Vacation of a Lifetime

I'm the best wife ever....really. For a belated 10-year anniversary present, I sent Dave and Davis on the ultimate boys vacation. It evolved from wanting Dave to see his first Kansas City Chiefs game in Kansas City to a dream come true for him and his friend Brent Beutler, who is a life-long St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan. We realized that St. Louis was home the same week as KC's first pre-season game. And the plans began. Pretty soon, Brent's father-in-law, also a Cardinals fan, was in on the action because he also has never seen his team play in their home stadium. Add in the two sons, and you have one f-u-n road trip. Every day I talked to Dave that week, he said, "Thank you, thank you! This is the best trip ever!" Here is the summed up itinerary:

Monday: Leave Idaho, in a Cadillac no less! The rental company had given away all the sedans, so they had to SETTLE for the Caddy. Brent and Dave decided this would be okay...no extra charge and all. They drove to Cheyenne then stopped for the night.

Tuesday: Drive 15 hours until they reached St. Louis. LONG DAY, but the boys kept themselves busy with movies, sticker books, and video games. How did we survive before DVD players?

Wednesday: While Brent met a client in the morning, Dave took the boys to the old Courthouse, the fountains, the Arch, and swimming at the hotel. That afternoon they picked up Grandpa Henderson and headed to the Cardinals stadium. What a perfect game! St. Louis won, there was a home-run, and it was Fan Appreciation night, so they got autographs. Throw in hot dogs and cotton candy and great seats, and you've got 5 happy little boys.

Thursday: Went up inside the St. Louis Arch, drove to Kansas City, more hotel swimming and some sleep.

Friday: Visited Liberty Jail and a Harley Davidson factory. Bummer deal is that you had to be 12 to tour the actual factory, so they couldn't take the boys back, but they still had fun sitting on all the demo bikes in the visitors section. That afternoon, they went to Oceans of Fun water park for 4 hours of non-stop water fun. Are you tired yet?

Saturday: Visited the Chiefs practice field and watched cheerleader halftime rehearsal :) Then they went to a Children's Museum for a Chronicles of Narnia interactive exhibit and a Science exhibit. Back to Chiefs stadium in time to see the players arrive, and watch the tailgating commence. Dave was SO HAPPY to finally be there. The game began, and so did the rain. 3 hours and 2 inches of rain later, everyone was drenched and the Chiefs had lost by 2 field goals. Gotta love the NFL, they don't stop for anything.

Sunday: Went to Sacrament Meeting at a ward in Topeka Kansas, then drove all day to Rollins, WY.

Monday: Sleep in a smidge, have the last meal on the road, and arrive back in American Falls, ID, happy as can be.

While this was all going on, Stephanie and I and our girls went to my parents' house in Utah for some fun little girl time. We went to the Treehouse Museum, Layton Park to feed the ducks, swimming at Roy Aquatic center, made treats, watched late-night movies, enjoyed all the shopping, and enjoyed being VERY lazy. Thanks Kristen, as always, for being the playful, helpful aunt.

WHEW!