Happy Here

This morning, it was hard to pull ourselves out of our luxurious down comforters, but we got up eventually because the guy at the front desk said there were pancakes for breakfast.  Since we were only 17 miles from Iowa, we took a vote on whether to jaunt across the state line so we could color in Iowa on our trip map.  Ari, Freestone, Tziporah and I voted yes, and Xanthe and Ptolemy don't count because Xanthe thinks we're in Layton and Ptolemy keeps saying things like, "We forgot to go to D.C.!" and "Let's go back to our condo!" and "When are we driving across the country?"

Council Bluffs, Iowa was as charming and quaint a midwestern town as you could ever dream up.  I felt like I was on the set of Music Man.  We were just sad we couldn't spend more time there, especially since it was in Pottawattamie County!  (Clytie girls, take note!)  We did visit a cool splash pad, the Squirrel jail, a train museum and the library, as well as Gene's Toy Store.  It was like something out of a kid's dreamscape, this place.  When we parked, what was lining the main drag but an installation of metal rabbit sculptures.  Wow.  Synchronicity!  Synchronicity!

Next stop, Kansas City.  Trajan texted me the name of a BBQ place that seemed to be hip, and it was.  So hip.  And so good!  I really wish Scott could have been there to at least try a rib or two and hang out with the locals.  Unfortunately, a flashing light went on in my car on the way to the next place, the Deanna Rose Farmstead.  This place was incredible!  It was a free farm where kids could spend days learing to milk cows, feeding baby goats, seeing chickens lay eggs, riding ponies, fishing, wandering the grounds and just plain being a kid.  Me, I was on my phone trying to call a mechanic practically the whole time.  I want to be a kid!  Mine had such a great time at the farmstead.  The only downer about this trip is that there isn't enough time!  We whiz by all these amazing things, and the stuff we do is so fun, we always wish we had more time.  So it's not like we had time to visit a mechanic about the pesky flashing light, and it's not like we had time to get caught in Kansas City rush hour traffic and arrive at the mechanic 10 minutes after they closed.  Seriously.  I didn't plan on getting stuck in someone else's reality on my trip.  Rush hour?  It was pouring rain, our car was sick, I was mad and Freestone felt like he needed to explain to me his plans for inventing a flying car.  Intense!

Then, the light stopped flashing.  It just stopped.  We drove to our hotel and got there right in time for the FREE dinner!  Free mac n cheese, chicken strips, hot dogs, drinks, popcorn, nachos, and for Ptolemy, FREE alcoholic beverages!  Just kidding, but he really could have used a gin and tonic, he was so fired up about the free food.  It was seriously a good dinner, and it saved us mucho dinero.  I highly recommend Drury Inn.  Except that what seemed like a friendly crowd at 7 pm is now quite a racous crowd at 11 pm.  I wonder if that free coktail hour is still going on, because people around me are acting very cocktail-y. 

So, instead of driving the car to the church history sites, we swam at the pool and took advantage of more free snacks.  It's so prettyhere, and so balmy and cool, I just love it.  I forgot how much I loved living in the midwest.  Everywhere we go, I imagine living there, and I think Icould, except that Kaysville is so perfect.  Freestone likes it here.  He said, "I like this.  I didn't know there were other places like Kaysville."  Our poor, sheltered kids.  And that's not the funniest.  When we approached the downtown area of Kansas City, Ptolemy said, "Ooooh!  Look at all the temples!" 

One more funny Ptolemy story:  There were about a dozen teenage girls in the hot tub in bikinis.  Ptolemy hopped right in with them in his very attractive floatie suit, and proceeded to flirt.  Later, he said, "I LIKED getting in that hot tub with all those gwills!  They were having a hot tub party and I was there!"  #hardwired. 

Cute little guys.  I'm loving all these kids.  I'm so glad Tziporah is here, too.  She is a hoot.  All five of them are such good sports.  Freestone asked me, "Are you happy here, Mom?  I'm happy here."  I think he could tell that I am too, but I answered him anyway.

"Yeah.  I'm happy here."