Thursday held a LOT of fun in KC

Our Thursday plans in KC fell through, but I came up with a Plan B quickly, and we had SO much fun! We headed out to a place called the Deanna Rose Petting Farm (a favorite place of mine for years!), and boy did Allison have a great time. This is her 3rd or 4th trip there, but it's different every time because there is so much to do. You pick and choose different things each time. You might recall some earlier pictures of her feeding baby goats or playing with cow bells. The highlights on this trip included fishing (I even put worms on hooks for her- ICK!!!), and riding a BIG horse!

That evening my China travel buddy Heather and her 2 girls, Hanna and Claire (Claire is just a few weeks younger than Allison) came for a weekend visit from Omaha, so we met them at their hotel and did some arts and crafts and got re-acquainted. I have a feeling that if we'd had the room next door (as opposed to us being at my parents' house) we would have been up all night talking. It was so great to see Heather again, and her daughters are just delightful!! Enjoy the pictures!






Allison could have played in the sand for hours. She was in heaven!



Getting instructions on how to hold on tightly- and boy did she! Look at the size of that horse!



I was glad to see the guide checking on her periodically. It was tough to watch from afar!



At the end of the ride they stop so moms and dads can take pictures. Check out that smile- one happy little girl! Worth the $3, I think! :)



We ducked into the little one room schoolhouse to get out of the heat. I can't wait till she goes to "real school"



"Look, Mommy! I made an uppercase and lowercase F with my chalk!"




It was so fun for the girls to play together again. Heather brought tons of arts and crafts for them to do. They both enjoyed coloring this little wooden picture frame.



The girls made little flower bouquets made from foam stickies. What a cute idea! Allison gave half of hers to Nana and the other half to Daddy. Hanna helped the girls make adorable flowers- what a great big sister she is! It looks like Allison is really hogging the flowers, but I promise we divided them up evenly in the end. :)



As the evening winded down, at about 10:00, the girls enjoyed a fun snack. Hanna gave them both little nylon backpacks all decorated with their names on it and everything- what a GREAT gift. Inside were tons of little activities and snacks. Seriously- this family is SO thoughtful!!