Road Trip to Kansas City

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to escape from our crazy life to head down to Kansas City.  Our main reason for going was to see this:

Ever since this temple was announced, we knew that we would want to get to the open house if at all possible.  Our girls have been wanting to go inside of a temple for so long...and the opportunity for attending an open house is rare.  As the dates drew closer, we didn't know if it was going to happen...but luckily the open house was extended for one week and everything fell into place. We checked everyone out of school and headed down to KC.We stayed here:  

And of course the kids LOVED this:

 What is it about kids and hotel pools?  All they wanted to do was swim.  I remember being the exact same way as a kid with my sisters.  They also thought ordering pizza and having it delivered to our room was pretty neat.

The next morning (after swimming of course!) we headed to downtown Kansas City to visit the Crowne Center Mall.  It was really neat and we got to see lots of cool displays, stores (Crayola!) and restaurants.  Our kids are always so wide-eyed in bigger cities...because yes, we live in Smalltown, USA...and we love it!  But it is good to get out every once in a while.

 We ate lunch at "Fritz's" which is this fun train themed restaurant where your order arrives by an overhead electric train.  Cole was beside himself as he loves trains!

Then it was on to the temple...and it was every bit the experience I hoped it would be. The temple was stunning and beautiful, and the spirit was strong.  I so enjoyed the opportunity to spend time as a family and be there together!

 We also stopped at Liberty Jail which was a great site to visit.  I had been there several times before and wanted the kids to see it, too.

We arrived home late and happy and tired out.  Tod and I both commented that road trips are a lot of work!  How come our parents never told us that???  But it was well worth the effort to be able to have this opportunity and to make some fun memories!