party in the city where the heat is on

Well, party in Lawerence, Kansas. When we arrived at the airport in Kansas City, there was a big sign that said , "Bienvenido a Missouri" which I sang all week to Will Smith's Miami song. I entertained myself.

But, alas, I am ahead of myself. I am back! And we had an amazing trip. (That is Krissie-speak for "be prepared for a long post.")

We left Thursday after work (last day!) and drove to Louisville. We went to the Summit for Nathan to buy some new shoes. While there, we ate at Mitchell's Fish Market where I had the amazing Tropical Tilapia. and walked around the shopping center listening to a Beatles cover band. It was such a neat atmosphere to only be an hour away from our home.

Friday 6.15:

Then we boarded a plane at the butt-crack-of dawn...actually, it was several hours earlier (we left the hotel at 4am, to be exact). We flew to Chicago and I was really impressed with the airport. We split a Cinnabon, a banana, and a bottled Starbucks drink. We then flew to Kansas City, met up with the rest of my family, and had an interesting discussion with a foreign man who didn't know how to pump gas. We went into downtown Lawrence and ate at the Mad Greek. We (Mom, Dad, brother Nick, his wife Leah, brother Zak, hubby Nate and myself) then drove our oh-so-trendy rented minivan into Topeka where the boys toured my brother's crime lab and us girls shopped without the ability to purchase much due to traveling by air. The evening found us back in Lawrence for dinner, I HEART Ole Tapas. Without question, my favorite meal of the trip. Spanish appetizers that you just pass around the table. Great food, great atmosphere, and they bring the food out as it is ready. The way it's spread out, you feel full without eating a lot because you eat a little at a time. Big thumbs up. We finished off the evening with a walk around Lawrence. We really liked the Signs of Life bookstore/coffeehouse. It was a great mix of typical bookstore with a large Christian section and rooms for Bible study. We ended up at Ben and Jerry's, where I had the Cinnamon Bun ice cream. Yumm. (Nate had a coffee drink from Signs of Life.)

Saturday 6.16:

We started off the day with bagels and coffee at Panera. We once again hopped in the van and headed to check out the Flinthills of eastern Kansas. I really thought it would be flatter, but the terrain was much like our central Kentucky hills, just with fewer trees and more wind. We ended up close to Fort Riley and my brother the firearms examiner spotted some big guns at the top of the hill across from the base. So we took a hike. Flip flops and all. Some of our best pictures came from our hike:

i.e. Mom and Dad by one of the big guns.

the very scary lizard that hissed and jumped a lot. I would have been okay in tennis shoes, but I was afraid he'd bite my toe. While my brother, Nick, scared and taunted his wife with the lizard, Nate and Dad generously shooed the lizard away.

brother Nick and his wife Leah by the biggest gun

brother Zak taking in the view. I think this one really shows how high we were.

Then we stopped in Manhattan, Kansas for lunch. Nathan and I ate at the Bluestem Bistro where I had the turkey and cranberry chutney sandwich. We looked around bookstores and headed back to Lawrence.

We dropped Nick and Leah off at their hotel to swim and went to the grocery store. We love Hy-Vee. Then we picked them up again. We finished up the evening with Zak's choice of a new dish to try, Spaghetti alla Carbonara. I cooked at his apartment. Some of my family were kinda skeptical, but as always, Krissie came through. We played several rounds of Apples to Apples, and we had a really good time.

Sunday 6.17:
We started off the day on Mass Street. Nathan, Zak, and I got coffee at this great place that I have forgotten the name of. (edit: It was La Prima Taza. Thanks Zak!!) This time I was able to take some pictures of our favorite stores since it wasn't dark! As mentioned above, the cool bookstore:

Shark's Surf Shop. Who'da thunk a surf shop in Kansas?

One of our necessities is an outdoor store, and we found one at Sunflower Outdoor and Bike. This one has a cat named Stanley. And I have a sticker to put on the car now as well!

The rest of the fam opted for subs, but Nate and I decided to brave a new restaurant called ingredient, which unfortunately is too new for a website. I think it opened the day before we were there.It was awesome. Nate and I shared the Applewood Pizza you see below. Smoked chicken-apple sausage, rustic tomato sauce, and gouda cheese. Very yummy.

We then made our way back into Kansas City. We spent a while in Cabela's, where I decided I need to be more of a vegetarian. Too many hunters and animals that were stuffed. Then we hung out at Legends for a while, this huge outdoor mall close to the speedway. Again, we bought nothing, but walking around the area was really cool.

We had dinner at the Yard House, which was nothing short of amazing food. I had tuna and Nate had lamb chops. So much for the vegetarian thing. But the food was great.

Then we took Nick and Leah to the airport and went back to Zak's. On the way, we decided we wanted ice cream. Zak found a little spot on Mass Street (again, I don't remember the name) that stayed open to serve us. (Edit: Zak to the rescue again! The ice cream was from Sylas and Maddy's.) So they got a big tip. And they gave Dad his cone for free since it was Father's Day. We went back to Zak's and stayed up late discussing what's going to happen in the last Harry Potter book. I'm excited!

Monday 8.18:

Ugh. Airport day. We started the day in Kansas City, where we had Starbucks and read for a while. I finished Icy Sparks and got started on Affluenza. We ended up eating lunch in the airport as well (Sbarro is good!). We read some more, got on a plane, and ended up in Atlanta. I am 90% sure we were on the Hank Aaron plane, which is pretty cool. Then we sat in Atlanta for a while, had Chick-Fil-A, and ended up in Louisville around midnight. We drove the hour home, and were very relieved to finally be in our own bed again.

Tuesday 8.19? Not a darn thing.

Yes.

I hope you all had a great weekend! I have so much more to say, but this has been an incredibly long post. Wish me luck at my new job tomorrow!