A day with Deana

I've told you before how much we love Deana Rose. She's plain awesome. 

And always brings the biggest smiles.

These two cuties (of course I'm talking about me and Amy, not the kiddos) enjoyed her recently on one of most beautiful weekends in Kansas City. 

Can you believe it's October and we're still getting almost 90 degree days?

Warmer weather means the hat is still around. Seriously, how can a kid be so obsessed with the same hat? 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm sort of looking forward to the end of warm days. Just so that tattered, no-longer-a-fedora, worn-out hat can go buh-bye.

But I will miss the hat.

Seeing his face light up at its shear existence. And how he says "hat" and begs to put it on.

The way his little ears fold over while wearing it.

Yeah, I'll miss that.

While feeding the goats, my innocent boy expected them to have the same independence as himself.

He walked right up, placed the bottle down in front of him and just waited.

I could hear him saying, "Here's your ba ba goat, drink up."

 He was under amused with the feeding part, but what can you expect from an independent toddler who has a five second concentration span.

But he did like petting the animals. 

And pulling their ears.

 

This little miss just looked cute on the sidelines while her cousin ran rampant everywhere.

She even practiced posing for Innocent & Precious Babies Magazine.

Soon enough, they'll be causing trouble together.

Then, Brian and I won't be the only parents climbing claustrophobic barn shafts filled with gobs of kids to get to the top of the slide.

But, these smiles are worth it a thousand times over.

These two. The Angel and the Monster.

 Just kidding. Carson's isn't a monster, but Maddie is definitely an angel.

They make a pretty cute pair.

Farm Life.

We don't make it to Great Grandma's farm near enough.

But when we do, we tend to reminisce the trip for weeks after.

I'm not sure there are many places that are more peaceful than the farm.

Close enough to home, yet far enough away from the city.

Last summer, Carson was still a babe, so this year's trip was a bit different.

We put him to work with Dad first thing Saturday morning, where he discovered a new favorite: mower rides.

He just couldn't get enough. He sat on dad's lap and was completely content for two hours.

I'm not sure I've ever seen him sit so still.

He eventually fell asleep, which provided Brian with some quality snuggle time we rarely get.

 My boys in their classy cut-offs

While the boys worked, I stayed inside and crafted a wreath.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out (can't wait to hang it on our new door!).

 Tutorial here courtesy of my bestie, Heather

We attempted sprinklers, but Big Boy didn't really catch on. 

I'd say we made progress, but there definitely wasn't running through them. Someday:).

We came home with chiggers and not much sleep (thanks to Big Boy's lack thereof), but the farm makes it all worth it!

 Like father, like son.

Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

We recently visited Deanna Rose for the first time for their opening weekend this season.

Everyone we have talked to gave glowing reviews, but we had no idea just how awesome it really was.

It was magical.

I'm convinced this place could knock the best of Carson's bad moods right off their tushy.

He didn't nap well this day and was overly tired, and I don't think I've ever seen him so giddy.

He didn't know where to turn, where to point next, or what animal to pet or touch. He just laughed. And squealed. Ran everywhere. Bursting with excitement.

He loved the baby goats.They were so tolerable of all these crazy toddlers running around them. Carson even tried to pick one up! His finger also got nipped by a turkey while trying to touch him, but he only cried for about 10 seconds. Oops.

We had so much fun watching him explore.

The children's farmstead has been in existence for more than 35 years and offers more than 200 animals and birds of prey, vegetable and flower gardens, a schoolhouse, fishing pond, pony rides, wagon rides and more!

The best part? It's affordable. Like unheard of affordable.

Two dollars Friday through Sunday (Did you hear me? I said $2!) and FREE during the week. Kids under two are free, so for our family, we visited for under $5. Impressive if you ask me.

I would have paid $5 just to see his face when Brian sent him down this slide head first.

Yep, my husband is that guy already teaching our child how to break all the rules (don't worry, it was a small slide).

We didn't get to feed a goat or take a wagon ride this time around, but I'd be willing to guess that we will back again.

Another kid-friendly place in Kansas City to write home about!

We Love Houston

My trip to Houston was awesome. Such an ordinary word to describe a trip, but that's what it was. Simply awesome.

We relaxed, we ate, we shopped, we sipped on cocktails, we slept in, and we celebrated.

Celebrating wasn't on the original itinerary, but someone had a different plan for us. That certain someone being my bestie's boyfriend who decided to propose to her on Thursday evening.

Yep, a proposal. At a winery. With a beautiful ring. The day before her friends arrived to spend the whole weekend with her.

It was pretty spectacular. He pulled off a totally unexpected proposal, then let all of us crazy girls steal his woman for the weekend and ransack his luxury apartment for three days. What a guy.

Aren't they a beautiful couple? Congrats to my bestie and her sweet fiance.

Big thank you to all my wonderful Texas friends for spending the weekend with me. And to Heather for being my travel date. It was a much needed trip.
 
Houston, you are a fun place to visit. You might be known as being the fattest city in the nation, but I found you to be pretty desirable.

We strolled the Heights, The Woodlands, Midtown, Washington Avenue and Upper Kirby, covering a lot of area in little time. For the fourth largest city in the nation, you don't get as much credit as you deserve. You're a city full of character, a little artsy-fartsy, urban chic with an historic edge.

You will be seeing me again soon. But next time, Megan and I will not be finishing two bottles of wine, a pitcher of sangria and a shot. All that for just the two of us.

Let's just say the plane ride home was less than awesome. I guess that means the trip was awesome.

Here's some awesome photos.

  

#Ozarks

Last weekend, my besties and I headed to the Lake of the Ozarks for our annual lake trip.

We've been taking these trips for 10 years. Ten years!

It was my first overnight away from Carson. It was pretty hard and I missed him like crazy, but this momma soaked up some much needed girl time and relaxation.

We owe our friend Megan and her family BIG for putting up with our shenanigans all these years. I can't imagine we were the most enjoyable bunch the first few years of these trips.

My, have things changed over the years. #shitshownomore

Just to name a few:

• We no longer crack open a beer before brushing our teeth in the morning.
• Cover ups now stay on until we absolutely have to take them off.
• Party Cove isn't a place we necessarily want to go anymore (Rolling into the cove blasting the Chi Omega song just sounds obnoxious now, but yes, we did that).
• We are responsible about applying suncscreen.
• Everyone makes it out after Party Cove.
• We can leave the bar without being wasted and are completely content with that (Don't worry, we busted out the beer bong on the way to Horny Toad for old time sake).
• 3:001:00 AM activities are now pumping and dumping. Yay for mommyhoood!
• We drink coffee in the mornings and Facetime with our families.
• There is beer leftover at the end of the weekend.
• Our group dwindles in numbers year after year. The first couple of trips we had 20+ girls! I know life is busy, but I wish we could ALL go back someday and relive our college days.

And what hasn't changed?

Our bond. The stories. The laughs. And the fact that these trips are some of my greatest memories from college.

That, my friends, will never change. #lovemygirls

Check out Lake Trip 2011
Check out Lake Trip 2010