How Far Would you Go for Good

Cheese Fries?

A favorite hang out in High School, it's where you find

truly great cheese fries--no equal, anywhere

(and believe me...I've looked)

I just returned from a trip long over due--back to my hometown in Missouri. It was WONDERFUL. Ok. It was wonderful for me. I dragged my sister-in-law along and all my shouted enthusiasm was somewhat lost on her:

“Look! That’s my High School.”
“There’s my old house!”
“I made out in that parking lot!”
“I learned to roller skate there!”(ok…that one was a lie. I never learned to roller skate. I learned to fall down.)

Mmm-mm. You can take the girl out of Missouri but you can’t take the Missouri out of the girl. Going back home I felt like I met pieces of myself. Pieces not lost, but maybe forgotten. There are some really lovely things about the Midwest. The pace is slower, the people are completely genuine. LJ remarked on how kind and polite everyone was. Family friends took time out of their busy day to talk to me. I went to church and was treated like a lost treasure. My heart expanded two sizes just seeing some of these people again.

Here are some highlights...

Outside the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art home to my favorite painting in the

world, Mrs. Cecil Wade by John Singer-Sargent

Exterior and Interior shots of Union Station in Kansas City,

one of the most sublime places on the planet
We stayed in downtown Kansas City, two blocks from the Power

and Light District

The J.C. Nichols fountain at the entrance to the

Country Club Plaza...great shopping, great eats...beautiful!

Whaddup??
We're only two weeks in, but here is what our summer is like so far...

J-man just finished baseball season. He had machine pitch this year. Initially he came home disgruntled at how few hits he was getting, letting me know he preferred coach pitch. But he ended strong. He got on base each time he was at bat and frequently scored for his team. Fielding was a different story but he was as good/bad as any of the other kids. This summer he is starting to read the Harry Potter books...has already finished book one. He just returned from a camping trip with his dad where he shot a BB gun for the first time. Oh joy.

This Little Miss is the poster child of summer. If she is concious, she wants to be on the go. It's difficult to keep up with her. She is always on the trampoline, begging to play in the water or wandering off with her friends. In between she is showing a slight interest in cooking. She gets involved with whatever I'm doing in the kitchen until something better comes along. Her hair lightens in the sunshine and so does her mood. The first word she utters when she wakes is "play." It's unfortunate for her that mine is "chores."

Junior Bacon turned two last week. Currently, he's all about trucks. This is where there is a distinct advantage in having an older son. Suddenly, that obsolete fire truck that has been gathering dust is cleaned off and a fabulous distraction on a rainy afternoon. Little man's vocabulary has taken off lately ushering in the stage where I stand between my son and the rest of the world and...translate. "Truck" sounds like "duck" and the most essential word, "chocolate" comes out "cha-kit." It's a good thing I speak toddler, because a handfull of chocolate chips is a great negotiating tool during a melt-down.