a weekend in KC

one of my favorite things in life is to catch up with old friends or family and see how happy and content they are with their life. its one of those simple things that makes me happy! we made the 5 hour drive up to visit the carpenters over labor day weekend in kansas city. it was so wonderful to see them and see how happy they are! 

steve and kandie live in a beautiful part of Olathe (pronounced o-lay-th-ah), steve is enjoying his job, they've built a gorgeous home, the kids are enjoying life, and they're loving the ward they are a part of. pretty perfect!

we got in late friday night, but that didn't stop us from hanging out, letting the kids run around and get to know each other again, meet the adorable and sweet baby seth, and just catch up! i love kandie. she's one of those people that no matter how long it's been, we just pick up right where we left off like no time has passed. not to mention she is super woman! maybe it was all that time we spent together in our primary presidency or the companionship we had while our hubbies were in school together or maybe its just that i admire everything about her, but she is just an amazing woman and I'm so grateful for her. anyways, an overview of our trip:

somehow this is the only picture we got with everyone, minus chris. bummer! 

on saturday we headed into the city for some bbq. this place was SO delicious. we were going to try going to a different place called oklahoma joes (thanks caro for the tip!), but it was just too far and with the potential of a considerable wait time with 8 kids, we decided to go here instead. we really enjoyed it. the side dishes were killer and and my burnt end sandwich was better than any other bbq sandwich I've had at a restaurant.

after lunch we hit up an awesome (and free!) kids place called Kaleidoscope. they had all sorts of fun crafts for kids.

can you believe how beautiful these kids are?! Sydney, Leah, Bryce, and Katelyn have grown so much. chris and i were super impressed with syd- she's growing into such a beautiful young woman! it's crazy!

one of the crafts at kaleidoscope is painting with melted crayon in a room with black lights, which i think was a definite highlight. charlie really liked it and loved how his hat glowed so well.

check out my toes!

after some serious crafting, we went next door to the hallmark museum. did you know that hallmark headquarters are in KC? neither did we!

chris and i took the little boys out for some ice cream because, lets be honest, there were a lot of little girls singing and dancing!

on saturday evening we went to a KC Royals game and had such a great time! the kids all had a friend to entertain each other and even baby seth (or baby steph as charlie calls him) was a trooper. we made it through all nine innings! they ended up having extra innings and lost, but we didn't bother staying for those. the weather was perfection and we had popcorn, nachos and pizza- we had a grand time at the ballpark!

our little family went to visit liberty jail and the temple on sunday morning before church. chris and i both remember visiting liberty jail when we were kids. it was really special to visit and i hope the kids remember the feelings they had while at liberty jail.

by the time we got to the temple, the kids were cranky and hungry for lunch, which made us crabby too. so there we sat, in the temple parking lot, eating our picnic lunch with crabby kids. it kind of made me sad. but! I'm still glad we went.

sunday evening was probably my favorite part of our trip. not only did we have an amazing roast dinner complete with homemade rolls and jam, roasted AND mashed potatoes, and then ice cream sundaes, we got to spend so much time just chatting. its so fun when steve and chris get together! they joke and make each other laugh the whole time. so glad he has such a great buddy. (is that even what men call their friends... buddy? doesn't sound masculine or tough enough, but it really fits for them!)

jack and charlie both really loved seth. jack held him every single chance he could, even if seth was upset. jack's going to be my number one helper when this baby is born. it'll be like having a nanny... or maybe just an extra set of hands... sort of... :)

on monday, steve and bryce taught chris and jack how to cast with a fly fishing rod in the backyard. now the boys are convinced they need a fishing trip to truly get the feel for it.

ellie, charlie, leah, and bryce spent a good amount of time sliding down the stairs on their tummies and also doing headstands.

of course, chris had to show off his headstand and handstand skills too. he even put on a little show, moving his legs all around, which made us all laugh.

before we made the trip home monday afternoon, we went to the gym and let the kids go wild for an hour. it was the perfect thing to do before a long car ride.

syd and leah showed us all their cool tricks they've been learning in gymnastics. that little leah is fantastic!

and just like that,

our trip came to an end.

hugs were given and tears were shed.

this is charlie's "what?! we're not going back to baby steph's house" face

the only consolation was that we were listening to harry potter and the chamber of secrets on the drive :)

carpenter's, we love you guys!