Favorites at Fort Leavenworth

Every place we move there are favorites. Those places you will never forget. The ones you only go to once, but made memories that'll last forever. The ones you go to over and over.

Here are my favorite places! (In no particular order)

Food:
1. Okie Joe's.
LOVE this place. Best BBQ we had while in Kansas. It is part of a gas station. The line will be out the door.
2. All Slabbed Up.
Best burnt ends, bottle caps(fried jalapenos), and sweet tea.
3. Retro Diner.
Super cheap, little hole in the wall. Get the pancakes.
4. The Depot.
They give you little complimentary donuts.
5. Bassa Prua.
They have AMAZING donuts and the brunch is delish...especially with a mimosa.
6. Pullman Place.
Cheap food, but good. There is a table in the front of the restaurant with a train IN the table. So cool for the kids to see.
7. El Porto Mexican Cafe.
Queso dip, chips, and salsa are given right away for the table.
8. DFAC.
The dining facility on post. It is cafeteria style, so many options, and delish dessert options for VERY cheap.
9. Baan Thai.
Pad Se Eew and the thai iced tea is on point.
10. Tacos El Gallo 
Legit. Street tacos. Jamaica. Tamales. Pan Dulce. Mexican market attached to it.

Coffee:
1. Harbor Lights.
Caramel blast latte. Egg, sausage, and pepperjack on a bagel. Homemade cheescake. O.M.G.
2. Meriwether's.
Lavender Moon latte. They also have local art displayed for purchase and antiques.

Kid Places:
1. Monkey Bizness.
Indoor small zipline, bounce house slide, swing set, toddler area and cafe all inside.
2. Karnes playground.
Amazing zipline and climbling stuff for kids. Not for the paranoid parent. Made for older kids or adults if they want a good unconventional workout.
3. Landing 4 theater.
Cheap movies. .50 cents on certain days.
4. Wonderscope.
Children's interactive museum. It was an old school turned museum and each old "classroom" is a different theme/activity.
5. On post activities.
So many awesome parks here. Plus a skate park, horse stables, a pool, bowling alley and gymnastics room.
6. T-Rex Cafe.
Restaurant, but definitely for the kids.
7. Wheel Thing.
Indoor roller rink. Like, old school roller skating.
8. Missouri River.
Just to walk around, skip rocks, enjoy the bridge view, small playground.
9. Kansas City Zoo.
Not huge, not small. Gorgeous scenery.

Shopping:
1. Zona Rosa.
2. Olathe.
3. Ikea.
4. Legends.
5. Bonner Springs Dollar Tree.

Jason just named this list the 4 Pillars of my life. I think that is pretty accurate.

Dollar Tree.

I freaking LOVE the Dollar Tree.

I go there for all types of stuff. Arts & crafts, party supplies, toys, kitchen stuff, etc. There is even food!

In my most recent trip, I went to look for some outside toys for Nate. I allowed to him to have $5 and he could choose what he wanted. With my approval. My rules were it had to be an "outside toy or activity". That's pretty much it. We looked around and since all the Spring/Summer stuff was out, it was easy for him to pick outdoor themed items.

Nate's $5 Dollar Tree picks:
1. Shovel
2. Rake
3. Bug catcher kit
4. Bug catcher kit
5. Bugs

Watering can is from Target; $3, everything else 

is from Dollar Tree.

Now he has all the little tools he needs to be a bug catcher. The extra bugs were in the toy aisle and not the Spring/Summer seasonal items. His other choice was a hula hoop, but bugs made the cut instead. 

If you are looking for some new outdoor stuff for the kiddos, head to Dollar Tree! Sidewalk chalk, bubbles, pails, small sand toys, pin wheels, pool noodles, hula hoops, Frisbees, water guns. I wanted to buy the entire store. 

Here is Nate playing with his new bug catching/exploring tools.

We had a blast talking about bugs and pretending to garden. He loves to be outside and in the dirt so this was totally up his alley.

My next Dollar Tree purchases will be organization bins for our kitchen pantry in the new house. I have a vision.

