Natasha and I have birthdays about 2 weeks apart, so this year we decided to go to Kansas City and celebrate them together.  Natasha was able to get some time off work, as was I, so we  booked a room for an extended weekend and here we are.

Yesterday after we got checked in to the hotel we headed off to Crown Center, a shopping district, where we discovered a Russian/East European gift store and Natasha got to talk to the Russian clerk there.  Then we walked all over the downtown area before returning to the hotel.  The highlight of the excursion, for me, was the trip to Union Station, the old Kansas City train station.  It's mostly shops now, though there remains a working Amtrack station as well.  We went down to the 'basement' and walked through the Narnia: The Exhibition display.  It featured props and set pieces from the movies along with interactive videos and learning stations, and was pretty cool.  Neither Natasha nor I had seen the second movie (Prince Caspian) so after we got back to the hotel we fired up Netflix and streamed it to my laptop.

Today we tried breakfast at Waffle House, which we had not eaten at before, and both agreed it was delicious, while we planned our day.  We decided to go to Worlds Of Fun for the day and see how we liked it.  Growing up in the Kansas City area, I had visited Worlds Of Fun many many times as a boy and young man, but Natasha had never been to anything so large.  We set the GPS for warp factor 9 and headed out for excitement.  We had a most excellent time, and wound up spending the entire day (8.5 hours!) there.  We visited the antique photo shop and had our photo taken in western garb, and even sat for a caricature artist.  We've taking digital photos of these and posted them to the photo album under today's date, and after we get back to Omaha I'll scan them directly and re-post.

Tomorrow, we plan on visiting the zoo in the morning, and then driving to my little sister's house to see her new baby as well as the rest of her family, and with any luck my little brother and his family as well as my Dad will also be there (if not, we'll drive over to their houses later in the day).  Monday, we'll drive to Perry Lake and see my Mom and her lake cabin for a quick visit before returning to Omaha.

A whirlwind tour, but buckets of fun!

Yesterday, Vika's school received a phone call indicating that Vika has been selected as having the best penmanship among all Nebraska 5th graders in the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting contest!  She's now up for the national title among 5th graders from all US States.  If selected for this honor, she'll be competing against the other 15 winners (one each for grades 1 through 8 for both public schools, and another set for private schools) for the Grand Championship!  I believe she has excellent chances!