Sesame Street Live

Saturday morning, we took the kids to Sesame Street Live at the Sprint Center. We arrived at 9:00am for the meet and greet characters, to our surprise it was Elmo and Zoey. Then we went to the play zone where the kids colored, played the piano, danced, sat in big birds nest, and etc. We had great seats, we were in the first row, seats 1-4. Parker was in amazement during the show, he clapped but sat quietly. Madison sat and danced next to Dad.

Planes, Boats and Automobiles

Last week I was in Canada on business.  We knew some storms were coming into the area, but nobody was really concerned.  This part of Canada doesn't receive a lot of snow and when they do get snow, it isn't much.   The first two days in Canada it didn't snow at all.  In fact, Sunday was a very nice day.  But Tuesday, it snowed all day as we met with our client.  By the time we left for the hotel at 6pm, it had stopped snowing and we were under the impression that the multiple inches on the ground was all the area was going to receive.  The plan was to leave for our 9am Wednesday flight at 7 am.  The drive is normally 20 mins, but in case the roads were not perfectly clear, we wanted some extra time. 

Waking up Wednesday morning, we had a little surprise.  It started snowing at 4 am and it was coming down harder than the day before.  The roads were covered with packed snow, ice and fresh new powder.  So we drove in our front wheel drive Chevy up and down hills to the airport.   It took us almost 50 mins.   But we made it without any scares.  Once through security we sat down for some coffee only to hear them announce some flight cancellations.   As the read off the list, our flight was named.   They were going to shut down the airport. 

So we hurried up, grabbed our luggage from baggage claim and grabbed one of the 4 cabs sitting outside the airport.  We had the driver, who was from NY, take us to the ferry.  The plan was to take the 9am ferry to another city and try to catch a flight out of Canada so we could get home that night.  We had 30 mins to catch the next ferry... to take a normally 10 min ride... in the snow.   Twenty five minutes later, I jumped out of the cab to order ferry tickets as my companions grabbed luggage and paid for the taxi.   To tell you how close we cut it, only one person got a ticket behind me.  Then the closed the doors and told everyone they'd need to wait for the 11am ferry. 

The hour and a half ferry ride was better than I had anticipated.  The food was decent and it was a relatively smooth ride.  I had cell phone reception so I was able to make new reservations and plans.  After docking, we took another quick cab ride to the airport and proceeded to our gates.  We all had separate plans to get back to KC.  For me it meant flying to Denver, switching airlines and then flying back to KC.   Instead of getting home at 6pm, I landed after 10.  Despite not knowing how I was going to get home for most of the morning, it all worked out in the end.  But those are the joys of traveling on business...

Snow on the dock

Inside the Boat

Looking out the front of the boat



coming off the boat





A bar where I hung out to stay warm.. this was not on the boat, but it is a very cool bar



Cherish the memories...

Please do not read on if you are offended by my bluntness.....Cancer SUCKS! Today, an angel was sent to heaven, Ms. Emily. She is such a beautiful person, friend and teacher, whom we had the honor to know for about 3 years. Her vibrant smile could light up anything including a entire room. We know she is at peace, but she will be deeply missed.

On Friday (Jan 13), I heard her prognosis was declining. Ms. Emily battled Stage 4 breast cancer and won the battle once, just not this time. With that, Madison and I attended a benefit for Emily at Buffalo Wild Wings in Liberty, MO. I was in ahh at the number of people she knew and lives she touched. The event was 2 hours long and it that time they raised over $8,000..tells you how amazing she is...Throughout the weekend, I kept up with facebook posts from family, friends and other teachers to find out her status.

Times like this, you further embrace your Heroes, Family and Friends. I reached out to Grandma Johnson (my grandma) to tell her how amazing Emily is...and that you must meet her. Grandma is and was my hero. I took the kids to school this morning, talked to the teachers, gave hugs, and shed some tears. (very heavy heart as I got in the car after dropping the kids off). I did not move but 50 feet from the CernerKids sidewalk but a bright red Cardinal flew right in front of me, sat in the tree to my left and starred straight at me. (For those of you that do not know...a Cardinal was my grandma's favorite bird and I saw one the morning she passed away on 5/1/2010). Grandma, thanks for always being there for me. I really needed it...love you!

Ms. Emily...CernerKids

To show support and love for my friend Emily Marie Gaiser Messbarger I've included her in our blog. She is one of Parker and Madison's teachers at CernerKids and such a HERO. She is a strong and amazing person. She is battling cancer. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers during the trying days they have ahead. We LOVE you Emily!

