we were so lucky to have these folks make a 15 hour plane ride and a 7 hour car trip, all to come visit us! one of great things about having family far far away is that they come visit you. and let’s be honest, having visitors is the best! i love cleaning the house top to bottom before and after. planning a menu. showing the best of the city.

yes, nathaniel is wearing oshkosh b’gosh. i wanted to gobble him up in these overalls.

what does one do when visiting kansas city during a heat wave?? shop, of course! needless to say, it’s a tad bit cheaper here in kc than in norway. i believe berit knew her way around target just as well as i do by the time she left. perhaps, the best shopping included a trip to lawrence. the boys headed to the pool and left us girls to walk down mass street, oh the danger one can get into on mass street. sarah’s fabric was a treat for this crafty mama, as we spent a good hour drooling over the fabrics.

another must-stop included the lawrence antique mall. ohh the treasures i have found there. no we did not come away empty handed. i grabbed a few (four is a few, right?) glass jars and a serving tray. berit was oh so selective in her purchases. she showed great restraint but in the the end that red canister set had to go home with her. don’t believe for a minute that that is all the shopping done while in kc, not for this lady. but you’ll have to visit her blog to see all the deals she scored. fyi – google translator is amazing!

of course, any shopping and swimming must conclude with ice cream. ben and jerry’s i heart you.

…more to come on our trip to sandy beaches, loads of guacamole and scuba adventures…sigh…i want to go back!

came to visit this weekend. a surprise visit, of sorts. we talked, ate great food, laughed and shopped. all that a weekend should be.

did I mention that we ate this weekend? not only did we eat, we feast on delicious food. it all started with lunch at this place. lunch was a feta and spinach quiche for me. grilled chicken and red pepper panini for amanda. and tuna salad for mama. we all gobbled down the best homemade tomato-basil soup. i’ve had dreams about it. we finished lunch with a moist red velvet cupcake with yummy butter cream frosting.

dinner was a homemade pizza – half cheese and pepperoni and the other half veggie. i think veggie pizza should be required at least once a week, perhaps twice. amanda, made homemade tomato sauce. we licked the pot clean, it was that good. and to finish just saturday, a blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. i seriously forgot how good cobbler is. yet again, there seemed to be a problem with taking a picture of the cobbler before it was eaten. must work on that.

every sunday should be started with flaky biscuit, homemade honey-butter whipped (yes, butter. yumm. oh so good) and jam strawberry jam. of course, only to be followed by a famous fried chicken at stroud’s. wondering how we ate all this food? well, the better part of sunday we sat and watched mad men. one must recover from such an eventful weekend, agreed?

It’s been raining and storming Kansas City style this week. Lots of t-storms warning, NBA finals weather advisory interruptions (I’m not too concerned but I have heard a few choice words coming from someone else in the house), and  humidity. Soon it will pass and it will be blazin’ hot, Kansas City style again. So I’m enjoying this weather and eating lots of broccoli-cheddar soup. Yum!

North Kansas City – I35 & Vernon

I lived in Kansas City for a long time – not all my life – but I will always consider Kansas City one of my homes. It has only been recently that my, what you might call love affair, with KC has begun. I’ve never thought Kansas City to be anything special – “in the middle of no-where” seemed to sum up how I felt about it most of the time. And I’ve lived in other cities where I felt something different – where I can instantly think about a park, restaurant, or sidewalk that bring back a flood of memories. But this has rarely been the cases in Kansas City  - my memories have always revolved around people.

But something has changed – maybe I’ve had one too many Boulevard wheat beers but I am becoming attached. I remember reading a memoir of woman that had this deep connection with her city – she felt apart of it, almost like it belonged to her and became jealous when others discovered its secrets. Sounds a tad bit crazy, huh? But I find this happening to myself – discovering little secrets about Kansas City and it gives me a little thrill inside. Now let’s be clear – if you were to give me a plane ticket to move somewhere with mountains or the ocean and public transportation – I would be packed by tomorrow. But today, tomorrow and the next day I am living in the land of Oz.

I have made a commitment to myself – I will pursue this love affair. I will have to be intentional and it will take extra effort but it’s worth it, right? It will be an adventure, like most love affairs are (of course, not coming from experience ), it will be filled with disappointed and unexpected twists and turns. Ohh…I am becoming giddy…