Shoal Creek Living History Museum in Kansas City, MO

At the last minute I decided to take the girls to Shoal Creek, yet another pioneer village that I've been wanting to see. This time I was prepared, I packed a picnic lunch and we hopped in the Odyssey and on 435N. As we were getting closer I said a little prayer that the ominous dark gray clouds would not release buckets of rain on us. We arrived and I may have been slightly out of breath from pushing the stroller up the gravel paved hill, whew! Who needs the YMCA when you go on outings such as these. Thankfully we were at the top and kept down the path to see the old houses, cabins, jail, grist mill, schoolhouse, church, and the like. It was so quiet and peaceful, just what I needed after a very stressful morning full of whining and fussing and little 'tudes. The first house we came to had a chicken coop behind it but it didn't have a path and I wasn't quite recovered from the gravel hill so we kept on trekking and found the grist mill. It reminded me of the Little House on the Prairie show. Most of the buildings we could look in but not actually enter. We saw an old jail where they had a fake person laying on the cot which really creeped the girls out. On the top floor of the jail was City Hall. Picasso and Princess Tiger Lily were famished so we found a picnic table and ate our lunch. There were a bunch of little green caterpillars that captivated Picasso and she kept trying to convince me to let her keep one. I had to remind her several times to eat her lunch and not worry about the butterflies-to-be. Princess TL started off with the stroller and said "See ya later boys", oh my goodness, I cracked up! We packed up our picnic and peeked in the church which was thankfully next door to the bathroom, ahem. As we were walking down the path Princess TL was running and took a tumbling dive into the gravel, ouch! We sat down while I examined her and she calmed down. Thank the Lord she had nothing more than a tiny scrape on her leg. We had finished seeing all the quaint buildings and made our way back to the parking lot. I noticed Picasso was still holding on to one of the caterpillars on a leaf and I told her that we cannot take it home, she must put it down. Whoa Nelly, was she in travail! She fell on the grass and was wailing. "But I named him Happy, please oh please can I keep him?" "No." "Ahhhhh, boo hooooo, arghhhhhhhh." I literally had to lift her off the ground and escort her to the van as I was trying not to laugh. I could have reacted differently but decided to keep my cool since she had no sense about her and I didn't need to loose mine either! It really was quite hilarious and I'm sure the dad that was packing up his van found it to be humorous as well. Side note, I'm taking tonight as mommy time and getting away from the circus for a few hours lest I become a side show act myself ; )

shoalcreeklivinghistorymuseum.com

Shawnee Town in Shawnee Mission, KS

I LOVE that we have so many old historical sites to visit and Shawnee Town is a great one for kids. It has a whole bunch of old buildings set up like a village back in the 1920's. Not exactly pioneer era but close enough. It costs $3/adult, $1/age 5-17, and free for those under 5; cheap right?! The visitor's center is where you pay and they have a small exhibit for you to enjoy. They also have a selection of toys like paper dolls and old wooden games that my girls couldn't keep their hands of off. After checking to see if they needed a potty stop (they didn't) we went outside. We first entered a general store which had fabrics, yarn, and vintage housewares on display. Then we decided we needed money so we hit up the bank next door but no one was working, so no green paper for us. We continued down the wooden path and decided to cross the "street" to pay the barber a visit. They were closed so no beard trim today. Picasso and Princess Tiger Lily were being outlaws so I put them under citizen's arrest and hauled them to the slammer. They each made their one phone call and were bailed out so I led them to the schoolhouse hoping they would learn a thing or two. We explored an old firehouse and in the garage was a vintage fire truck. The girls were ecstatic and climbed in the front seat. What a treat! There was a beautiful garden just down the path and the girls decided to skip along the brick pathways and tried to pick flowers but I caught them just in time. "Those aren't our flowers to pick", Mom says. Girls give disappointed looks and run across the grassy knoll to a tiny wooden cabin built in 1855. It was a one room home with a loft where I'm sure the little Laura's and Mary's who once lived in this house slept. All of a sudden a potty break was needed so we raced back to the visitor's center. Once done we strolled down a different path and came upon an old homestead. A house, a barn, an outhouse, and an old garage complete with car waited to be explored. I fell in love with the house especially since it had a front porch with wooden rocking chairs. The girls had to sit a minute and then we entered the kitchen. So simple, but so grand in my book. It had a great vintage stove, a table, a big old wash sink, and a standing pantry. I could envision myself cooking in that charming kitchen barefoot and wearing an apron over my twirly dress and pearls around my neck. Ahhhh, beautiful thoughts of days gone by. We peeked into the bedroom and the girls loved the old vanity with sink, pitcher, mirror, and brushes. In the living room was an older gentleman working on the vintage record player. The girls found a game of checkers and the man gave me a lesson in old records. What treasures are waiting to be found in places you would never think to look! I'm sure his grandkids adore him! They finished their "game" and we said farewell to my dream house. We quickly moved past the unusually odorous chickens and visited the barn and the garage. It was a wonderful day exploring and learning about the ways of old. Right down the street is another great park that we did stop to play at. I wish we would have brought lunch to have a picnic in the park, but alas I didn't know so maybe next time. By the way, this was our second stop of the day. The first was the Johnson County Museum which was about 10 minutes away. Check out my post and plan a fun day in Shawnee!

