Labor Day

Our Labor Day wasn't so labor-less...

It all started Friday afternoon when we ventured up to Kansas City in order for Brandon to redeem his anniversary gift.  If you know Brandon, you know he is the most loyal Kansas City Royals fan.  Ever.  He has loved the Royals since he was a little guy, he bats left-handed because George Brett batted left-handed and he will defend George Brett against the haters (ahem...my brother) until the day he dies, he remembers where he was when the Royals won the World Series, and he can rattle off Royals stats from any era.  I could go on, but you get the point.  So, for our fifth anniversary, I decided to get him a Royals experience that he wouldn't forget  - a personal, behind the scenes tour of Kauffman Stadium!  Needless to say, he was very excited and I think he had a great time.  But, I will let the pictures do the talking...

{In the media room}

{Frank White}

{Getting to know Jeff Franceour}

{Bill Butler a.k.a. "Country Breakfast", a nickname he gave himself}

{Hosmer!}

{Royals Hall of Fame}

{Broadcast booth}

{First base camera bay during the National Anthem}

We sat in the Diamond Club seats with my sister and her husband and enjoyed a lovely evening, but unfortunately the Royals didn't win.  However, we did get to experience the Friday night fireworks after the game.  

After a long night, we were definitely ready for bed since we had a big day on Saturday.  We started out at the City Market with my sister and her family.  The city market is located in downtown Kansas City and was so fun!  Before we got going, the girls took a little train ride...

After the train ride, we browsed the market and walked away with plenty of goodies:

• heirloom tomatoes (oh how I wish I could find these in Wichita)
• peaches
• corn on the cob
• dog treats
• bread
• spices and dressing mixes
• flower pots (to be revealed later...)

We left the market in time to meet my brother and his family for lunch before some of us headed to God's country for the Wildcat football game!  If you follow me on Twitter, you know that the game was pretty ugly, but we did pull out a win and we had a great time, as usual!

{the only pic I got was of the band...oops!}

We got back to KC pretty late and pretty much fell right to sleep after our long day.  But we had to get rested up for yet another fun day!  After church on Sunday, the boys took the little girls home for naps while us big girls squeezed in a little shopping.  The highlight of the shopping trip?  Trader Joe's!  Trader Joe's just opened up near my brother and sister's house and I've heard so many great things about their products on food blogs and from my sister and sister-in-law so I knew I needed to make a stop.  And, I was not disappointed!  Not only did they have great products, their prices were also amazing!  For around $50 I got the following:

• 2 chocolate bars
• 1 tub of mini peanut butter cups
• 1 tub of pistachio toffee
• 1 bag of frozen potstickers
• 1 bag of sweet potato fries
• 2 jars of pasta sauce
• 2 packages of refrigerated pasta
• 1 bag of sweet potato chips
• 1 bag of peanut butter filled pretzels
• 1 bag of honey sesame almonds (or crack!)
• 1 box of chocolate covered frozen banana slices
• 1 box of mini ice cream sandwiches
• 2 bags of fresh pizza dough
• 1 bottle of pomegranate limeade (I hear it is great with a little bit of vodka)

Can you believe I got all of that for roughly $50??  I was shocked!  So far, we have used the pizza dough, the tortellini and one jar of pasta sauce (not all together!) and have been extremely pleased with the taste and the quality of the items.  Brandon did not quite understand why we drove all the way to KC to buy groceries, but I hate to inform him that this probably won't be the last time we do this :)

After our shopping trip, we met up with everyone for a little family bowling!  Surprisingly, the little girls did a pretty good job of bowling granny style.

We worked up quite an appetite bowling so we headed over to Todd and Natalie's for dinner and consumed some of our market finds from the day before.  Oh yeah -- we also had some amazing peach cobbler, Paula Deen style!  We definitely went home full and happy.

Monday, we got up and had a yummy breakfast and then packed up the car to head home.  Since we stayed with Tara and Matt, we decided to stop by Todd and Natalie's before we left town to spend a little time with our niece.  We ended up taking the dogs to the park for a little walk because she LOVES dogs and guess who she chose to walk...

Yep, Koby is very loved by this little girl!  

We finally made our way home and hit the ground running.  We unloaded our stuff, washed the car, cleaned out the interior, started (and finished) laundry, Brandon mowed and I made dinner.  Even though it was a crazy busy weekend, we had a great time!

Once A Wildcat, Always A Wildcat

Last week, I mentioned I received a box in the mail at work and I couldn't have been more excited about the contents of the box.  Over the past few weeks, Brandon's mom has been working on a Wildcat t-shirt quilt for Brandon and me!!  I've always wanted a t-shirt quilt, but knew I didn't have the patience to do one myself, so I am so grateful that Pam was willing to make one for us.

We spent a lot of time gathering t-shirts, but we finally got everything she needed and it didn't take her much time at all to put it all together! 

She pieced the t-shirts together and then backed it with a cozy sweatshirt fleece material.  And let me tell you, it is definitely cozy!!  We have already gotten a lot of use out it :)

Of all of the t-shirts we looked at and eventually chose, this t-shirt is probably my favorite of all...

...because it is true!  Brandon never, ever thought he would become a Wildcat, but he did and there is no going back!!

Thank you Pam, for such an awesome gift!!  We love it!!