We squeezed in one more mini-holiday with the family the last few days of summer break. Rick, Kieran and I traveled to KC yesterday to visit the new Aquarium and Lego-land at Crown Center. We met Jenny's family and Julia with her two girls. Despite some crowds and lines, the kids had a great time! We ate at Fritz's for lunch- a fantastic and strange burger joint that serves fried goodness delivered by sky-trains... awesome! We spent Thursday evening at the Meese residence- the kids played, we all ate pizza and the grown-ups had a chance to catch up and relax, once the little ones were in bed- a perfectly lovely visit! After breakfast with Julia and her sweet daughters, we headed to Legends where mommy did a little shopping and then we all had lunch and played at the T-Rex cafe. What a fantastic way to end a great summer!
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| Our destination- in Lego form ;) |
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| Finding fish with daddy... |
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| The ocean surround tunnel- very cool! |
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| Diver cleaning the tanks... |
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| Kieran really loved all the fish- but before he could stop and really enjoy any of the exhibits he had to basically run to the very end and then work his way through backward... this is sort of how I read magazines... I get it ;) |
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| Jellies... |
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| There were some pretty neat kid-friendly features at this aquarium... this was a glass bubble of sorts that kids could climb into via a system of tunnels- a big hit for the little ones :) |
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| Bubble boy... |
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| Mommy and Kiearn int he bubble... |
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| "I see it!" |
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| Another neat kid attraction: mini-underwater-tunnel |
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| A petting tank- fantastic! There were starfish, sea urchins, crabs, shrimp and fish- Kieran came back to this one multiple times! |
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| Feeling a faux fish fossil with daddy ;) |
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| Communing with the crabs :) |
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| Kieran with Nate and Jack. |
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| "Look mom!" |
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| This is the place we had lunch in the crown center- can't beat a train themed burger place! |
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| The boys waiting patiently in line... good thing there were some distractions! |
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| Aidan reading to Kieran about Lego Land :) |
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| Checking out the menu... cheeseburger- of course! |
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| Orders are placed by phone- Kieran loved this aspect! |
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| The food was delivered by a train on a raised rail which deposited these cargo baskets on little lifts above each table- sooo cool! |
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| Kieran in his conductor hat ;) |
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| "Cheese!" |
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| Love this face ;) |
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| Mom workin' her mad robot dance skills ;) |
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| Lego Land mini-area... everything in was made from Legos and built with some serious attention to detail. |
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| Kieran helping a Lego-Band rock out at the KC amphitheater! |
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| Of course the play-place was a huge hit in Lego Land... |
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| "Where's Kieran?!" |
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| "There he is!" |
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| Aidan, Nate and Kieran working on a giant, rubber Lego tower- of course the point for Kieran seemed to be the destruction that would inevitably ensue... |
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| Dad got in on the construction too :) |
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| So serious... |
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| They made some pretty fantastic "buildings"... |
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| This table was pretty neat- kids put together houses and buildings and then turn a switch that makes the table vibrate, simulating an earthquake, and watch to see if their structures are sound. I think Kieran liked it best when his fell apart! |
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| "Awesome!" |
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| The two moms get a picture in with a giant Lego giraffe ;) |
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| Kieran playing with Lauren- he was actually pretty good with the baby... hmmm... gives a mom ideas ;) |
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| Hannah and Kiearn... they played together pretty well.... |
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| Especially when the Legos came out ;) |
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| Sooo proud of his creations! |
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| Love that cheesy face! |
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| Kieran modeling outside of the T-Rex cafe... such a cool restaurant! |
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| Mommy looking over the menu and Kieran staring up at the GIANT, animatronic, octopus hanging above our table. |
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| Practicing our dinosaur sounds... "GRRRRR!" |
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| "Mmmm- mustard!" |
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| One of the best aspects of this restaurant is the play area where kids can dig for dinosaur bones and explore caves filled with cool rocks and crystals! |
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| Unearthing a femur... |
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| Sand between his toes... |
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| In the mouth of the beast ;) |
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| Dad helps out... |
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| They make a great team! |
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| In the caves... |
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| "Look! A spooooky bat!" |
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| Not sure what this expression is about- but love it! |
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| The displays in the place are fantastic! |
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| Not a great shot- but love Kieran's expression in this one ;) |
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| "CHEESE!!!" |
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| The last time we were here, Kieran was pretty anxious about this guy- but this time around he was totally at ease- what a difference a year makes in the life of a child :) |
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| Mom and Kieran with one of the smaller fossil models. |
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| Sooo excited to get a new Dinosaur train toy- the "ductor", he's been asking about this one for a while now :) |
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| Loosing steam... |
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| Out! He slept nearly the entire drive home- thank goodness- mom and dad couldn't listen to one more Dinosaur Train song! |
