A Week of Nick

A couple of weeks ago, my brother Nick flew in from Charleston, SC to hang out with the family. We only get to see Nick about 2-3 times a year, so it's always really exciting when he comes into town. It's pretty much a guarantee that when he is here, we have a whole bunch of family events planned. His first night in town, we headed out to Kauffman Stadium for a Royals Game. We made the mistake of having dinner at the Stadium Club, thinking it would be nice to eat there and watch the game through the windows overlooking the field. Turns out the service was terrible and the food wasn't anything to get too excited about. The view was nice, but not as nice as it was when we finally got outside to our seats!

The next evening we headed out to Shawnee Mission Park for the Theater in the Park production of Annie. TIP is one of my favorite things to do in the summer here. It's very cool to be able to enjoy a picnic dinner outside, sip wine (well disguised), relax under the stars, and watch one of my favorite musicals performed by a very talented group of local actors.

Day three involved a trip to the new Schlitterbahn water park in KC. A couple of months ago, my mom talked us into donating blood at their church so that we could get buy-one-get-one-free tickets. If you have the chance to head to Schlitterbahn, this is definitely the way to go. The tickets are way to0 pricey for what the park has to offer (at this point in time anyways). The nice part is that it wasn't too crowded, so we got to enjoy most of the water slides, the tube coaster, and the tidal river. Ella loved the kid areas - climbing through the tunnels on the pirate ship, splashing in the sprayers, and sliding down the slides on our laps. Mom and dad enjoyed the giant heated pool with the swim-up bar. I am looking forward to seeing this park when it is all done (2012 I think?) It looks like it will be pretty amazing.

Ella lounging in the lazy river with Nana

The next day, we had a bbq at my parents' house, and Ella got to meet her Aunt Judy and cousin Russ for the first time (visiting from Texas). We had a great time together and thorougly enjoyed the ribs that my dad made for us.

On the 4th of July, we headed south to Baldwin City, KS to my Uncle Bill's annual party. In Baldwin, all fireworks are legal, so we go all out. My dad usually has some M-80s and Silver Salutes that he lights in order to scare the crap out of everyone, and the most dare-devilish of my cousins group up to play "hot potato" with a water cat in a wiffle ball and spend $100 on a roll of 16000 black cats to light off all at once.

Through it all, Ella didn't seem bothered a bit. Her eyes would get a look of surprise in them when the loud noises lasted a long time, but the big sudden booms didn't seem to phase her. I think last year's fireworks in utero experience broke her in (click here).

I love this picture - how patriotic are we?!

I remember buying this polka dot dress before she was born and trying to imagine how cute she would look in it. Yep - cutie patootie.

Left Right Center ... man, was that fun (but not as fun as it could be with $1 bills instead of quarters)! My mom taught us how to play and ended up being the big winner in game 1 - go figure!

Ella's first time on a swing - WEEEE!

Our "week of Nick" ended with dinner and a birthday celebration for my dad at our house. While everyone was there, Ella tried out Eli's father's day gift - an iBert bike seat. I saw these in a parent magazine, and I thought it was perfect for Ella. One thing we know about her is that she likes to be seated where she can see everything going on around her ... you can't beat the front of the bike!

I have to say, I think we found the sweetest infant bike helmet ever.

Can you tell she loves being in the drivers seat?