KC Family Time

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The Lee's Summit Gang, Tom Nick, Marlena, And Mary

It's 6:50 here in Lee's Summit, a Kansas City, MO, suburb.  It's just starting to get light here in my son Tom's new home and as usual, I am the only one up beside, Bella, the dog (doesn't seem right to call her a dog.)  It looks like a wet  day but it will also be warming up with a high in the '50s,  putting those freezing temperatures behind for a few days. 

Yesterday was another one of our least favorite drives, from Effingham, IL, over both the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, around St. Louis, then a boring four hour drive through the flatlands of Missouri, ending up finally in Kansas City. We forget how big the Midwest is, how it stretches from the Appalachian mountain range to the Rocky Mountains.  And most of it is flat.  The drive was uneventful, fortunately, just long.  We did stop at my favorite country western store, Kleinschmidt's, about an hour east of Kansas City, just off of Interstate 70. 

Need Boots?

We stopped on our first trip to Kansas City, probably ten years ago and every time we come this way, we stop again. It has an amazing range of western stuff, especially thousands of boots and its where I first started to buy Carthartt clothing.  Now we don't buy much as I have enough of their flannel shirts, so we just browse for 15 minutes, think about buying something but usually don't. 

We arrived at Tom's home just as Marlena, our 15-year-old granddaughter was getting home from school, happy and excited to see us.  Nick, a junior at Arkansas, also was home, just so he could visit with us.  What a great kid.  And Bella, of course, was happy to see us. 

A Happy Bella And Baba

Since Tom and Mary had moved a year ago, this was the first time to see their new home, a couple of miles from their old home.  It's new construction so everything is perfect, an open concept with a great kitchen and living room, with their bedroom on the first floor, the other bedrooms downstairs, so its a split level.  It's a bit smaller than their old house but feels roomier, with less upkeep and a smaller yard. 

Cuteness Overload

After the tour of the house, we caught up on both Marlena's and Nick's lives.  Both are doing well and Nick is looking forward to his paid internship in Houston with Exxon this summer, quite the plum for a finance major. 

Marlena And Her Baba

Marlena, too, is a happy sophomore, liking school with many good friends.  As we sat in the living room, talking and planning our weekend, Tommy mentioned that Amazon was having a great sale on Apple's MacBook Air.  Once he mentioned that, we started talking and he knew I was thinking about getting one.  So within ten minutes, I ordered one, saving two hundred bucks and it arrives here in Lee's Summit, on Sunday.  Gee but it's easy to spend money; just tap a few icons on your computer and bingo, a MacBookAir is on its way.  This reminds me of a visit six or seven years ago when we were walking through Costco and I mentioned we were thinking of getting a new flat screen Smart TV.  Well, a good one was just sitting there at Costco, a deal of course, so we ended up buying it and bringing it back to the lake in our car.  Trips to Kansas City can be expensive.

Nick And Granny

Dinner was already made, a big pot of chicken soup that Tom had put together that afternoon.  A bowl or two of the soup and French bread was all we needed for a great dinner.  After dinner, we sat around talking, thinking about watching a movie but played some Yantzee instead as both Evie and I were tired.  We actually went downstairs early, at 9:30, ready for bed and a good night's sleep.