What is your favorite thing to get at the Dollar Tree? Or any other discount store?

Monkey Bizness.

Since my family is in town, we were trying to decide what to do with their days here in Kansas. It obviously needed to be kid Nate friendly. A friend told me about Monkey Bizness and it seemed different and fun.

This place was awesome! There was a huge blow up slides, air-hockey(Nate's favorite), swing sets, climbing toys, a zip line (best part, in my opinion) and a baby area. It also had food and coffee. Like...good coffee. Bonus for parents. 

We ordered pizzas and drinks. Decent prices for food and we went during a "power hour" which had discounted admission. Another bonus of parents...you only pay admission for the kids. 

I would definitely go again. It was clean and the kids had a blast! There are a few locations, 4 in Colorado, 1 in Texas, and 1 in Kansas. If you need a play to play and stay indoors, I would recommend it. We will for sure be going again.

**I did not get paid to write this post. This is my personal experience and not affliated with Monkey Bizness. **

Rice Sensory Table

I finally did it. I made a rice sensory table for Nate. I'm pretty sure it has been pinned to my Pinterest board since I found out I was pregnant with him. Sensory tables are common in daycare and preschool settings which is where I was first introduced to them. I never thought to have one of my own until Pinterest came out.

If you have met Nate, you know he is a tad bit crazy, so actually making a sensory table with rice was less than ideal. I mean, yes, he would be getting the benefits of it and have fun, but I would be the one to clean up the mess. I wasn't ready for that. He has a ton of toys as it is. I was on a Pinterest binge these past 2 weeks so I decided to muster up the strength, energy, and motivation to make him one. He has a water table so I knew I was going to use that. We found the water table on the side of the road during a bulk trash day so no cost there! You can get them almost anywhere, but they are a pretty penny for something that just holds water. There is this one from Amazon, which is what Nate has or you can make a DIY one.

Since I already had the table, I just needed rice and whatever objects I wanted him to play with and explore. I got a 10lb bag (around $5) and some gems ($1.11 each, 2 colors). That's all I bought.

Nate knew we were going to make this rice table. I had been talking about it and while we were shopping I told him what the gems were for and he sat in the back of the cart wanting to tear open the 10lb bag of rice. When we got home, he helped me clean the water table and pour the rice and the gems in. We used beach toys, cars, cups, dinosaurs, spoons, etc. as this first trial run. Basically toys he already had that are considered "outside toys".

Patience is a trait we are CONSTANTLY working on so we used this moment to work on that...

He had to wait until I got my camera to take a before picture. He did well. We also had to discuss the "rules" of the rice table. I couldn't just let him go for it or rice would have been everywhere in 2 seconds. 

RULES:

1. Rice stays IN rice table (as much as possible). I didn't fill the table all the way up for this reason. If there was more rice I was pretty much setting him up for failure. With only about an inch of rice he can play and scoop and sift, etc., with enough room. 

*rice will still come out* I laid a towel under for those moments. 

2. Rice has to stay in the bottom area and the unused toys are at the top. The top part is very shallow and I wanted some type of separation between the rice area and toy area.

3. Only use the toys that are in the toy area. He wasn't allowed to go get another toy he thought would be fun or he wanted. There was enough to play with and I plan on switching them out and doing themes, colors, etc., later. 

4. No throwing rice. He can scoop, he can fill, he can drive the car, dump, shovel, spoon and pour, but NO throwing. and yes, I use the word No. 

5. Have fun.

After I took my pictures and went over the rules it was time to play. It was like Christmas day to this kid. He had a blast. I let him explore for almost 30 minutes by himself, and then I took the opportunity to have a little lesson. I emphasized the word "only". We played a game that we could "only" scoop up clear gems, then "only" brown gems, then "only" rice". We did this for 15 minutes or so. It was a sorting game and introducing new vocabulary. 

