Podunk

Podunk: A small isolated town, region, or place that is regarded as unimportant.

Other than the connotation of "unimportant", that pretty much describes where we are spending the week.

We left at 5:30 a.m. on Friday morning, with the goal of reaching Kansas City, MO to meet Dwight and Belkis for dinner. The temperature gauge in the van read 63 degrees as we pulled away, but would reach a high of 68 by the time we reached Dallas. We made a pit stop there for some Starbucks. Henry had fallen back asleep after our departure and was now awake.

Soon, we reached the Oklahoma welcome center. This is a new state for Henry, so we stopped and snapped this picture:

We had determined that we would try to push through as much as possible, so we had packed a nice little booty of snacks to munch on for lunch. After a tasty lunch/snack of cheese, sausage, crackers and apples, Henry took an afternoon snooze:

We arrived in KC right on time and pulled into the parking lot just as Dwight and Belkis were walking in. They were walking hand in hand and giggling to themselves...the perfect picture of newlyweds (remember the posts from just a few months ago when we attended their wedding). Here is a picture I snapped of them after we enjoyed a lovely dinner at a local Mexican restaurant:

The next morning, we got going at 6:45 a.m. after enjoying a little breakfast at the hotel. We anticipated that the weather wasn't going to be as amicable as it had been on Friday, and it's a good thing.

Here is a picture I took with my phone as we drove down I-29 through either Northern Iowa or at some point in South Dakota. I don't really recall exactly when it was, but it looked pretty much the same all day long. It was not snowing on us, the but the wind was blowing hard and the snow drifted across the road, sometimes reducing the visibility to almost nothing.

Henry's favorite past time during the trip was to watch the thermometer display. He kept a very watchful eye on it and made regular announcements of changes. We watched it fall from the 68 degree high we had in Dallas down to -14 as we arrived at our final destination. Talk about culture shock!

We finally arrived around 8:30 p.m. (after stopping for dinner) and we were all very relieved to have arrived safe and sound. We were also extremely grateful that Uncle Donny had come to the house earlier in the day and turned on the heat and plowed/shoveled the driveway and walkways.

Now, all that was left was to wait for the cousins to arrive. They were on their own adventure driving for the Chicago area under blizzard conditions. Happily, they arrived about 90 minutes later, also safe and sound and grateful for the warm refuge awaiting them.

Saturday - Fun in Kansas City

Saturday, we had an absolute blast. After eating at the hotel, we headed off to Union Station. This is an old train station that has been converted into an entertainment complex.

We hung out there for a bit until Brian, Maria and Joaquin joined us. There were model trains and I think if we left them to their own devices, the boys would have spent the entire day watching them go around and around.

From Union Station, there was an air-bridge that took us to another shopping area. As we started discussing lunch, Brian described a restaurant he had noticed when they had made a bathroom run to change a diaper. It was decided that we give it a try and it was a big hit.

The place was called Fritz's Train Station Restaurant. The concept was really cool.

There is a telephone in the booth. When you are ready to order, you pick up the phone and place your order. There is a train that runs around the perimeter of the restaurant that carries and delivers the food to the appropriate table.

And here is the boy wearing his Fritz's train hat:

And the boys together at the train in front of the restaurant:

After lunch, we decided to strike off to the Hallmark tour. Hallmark cards are based in Kansas City. It was interesting to see a bit about the history of the company and the demonstrations they had about making the cards. There was a machine there that made bows and we each made our own souvenir bow to bring home.

From there, we decided to head back to Union Station and take in a 3D movie at their IMAX. Based on the schedule, the only choice we had was one about Whales and Dolphins. However, it was quite interesting. Henry is not typically a fan of the 3D movie, he gets too freaked out with the things seeming to come out of the screen at him. I must say that he did pretty good. There was a part where one of the whales was waving his fin and with the 3D glasses, it did seem like it was going to slap us in the face with it. Henry didn't like this part but I worked with him to get through it. I think it finally convinced him that while it "seems" like things are going to come out and get you, nothing really does. He was totally fine for the rest of the movie. Here we are sporting our special glasses:

After the movie, we all piled into our rental car (a Mazda SUV with 3rd row seating) and headed off across town (and as it turns out, into another state) for the surprise dinner venue. As the GPS tried to direct me onto the interstate bypass, I just couldn't find the entrance ramp it said should be there. As a result, I ended up in downtown Kansas City. As we pulled up to an intersection, we noticed a pool of policemen on motorcycles, all with their lights on. The streets were all lined with onlookers. It only took us a moment to realize that we had stumbled upon an Obama siting (we had heard earlier in the day that he was in town for a rally). As we sat there, the policemen gave the go-ahead signal and took off. Following them were several dark SUV's, one containing presidential candidate Barrack Obama, waving at the crowds. Right or wrong, we all felt that we had stumbled upon a chance view of royalty.

Once the traffic dissipated, we made up our own alternate route to get to the interstate and off we were to the next stage of our adventure. We crossed state lines from Missouri into Kansas and landed at another shopping/entertainment area called Legends.

