There and Back Again

Well, I will actually divide our trip into several posts, but I always want to use that title anytime I write about a trip.  And I'm not even the big Tolkien nerd.  It's just a wonderful title.

Anyway, a few weeks ago we set out on another long journey.  This time our new goal was to experience as many events as possible during a little longer stay in the Kansas City area.  The events included Late Night, KU Homecoming, and a World Cup Qualifying match.  We also visited the World War I National Museum, Legoland, two state capitals (though the first was not in the area...it was in Tennessee).  We also took a very quick trip up to Omaha to visit Eric's grandparents and even got to stop in St. Louis to visit my Oma.  It was a jam-packed trip, but we all really enjoyed each and every day. 

So, as you can see, the next several posts will be our various activities.  That should take us pretty close to Thanksgiving at which time I will post about our Halloween...

So, let me begin:

We started out in the wee hours of October 1 (we'd picked this day many months ago, but it was a happy coincidence that it happened to be the first day of the government shutdown, thus Eric got to avoid a couple weeks of that mess).  Our plan was to get to Nashville in time to see the capitol building before it closed and then drive a few more hours on for our night stop.  This all worked out swimmingly, except for a brief confusion as we left Nashville when Eric expected me (ME!) to help him navigate.  But, our marriage survived as did we.

Here are a few pictures of our visit to one of the most beautiful capitol buildings we have visited:

 Upon entering the city, Eric easily found his way to the capitol with zero help from me (but, those signs along the highway did help).  We found a place to park and proceeded to walk up many flights of stairs.  I'm not so far along in my pregnancy that this was intimidating and the kids welcomed the opportunity to stretch their legs after 7 hours in the car.

As you can see, they quickly chose the ramp option (which was on the steep side) over the stair option.  Fun, fun, fun!

 Always excited to see your faith spoken of!

 On our last trip to Kansas, we listened to the biography of James K. Polk the 11th President.  So, Eric in particular was pretty excited to see his final resting place.

 Along with his wife.  A very interesting president and presidency.  I'd recommend you learn about him.  Though this song does a pretty nice job of summing it up (shout out to Katie and Robert for introducing us to this masterpiece!):

 Another president (who was quite influential in Polk's candidacy)

 There were A LOT of stairs and the kids climbed up and down all of them. 

 Whether they should have or not, the kids sat in the chairs of the Senate and practiced a little oration.  Who wouldn't vote go along with a face as cute as this?

And a very poor picture of the inside of the capitol.  Apparently our only one....

We really enjoyed our stop in Nashville where a family friend, Sarah, joined us for the tour and a visit to a nearby park.  Perhaps one day we'll make Nashville our destination and see much more of the city and the surrounding areas.  Like James K. Polk's birthplace!

Up next:  Late Night at the Phog!