Missouri Trip

I had been itching to get out of Utah for quite some time and the best time for us to travel is during the summer since I am out of school.  It's always fun to go to California since there is a variety of activities to do there, but we both hadn't been to Missouri since our wedding reception back in 2010.  Even then, Scott really wasn't able to see much of the place I lived for 20+ years because we were only there for two days and there was a huge thunderstorm while we were there.  I decided that it was time to go back for a visit.  My dad & Roberta are out in Missouri and I like it because there's always an excuse to go back and visit.  I don't have any hopes or wishes of living back in Missouri again, so it's nice to have a reason to go back and stay in touch with my past.

While trying to figure out dates of when to go back, it seemed that the earliest we could go was at the end of June and when counting out the weeks, I would be 34 weeks pregnant on our vacation.  34 weeks seems a little late in pregnancy to travel, but I really wanted to see my dad and get out of Utah.  We had actually planned on driving, but the bigger I got, the more uncomfortable it got to sit for long periods of time.  Driving 15 hours would not have been fun, so we changed our plans and flew, which I am so glad we did.

Since we were now flying, we had to figure out how to get to and from the airport plans.  We didn't want to leave a car at the airport for a week and we were leaving in the middle of the afternoon on a Monday, so finding somebody to take us was a little difficult.  So, we resorted to public transportation and it worked great.  We took the bus from the stop right behind our house to the trax station and then took that all the way to the airport.  We got there in plenty of time and didn't have to worry about cars or inconveniencing anyone.  On the way home, my brother Aaron was nice and asked if we wanted a ride home from the airport to which we gladly said yes.

Scott & I had a great time in Missouri and I'm glad that he got to see a lot more than our first trip out there together.  Since we flew in Monday and didn't arrive until later in the evening, not much else happened that day.

My dad was kind and let us borrow his car everyday as long as Scott took him to work and picked him up.  It worked out great.  Tuesday, we both slept in from the long day of travel the day before and went out to lunch at a restaurant that was definitely meant for an older (senior citizen) crowd.  The food was good, but it was pretty funny to see the age difference between us and the other customers.  While trying to find lunch, we stopped at a fruit stand and picked up some really yummy fresh fruit.  Can you guess whose idea it was to stop and get some? :) 
       After lunch, we waited at my dad's house until it was time to pick him up and then we all headed to get some BBQ!  First, we made a stop at Roberta's work to really get an idea of what the company she works for does.  She's in the financing department of this company (Castle Creations) that builds the motors for remote controlled cars, airplanes, etc.  She took us on a tour and Scott was even able to play with one of the test cars.  He had a little too much fun.

After a tour of Roberta's work, we headed to get some true Kansas City BBQ!!  It was Scott's first time having real barbeque, so of course I had to document it. 

We went to Oklahoma Joe's (I know, funny name for a bbq place in Kansas City), which is a very highly rated BBQ joint.  We ate dinner earlier in the evening, but it was still crowded and as we left, there was a line out the door!  You know a place is good when it's busy no matter what time of day you go to eat.

 Before picture: Scott excited to taste Kansas City BBQ!

After pictures: I think these are self explanatory on how he felt about the food. :)

Wednesday: Wednesday was a busy, but fun day.  My dad took the day off of work to spend some time with us and he took us on a tour of Hallmark/Crown Center.

Portrait done with just basic salt and pepper shakers.

Scott made his own bow!

Um, I really wanted ice cream okay?  Sheridan's is really yummy.

After Crown Center, we headed to look at Union Station and then went to check out the World War I museum and Liberty Memorial.  I had been once before, but didn't see all of the museum so it was good to go back and see it all.  It is the only World War I museum in the United States.

View from the top of the Liberty Memorial.

We then went home to rest for a few hours before heading to the Royal's game!  We did go to a Royal's game our first time out to Missouri and I just remember it was so dang humid and we were sweating like crazy.  Luckily, it was a good weather week in Missouri and the weather truly was perfect all week.  The Royal's won in the 10th inning! It was a good time.

Hall of Fame and who is that person with the giant belly? :)

Tried to get a picture of the screen saying Royal's win, but this is the best we could get. Ha.

Thursday: For Christmas, my Aunt Kathy gave us a movie gift card, but the only problem was that it was for a movie theater that is not out here in Utah.  So, since we were out in Missouri, Scott & I took the opportunity to use that gift card and see a movie.  We went and saw the new Superman movie, Man of Steel, and the theater we went to has amazing seats! All the theaters in the building have these seats, not just special showings.

These seats made this pregnant lady very happy to sit through a 2 1/2 hour movie!

Don't fall asleep!

After the movie, we went and picked up my dad and then gave Scott a little tour of the plaza.  We ate at this Italian restaurant, Brio, that was pretty good and we wanted to walk the plaza more, but there was some pretty bad lightening going on, so we headed home.

Famous J.C. Nichols fountain

Friday: There was still money left on the movie gift card, so we headed to see Monsters University, which was cute.  We then went home to hang out for about an hour and then headed to do a session at the Kansas City Temple.  I'm a little sad this temple wasn't here when I was growing up, but I'm glad it is there now.  It is a small temple and it was good to be in the temple with Scott, especially since he missed going to Brigham City.  I was silly and forgot my nice camera, so my pictures are from my phone.

After the temple, we headed to my friend Kaitlyn's house to have dinner with her, her husband and their little boy.  Kaitlyn and I go way back in our friendship, being friends since we were 11 years old.  She was my best friend throughout high school and even though we're not super close now, I'm glad that we've kept in touch.  It was nice to meet her husband and baby boy and just catch up with how everything is going.  Silly me again, I forgot to get a picture of all of us.

Saturday: This day, we met up and had lunch with my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Don.  I haven't seen them for quite a while and Scott had never met them, so it was good for that to happen.  It was unfortunate though that my aunt was not feeling well at all that day, so the visit was cut short, but we sure did appreciate the time she took to come and say hi.  After lunch, we headed to play mini golf and I used a coupon I had for a free game I won quite a few years ago.

Scott's hole-in-one!

Robert's hole-in-one!

Dad's hole-in-one!

My hole-in-one! Seriously, when did my belly get humongous?!

After mini-golf, we headed back home to just relax the rest of the night.  Roberta made us a delicious dinner of grilled chicken and asparagus and baked sweet potato.  After dinner, we played card games until it was time for bed.  Sunday, we traveled back home.

I am grateful that we had the opportunity to go out to Missouri and have a vacation before the baby comes.  Even though I was 34 weeks pregnant when we went and couldn't do some fun activities (like go to the amusement and water park), it was a lot of fun.  Thanks dad & Roberta for being so hospitable!  We hope it's not 3 years before we come visit again.