There, we ate dinner at a restaurant called T-Rex. It is the same concept as the Rainforest Cafe, except with dinosaurs. Since Henry is currently totally fascinated by dinosaurs, we thought it would be a hit. However, we were a bit worried since he currently refuses to eat at Rainforest. We knew we were okay as soon as we walked up to the place. Henry was so excited that he could hardly utter an undertandable word. There was a huge animatronic t-rex right inside the front door. He was mildly nervous of it, but totally fascinated.

The restaurant, along with a gift shop, had a build-a-dino (think: Build-a-Bear) area where Henry chose to build a pteranodon. One of the steps in this process is to name your new 'pet'. He chose to name his "Cutie Pie'. Later, when explaining why he chose that name, he stated "Because he's a cutie, and he likes to eat pie". Makes perfect sense to me. All in all, it was a great hit with Henry, and the adults didn't mind it either.

The evening was finished off with ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. We headed back to drop Brian and Maria off at their car (left at Union Station), where we said our good-byes. Then it was back to the hotel.

Sunday morning, we again had to get up very early to pack and catch our flight. We found ourselves ready with an extra 40 minutes to spare, so we headed to Cracker Barrel (right behind our hotel) for breakfast.

We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Henry was again sporting his pilot gear and was again being asked about flying the airplane. Our airplane was configured with one seat on the right side of the aisle and two seats on the left side. Henry decided he wanted to sit by himself on the right. He seemed so grown up sitting over there. The flight home was pretty much a repeat of the flight there, except no muffin.

The main event - Dwight gets married

Next on the agenda for our KC trip was the main event...the wedding of Dwight and Belkis.

When we arrived at the hotel, it was pouring rain. Our thoughts were with the bride and groom as we knew they'd have various tasks that they would now have to do in the rain. However, when we re-emerged from the hotel, we found the rain had stopped, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful Friday afternoon.

We headed to Kingdom Hall where the wedding would occur. As we arrived, we spotted Dwight striding across the parking lot. Henry took off at a trot and gave him a HUGE hug. We followed shortly behind and got/gave our own big hugs. (Good thing, too, as this was the only quality-time we had with the groom.)

We spotted Brian, Maria and Joaquin and shared hugs and kisses with them, too. Soon, the ceremony began. This was a small crowd (by design) and it had a nice, informal feel to it. Belkis' children, Luis and Natalia served as groomsman and bridesmaid. Luis escorted Belkis' mother (his grandmother) to her seat, then Dwight escorted his mother. Next Natalia came down the aisle. Finally, Belkis appeared. Dwight looked on with a huge grin. Belkis seemed a bit nervous. After taking their seats on the stage, the ceremony began. It was short and sweet, punctuated with some funny stories, and funny moments (Dwight and Belkis' attempt at reciting their vows). In the end, they were pronounced husband and wife:

After the ceremony, we hung out in the parking lot for a while. It really was a beautiful day and the landscaping at the hall was wonderful. Here are some pictures to showcase the new outfit (I blogged about last week) Henry wore to the wedding:

At the reception, everything was lovely. The head table and the cake table were both outfitted with lights connected to the table under the tablecloths. The effect was really cool. We also met up with Brad, and his wife and daughter. We had met Brad many, many moons ago (actually, I met Brad the same weekend I met Brian and Dwight). It was interesting catching up with him. It's amazing how much can happen in 12 years. While their daughter was only 21 months, Henry took a shine to her. And when the music started, the two could often be found together on the dance floor. It was hard to tell which was leading.

At some point in the evening, we were able to get a group picture taken with the Bride and Groom, always a must when the gang gets together.

The only thing missing in the photo was Joaquin. And because he is just the most adorable baby in the universe, here is a shot of him dolled up for the event:

And a shot of the two best looking boys at the wedding:

And the final shot of the day was when we returned to the hotel. Henry wore his snuggly (can't see my feet) jammies. Leslie was also outfitted in her warm flannels. Together, they make a great pair.

Friday morning...our travel to KC

We spent this last weekend in Kansas City. We covered a LOT of ground in a short time. Rather than a single, hugely-long post, I am going to try and break the weekend down into segments.

For the first segment, I'll cover our travel to Kansas City. We had to leave the house at 6 a.m. to catch our morning flight. We all went to bed earlier than normal on Thursday evening. I was a bit worried about waking Henry as he doesn't usually do well when he has to wake up before his time. However, I was pleasantly surprised. He jumped up and was ready to go. I guess the excitement of the trip helped in this area.

Here is a picture of the boy in his travel gear:

Of course, his outfit garnered him many cute glances as we walked the concourse at the airport. Several asked him if he was going to fly the plane, to which he responded "No, I don't know how to fly yet. I'm too little. My feet don't reach the pedals yet!" Regardless, everyone got a chuckle out of him.

He did well on the flight. Such a rule-follower and such a seasoned traveler. He knew to wait for the little ding after take-off to know when he could play with his Leapster. The flight attendant brought him a muffin and glass of apple juice. After taking a bite out of his muffin, he told me "This muffin is yummy" and ate the whole thing. After a while, he turned off his Leapster, put his head down and slept for about an hour.

When we arrived in KC, it was chilly (at least to us). Henry enjoyed donning his hat and mittens and settled right in to the rental car:

Thank goodness for Leslie's GPS. Off we went to the hotel. We'd have just enough time to change clothes and get ready for the big event.