My trip to Kansas

The kids and I had a wonderful time in Kansas with my parents, sister Angie, brother-in-law Barry and nephew Cooper. This was the first time I have flown with both kids by myself. I was a nervous wreck. I told Jason on the way to the airport I was more nervous about this than giving birth, and that's saying something! I had gotten a sit and stand stroller for the airport and also a pac back which is a carrier for a car seat. I got Addison her own seat because the little squirt does not sit still for one second. I knew it would be much easier on the both of us if she was strapped in. I would have had a really hard time without either of these things (stroller and pac back). The flights to Kansas were all on time and Zachary did so incredibly well. Addison fussed a little but overall was pretty good. When we got to Wichita a little after 8pm Zachary was so excited about being off the plane and seeing Grandma and Grandpa Lilly that he was galloping in the airport going, "YES! YES!" After we got the luggage we still had an hour and a half drive to Salina. The kids didn't go to bed till about 11pm that night but did so good. On Wednesday we all just chilled out and rested and enjoyed being with my parents. We did go to a park where they had water fountains for the kids to play in. It was nice and hot out so a perfect day to go.

Zachary was cold so my dad suggested laying down on the hot pavement to warm up. Zachary must have thought this was a good idea. That night was a nightmare though. There were horrible storms throughout KS and it all started after the kids had gone to bed. There was wind, rain, hail and tornadoes. I knew they were exhausted from the night before so I really did not want to wake them up to take them in the basement. However the tornado sirens kept going off. My dad and I had been watching the news and were keeping track of where the tornadoes were being spotted and it was all south of Salina. However he and I were standing in the kitchen talking and all of a sudden there was this huge gust of wind and I said, "Go get Zach! I'll get Addie!" So we got the kids and carried them down to the basement. Zachary slept through being carried down two flights of stairs, then sleeping in the basement for a while on a Wiggles couch. The tornado warning had passed so we carried the kids upstairs again. Addison was awake the whole time but didn't fuss at all. After the tornado warning was lifted my mom came home from work (where they were all in the basement there) and as we are all three standing in the kitchen the hail started and the sirens go off again. So I picked up Zach this time and my mom gets Addie. We go down to the basement and Zachary sleeps through it all again. Addison is wide awake but doesn't fuss. It was extremely scary for me but I was so happy that Zachary slept through it all! There wasn't much tornado damage in Salina but there was a ton in Chapman, KS and Manhattan, KS which is where I went to college. On Thursday we went to the library, where my mom works, so the kids could go down in the basement to the children's area. It is so neat, I wish we had a nice library like this one.
Of course Addison, my climber, felt it important to crawl up over the little tables to get in the center.
That night Angie's family got to my parents late because there was another round of storms that hit their direct path to Salina. Friday morning we found Cooper, Angie and dad all in the sunroom where my dad has put a train table that he built. Zachary spent a lot of time there. He loves Thomas the Train and my dad has a great set up for the boys. I cannot believe I do not have a picture of Zachary and Cooper playing together.

On Friday the River Festival started (one of the reasons I went back this particular week) so we went over in the morning. It is really neat. There are tons of different food booths, lots of arts and crafts for the kids to do and games they can play. I thought Zachary would really get into it this year but he really only wanted to play on the jungle gym. The weather was nearly perfect. It was a little warm in the sun but sitting in the shade was wonderful. All the Kansans said it was humid but I didn't think so at all. You don't know humid till you've lived in the deep south! Here are some pictures that my dad took. This is my sister Angie hanging out where we set up camp.

Zach and my mom at the Lego's station.

Cooper with his face painted. So cute.

Barry & Cooper

Miss Addie crawling around.That night I went out to dinner with some of my girlfriends (and a few of their husbands). We had such a good time. My mom has a pillow at home that says, "Old Friends are the Best Friends" and it is so true. We ate dinner at The Scheme which is the best pizza place ever. Here are a few pics from that night....

Kelly & JasonHeather and I
Me, Stephanie & Michelle
Okay we walked into this bar to see Hulk Hogan staring at us. I had to take a picture for Jason.

Stephanie & Jamie
Stephanie & I
On Saturday afternoon we went to the pool. It has this great water slide as you can see. Zachary had SO much fun going down it. First he went down with me. Then he went down with my dad.
As you can see you have to walk up this tall flight of stairs.
He finally asked to go down by himself. I was a little nervous but my dad got in the pool down at the bottom and waited for him.
Unfortunately that is all the pics I have. After Saturday I just stopped taking pictures. I have absolutely no idea why. Angie's family left on Sunday. It was so good to see them. Zachary and Cooper played so well together. Angie is pregnant with their second (a little girl!! YEA!) and is due in August so I cannot wait to go back to meet her! On Tuesday morning I woke up and finished packing up our suitcases. We were to fly out of Wichita at 11:30 that morning. I turned on my cell phone around 8:30 to find a voicemail from American Airlines saying my flight was cancelled. Thankfully I had signed up for voicemail notification if there was any change to my itinerary. Thank goodness! I had already checked in online the day before and had my boarding passes printed so I wouldn't have checked the flight times again. We would have driven an hour and a half to find out the flight was cancelled. They had booked us on the only other flight that day which was at 5:55pm. I was not happy. We were all so ready to get home and see Jason. I tried getting flight on a different airline with no such luck. We got to Wichita and flew out with no hassles. We got into Dallas at 7:15 and were supposed to fly out at 8:20. When I checked to see what gate we were flying out of it said that my flight was delayed till 9:29pm. I could not believe I had to kill two hours with two kids who were pretty tired. They did so well though. Zachary helped me out so much because he was so incredibly good. We finally got on the plane about 9:45 and then sat there for half an hour while they worked out a maintenance issue. We took off at 10:15 and landed in Gulfport at 11:30. I had to carry Addison off the plane in the carseat because she was zonked out. Zachary was SOOO happy to see Jason, as was I. My husband is the sweetest man, he had two dozen roses for me and a ton of big balloons for Zachary. He would have shown up with these even if we hadn't had such trouble coming home. He's just that sweet. We didn't make it home till after midnight and were all so happy to be there.