Weekend Fun with Gma and Gpa...

On Friday, Grandma and Grandpa (Ty's parents) drove to Kansas from Mankato, MN for a visit. They hadn't been down to visit since October, and last time, they just happened to have planned a visit that ended up being smack dab in the middle of Little A's hospitalization for RSV, so this visit was highly anticipated by all!

Upon arrival Friday evening, Grandma and Grandpa were immediately whisked away to Sassy's room to play princesses and dress-up and to read stories. We polished off the leftover pizza from Little A's party, and watched a little pre-season football- the Chiefs (boo) and the Vikings (double boo). (I bleed orange and blue...)

Saturday morning, we went up to Great Plains Nature Center for some nature-filled fun! We love GPNC- there is so much to see, and it is such a great FREE resource for families! I'm not entirely sure that we have been back since this visit. Look how much the girls have grown!!

Little A liked running her fingers through the various fur displays:



Sassy was so funny- I don't think she completely grasped the idea of a stuffed animal. She talked about the animals as though we were visiting a zoo- HA!



The 2,200 gallon fish tank is always a big hit! This one looks like he wants a kiss!



We spent some time relaxing in the observatory:



Just take a look at the writing on the wall... pretty much sums it up:



Little A thought she'd fly like an eagle...



After we walked through the indoor museum, we chose to take a hike on the blue trail (0.9 miles). It was so pretty out there. Sassy enjoyed watching the turtles and ducks swim at one of the lookout points:



Little A's eyes sparkled in the sunlight:



I had to stop and take a picture of this thistle along our trail. My mom ♥ thistles. She even has a tattoo of one. Must be that good ole' Scottish heritage again...



Kansas really is a beautiful place:



Afterwards, we had lunch at Chipotle and the rest of the crew headed to the park while I did a bit of shopping returning at the mall. Ty got a cute picture of Grandpa and Little A playing at the park:



We spent a (relatively) quiet evening at home enjoying each other's company.

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This morning, we drove out to Goddard to visit Tanganyika. In addition to his parents, Tyler had never been, so we thought it would be a neat place to check out together.

We, of course, began our journey by visiting the giraffes:



They were rather elusive today:



The rhino decided to come frighteningly close to us today:



Frighteningly close:



Sassy fed the Lorakeets some apple nectar:



One decided he would rather nibble on her hair pretty:



They are so boldly marked and beautiful!



Sassy and I took a moment to strike a pose in front of the red pandas:



Little A helped Daddy point to the L-A-Z-Y penguins:



Then, she decided to flash those pearly whites:



Sassy fed the baby goats:



Little A vegged out on gpa's baseball cap:



She was sleepy, comfy, cozy!



Sassy took a turn feeding the tortoises lettuce:



This one was taken moments before the tortoise mistook her finger for a piece of lettuce. Ouch!



On the way out, Sassy fed the lemur the famous $1 craisin.



I went in and completed some actual work this afternoon while the rest of the crew rested up, and we will spend out last few hours with gma and gpa before they head back to the MN tomorrow!