Our Grandaugher Halle Turns Ten, A Final Day In Lee's Summit, MO

Happy Birthday, Halle

Breakfast Club---Peyton, Chris, and Nick

It 7:00, time to relax and wait for the rest of the family to get up, for CBS Sunday morning to begin here in KC at 8:00.  It's going to get colder today, the warm spell over, as it's 33º at the moment, the high only 40º.  And, as I mentioned, our granddaughter Halle turned 10 yesterday; fortunately, she was able to spend it with her cousins in Darien, CT.  We will get to see her  at Christmas.

Walking Trail In Lees Summit Winterset Park

Yesterday was a typical Saturday, the boys sleeping in, me up early, the adults waking up one at at time.  Around 9:30, all were up, sort of if you look at the photo of the boys.  They are waiting for Tom and Evie to make them an omeletand bagels.  I had already had my healthy breakfast of yogurt, fruit, and homemade granola, so I went out for a walk in the neighborhood, just about forty five minutes, a good way to begin the day. When I returned, the boys were off to the gym with Nick, as was Tommy, and Mary was running.  Evie and Marlena were the only ones home, and they were playing Telefunky, a card game Marlena loves.  Around noon, the Ohio State/Michigan game came on, so I settled in on the couch to watch it, the only one in the house that cared.  Since most had a late breakfast, I was the only one that had lunch, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, just what I wanted.  We relaxed the rest of the early afternoon, most taking showers and getting ready for our excursion to the Country Club Plaza, the major shopping area about ten miles south of Kansas City, the hub of great restaurants and shops, built in the 1920's, and modeled architecturally on Seville, Spain.  It's a pleasure just to walk around its streets, admiring the buildings and fountains and towers.

We arrived at the Country Club Plaza and it looked like all of Kansas City had the same idea, enjoying an unusually warm afternoon, browsing the shops, eating at the restaurants.  We drove for about ten minutes before finding a place to park.  Then, for the next hour or two, we walked and shopped, enjoying the afternoon, the happy shoppers, the great shops.  We hit Banana Republic, where Nick picked out a new pair of khakis and a shirt.  Then on to Urban Outfitters, to browse their sometimes outrageous stock.  Next, the Apple store and surprise, Tom did not buy anything, a first.  We then stopped at Lucky's, where Tom was able to find the shirt he wanted, on sale, for ten bucks, an amazing bargain at Lucky's.  We then decided to look for a restaurant, stopped at three or four but all of them said it would be an hour or two wait even though there seemed to be empty tables.  Noone of us wanted to wait that long, so we jumped in the car and drove to Kansas City's southwest side, to eat at Margarita's, a Mexican restaurant Tom and Mary liked.

Busy Sunday at the Plaza

Waiting For Dad To Check Out The Restaurant 

A Photograph of Country Club Plaza In The Summer

We then decided to look for a restaurant, stopped at three or four but all of them said it would be an hour or two wait even though there seemed to be empty tables.  None of us wanted to wait that long, so we jumped in the car and drove to Kansas City's southwest side, to eat at Margarita's, a Mexican restaurant Tom and Mary liked. It's picturesquely set beneath a bridge, next to a warehouse, near The Roastery.  It, too, was packed, and many, like us, had to wait for at least a half hour for a table.  We finally sat down in the crowded, loud but fun dining room, ordered our Dos Equis and Margaritas, them meals, and we were all happy.  Both Evie and I had the Margarita special, a stuffed burrito with cheese sauce, the others various specialities and they were all good.  It was a good choice, our kind of restaurant, nothing fancy, just good food and lots of people enjoying the night out for dinner.  These kind of places always remind us of Turkey in the 1970's before it became hip and chic and expensive.

Dinner at Margarita's in Downtown KC

A Painting at Margarita's Restaurant
(reminded Marlena and Evie of Van Gogh's, THE BEDROOM)

We left Margarita's just after 8:00, drove home to Lee's Summit and stopped for a few minutes at their 'Magic Tree', a lonely tree set in the middle of a field, decorated with multicolored lights.  There were ten to fifteen other cars in the field, parked like us, getting out to admire the tree, a good way to end our day with Tommy and family.

