Sunshine, Family & Frozen Custard
We’ve had a trip back to Kansas City on our radar since the last time we were there. We’ve been looking forward to springtime to head back to the Kansas side of the city and join in celebrating with the MO family. Our niece, Briley, is graduating high school! What an exciting thing to be there for! Along with this, we planned to find time to attend all the sports events, a dance recital, Mother’s Day, and a very special memorial event for Autumn. Needless to say, we didn’t plan for much downtime during our visit.
Mile: 64,721
Quote of the Blog: “If you’re in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you’re still in a bad mood go for another walk.” - Socrates
Song of the Blog: “Tiny Dancer” - Elton John
The travel day to Kansas City was pretty uneventful. We’ve learned to park away from the airport in Boston and take a shuttle in. We caught a couple of odd looks, as we were traveling with our ski gear to bring it back to MO for the summer. The flights were easy, but the five-hour layover made for a long day of travel. Once we got to Kansas City, we quickly picked up our rental car and headed to Leawood—straight to bed.
The next day, Amity and I had different activities planned for ourselves. I had to complete a 20-mile run as part of my marathon training, and Amity spent the day working on floral bouquets for Briley’s graduation party. It was such a nice day! We’ve been dealing with cold, wet, and windy conditions on the East Coast all spring, and the Midwest delivered exactly what we needed. My run sucked, but I got it done. My highlight was seeing a baby snapping turtle on the path next to a river. That’s a first! The next big run is my marathon, and at this point, I’m ready to get it over with! Amity’s day was much more relaxing. She did a great job putting the flowers together and got to spend time with her family as they all started arriving for the weekend. Juan Carlos had made a trip up from Costa Rica and was coming down with Julie and Jeff. Asa, Kelsey, and Seager also made the journey over from Columbia, and Mike came down with his brother Rick. That afternoon, we all went to watch Atticus play soccer. He played really well and even scored a goal! We had to celebrate the day with a trip to Andy’s Frozen Custard—a place we’ve greatly missed. It’s the best ice cream (frozen custard) we’ve found in our travels!
Our second day started bright and early with a special event. Andy’s family and friends had organized a fundraiser walk in memory of Autumn. We all gathered at the elementary school near their house to do a little over a 3-mile walk. I was excited to have Baylor drive me there, as he just got his driver’s license. His parking was a little suspect, but he crushed it! At the beginning of the walk, so many people had gathered in respect for Autumn, the entire Early and Sparks families, and everyone whom Autumn had touched in her life. It was truly powerful to see everyone there to support those directly impacted by breast cancer and those currently battling it. Along with everyone else, we were happy to see friends like Ashton, Michelle, and Ryan.
Following the walk, we had a quick turnaround to get to Finley’s end-of-the-year dance recital. She is a total rockstar! She’s very confident in her dancing, and being able to passionately put on a smile—even with all the turmoil in her life—is so inspiring! We were also very entertained by the little girl who got on stage with her dance team and didn’t move, other than to wave at her parents. She did it multiple times and stole the show!
For most people, that would have been the end of the day—but we’re not most people. After getting everyone back from the recital, we quickly piled into cars and headed down the road to Briley’s high school graduation party. She had a really nice event with a couple of her friends, who were also graduating. We were able to take some pictures with Briley, enjoy some laughs with the family, have good drinks, and indulge in some delicious ice cream treats! All this sunshine has been so nice. We are so proud of Briley—the work she’s put in over the past four years, the challenges she’s overcome—and she continues to be a family-oriented, passionate teenager! We can’t wait to celebrate with her in just over a month on Cape Cod. Fortunately, that was our last event of the night. Mike and I helped clean up by gathering the flowers, then hit the road.
Our last day in Kansas City got off to a slow start. Since it was Mother’s Day, we took Julie out for brunch. She picked Jess & Jim’s Steakhouse in Martin City. I really liked this spot. We’d been in the area a couple of times, but had never eaten there. It’s a classic restaurant—nothing fancy—but everything was very good. One of the odd things about this place is that they start every table with a tray of beets. I passed, but Amity enjoyed some. YUCK! We had a great time celebrating Julie. We know it’s been a really hard year for her, and we were happy to celebrate Mother’s Day with her.
After brunch, she and JC headed back to Kirksville. That left just Mike, us, and the Earlys. We got the whole group together and headed into Kansas City to check out a new venue called the KC Wheel. This spot has a massive observation wheel, a restaurant, and some miniature golf. Kansas City is a really bustling city, and new places like this are popping up all the time. We were there to play mini-golf! It was a little busy, so adult clubs weren’t available, but I made do with a plastic kid’s club. Amity, Atticus, and Baylor all cheated, while Briley, Finley, and Andy battled it out. Mike isn’t a putt-putt kind of guy, so he all but napped at a high-top table in the dining area.
We wrapped up the afternoon with a couple of beers and nachos at Boulevard Brewing Company, which is right next to the KC Wheel. I love this spot! Great beer, cool venue, and I’ve done their tour before. We just enjoyed the balcony, good weather, and the views. It was great to catch up with the Early’s and hear all about their winter ski trips and how much they’ve started to love the mountains! We can’t wait to do a ski trip with them in the future. That night, we all visited Autumn’s grave to see the recently completed headstone. Baylor was proud of the help he gave his dad while working on it. They really made something so sad look beautiful and empowering. What a beautiful place for her to rest. We ended the night relaxing at the Early’s house. Amity spent the evening inside chatting with Andy and Finley, while Baylor, Mike, and I sat on the patio catching up. Who knows where Atticus was. This weekend was a whirlwind, and getting a little downtime to connect with everyone was much appreciated! We wish we had more time with everyone, but we had to head back to Massachusetts in the morning.
Our flights back to the East Coast were quick and painless. We got back into Boston early in the evening, which gave us a relatively early arrival time back in Wareham. It was amazing to be back in the Midwest with Amity’s family for a jam-packed weekend of celebrating! The sunshine was the icing on the cake. Back at it—only now we’re already looking forward to the next chance to Live Rad!!!