Abundant Life Baptist Church FREE Kids Carnival, Lee's Summit, MO

Let me just say that I am so very glad I made the effort to take my girls to this. It was the best, THE BEST, completely FREE, kid's carnival I have been to! From the time we parked and entered the "fair grounds" we were catered to. They handed us a packet with their church info and a map laying out all the booths and rides available for our enjoyment. Thankfully we arrived right when it started so it wasn't that crowded and we were able to jump around on some bounce houses and get some grub without waiting in long lines. We started with nachos, cotton candy, and drinks (all free). Then we played some more and Picasso and Princess Tiger Lily each got tatted up and had their faces painted. We walked around and waited for the train which every time would leave the "station" Princess TL would cry, "No, come back" with real tears pouring out. I suppose she didn't realize it just made circles and always came back ha! We ate hot dogs and popcorn and played at least a dozen carnie games and the girls each won prizes to all of them. Picasso kept exclaiming, "This is the best day ever!" We waited in the very long line for the swing ride and picked one more bounce house to go in. We also played a few more games and the last one was the dunk tank. Picasso actually dunked the kid on the second try! This was the icing on the cake! I have to give major kudos to this church for the crazy amazing organization and awesome volunteers. Everyone was pleasant and helpful and their heart to serve the community showed in a major way. I am going to put this in my calendar for next year so we don't miss this treasure! What a wonderful day we had!

Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska

Ok, I have heard about this place for several years and just haven't made the 3 hour trek up there. It's really quite simple, it's literally straight up Hwy 71/29 the entire way there. We decided to drive up Saturday evening and stay overnight so we would have the maximum amount of time before we had to head back home. The drive was smooth, the hotel was clean, and we all slept well ready for our fun day at what tripadvisor.com has labeled to be the best zoo in the U.S. Well, seeing this advertised had my standards set pretty high. We arrived and it was a gorgeous day! The weather was beautiful, it was sunny but breezy, and there was plenty of shade for when it did get a little warm. We paid our admission and I purchased tickets for the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit as well. We made our way through the Mutual of Omaha Exploration Station and saw so many snakes, spiders, amphibians, and other little creatures. The girls kept squealing as they moved from habitat to habitat seeing the creepy crawly critters. We saw the Lied Jungle and were amazed at the beautiful rainforest like atmosphere, it really felt like we were in a different world. There were all sorts of monkeys in the trees and Daddy took the girls over a rope bridge which Picasso didn't care for at all. We went into this huge Desert Dome and saw so many types of cactus and thorny bushes, then we made our way down into the Kingdoms of the Night. It was like we walked into a cave, there were nocturnal animals including bats, owls, and a night time swamp area complete with alligators, eek! Oh wait, I grew up seeing gators lounging in the sun on the bank of the lakes, these didn't scare me ; ) I had read about the amazing Scott Aquarium and was so happy walk through the underwater world. We viewed sharks and jellyfish, sea turtles and starfish, stingrays and the largest crabs I've ever seen with their legs spanning at least 4 ft across. The Butterfly and Insect Pavilion was awesome and we saw so many beautiful butterflies! On our way out we were treated to see a whole section dedicated to real cocoons in each different stage. There were even a few butterflies that had recently emerged fluttering around. We walked through a time portal and were transported to the Jurassic age with the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit. There were over a dozen animatronic dinos and the girls were in awe at how big some of them were. Thankfully we made it out alive and decided it was time for a late lunch. We ate hot dogs and grilled burgers at the Omaha Steaks outdoor cafe and since ice cream cones were $1 for Labor Day weekend we got one on the way out. We were there for 6 hours and still didn't see everything. It is definitely worth the drive and we will absolutely go back at some point and see the few exhibits we didn't get to this time around. I highly recommend making the trip north to visit Omaha!

Sea Life Aquarium at Crown Center

I am so glad to finally have an aquarium in Kansas City! Originally from central Florida we never lacked for seeing sea creatures with so many local attractions. We first visited Sea Life about a year ago not long after it opened and we just visited again last week. The girls and I used one of the BOGO coupons off the kcparent.com website and since Princess Tiger Lily is not yet 3 yrs old I only had to pay for my ticket, score! I love when you first enter there's this neat room with all these small silver fish in lighted aquariums so the fish look like they are glowing. Then you walk through and view fresh water creatures native to Missouri. Picasso loved seeing the catfish. There's more ocean life and then you get to a touch tank. The first time we went it took forever to get Picasso to touch anything, she's a little nervous when it comes to doing something she's not used to but Princess TL showed no fear and loved touching the starfish, crabs, and the like. This time around both girls had fun touching the small sea animals. We travelled down the path and saw many more interesting fish and then the girls got an underwater view with this dome shaped aquarium that you can crawl underneath and stick your head up under it. Don't worry, you don't have to hold your breath, it's completely enclosed. They have a new turtle room with several different turtle friends to look at. They have this awesome ray tank that the kids can crawl underneath and peer into port holes to see them up close or you can climb the stairs and step onto a see through platform to see them swimming right below your feet. The grand finale is walking through an underwater tunnel with rays, sharks, and all kinds of fish to "ooohhh" and "aahhhh" over. There's a few benches so of course we had to sit down and imagine we were scuba diving in some tropical locale. The girls loved seeing the sharks and rays swimming overhead. I have to admit, I loved it too. There's something magical about seeing a world you don't normally see in your everyday life. That is unless you are a marine biologist, a snorkeling instructor in the Caribbean, or a Killer Whale Trainer at Sea World (which I used to want to be). I was a bad mommy and forgot their socks so they couldn't play in the play area right before the gift store. To my credit I did get them out and set them on the table which is exactly where I found them when we came back home. During the tour we filled out this scratch card scavenger hunt and turned it in for a prize at the end. The girls each received a gold medal necklace and were so excited about their treasures. We shopped around the combined Sea Life and Legoland gift store and then went home. Overall it's a smaller aquarium that only takes about 45min-1hr to walk through but it's so well done that I think makes it worth the trip maybe once or twice a year.
visitsealife.com
http://www.kcparent.com/Coupons/