We visited Kansas City, Missouri for our summer vacation this year. We wanted to keep things a little closer to home and low key this year.
KC is only about 3.5 hours from where we live and there is SO much to do there!
We headed out on a Wednesday morning.
After a few stops, including lunch, we arrived at Union Station to go to Science City!
With our membership to the Amazeum in Bentonville, we were able to get into Science City for free!
It was a really cool science museum and we had lots of fun!
We stayed at a Drury Inn & Suites and really enjoyed our stay. Drury has an outdoor pool, free wifi, free breakfast and a light dinner every night with 3 adult drinks per person per night. All of that saved us so much money!
The kids loved swimming in the pool and sometimes we wondered if we should have stayed home and just went to the pool, lol!
The second day in KC, we went to World of Fun/Oceans of Fun.
It was a very hot day and we soon learned that we don't think we are really amusement park people. We don't care for roller coasters or big rides, we don't care for the outrageous prices and we just want to relax and have a good time.
The water park side was much better. It was still really crowded as the day went on, but the kids LOVE to swim.
I also went down the first water slide of my life. It was a tube ride and it was so much fun!
I was so proud of myself!
On Friday, we went to the KC Zoo. We have been to this zoo before and love it.
It is a BIG zoo and it was SO hot! They have a sky-lift that travels over part of "Africa" and that is always fun. We also got to see a baby gorilla with it's mama. So sweet! We also got to watch the penguins being fed!
Things aren't always peachy while on vacation with kids. I posted this on Facebook and got LOTS of comments:
Is it just us, or does vacationing with pre-teens make you want to go home half the time too???? Traveling with toddlers was at least joyful, albeit hard work. We are frequently teaching, guiding, disciplining, and dealing with attitude. The rest of the time, all is well. Just wondering if this is normal with other families?!
On Saturday, we went downtown to eat at Jack Stack BBQ. It was a really good meal!
Afterwards, we visited the Nelson-Atkins museum of art.
Before we had Crystal Bridges museum of art to experience, I probably would not have chosen to visit a museum of art. Now, I appreciate these museums so much!
We got to see such amazing art! We saw Monets, Van Goghs, and very ancient Egyptian art along with ancient art from other countries. We even saw a REAL mummy!
We got to see such amazing art! We saw Monets, Van Goghs, and very ancient Egyptian art along with ancient art from other countries. We even saw a REAL mummy!
On Sunday, we didn't really have any plans scheduled so I looked for a theater that we could go watch Finding Dory at. I found a cute theater in Independence, MO that wasn't very far from our hotel. It was an old theater and had so much charm!
While driving through Independence, we saw signs telling about the Harry S. Truman presidential museum in town. Well, of course, we had to go see that!
It was so neat and so much history. I had not ever really known that much about Truman and he was president during huge, momentous moments in our history.
We learned so much while there! We also drove through town and went to see Truman's family home.
There were also SO many churches in Independence. Almost everywhere you looked, there was a church!
Monday was our last full day in KC. We started by first visiting the money museum at the Federal Reserve bank of Kansas City. B Boy has been very interested in money since doing a unit on it in his gifted and talented program at school.
It was a pretty interesting museum. The most interesting part for me was seeing the vault area and learning how much money they have come through there each day was astounding! I definitely learned more about our federal money process!
We went to a Qdoba for lunch and parked in the World Market parking lot. I've always wanted to visit that store but have never been near one. I changed that! It was so fun looking at everything in the store!
The next store I had been dying to go to for ages!
I had never been to an IKEA and I was so excited to see what the hype was all about!
It did not disappoint! They had great stuff at very affordable prices. I wish it was closer!
That night, we attended a Royals game! It was the first major league baseball game for the kids and I!
The Royals were playing the St. Louis Cardinals, so the atmosphere was great!
It was a great game and the Royals won!
It was a wonderful ending for our trip!!!
It was a pretty interesting museum. The most interesting part for me was seeing the vault area and learning how much money they have come through there each day was astounding! I definitely learned more about our federal money process!
We went to a Qdoba for lunch and parked in the World Market parking lot. I've always wanted to visit that store but have never been near one. I changed that! It was so fun looking at everything in the store!
The next store I had been dying to go to for ages!
I had never been to an IKEA and I was so excited to see what the hype was all about!
It did not disappoint! They had great stuff at very affordable prices. I wish it was closer!
That night, we attended a Royals game! It was the first major league baseball game for the kids and I!
The Royals were playing the St. Louis Cardinals, so the atmosphere was great!
It was a great game and the Royals won!
It was a wonderful ending for our trip!!!
