Colton's first trip to KS

I took a big risk last week and drove by myself with all 3 kids to visit my parents in Kansas City for a quick 4 day trip.  It's an 8 hour drive, but with stops it usually takes about 9 hours.  The kids did pretty good, all things considered, which I was really happy about because with 3 kids there is a much greater probability for something to go wrong.  Especially since my kids have a history of puking in the car.  But the trip went smoothly and we had a great time up in Kansas City 

They've had a lot of snow this winter and cold temperatures, so the snow isn't melting between storms.  My parents live at the end of a cul-de-sac, so the snow plow dumps the snow right in their front yard.  I got a little giddy seeing that big huge pile of snow and thinking of all the fun possibilities.  

On Saturday morning we got the kids all bundled up and my brother and I took them out to play in the snow.  I dug the kids a snow cave.

With a secret tunnel out the back.

Just the right size for the kids.

Then we decided the cave wasn't big enough.  So I did some more digging.

And eventually, with the help of my brother, Seth, the cave was big enough for all four of us.

We also did some sledding off the top of the hill.  Not a long ride, but the kids didn't care.  And the snow was packed hard enough that we could sled without the cave collapsing.

Then we had hot chocolate, of course.

It was Madison's perfect day.  She planned the whole thing.

Sunday we went to see progress on the KC temple.   Brrrr.  It's about a 45 minute drive, but the weather was so cold that we only stayed long enough to take pictures. 

It's becoming tradition for my mom to help me can while I visit.  This time it was apple pie filling.

And thanks to this awesome apple peeler-corer-slicer (the machine, not my brother, although he did do the work) it goes super fast. We canned 13 quarts of apple pie filling!

Monday my dad and I took the kids to the dinosaur restaurant.  It's like Rainforest Cafe, but with dinosaurs.

Giant T-Rex

The kids thought it was great to pretend like the dinosaur was eating them

If I was going to eat one of my kids, it would be Colton.  Not that I would eat my kids, although sometimes I do nibble on him.

Boy Heaven.

And here's my happy baby.  He did great in the car and had a fun time being spoiled.

I do have to brag a little.  The trip home took me less than 8.5 hours!  That's probably the fastest I've done it with the kids.  And I don't speed (much).  I did make Madison and Jaxon do a pit stop on the side of the road because I didn't want to drag everyone into a nasty bathroom.  They may have had starbursts for dinner because there wasn't a restaurant in sight when it was dinner time.   And when we finally did stop for dinner at 7 p.m.  I probably made them eat it in the car because Madison could win awards for how slow she eats.  BUT we made it home FAST and no one suffered too much!  

So yes, a good trip!