shawneetown.org

Johnson County Museum in Shawnee Mission, KS

Today we met some friends at the Johnson County Museum, a FREE center that showcases the history of Johnson County and also has a fabulous Kidscape children's exhibit. They also offer a 1950's all electric house to tour but the hours are limited and we weren't able to see it this time. The proper thing to do is to go through the whole museum first and get educated on the past but with little ones we don't do things the right way all the time and jumped right over to Kidscape. We were the only ones there at first, which was nice since the kiddos were bouncing off the walls with excitement. What I love about this place is they have rooms set up based on creative play such as a park with a fishing hole and a golf course, a hospital room with a patient to operate on and babies to care for, a town hall, a theater, a library, and a few others fun spots. Picasso hit a hole in one and Princess Tiger Lily caught a fish almost as big as she is. All the girls were giddy when they saw the theater and raced backstage to prepare for the show. My friend and I had the front row seats to an award winning show with beautiful little starlets. Lacking a long attention span at this age they quickly moved on to make bead bracelets on pipe cleaners and color some sheets that were laid out in the parlor. They played and played and finally before we left we decided to walk through the  museum. We of course started at the end and therefore ended at the beginning since we like to live on the wild side. My OCD almost kicked in but I stuffed it down and enjoyed the walk back through time. It's a great little jewel if you don't mind a short drive. I would suggest packing a lunch or snack and enjoying the park across the street afterwards. We already planned to jot on over to Old Shawnee Town which was about 10 minutes away, so we said goodbye to our friends and drove to another place set back in another era.

Sunday Brunch at Lydia's KC Italian Restaurant

While my Mother in Love was visiting for a long weekend we decided to go to Lydia's, one of my favorite restaurants, for Sunday brunch. We love watching Lydia's Italy cooking show on PBS and my oldest Picasso always wonders if we will see her each time we visit. It's located in the Freight House building across the parking lot from Union Station. It's a beautiful location with a lovely trellis awning, outdoor patio seating, and a courtyard garden. The interior is absolutely gorgeous without being too stuffy. We were seated right next to the buffet table and carefully made our entree selections from the menu. I ventured from my usual Pasta Trio choice and decided on the Gnocchi with Braised Duck Ragu. Hubby and the two Princesses chose the Pasta Trio, and Grandma chose the Grilled Tilapia. We filled our plates with beautiful food from the buffet including a delicious bean soup, a few different salads, rice with asparagus, proscuitto, olives, and the bread basket with strawberry, orange, and crunchy sugar butters. Once we were done with the first course we were served our entrees. Hubby and the girls loved the ravioli, penne, and fettuccine, Grandma was thrilled with the light and flaky, perfectly cooked fish, and my gnocchi was like fluffy little pillows coated in a delicious sauce. We all had leftovers that we asked to be boxed up. Somehow we made room for dessert and sampled the dainty sweets. There was tiramisu, a couple different cake bites, and an assortment of cookies. They were all wonderful but my favorite was the lavender scented panna cotta. It was divine! The service at Lydia's is top notch and the food always makes me look forward to our next visit. If you get the chance, you must go visit Lydia's, you will be so glad you did. 

Mother's Day Brunch at Country Keepsakes Tea Room in Belton, MO

Happy Mother's Day to all you beautiful mommies! You are a priceless treasure to your family and there is no one like you in all the earth. Be blessed today as you are celebrated and cherished! My Hubby treated me to a night alone and shopping last night, a rose bush that I've been wanting in honor of my late grandmother Mema who always had beautiful roses in her front yard, a new pillow I've been wanting, kitchen utensils since some of mine are worn out, and a beautiful brunch. We dined at Country Keepsakes Tea Room and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There was a long buffet line offering a wonderful selection of muffins, monkey bread, lemon blueberry rolls, scones, fruit salad, biscuits and gravy, pasta salad, several quiche varieties, grilled asparagus, tuna noodle casserole, pot roast, and parmesan crusted chicken tenders. OH. MY. GOODNESS! Did I mention there was a dessert buffet as well? I selected a Blackberry Sage iced tea to drink and the girls both chose a perfectly pink Raspberry Rose iced tea which were served in mason jar glasses. I must have some of those glasses. We ate to our hearts content and then somehow made room for the dessert bar. They offered peach cobbler, chocolate cake, Reece's cake, pink lemonade mini pies, both chocolate and coconut cream mini pies, bread pudding, and carrot cake. Picasso and Princess Tiger Lily both chose the pink lemonade pie, I had the chocolate cream pie, and Hubby had the bread pudding and coconut cream pie. I don't think any of us could have had one more bite lest we would have been rolled out the door by funny looking short men like Veruca Salt. We all napped this afternoon and I am sitting here with joe and mac catching up on some blog posts. What a beautiful day! Happy Mommies Day : )