Spring Break - Part 2

Since Big Sister was out of school for an entire week, we "girls" packed the car and hit the road. They are fairly new residents in their part of the country so exploring the surrounding cities as been a regular activity since they moved. Today the car headed to Kansas City, Missouri. This was my first time in that state.

I have said before that when I hear the word vacation, I think of beaches. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that you can have a great vacation smack in the middle of the country. 

Kansas City was a beautiful place. There were public sculptures everywhere. And there are enough fountains that you could even take a "fountain tour" of the city.There are many museums, too. 

But our trip was planned for Baby Sister and Big Sister. The first thing on the agenda was the aquarium where Baby Sister met the "meow fish"—which is toddler speak for "cat fish."

I had fun just watching everyone "watch." I don't get to see them often so that was pure pleasure for me.

There was so much that we didn't have time to do. Legoland and Hallmark's (headquartered here) Kaleidoscope for young visitors and the Crayola Cafe will have to wait for another time. 

But we did have lunch where our food was delivered by a toy train. And we made time for frozen custard before we left Crown Center. 

Remember the short sleeves we were wearing at the St. Patrick's Day parade just days ago? Well, the weather changed. We had fun at the Kansas City zoo, but the most exciting part for me was getting to see snow. Mommy pointed out that we knew we were not in South Carolina when bus loads of school children walked through the zoo paying no attention at all to the falling snow. Here at home any falling snow would have school officials beginning to think about school dismissal and all the mamas would be headed to the store for bread and milk.

Another day we went to the Science Center and the Planetarium at Union Station. The Science Center had activities for kids of all ages. Baby Sister loved spending time in the preschool room where she could touch and play with everything.

Big Sister talked me into paying $2 to go in the tornado booth with her where we enjoyed standing in 78 mph winds for a few minutes. Trust me, there are no photos of us coming out that booth. What grandmothers will do!

The funniest moment was in the railroad section. We had been through rooms and rooms of railroad displays. The girls had played with the model train display and climbed up into an engine car. But when we rounded another corner Baby Sister shouted, "Daddy-O!" She saw it before we did. The cattle car exhibit included a cowboy —

—a cowboy complete with a mustache. She didn't want to leave this "Daddy-O." So funny. But she had to leave him and we all had to leave Kansas City. There were still more things to do at home. My trip was only half over.

I promised I would share a few recipes from my trip. Here is one from Mommy. She made this yummy appetizer one night while we were there. And this first tray disappeared so quickly, she had to put together another batch.

She said she didn't have a recipe per se, but saw a picture of this appetizer on Instagram and figured this was close. The photo of the ingredients is pretty much the "recipe." It's a great combination of tastes and textures.

EASY SMOKED SALMON HERB APPETIZERS

1 package rosemary sea salt French rounds

1 container Boursin light garlic & herb cheese spread

1 package smoked salmon (she used nova lox)

fresh rosemary

Spread the Boursin cheese onto the French rounds. Top with the smoked salmon. Add a tiny sprig of fresh rosemary to each one.

The French rounds are crunchy which pairs nicely with the creamy cheese. And this is ready in minutes. If these exact ingredients are not available in your store, you could adapt this recipe to whatever version of these ingredients you can find.