Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Thanksgiving
We had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend. We stayed in town and Nora's folks came over for dinner. Nora was the master chef and really outdid herself.
The day before (Wednesday) we were on the receiving end of record-breaking snow for this time of year, about 7". Thanksgiving morning we all went out and played; making snow angels, snowmen, and lots of sledding. I built a little sledding track with a few twists and turns and Pierce and a couple of the neighborhood kids spent hours on it (ok, ok... I spent a lot of time on it too).
One of the more interesting discoveries from this weekend is that Anna is nuts for gumbo. Saturday night Nora was out with friends and I made dinner for the kids. I tried to make all their favorites to ensure they were good eaters (Mac 'n cheese, broccoli, stovetop stuffing) and Anna wasn't interested in any of it. She wanted a "bite" of my bowl of gumbo. Four servings later she was still ploughing through it. I don't think she's ever had soup before, and her use of a spoon didn't quite match her enthusiasm for getting the soup into her mouth. She also tried to upend the bowl into her mouth, but mostly just poured the soup down her chest. At the end of the meal I had to peel her soaked shirt off and stand her on the table to shake off all the rice and spices that found their way to her lap. Ultimately I had to give her a bath to get the rest of the gumbo out of her hair.
On Sunday we went to Science City at Union Station. Union Station is the historic train depot in the Kansas City area. A couple of years ago it was refurbished as a commercial dining area with its major areas taken up by a museum targeted to children. Science City is showing a temporary exhibit featuring Sesame Street (both our kids our huge fans). They also have another temporary exhibit called "Grossology" which features interactive displays on all the gross things our bodies do and produce (a sample exhibit: squeeze the bulb and identify the smell that comes out: mouth, armpit, anus, or foot). Both exhibits were hits with Pierce and Anna.
inadvertently we showed up at the museum 45 minutes before it opened, but we stumbled across a pleasant surprise. Union Station had just opened a model train display that must have covered 1500 square feet. It featured towns, factories, bridges, covered tunnels, and trains from local train companies. A couple of other trains running on the tracks were Thomas the Tank Engine (from the TV show) and the Polar Express -complete with sound effects. Both kids were captivated and Pierce got upset when it was time to leave the exhibit to go to Science City.
We finished the day by going to a nearby restaurant called Fritz's for lunch. Fritz's is a train-themed restaurant with model trains running past the tables in fake "windows" and a food delivery system based on trains that run across the ceiling and drop your order at the table. It was hilarious -both kids were yelling "All Aboard" at the top of their lungs each time a train ran past our table. By the time we got the kids in the car both were half asleep. As soon as we got home and transferred them to their respective beds I took a nap too.
These four-day weekends are exhausting.
-Eric (Dad)
The day before (Wednesday) we were on the receiving end of record-breaking snow for this time of year, about 7". Thanksgiving morning we all went out and played; making snow angels, snowmen, and lots of sledding. I built a little sledding track with a few twists and turns and Pierce and a couple of the neighborhood kids spent hours on it (ok, ok... I spent a lot of time on it too).
One of the more interesting discoveries from this weekend is that Anna is nuts for gumbo. Saturday night Nora was out with friends and I made dinner for the kids. I tried to make all their favorites to ensure they were good eaters (Mac 'n cheese, broccoli, stovetop stuffing) and Anna wasn't interested in any of it. She wanted a "bite" of my bowl of gumbo. Four servings later she was still ploughing through it. I don't think she's ever had soup before, and her use of a spoon didn't quite match her enthusiasm for getting the soup into her mouth. She also tried to upend the bowl into her mouth, but mostly just poured the soup down her chest. At the end of the meal I had to peel her soaked shirt off and stand her on the table to shake off all the rice and spices that found their way to her lap. Ultimately I had to give her a bath to get the rest of the gumbo out of her hair.
On Sunday we went to Science City at Union Station. Union Station is the historic train depot in the Kansas City area. A couple of years ago it was refurbished as a commercial dining area with its major areas taken up by a museum targeted to children. Science City is showing a temporary exhibit featuring Sesame Street (both our kids our huge fans). They also have another temporary exhibit called "Grossology" which features interactive displays on all the gross things our bodies do and produce (a sample exhibit: squeeze the bulb and identify the smell that comes out: mouth, armpit, anus, or foot). Both exhibits were hits with Pierce and Anna.
inadvertently we showed up at the museum 45 minutes before it opened, but we stumbled across a pleasant surprise. Union Station had just opened a model train display that must have covered 1500 square feet. It featured towns, factories, bridges, covered tunnels, and trains from local train companies. A couple of other trains running on the tracks were Thomas the Tank Engine (from the TV show) and the Polar Express -complete with sound effects. Both kids were captivated and Pierce got upset when it was time to leave the exhibit to go to Science City.
We finished the day by going to a nearby restaurant called Fritz's for lunch. Fritz's is a train-themed restaurant with model trains running past the tables in fake "windows" and a food delivery system based on trains that run across the ceiling and drop your order at the table. It was hilarious -both kids were yelling "All Aboard" at the top of their lungs each time a train ran past our table. By the time we got the kids in the car both were half asleep. As soon as we got home and transferred them to their respective beds I took a nap too.
These four-day weekends are exhausting.
-Eric (Dad)
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