VACATION!

The days before Serena's arrival have been flying by, faster and faster it seems! We had talked about going on a vacation in May (once Tax Season was over), but different things came up to thwart our plans. So, we decided that maybe we should just try to go some place close to home for a small get-away since it's getting so late in the pregnancy now. Our weekends have been so full, though; so last weekend, we decided to just take a couple days off of work and make our escape while we still could! So, last Friday night I did a little priceline.com-ing and landed a really nice hotel in Kansas City, MO for Sunday and Monday nights. Our friends Joel & Kate agreed to watch Macy for the first night, and Jordan's cousin Tyson took care of her for the second night. I'll admit I was a little sad after dropping Macy off with Joel & Kate. Seriously, it is a little ridiculous to realize just how attached I've gotten to that dog!!! ;)

We made it to KC around 6 or 7 Sunday evening. After getting settled into the hotel, we ventured down to the Country Club Plaza (which was just a few blocks away from our hotel) for some dessert.

The hotel where we stayed

Sunday evening was gorgeous! It was really nice to walk around the Plaza. I loved looking in the windows of all the shops (they were all closed since it was Sunday night), and Jordan enjoyed looking at all the really nice cars down there. For dessert, we found a cute little shop called Balsano's Gelato Cafe and each got a dish of carmel mocha gelato. SO GOOD!!! I had never even heard of gelato before! It's a lot like frozen custard, only creamier...if that's possible! A little spendy, but hey, we were on vacation! ;)

Sunday night we took advantage of the fabulous work-out facilities, and Jordan took a swim in the pool (I would have loved to join him, but I don't have a swim suit...partly because I hate spending the money, and partly because I'm not sure that I'm willing to subject myself to that kind of humiliation at 34 weeks pregnant!). ;)

Monday morning we woke up at a luxuriously late hour (no puppy to wake Jordan up earlier, haha!) to the sound of pouring rain and thunder. I was really disappointed because I had wanted to go to the zoo that day. Jordan checked the weather, and it looked like it would be rainy all day long. We decided to get up and get ourselves ready for the day and then go find some breakfast. An hour or so later, when we were ready to go, the rain had cleared off and the sun was shining!!! So, off to the zoo we went!!

The Kansas City Zoo

It turned out to be a great day to be at the zoo! Although it was very muggy and warm, we walked almost the whole thing! I think I refilled my water bottle three times over the 4 hours we were there. By the end of the afternoon, we were really ready for some air conditioning. :P Some shakes from McDonalds helped cool us down too! ;)

One of the first areas that we went to at the zoo was filled with birds and animals from Australia. Some of the birds were not in cages, and they were apparently pretty comfortable with having people around! I can't remember what kind of bird this was, but he really liked Jordan! Jordan was looking at the book (to his right in the picture) to see what kinds of birds we were looking at, and this bird would not leave him alone! It was really funny!

The sea lions were a huge highlight! I enjoyed them a lot! We just so happened to be going past their pool about half an hour before one of their daily shows, so we occupied ourselves in the air-conditioned 'tropics' building until it was time for the show. It was definitely worth it! They were great!

The sea lions really seemed to know how to work the crowd!

I could tell it had been a long time since I had been to a zoo. All the animals seemed to be bigger/smaller/uglier/prettier/funnier than I expected!

This warthog definitely won the 'ugliest animal' prize that I was giving away!

This gorilla walked over to that rock and sat down and kept trying to ignore all the people on the deck watching him. He would stare in the other direction for a couple minutes and then look back at us to see if we were still there. He was such a big funny guy!

After the zoo, we stopped by Bass Pro Shops so Jordan could do a little manly shopping. ;) I managed to have some fun still, though. They had a laser shooting range and you could shoot 25 shots for $.50. I challenged Jordan to a contest, and totally beat him! Ha! He claims that it's because he was trying to shoot the targets farther away and I was shooting at the ones that were close; but I'm thinking that only means that not only am I a better shot, but my strategy is way better than his! ;)

Monday night we went back down to the Plaza and ate at an amazing Mexican restaurant for supper. It's called Baja 600. Definitely 5 stars in my book!!! The salsa was fresh and my enchiladas were the best I'd ever had! Plus, I had a really hot date! ;)

Our air conditioning in the hotel room went out Monday at some point, and since we weren't around, we didn't realize it until that night. To make a long story short, we decided to stick it out in our slightly-warm hotel room that night (rather than switching rooms at 11:30pm!). As we were falling asleep, Jordan told me he was going to 'complain royally' to the front desk when we checked out in the morning. Haha! (If you know Jordan, you know that means he's going to be 'working the system' until the hotel gives him some sort of compensation for the inconvenience.) But, they beat him to it! Tuesday morning we found some mail shoved under our door! They credited back the parking charge for our stay, and they gave us free breakfast in their restaurant and a free coffee drink at their coffee shop! Turned out to be over $50 value! :) The breakfast was really good, and the waitress was such a sweetie! She was trying to take such good care of us because I'm pregnant (heehee, gotta live it up while I still can!), and she offered to get me a bowl of fruit from the kitchen (even though I hadn't ordered it) and came back with some yogurt too! It was a great way to balance out my original menu choice...a belgian waffle! Hahaha! ;)

We hung around KC until early afternoon and then drove home because Jordan had softball at 6. However, his games ended up getting rained out, so we enjoyed a free evening at home! Of course, Macy was ecstatic to be reunited with us (and we were pretty happy to see her, too)!

Me with my little doggie!