Nick, Mary, and Marlena

Nick and Hannah

We were home by 8:30, and once again struggled with finding a movie we might all enjoy.  Tom settled on a classic, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, not a page turner shall we say,  as both Nick and Hannah decided to go downstairs and watch something else.  We managed to stick with it, mainly because of Kevin Spacey in perhaps his first great role.  We also had more cheesecake as we watched.  We ended the evening watching the last quarter of the Alabama/Auburn football game, a fitting way to end the night...with a football game.

A Saturday Made For Watching Football, Shopping At The Plaza, And Dining Out

Chicken Wings With Family and Friends

Wondering What Costco's Return Policy Is? 

It's 7:00 and like clockwork, I am up to a quiet house, except for Bella, who lies on my lap, my computer occasionally resting comfortably on her back.  Another great day here in the flatlands, a high in the 60's, great football match ups, an afternoon excursion to KC's great shopping venue, The Plaza, and dinner out.  No cooking or prepping for Evie and Mary, a full day to enjoy.

Yesterday late morning and early afternoon was a bore or great day according to whom you talked.  If it was Nick, it was one of the worst days of his life. For Tommy and me, it was not quite that bad. But for Mary, Evie and Marlena, it was delicious outing, a bevy of goods that would tickle the heart of almost any woman shopper.  It was a visit to IKEA, of course, about a half hour from home.  Tom and Nick had never been there, so they did not know what to expect, especially Nick.  Anyways, we spent a very long couple of hours, wading our way through one showroom after another, as the girls browsed, handled, commented, and sometimes bought item after item.  The store is set up so that  to leave, you have to walk through the entire store...there is no easy way out.  And, like a game board, there are arrows on the floor, leading to the exit.  Ikea has almost anything you might want for the home, at seemingly low prices.  And we did get a deal,  twelve wine glasses for $3.96, so cheap that the check out gal did a double take.  We emerged from the first hour of shopping at the cafeteria and everyone needed a break, so we had lunch, Swedish meatballs for Nick and I, vegetarian chili for Mary and Tom, and chicken tenders and double chocolate cake for Marlena.  It's an efficient lunch room, bright and shiny, a nice place for lunch.

Swedish Meatball Lunch At IKEA

We then exited through what turned out to be the second half of the store to Nick's dismay, the Marketplace, where smaller items, the kind you could put in your shopping car, filled the walls, tables and shelves.  Of course, we picked up more things which I cannot remember.  We emerged from the darkness and gloom of shopping heaven  or hell around 1:30.  And where did we go?  To Costco, to pick up chicken wings for dinner, as well as other goodies we did not need.  We finally made it home, after stopping at Target for more stuff for dinner. By the time we got home, Tom needed three Advil...it was that kind of day for most men! Why women love shopping and men don't must be in the DNA.

The Girls: Kelly, Mary, Evie

Tom and Mary asked their good friends, Mike and Kelly Burlingame for dinner, so while Tom and I watched the Kansas basketball game, Evie and Mary prepped for dinner, thawing ten pounds of wings for dinner, and making a bean and avocado dip.  Around 6:30, Tom got out the deep fryer but could not get it to work.  So we jumped in his Jeep, drove to Bed, Bath and Beyond, our fourth store of the day, and bought a new deep fryer.  When we got home, Evie had figured out how to get the old fryer working so our trip was for naught.  The Burlingame's arrived around 7:00, and we sat around the kitchen island, drinking beer, eating appetizers, as Tom deep fried the wings, dipped them in hot sauce and served them, first to the hungry boys, Nick, and two buddies, Peyton and Chris, then the adults.  We got a few.

