KCKidsFun

My son (age 7) and I had an awesome day yesterday.  To be honest, I think we would both say that it’s been our favorite day of Summer 2009 so far!  Before I continue–a disclaimer–this is in no way a paid plug for Paradise Park.  I wasn’t paid off, bribed, or seduced into writing this post!!!  With that being said, we dropped our little Indian princess off for her final day of Mother’s Day Out and my son and I headed out–just the two of us.

We went out to Paradise Park in Lee’s Summit, MO; we’ve done this many times before but never made it to the “big kid” stuff which is outside.  And we felt like we’d been missing out!  Our 18 holes of mini-golf became about $6 cheaper when I used the great printable 2-for-1 coupon found on www.visitkc.com.  Poke around the site for lots of great deals on KC’s attractions!  (And while you’re at it, you won’t want to miss the monthly feature articles that Kate and I have been writing!)  After feeling like I got a great deal, I splurged on two go-kart tickets at $8/each.  My son had never driven his own go-kart…and yesterday was the day!

With the first ticket, I drove a two-person “car” and I was amazed a)how fast it went, and b)how many laps we got to do before our time was up!  With our second ticket (no coupon here) Speed Racer got behind the wheel of a Junior Go-Kart.  It was a single-seater and much slower.  He did a great job!  He came in first place!   ;-)

We ended up spending about 3 hours at Paradise Park, all of it outside, for a little more than $20 for the two of us.  It was worth it and we had so much fun!

Around here, we’ve always operated under the assumption that there are 100 days in summer.  We know each and every word to Phineas and Ferb’s theme song, which waxes on about the “104 Days of Summer Vacation.”  Imagine my son’s horror when we decided to open the calendar and actually count the days–weekends included–and discovered that there were only 86 days of summer vacation!!  GASP! School pictures are to be taken on August 10.

A while back, I posted a sweet “to-do” list of summer activites in the McKinney household.  I don’t know how they are faring over there, but the Rosses haven’t done so well.  We’ve logged a few days at the pool, but it seems like we’ve had a wetter summer than usual.  We were fortunate enough to send our son to Outdoor Eduation Laboratory’s day camp for a week.  That was a real highlight.  And baseball.  Lots of baseball!

That being said, the Rosses have a busy few weeks ahead of them!!  Here are a few of our “summer wishes”–straight from the refrigerator door.

• Catch a T-Bones game at Community America Ballpark.  We try to see one game each summer and always love it.  We love how you can park your car (for free) and be in your seat in under 5 minutes.  It’s awesome!  Throw in a healthy dose of fun promotions and you’ve got a fun family night.
• Kansas City Zoo- I can’t even believe we haven’t made it to the zoo yet.  I know that my daughter has never seen anything like that–didn’t recall seeing a zoo in close proximity to her orphanage in India–so she’d really enjoy it.  Gotta get there next week.  Kate beat me to it–check out her blog post from earlier!
• Worlds of Fun–I really like Worlds of Fun but I’m seeing that this will morph into a boys-only outing this summer to check out the new Prowler.  I have no interest in carting a 2-year-old around the park in the heat.  Does this make me mean or insensitive?  Only smart, if you ask me!
• Moon Marble in Bonner Springs, KS–I really like Moon Marble.  I think my son has been twice and it’s one of those places you can keep going back to.  In fact, I think “the Moon” was one of the very first places I blogged about. The marble-making demonstrations are very cool and hold the kids’ attention because there is FIRE involved!! We have to go back this summer.
• Farmers Markets–I regularly shop the markets myself and have been visiting several different ones throughout the metro.  But I haven’t taken the kids yet this summer.  I read in all the “foodie mags” what a neat experience it is to take the kids, introduce them to the farmers, allow them to choose vegetables and then prepare a veggie-centered dinner as a family.  Am I completely delusional for thinking that this could happen?!?  It sounds slightly too Beaver-Cleaver to actually be pulled off.  I don’t know who would be most turned-off by the vegetable-heavy dinner:  my husband or my kids.  Stay tuned.
• Miniature Golf–there are so many places around town to play and we haven’t visited one yet.  Kind of embarrassing.  I’d like to head over to Lee’s Summit’s Paradise Park one evening and do two or three activities, including mini golf and bumper cars!
• My mom picked up a flier on the new Adventure Oasis water park in Independence, MO.  It looks really cool!  And it’s not expensive.  Daily admission is $22/family of four for Independence residents and $25 for non-residents.  There are water slides, a lazy river, climbing wall, lap pool, sun deck…you  name it!  Call 816-325-SWIM for info.

Until we get it together and start crossing things off the list…we may just have to resort to sleeping (camping) in the tent (see above picture).  Now THAT says summer!