The Lay of the Land

This is our second (3rd? they were back to back) assignment in Kansas, and one of the last things we did before leaving 3.5 years ago was visit Kansas City. It had become a fairly special place for us. We got engaged there at the Plaza and visited some attractions with friends several times as well. After getting settled in, we've found ourselves with a bit of extra time on our hands, so we've been off exploring how things have changed. One of our favorite haunts used to be the Hallmark Gold Crown Center. We made use of Parent's Night Out at the Child Development Center and had a very nice date there, enjoying Kabuki and having some excellent vegetable tempura. We discovered that the vendors immediately outside of the Crown Center had expanded, but for the most part, the inside vendors of the center remained unchanged. The only real change we noted was that the scrapbook shop on the second floor that used to have a photo studio inside had been replaced by a fragrance shop, and the paint-your-own-pottery place across from the Crayola Cafe had been replaced by a cell phone vendor. Both were disappointments. We've also explored the shopping on NW Barry Road, and there are robust shopping complexes that hadn't even broken ground when we left in 2004! It should be fun exploring Zona Rosa. South on I-435 we recalled that there had been construction going on around the Kansas Speedway when we'd left, wondering what it would become. Now that area is bustling with a huge Cabela's, Nebraska Furniture Mart (*chuckle*) and Legends, a massive shopping complex, and all the restaraunts that go along with such a commercial district. Seeing such changes happen in such a short period of time is a bit mind-boggling, since we'd thought KC quite robust in the shopping arena as it was!


I love the downtown in Leavenworth. There are so many simply lovely shops. There's a paint-your-pottery place, at least 5 antique shops, a flower shop with a toy store above, and an amazing quilting store. It's been fun exploring all the nooks and crannies.


I'm also looking for the options available as far as activites to occupy C's time go. Although I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, I bought two excellent books: Shifra Stein's A Kid's Guide to Kansas City and The Kansas Guidebook for explorers by Marci Penner. The former I found at Waldenbooks and the latter at a local shop called the Corner Pharmacy. I've found tons of interesting things for us to do and see while we're here. We tackled on of the top items on our list before F left for training, going to the Wonderscope Children's Museum in Shawnee. It was a reasonable drive, and there were plenty of activities for her there. There are programs on Tuesdays and Fridays for little ones, so Cand I will most likely venture down there at least once a month. Here she is on our first excursion. She was fascinated by the gate in the art room that maintained the partition between the rest of the room and a sandbox area.