The Chicken Wing  Guys

We must have sat there for close to two hours, as the wings fried, the beers were downed, and we caught up on each others lives.  We have had dinner with the Burlingames just about every year we have visited so we know them pretty well.  Mike works at USA-800 with Tom and Kelly was Marlena's kindergarten teacher.  Both are fun people.  We then played games with all the kids, Left, Center, Right, then a game the boys like called Mafia (like Clue), where the good liars win the game.  Marlena was the best, as noone thought this cute, smiling little angel could be the liar.  We played until 11:15 when the Burlingames left, leaving their son Peyton behind, to watch Fight Club with Nick, then spend the night.

Marlena And Her Best Friend, Olivia, Enjoying The Quiet

It's 8:15, full sun outside, and Evie and Mary are up, sipping coffee, reading on their Ipads, as the TV newscasters talks, once again, about Ferguson.

Only Leftovers---Post Thanksgiving Blues

Peeling Brussel Sprouts

Mom and Daughter

Well, it's over, the best holiday of the year, all that remains the leftovers.  And it's a sunny morning here in Lees Summit, clear skies, a pleasant 36º, as the temperatures over the weekend will be in the 60's.

Yesterday was your typical American Thanksgiving Day, at least that's what I gleaned from the various Facebook posts from all over the US and even in foreign countries.  Everyone seems to enjoy a turkey and Thanksgiving is a good reason to bake, fry, or smoke one.  We smoked one again this year and it was perfect.  Our friends in Maine, the Armontrouts and Websters, were eating oysters outside, watching their turkeys cook over a fire as the electricity went out.  It looked like fun.  Other families had the varied side dishes, always stuffing, mashed potatoes and a vegetable, probably brussell sprouts.  Lots of pictures before, during and after dinner and everyone looked happy and thankful and prosperous.  Wonder what it was like in families who might not have been able to afford a dinner.  None of them seem to be our friends or are on Facebook.

Sous Chefs

Practicing The Viola With A Human Music Stand

We had a late breakfast of eggs and pancakes, thinking it would be our only meal of the day and it was.  We then spent or I should say Mary, Marlena, and Evie spent a good amount of time getting everything set for the big meal while the boys, Tom, Nick, and I were ensconced on the couch, watching first, Kansas beat Rhode Island in basketball, then various NFL games on and off during the day.  Marlena has become quite the sous chef, chopping veggies and the like, peeling brussell sprouts, fun things like that.  Around noon, Tom put the turkey on the grill, added apple flavored wood chips and viola, we let it grill for close to three hours, basting occasionally, checking the temperatures.  I was getting too lazy, so I forced myself to get up off the couch, drag Bella outside, and go for a forty five minute walk around the community.  Bella is single minded, as we walk, never stopping, seemingly zeroed in on one thing...getting home.  Now, when I ask if she wants to go for a walk, she hides, or rolls over on her back, begging to stay home.  While we were out for a walk, Mary, Marlena and Evie put up the Christmas tree and decorated it.  And it looks real, despite the fact that its been put together in minutes by the guys, one of the wonders of the modern world.

Barbecue Boys

We decided, since Mary's parents were not coming to dinner, that we would not have any appetizers before our dinner which was a great idea.  We all started getting hungry around 3:30, more so by 4:30 when Tom started carving the turkey.  Thus, by the time we sat down to eat, Marlena and Tom had already had a roll...they could not wait.  Dinner was filling and tasty as usual, with an interesting twist on the brussel sprouts, thanks to Mary.  They were roasted, then baked with a gruyere cheese and milk mixture.  It went quickly.

Goofing Around With My Grandson In Our Matching Hoodies

The only real excitement of the afternoon, if you can call it that, was the two hours Tom, Marlena and Nick spent in a line at Best Buy where they were able to get 'deals' on Beats headphones and a sound bar.  Best Buy open on Thanksgiving?  They must be in trouble.