I am glad I waited until he was 2 to do this type of sensory table. I think it could have gone very bad if I did it at a younger age. If your kid is mature enough, go for it. There are so many options and ideas for sensory tables! Colors, edible, water, animals, letters, magnets, shaving cream, bubbles, straws, shredded paper, rocks, sand. Here is a Valentine's Day theme one if you are up for making one this week!

I'm going to keep this the way it is for at least a month. Next month I will probably do a green theme for St. Patrick's Day. He is loving it right now and it cost me less than $10! 

A day in the life of....

**There are a lot of pictures in this post*

I have been wondering what people think I do all day. Since we now live in Hawaii, do people think I just go to the beach, sip drinks with umbrellas, and hula dance everyday? Although that would be nice, that is SO not my life. If I am friends with you on Facebook or you follow me on Instagram, you know most of my posts are food and Nate. That is pretty much my life. I like to stay busy with Nate and get out as much as possible. Our stay here in "paradise" will not last forever so we try to take advantage, but most of our days are full of organized chaos.

This is what today was like for us:

6:30: Nate wakes up. Change a diaper, get his milk cup, go to playroom.
6:45: Read books, watch videos of Nate on my phone (watching himself might be his favorite activity).
7: 10: Outdoor play. Pool, cozy coupe, water table.

7: 45: Breakfast
8:00: Change diaper, change clothes
8:05: Easter egg sensory. I let him do whatever with them for awhile, then I put puffs inside, let him shake them, and eat them if he wanted.

8: 30: Clean up eggs. Blocks. He is finally getting the concept of stacking and attaching them without getting frustrated.

8:45: Papasan Chair climbing. It started raining again, so instead of more outdoor time I took the cushion off the papasan and let me climb all over that. He had a blast!

9:10: Vacuum living room, guest room, Nate's room. He LOVES to vacuum and I got some cleaning done.

9:30: Banana snack.
9:40: Easter egg sensory (again). His choice...just walked right over to the bucket.
9:50: Tantrum. He wanted to use the Easter egg bucket as a step stool to climb. I wouldn't allow it so a meltdown ensued.

10:00: Freeplay. Stacking toy, shapes, cars, etc.

10:15: Easter eggs
10:30: Stacking toy, electronic toys (laptop, phone, camera, etc.)

11:00: Shoes! He tries on all the shoes, tries to walk, runs, gets a different shoes. Loves this "game".

 

11:30: Change diaper. Lay down for nap. Usually I lay him down closer to 11:45-12, but he was showing signs of being tired.

**I worked on this blog post while he napped**

12:45: Last minute babysitting. Eli arrives! 

1:00: Nate wakes up.

1:05: Play for Eli and lunch for Nate.

1:20: Play with both boys.

The boys looking for the lizard.

Playing "restaurant".

4:00: Eli leaves. Snack for Nate, Free play.

4:30: Start dinner. I hate this time. It is the most stressful, chaotic, meltdown time of my day. I took a few pictures to give you a glimpse...

Cutting veggies while Nate is playing on the floor.

\

Nate destroying cabinets.

Nate has a meltdown because he can't help cut the veggies.

I pick him up to start the pasta and I get a colander hat.

Nate has a meltdown because I won't let him touch the stove.

I wrap Nate because he is driving me insane.

5:20: Start eating dinner. It's a mess.

5:40: Outdoor play.

6:00: Skype with my mom.

6:30: Bathtime.

6:45: Lotion and prescription oil and pajamas. Bedtime stories. Brushing teeth.

7:00: Nate goes to sleep. I clean the kitchen.

7:20: Relax. 

And that's that. It wasn't a bad day, just non-stop and we were home all day. Dinner time is by far my least favorite time. I dread it. Nate has at least 2-5 meltdowns in less than an hour, mostly because he wants to help doing things that are just not safe. I know he doesn't understand, but it is SO hard not to get frustrated. 

Does Hawaii seem so wonderful now? It is still pretty amazing. The amount of outdoor time, even at home, is one of my favorite parts of Hawaii. The fact that Nate can play in his pool at 7:00am is the best! 

Can someone bring me a margarita now?