The Kids At Fritz's

I'm back! Mea culpa, mea culpa. To say that I have been super busy would be an understatement. The good news is that I found my Dad's birth family after 67 years! I am going to write about it soon, I just need to wrap my head around the events of the past month first. I feel like I have been walking around in a dream this past month. lol In the meantime I thought I would get caught up on some of the things we have been doing at the end of this winter. Ughh! I can't wait for spring.

Burt, the kids, and I went to lunch at Fritz's recently. Fritz's is a restaurant at Crown Center in KC. It has a train theme, and the kids LOVE it there. There are all kinds of toy trains running throughout the restaurant. When you order your food you do so via a telephone at your table. The food is your typical burger joint type fair. Their onion rings are soooo yummy. They serve a variety of burgers, with just about anything you can imagine to dress them up. Really greasy, good, umm umm yum food. The part that the kids love best about the place is that your meal is delivered by train. It is a big thrill for the kiddies. Everytime one of the trains pass by, they hope that the flag will drop at our table, and lower our meal down to us. If you bring your young ones to KC, you have to stop in at Fritz's. It is a tradition for kids in the KC area.

The Train Outside of Fritz's

Some of Our Conductors

Santa's Wonderland

Burt and I took the kids to the Santa's Wonderland at Bass Pro Shop in Independence. The Bass Pro Shop just opened up this past spring at Independence. I believe that it is the National Headquarters for Bass Pro. It really is quite a store. The place is just huge, and it has anything the outdoorsman could possibly want or need.

The store has two levels, with a variety of trophy animal displays. Brendan liked this pic because it looked like the deer was munching on his hair.

There are several things you can do at Bass Pro. There is a shooting gallery, and a rock climbing wall.

The kids love the glass elevator. They love to go up and down and wave to us through the glass. There are waterfalls, and even a water wheel. They also have an indoor aquarium with giant catfish. This guy was about 4ft long and a hundred pounds.

After looking at the fish, there is an amazing seafood restaurant on the lower level. The kids got mini pizza. I got some amazing fish with homemade chips, and Burt got a delicious buffalo burger.

When the weather is warm you can eat out on the patio, which overlooks the lake and Waterfall Park. The park is named because there is a waterfall. The kids LOVE Waterfall Park, but it was too cold to play there today. Instead they played at the checkers tables on the upper level, which are located by the Fudge Shop. Yum! I love all the old fashioned candies they sell there. After exploring the store, the kids went to the Santa Village they had set up there at the store. It was really cute, and the Santa was great! Brendan and McKenna both froze and forgot what they wanted to ask Santa for Christmas. lol It reminded me of the scene in A Christmas Story, when Ralphie freezes in front of Santa a blurted out that he wanted a football. They even had Red Riders for sale! Brendan told Santa he wanted a clubhouse, even though he has been begging us for a Batcave toy. lol Afterwards we asked him why he asked for the clubhouse. He said he panicked, and wanted to go back! lol I reassured him that he could write Santa and let him know that he changed his mind. The kids got to see Santa, eat cookies, see a cool toy train display, and play a variety of games. It was a cool way to start off the Holiday Season. A season that I am sure will be full of all sorts of fun times! Enjoy this little video I made of the day.

Dining With Dinos

The kids and I went to the coolest restaurant. It is located in the Legends Shopping Center. The name of the restaurant is T-Rex.

It is a dinosaur themed restaurant with animatronic dinos throughout the place.

It was so cool, and the food was just amazing. The dining experience includes a dino bone dig area, learning center, a mine filled with geodes, and a Build-A-Dino Workshop(the same as Build-A-Bear). Brendan and McKenna each made their own dinos. McKenna made one for Andrew, and Brendan made a t-rex. I had to giggle because he named the thing Pooney. He first went with Ballo, but decided Pooney was a much better fit. lol Makes me a little nervous over what my future grandkids will be called. I guess it will be ok, because Ashton used to want to name everything Jonkey. lol I have no idea (and I don't think she does either) were the hell Jonkey came from.

T-Rex was huge. The animated dinosaurs were really impressive. Andrew's eyes were like saucers when he saw them. There is an enormous Giant Squid hanging from the ceiling when you walk in, and a wall with the image of hot lava pouring down on one wall.

Upstairs is the Ice Crystal Cave. It was really pretty. There is also a dino dig area. Brendan was so funny when he laid in the sand flapping his arms and legs to make "sand angels". He also loved the beautiful geodes.

The Legends itself is a beautiful shopping center. It boasts some of the most interesting restaurants in the KC area. It also has a huge fountain area that the kids love.

We will definitely be making a trip back to T-Rex.