Fritz's.

The greatest place in the world for a boy who loves trains.

And great entertainment.  It was noisy, but there was always a train moving somewhere.

This one was in our booth and just went back and forth...

About the time we were ready to leave, he finally put on the hat.

This was Grandma, trying to keep him entertained while we were waiting for our food.

But nothing was better than just watching the trains.

And of course Colton and Kyler were along for the ride.  Here is the devil child herself, showing her sweet side.

And Jace even wanted a smooch.

Here's Mel and Colton...riding the escalator. The first time he tried to get on the escalator he freaked out.  So after 3 or 4 times, he was a pro.

And even though we were supposed to go to Sea Life and didn't make it due to a HUGE line...we topped off the day with a trip to Cabela's.  That makes 3 trips to Cabela's for Jace within a week...he is started to know his way around the place.

Probably not a good thing that I helped him shoot his first gun...but this doesn't really count.

And, can't go to Cabela's without a trip to see the Whitetail deer exhibit....where you have to be Jace's size to get the best views.

Vacation, part 2.

More photos from our Kansas City vacation...

Kyler...before freaking out about the dinosaur...

Auntie M!  Or Mel, or Issa, or whatever they decide to call her...

Where did those kids go?

The train!

Fish-ing boats.

Jace is quite the gardener!  He loves helping to water the plants, and helped me haul a big load of tomatoes back to the house!

We went for a late afternoon boat ride with the Luedke's the weekend.  Anytime you mention a boat, Jace thinks it must be a "Fish-ing boat."

What a great end to a weekend!

Vacation.

With the Luedkes.  Oh, the fun we had...

It started with Jace's first ever trip to Cabela's...

Where he was fascinated by EVERYTHING...but especially liked this huge turtle in the aquarium.

He was anti-pictures...maybe because he was too busy looking at all the animals.

From there we went to T-Rex to eat...here's the Luedke family!

See the dinosaur behind Kyler?  Here is her before...

And after he turned around and saw it...

Jace and I at T-Rex...

And the "boys" working on some coloring pages.

We got a quick family photo after leaving T-Rex...

And a super fast shot of the kiddos...

because they just weren't into pictures.  And there were so many people walking around it was hard to get a picture anyway!

After staying at a hotel, the next morning we visited the Kansas City Zoo.  Here's Kyler and Derek...

And Jed and Jace...

Watching the Sea Lion show!

Colton and Jace taking a rest by the elephant exhibit...

And after giving them each a snack, they stood still for a picture!

Strollers were a must!

The first and last place we stopped at the zoo was the Polar bear exhibit...it was awesome.  This bear was putting on a show!  He would swim laps, and come right in front of the glass where Jace and I are standing and push off to swim away!

That's a big 'ol bear!  Thank goodness for strong glass!