I was SO impressed with all the family friendly options. The Crown Center is also adding an aquarium and lego land this Spring so I think we will definitely go back. We didn't even get to see the zoo, American Girl store, or any of the cool outdoor things they have there.
Saturday night Grandpa and Grandma watched our kids so we could go on a date. We went to a nearby shopping center to browse and then hit a coffee shop. We didn't do much shopping on the trip, but I did sneak in a trip to Target to pick up a few "door busters" later in the weekend.
We ended our trip Sunday morning with one last swim before packing up to head back to Hannibal.
It was such a great trip we truly savored every moment. I guess thats the good thing about not having a lot of vacation time- you make the time you have count and you totally appreciate it!
It was such a great trip we truly savored every moment. I guess thats the good thing about not having a lot of vacation time- you make the time you have count and you totally appreciate it!