Mini-Vacation, Part I

Back in July, I decided we needed a vacation of sorts. Mostly because our daycare lady was going on vacation, which meant that we had about 5 straight days with nothing specific planned. 5 empty days with a 2.5-year-old makes for a long week for Mama and Daddy.

So I planned a mini-vacation for Cooper and I. (We had just gotten a concrete floor poured in the barn, so Alan was itching for some alone time to set up his wood shop and arrange his tools.)

We loaded up the car, packed some snacks, and drove all the way to Kansas City. Yes, we vacationed 40 minutes from our house. I'm certain Cooper will mock me for this eventually, but why bother driving or flying hours away from home if we just want to stay in a hotel, swim, find a zoo, visit a library, and eat at restaurants.

First highlight: the horse in the grocery store. And Cooper's a cheap date -- he didn't even want me to put money in to make it go. He was just happy to sit on it and "ride."

We had planned to go swimming one day, but the weather was cloudy and rainy. So we hit a place called Monkey Bizness. It's a giant play area with bounce houses and inflatable slides and obstacle courses.

And of course, they have a water fountain, which is also very fun apparently:

After two hours of running and sweating and bouncing in there, we were ready for dinner.

The menu said "grilled chicken on a stick." And it was literally a grilled chicken breast, cut into three pieces, and jammed onto popsicle sticks.

And with ranch dressing to dip it in.

Sheer genius!