The Ramthun Family: Kansas City Trip!

On Sunday, June 12th, Mommy, Daddy, Nolan and Landon made a trip to Kansas City for a few days while Mabel stayed home for some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Kruse! We have been wanting to take Nolan back down to Kansas City since he left in November 2009 but just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Landon has been asking questions about where we lived down there with Nolan and about the hospital so we decided to get down there this summer with the 2 boys. We also had collected some donations to take to Children's Mercy at Nolan's birthday party so we had those with as well. We left early Sunday morning and took the back roads down so we could stop along the river on the way down. We stopped for lunch in St. Joseph and then made it to the river to relax and look for animals for a little while before making it to our hotel in Kansas City. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge and Landon had a blast there with the indoor water park, theme and decor of the hotel and eventually the character greetings! We spent Sunday afternoon swimming and then went out to eat at Mommy's favorite Mexican restaurant, Jose Peppers! We walked around the outlet mall area for a little bit before heading back to the hotel for the night. Monday morning we got up early and made it to the zoo before it got too hot outside. The kids loved the zoo and all the animals and so did the parents! We spent the entire morning at the zoo and then went to eat BBQ at Arthur Bryants for Daddy and again went back to the hotel for more swimming! At night we ate pizza and then went to Cabelas which is just a walk away and that was probably the highlight of the trip for Landon with all the animals there! Tuesday morning we had breakfast at IHOP and then hung went swimming before heading out for the afternoon! We left and went to Gardner to show Landon where we used to live, the house looks different then last summer, but they still had Nolan's tree in the backyard! We then made it up to Olathe to see Garmin and some of the other places that Mommy and Daddy enjoyed while they lived in Olathe, even Olive Garden for lunch! After lunch we made it to Children's Mercy to drop off our donation and they were very Thankful! The hospital looked exactly the same, we are very thankful for that hospital being close to us when Nolan stayed there in 2009. Next was the Crown Center mall to visit Crayola and the Lego Store! We spent another night at the hotel eating snacks before Mommy took Landon back to Cabelas to see all the animals for the 2nd time! Wednesday morning we got up and enjoyed the pool one more time before packing up and heading for Manson! We checked in with Mabel everyday and it sounded like she was having a fabulous time without us! We missed her on the trip but the trip went smoothly with the two older kids this time!

Landon scoping out our trip route on Saturday before we left the next day!

Mommy and Nolan hanging out in the shade at the park stop along the way!

The boys trying to stay cool in the shade!

Trying to see what animals we can find by the water!

Made it to the water park and enjoying the slides!

Testing out the water outside, it was amazing how good the water felt in the heat!

After eating supper Landon scoping out the water fountains!

Landon and Nolan at Mommy's favorite outdoor shopping area!

Landon and Nolan wearing their wolf ears!

Great Wolf Lodge!

The first night at the clock tower show! The animals in the clock tower talked and put on a show before the character came out and read a book!

Monday morning at the zoo, trying to figure out our plan of attack!

Checking out the Leopard!

We loved the gorilla once we got Landon to check them out! He was scared of them since one pounded on the glass right in front of him last time he was at a zoo!

Looking at the mommy gorilla with her little baby! They were so cute together!

Mommy and the boys looking at all the Oryx on the prairie!

Daddy getting Nolan out of his chair for a second to cool off his back! It was really hot at the zoo already in the morning!

Nolan looking at the giraffes in the background!

Landon sitting on a lizard!

Landon scoping out a herron in the water!

Nolan next to he BIG polar bear!

Nolan petting the bear!

We had a great time at the zoo!

Landon eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the BBQ restaurant! What?

Daddy and Landon's turn at the water park!

Daddy was chasing Landon!

Nolan got to enjoy putting his legs in the water, he was so relaxed! Wish we could do that more often for him!

Landon jumping into the water all by himself!

Nolan all dressed in his swim gear!

Daddy and Landon coming down the slide!

They did the blue slide too but came down one time without the tube! Whoops!

Landon and Nolan enjoying the exhibits at Cabelas!

Landon loved the zebras and the lions fighting at Cabelas!

Visiting the hospital!

Daddy with Nolan and Landon out in front of the hospital!

Nolan looking at the piano that everyone enjoyed while visiting him in the hospital

Mommy and Daddy with Nolan back where the journey began almost 7 years ago! We never imagined we would be back with Nolan 7 years later to just visit!

Landon with his alligator gummy from the Crown Center candy store!

Visiting Cabelas again on Tuesday night! That is a BIG moose!

Landon with Brinley the Bear!

Mommy was not prepared for him to turn around and hug him so the picture is blurry. Landon struggled with warming up to the characters so this was a big step!