Christmas 2011

Sorry for the delayed post. The kids have been keeping us busy. We had a great Christmas as we headed to Nebraska to celebrate with the Rezac's, Hanson's, and Bohuslavsky's. The kids enjoyed their power 4 days of celebrations. We had one "last" celebration on Monday before we headed home, after two miles of driving both kids were sound asleep till we reached Mound City..We were impressed. Prior to heading to Nebraska we took the kids to Mady and Me (boutique in Prairie Village) to meet Santa one last time. Both kids had a blast. Also during our "break" Daddy and Madison made peanut-butter kiss cookies. Madison lined up each "kiss, " yes such and organizer, just like mommy. Wishing you a very happy 2012.

Tis the Season....

As we get closer to the holiday season, we've been celebrating, learning, dancing and playing. We've had fun this year with our Elf on the Shelf named Prince. He has been watching Madison and Parker to determine if they have been naughty or nice. We try to find him every morning before we go to school. You never know where he will be.

This weekend we had Cerner childrens holiday party. The kids had a morning filled with donating hats and scarfs to children in need, followed a candy cane path for treats, decorate cookies, color, have some more treats, see the Sugar Plum fairy, and met Santa. Madison was so excited, she wants cookies for Christmas and that is what she told Santa..in the very short time she had as her brother wanted nothing to do with Santa. Once they visited Santa, they received dinosaur and monster books, what a hit.

After the party it was cookie time, so Madison made and helped decorate cookies, in her Princess dress no less. It does not matter if it is inside out, backwards, half on or upside down, as long as she is wearing her Princess dress she is in love.

Madison and Parker love to dance, what a great time for Christmas music and a little Brotherly/Sisterly love...

Cerner Kids Photo's

Nebraska at Michigan

Jen and I went to the Nebraska/Michigan game in late November.   We flew out on a Friday and met Jen's cousins Dave and Sue at the airport in Detroit.  They had flown from Omaha and landed a few minutes before us.   We spent Friday night in downtown Plymouth Michigan eating at an Italian restaurant on the square and frequenting a couple of Irish bars.   We ended up spending most of our time at my favorite hangout (when we lived in Plymouth) Doyle's.  There we met up with old friends and neighbors.   It was great hanging out, telling old stories and catching up on the new ones.   We left that night later than we planned, but it was well worth it.

The next day we got up and drove to Ann Arbor to tailgate with another set of friends I've known for a long time.   While it was very cold, they had plenty to eat.  Anytime you can sit around talking college football, that is a great day.   They had a great tailgate setup with TV's and a nice stereo.  

As we headed to the game we notice the lights were out.  AA had a power outage so it felt very old school for the first half.  The game was not what we expected and I know the team could have done better.   As for the stadium itself, I was surprised that the band was micro phoned and played through the speakers.  I also thought the half time show was comically bad.  Michigan did a tribute to viral youtube videos that included showing a video and then playing the song or a song related to the video.   The viral videos they showed included 'Charlie bit my finger', 'two hand dance', 'tralololo' and 'rainbows'.  Michigan has a great band, but this was awful to watch. 

That night we went back to Plymouth to hand out at Doyle's and try to forget about how our team played.   Reflecting it was a great trip.  It was great showing Dave and Sue where we used to live and what made Plymouth so special.   It was great seeing old friends again.  It was great feeling like we were home.   Despite the game, we had a great time.

First trip with the kids has been decided

We've been thinking about taking the kids on a mini vacation to see how they do in a hotel like environment. Outside of grandma's the kids have not stayed the night anyplace else but home. There has been several options we have explored, such as Branson, Table Rock, Lake of the Ozarks and just camping at smithville lake. But we decide a nice trip to Mahoney. We will be renting a cabin (yes, I know... Not quite the hotel experience, but it will be new) in April and spending the weekend enjoying the park and most likely, a trip to the Omaha Zoo. I am very excited to see the kids enjoy the outdoors.

Yo Gabba Gabba Live

On Sunday, we attended Yo Gabba Gabba Live in Kansas City. The kids enjoyed the colorful characters and the dancey dance music. The show started at 5pm and ended around 6:15pm. After the show we had tickets for a meet and greet. This is where we were able to take pictures with the characters, dance with them, listen to stories, play games and have snacks. The kids had a great time. Also, during the show Madison was singing some of the songs. She was saying, "All my friends are different, but we love them just the same." We had a great time and the kids really enjoyed themselves. Darin and I are still recovering as we keep hearing the same songs over and over.