Three Crazies Head To Best Buy

After dinner, we all relaxed, watched some football and waited till about 8:00 to watch the movie CHEF, which we all wanted to see.  It turned out to be the perfect movie, funny, touching, a good story, with a happy ending.  The story line, a chef gets fired, loses everything, but makes a comeback with a food truck with the help of his estranged young son.  It's worth watching as a family with only 47 'bad words.'  We all went up to bed around 10:30, fat and happy, from pumpkin pie or cheesecake before the movie, a turkey sandwich after.  Another great day in Lees Summit.

Another Art Museum, The Nelson-Atkins, Then Fries, Shakes, Burgers, and Rings At Winsteads

Visiting Nelson-Atkins Museum Of Art in Kansas City

In The Hallowed Marble Halls 

Having Fun With Nick and Marlena At Nelson Atkins

I am up, enjoying the leisure of a Thanksgiving morning and it's just after 7:00.  Only Bella is up, like yesterday and I have just read my email, responded to Mac and Doc, looked at Facebook and the NYTimes and am ready to finish off my blog.  Right now it's overcast in Lee Summit, 25º but it's supposed to get sunny and warmer, in fact, the next three or four days look great, lots of sun.

Yesterday, we relaxed most of the morning after our drive the day before.  Evie prepped the turkey, dry brined it but mistakenly put three or four times the amount of salt on it and had to wipe most of it off when she realized her error an hour later.  I doubt if it will make a difference.  Mary went for a run, so we took care of Marlena and Nick slept in until 11:00.  Evie made eggs for us when Nick got up and we debated what to do as a family for the day and decided to drive into Kansas to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (not in the top 25 supposedly but still worthwhile).  We will have enough shopping over the next couple of days so we wanted to balance it out with something cultural.  A good idea.  It's an easy half hour drive from Lee Summit to downtown Kansas City.  As we were driving, Tom called, had just finished a meeting in Kansas City so he met us at the art museum which was great.  It's a top flight museum, perhaps not the quality or quantity of the Art Institute of Chicago, but well worth visiting.  It too has lots of great paintings by the Impressionists, the Monets, Van Gogh's, Cezanne's, and Renoirs, as well early European painters I enjoy like Boucher, David, Ingres, and they even had a Caravaggio.  We spent an hour and a half visiting each small room, with ten or fifteen paintings and again, we were allowed to take pictures. We finished with Contemporary Art which is always fun, lots of different kinds mediums and genres. They even had a Warhol, Rauschenberg, Pollock, and De Kooning.  What follow are the paintings that we most enjoyed.

Nick Questioning A Sculpture

Women IV-Willem de Kooning

Crow Call, Near The River- Keith Jacobshagen (Kansas Prairie)

Michaelangelo Merisi-Caravaggio

Winter Landscape-Zamboni

Poplars, Sunset at Eragny -  Camille Pissarro

Olive Orchard- Vincent Van Gogh

v

View of Argenteuil- Claude Monet

After the art museum, with went to Winstead's, a tradition, the popular 40's and 50's drive in and diner in the downtown.  It has great circular pink ceiling lights, special Frosty's and cherry lime sodas.  We ordered the usual, fries, rings, burgers and  drinks, as the place kept filling up with the likes of us, people looking for a bit of 1950's nostalgia.  Nick is the one who likes the place, wanted to come back...it's tradition he said.  I am glad we did.  We had a great waitress, friendly, smiling and efficient, and a bus boy who struck up a conversation, wished us a happy Thanksgiving.   After our late lunch, Evie got the Costco bug and Mary saw there was one two miles away.  I guess Costco has a new strategy of bringing their stores into urban, downtown areas which is great for the people.  It was in the middle of downtown, crowded but not as crowded as others, and we bought our desserts for tonight, cheesecake and pumpkin pie, as well as other goodies.  Nick and I found cool black hoodies for twenty bucks, so now we can pretend we are Eminem.  We were home about 4:00, still full from our lunch so we put off dinner until at 7:00.

