We're off to see the Wizard?...

KT-I'm not sure how far I can take this whole Wizard of Oz metaphor. If Jeff's the Wizard, what does that make Sarah and Gabe? And if I'm Dorothy is Ryan the Scarecrow or the Tin Man and is Kurt the Cowardly Lion or maybe one of those flying monkeys? And the only role small enough for Natalie would be Toto, and I'm not about to cast my daughter as an annoying little yippy dog (although she did do a great impersonation of one a couple times on the flights to and from Kansas). And there's the whole thing that we were traveling to Kansas, not trying to return there. So, having beaten that whole thing to death I will proceed.

We got in the car early on Friday morning (May 8th) and drove to South Bend (I think that was the airport, we don't have the fondest memories of that place so I may have blocked it) and hopped on a plane to Chicago. Our layover was just long enough to make our connection to Kansas City. Only a short three hour drive later we arrived in lovely Wichita. Our hotel was great and the first night we put the kids down in their respective beds (and thanks to Sarah's parents, aka babysitters) after an afternoon of swimming in the pool, we got to go out to a movie. The theater is actually a restaurant. The space between the rows of seats is wider and you have a waitress that comes to take your order. Pretty cool, we should open one in GR. The real education in what it means to be a Kansan came the next morning when we went to Frontier days and had biscuits and gravy for breakfast, mmmmm good. Anyone who knows me knows that that was sarcasm, but the boys loved it. We got to see the Budweiser Horses and a quick draw club practice shooting (think old western movies). The highlight of the day was seeing Jeff in all his city boy glory mount a horse using a step ladder while wearing sandals and then go for an approximately 3 mph ride on a horse lead by a maybe 13 year old girl. It was a sight. Coming a close second was my surprise when Kurt lassoed (I have no idea how one spells that word) me. Nothing like being mistaken for cattle. After another afternoon of swimming (Natalie couldn't get enough of "going under", check out the picture above) we were off to the Rodeo. After examining the clothing options we had brought with us it was painfully obvious we simply had nothing to wear that screamed Rodeo viewers. So we went as our usual yuppie selves. I must admit, I had a blast, as did all others in attendance. What is it about cowboys girls? Sunday was filled with gun shooting for the boys and shopping for the girls and babies. After about our 14th trip to WalMart the boys finally had enough ammo to do it up right (not to mention Ryan's whole keys being shipped to him saga). Monday morning we left early to drive once again to Kansas City and begin our long journey home. What did we learn from our trip?...

1. Sugar Bugger is a term of endearment believe it or not

2. When both blinkers are going off we call that the hazard lights (shout out to Sarah with that one)

3. Jeff looks funny riding a horse

4. Kara is not cattle and should not be mistaken for one, EVER

5. WalMart is not nearly as trashy in Kansas as it is on Alpine

6. Babies don't like to be held on you lap or be put in a car seat for 12 hours straight

7. Babies can live on Gerber puffs and fruit snacks for about four days and not be phased

8. They still make moon pies, and they are pretty good.

9. Gabe is even cuter than his pictures and so much sweeter than you can possibly imagine

10. Kurt is not the third wheel on these trips, the poor innocent female exposed to the Ryan-Kurt phenomenon is actually the victim.

So, with all said and done, it was a great trip and we miss Jeff and Sarah a lot again already!