Last Minute Road Trip To Kansas

On the spur of the moment, we decided to head to Kansas to visit my brother and his family.  I thought it would be a good time since my hubby was away on a business trip.  So me and the three kiddos, plus Nana, and Boppy all loaded up into our minivan and hit the road.

We had never been to my brother's new house and it had been since March that we got to see these kiddos.  Blows my mind how quickly they grow.

My niece is absolutely beautiful and is moving all over the place.  Little G enjoyed sitting there watching her move.

And this big boy is only two but is starting to wear 4T clothes.  Lucky for me, he enjoyed smiling for the camera.

These two had a blast together.  Running around, chasing each other, playing together.  It was fun to watch.

The kiddos and I bunked in my nephew and nieces room while all of my brother's family bunked in their room.  Nana and Boppy stayed up in a hotel.  This was in the morning....these two were waiting patiently for breakfast.

Morning giggles.

My nephew is very loving and is all about giving out hugs.  This one turned out cute of him and his sister.

So Sissy G had to follow suit and hug her baby brother.

So then my nephew wanted to hug his baby cousin.  This game they were playing made for great pictures.

This one was my favorite because you can tell how much they both care about each other.  Pretty special.

My niece is definitely attached to her mommy and daddy so I didn't get to hold her as much as I would've liked....but I made up for that by taking lots of pictures.

You might have noticed that you haven't seen any pictures of Bubby yet.  That's because the morning we were getting ready to leave he woke up with a 103 degree fever.  We took him to urgent care to see if we should go on the trip and the assured us that he was having an asthma attack and it was causing his fever.  They did not see any sign of him actually being sick and they gave us the green light to go on to Kansas.
Half way to Kansas I got a call from the doctor that had seen him at the urgent care and she said that she didn't think to check him for influenza.  She said if he was still running a fever in the morning to get him into another urgent care in Kansas.  As luck would have it, he was still running a fever and was very lethargic and not himself the next morning.
We went back to an urgent care who then sent us to the hospital for further tests.  In the end they concluded that he had a bacterial infection but they didn't know where.  They checked nose, throat, ears, lungs and all that looked good and even the influenza test came back negative but according to the blood work there was an infection somewhere and he was dehydrated.  They put him on a strong antibiotic and by the next day he was starting to act more like himself.

Looking out the window waiting for Nana and Boppy to get there.

The two littlest with my brother and sister-in-law.

Love this look on my nephews face.  Adorable.

Did I mention that these two did just about everything together?

It was fun to watch.

A beautiful sunrise.

Nothing cuter than lil ones in their jammies.

This little guy slept a lot but eventually started feeling like himself again.  Praising God.

Lifting Sissy up to peak inside of the Little House on the Prairie school house that is right down the road from my brother's house.

Cute family picture...

It didn't turn out quite as cute for me.  I think that is Bubby hiding behind me.  Oh well.

The two grandma's with some of their grandkids.

Always together.

Trying to climb up to see inside the Little House on the Prairie house.

Nothing like watching your kids running and laughing.  It was so good to see Bubby feeling good again.

Once the kids found the animals they were set.

And I think the animals liked it too.  Except for when the kids were trying to feed them sticks.

I've never met a kid that loves animals as much as the little guy.

This little girl ain't too far off though.

My goodness...she looks so grown up.

Climbing up to get a closer look....

So the two boys followed suit.

But then it was time to get down because one of the animals started trying to eat my daughter.  Not cool.  Thankful she wasn't hurt.

Big smile.

If they were looking at me this would've been an awesome picture.  Still cute as it is...

After Little House on the Prairie we went to a local zoo.  Cousin's just chilling in the double stroller.

Not sure what was in the bottle of water Boppy had in her hand....but she started getting a little goofy on me at the park.  I hope when I'm 81 I'm able to still climb on a horse statue....

Or sit on an alligator.  

It was a beautiful and fun day to spend together.

Back at the house...We got a kick out of watching my niece....

Tackle Little G.  We'd sit him back up and she would push him over again.  It was a game she was playing.  She is smaller than him but she definitely got the best of him.  It is going to be a blast watching these two grow up.

This is the front of my brother's house.  It is a cute house with an amazing view all around it.

The last night we were there we got to enjoy a gorgeous sunset while watching the cousins run and play in the yard.  Doesn't get much better.

We also got a picture of Boppy in the swing that my brother built with three of her great-grandkids.  There was a moment of tears when Boppy said she thinks this will probably be the last time she is able to make the trip over to Kansas.  The long drives just aren't easy on her anymore.  She was very thankful for this trip and I'm so glad we made the decision to go last minute.  We had a blast and it's nice knowing that we will get to see these guys again soon since they will be coming home for Thanksgiving.