Winsteads, The First And Last KC Drive In

We relaxed, watched some TV and a couple of neighbors came over to play with Marlena.  About 6:30, Evie, Tom and Mary started prepping for dinner, salmon, spinach, rice and salad.  The salmon came from Costco and is always good.  We were hungry despite our late lunch, and the dinner was great, the salmon perfectly cooked which, for me, is always difficult.  We searched and searched for a movie that all of us would like, could not find one, so settled on the second Hunger Games movie, a bore and much like the first I thought but the kids liked it, for the second time of course.  It's hard to find a movie that's age appropriate for Marlena.  It had been a long day, so Evie and I went to bed at 10:15, while Nick and Tom stayed up and watched another movie called Neighbors.  I watched the first 15 minutes and that was enough to send me up to bed.

In Kansas City With Our Son, Tom, And Family...Finally

The Amazing Marlena Davis, My Grandaugther

It's 6:20, the house is quiet, Tom's left for St. Joseph to meet a client, the owner of Polaris snowmobiles, their new client, and it's only me and Bella, the family dog, sitting contentedly on my lap, happy to have me in KC. It looks like a cloudy day so far, but no snow or rain.

Au Revoir To The Windy (politicians) City

We left for Kansas City from Chicago at 7:00, a light mist in the air, some dusting of snow on the roads. What a fun three days with the Gills!  Warning...we will be back.  Fortunately, we got right on the Eisenhower which was moving fairly well. So within twenty minutes, we were out of Chicago and on our way West, to the flat lands, the snow covered corn fields of Iowa.  By 9:00, the sun was out and one side of the road was white with snow, the other golden brown from sunlight on the mowed corn fields.

The Snowy Fields Of Iowa

What a joy to have some sunshine, the first we have seen since last Wednesday.  It was cold out, in the 20's, and traffic was fairly heavy when we got near Des Moines but otherwise, when we were passing by farmlands, silos and fields, traffic was light.  We decided to go through Iowa to Des Moines, then south to Kansas City because we are tired of Interstate 70 and did not want to drive through St. Louis.  It was a long ride, however, close to 9 hours (532 miles), with a couple of stops, a wrong turn or two, so we did not arrive in Lee's Summit till 4:00 but just in time to meet Marlena as she got off the school bus at 4:15, as we hoped.

Marlena and Me, With Her Baba Book

The first thing we did when Marlena got home was to go upstairs and look at here newly decorated bedroom.  She could hardly wait to get home to show us.  Then, she presented me with an album of photographs and text that she made as a school assignment on me, her Baba or Grandpa.  It was really well done, touching actually, and she of course got a 100% on it.  What an amazing girl.

Then, Nick, Mary and Marlena and Evie and I ended up talking, laughing, and waiting for Tom to get home from work.  He got home around 6:00, so we sat around the kitchen island, eating chips and guacamole and having a beer, a local Boulevard Wheat.  For dinner, Mary had made a great chicken vegetable soup, so with a salad and French bread, we had dinner.  Nick was off at a banquet so there were just the four of us.

The Loving Couple, Mary and Tom

The kids have no school today, so they stayed up until after 10:00.  We watched Marlena's favorite program, another episode of Parenthood, then, what else, live coverage of the riots all over the USA. As an aside, on our long drive to KC, we listened to our favorite radio commentator, Michael Smerconish for a couple of hours on Sirius Radio and he read, for close to forty five minutes an abridged version of the transcripts of Daren Wilson's testimony before Ferguson's Grand Jury.  It was interesting and informative to hear the facts from the trial, not the here say.  We both came away giving credit to the jury for standing up to public pressure and not indicting the officer.  If Officer Wilson is to be believed, he did his duty, at least, according to the law.  It clarified Michael Brown's role, from eye witnesses as well.  He did not deserve to be shot but he did act in such a way that the officer felt threatened.  Lots of things could have been different.  Don't pull your gun.  Use a taser. Don't chase him once he runs.  Wound him, don't shoot him numerous times.  But the officer did not do anything wrong according to police procedures, as least as far as I have understood from the transcripts. Brown robbed, then hassled, hit, and ran from a police officer, then charged at him when he was shot.  Most of the emotions, I believe, are pent up anger at all the young black men who have been killed over the past ten years, the belief that young blacks have been unfairly targeted by police.  If one looks just at this case, at what the Grand Jury heard, then you would have agreed with the verdict.  Most people did not read it; many if they did still would be angry and protest...most who side with the officer are white, with Brown are black. Things don't change.

#1 Art Museum In The World---Art Institute Of Chicago

It's around 6:00 and I have been up for awhile because we want to be off for Kansas City by 7:00.  I just hope the roads are decent this early because we did have snow and rain last night and it's gotten quite cold.  But the forecast is for sunshine most of the way, once we leave this area.

Yesterday we went into Chicago around 10:30 but relaxed at home until then, as one after another Gill left for work or school.  Alex was the last to leave around 9:30, but won't return till 8:00 and Elaine was off before 6:00, to get a workout in before work.  What a woman! Elaine also made sure we would have an easy ingress and egress to Chicago.  She set us up with a L pass, a member pass to the Institute, as well as a map, outlining our walk from the Jackson L station to the art institute.  So we just walked a quarter of mile in a blizzard to the L station, slid down the ramp after using our pass, took a half hour ride into the city, then an indoor ramp out to Adams, a right to the the impressive facade of the Art Institute of Chicago.  We crossed the street, in another windy, blizzard like morning, with lots of tourists, mostly Asian, checked our coats, and we were off for a couple of hours of viewing.

We know our limit in a museum is somewhere around two hours, so we went to the Impressionists first, which, like most people, is a favorite.  We were shocked, however, by the major paintings in the various rooms, many I have talked about, even taught and discussed in my classes, but did not know they were here in Chicago.  And there is a room for each of the greats, Renoir, Degas, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne,  and others like Pissarro, Seurat, etc.  It was an amazing conglomeration of impressionists, and no wonder its called the # 1 Museum in The World.  The building is an immense complex of rooms, of periods, easy to get lost actually and we never did find the sculptures I wanted to see.  Next time.  We ended the day visiting the miniatures, in the lower level, and they were amazing, replicas of various styles of rooms from the 1700's up to the 1900's.  Their detail is amazing, a French boudoir, a British library room, a Shaker kitchen, a Japanese living room, and our favorite, below, an Arts and Crafts dining room, similar to the Gills.  It was a great way to end our visit.  We followed our route in reverse, of course, took the train back, and walked back to the Gill's in a wet, snowy windy late afternoon.

Miniature Replica of A Frank Lloyd Wright Arts and Crafts Dining Room 

Pissarro's "Haying Time"

Pissarro's Place Du Havre, Paris

Monet Paints Norway

Toulouse Latarec's Moulin Rouge

Van Gogh's Room

Early Self Portrait, Van Gogh

A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte by George Seurat

Close Up of Seurat's technique: pointillism 

Rodin's Balzac and Zorba

The next two pictures, one by Degas and one by my daughter Beth, a copy of The Millinery Shop that she accomplished in a couple of hours in an art class.

Edgar Degas's 'The Millinery Shop'

'The Millinery Shop' by Beth Albarran

We relaxed once we got home, both taking showers, as all the kids were still at school.  Jim picked up Kianna from gymnastics at 6:00, so it was wine time as we waited for Elaine to return from the city.
Around 7:00, Jim went out to pick up some sushi and Chinese, both quite good, a perfect dinner for our last night with the Gills.   We then spent the evening talking about the Ferguson decision, at least the adults did, and we were shocked at the outcome although none of us know the 'facts.' I wonder at the make up of the jury because I am sure if there were many blacks on it, there's no way there would be 'no probable cause.'  It reminds me of the OJ trial, where skin color determined whether OJ was guilty or not.  This does not seem quite the same.