Road Trip(s)!

I’ve got spring fever, but we’re back to 40-50 degree weather here in good ole Missouri - or “Misery”, as my aunt , who hails from Iowa, always liked to say when we were growing up! (Love you, Aunt Mary!) But I’m ready for the nice weather, and I’m already starting to plan some summer fun for the next several months. All trips have to be fairly “Dave Ramsey approved”, since we just returned from our scuba extravaganza. That’s the big one for this year. Last summer our big trip was our family vacation to Florida with Jace and Neil, which included renting a house for a week, a fishing boat for several days and a side trip to Universal City and Sea World for Jace and me.

So, what’s on the agenda?

· BBQ/Smokin’ Contest in KC – Jace, Dave and I will head up to KC for Dave’s boss’ annual event/contest in a couple of weeks… Dave and friend Garry (GDykes!) are partnering up to smoke some delicious recipes…. Yum!!
· St. Louis Cards – We’re running late this year in purchasing tickets, but I expect we’ll go to two or three games over the season – a couple with the kids, and one or two adult weekends.
· Visiting the Aunts and Uncles – Last year we headed up to see Uncle Rob, Aunt Tara and their families in August, before school started. Dave is going to try to join us this year, for a long weekend – it is always hard with his schedule, since he is gone M-Th. I’d love to make it out to North Carolina to see Aunt Ann - she says it has been 5 years since I helped her move out there, and I owe her a visit – she’s right.
· St. Louis Arch and the City Museum- Jace hasn’t been up in Arch yet, so that’s a trip for this summer – we’ll stay with Grandpa and Mimi, so our only cost will be for admission to both, and lunch for the day. I’d not heard of the City Museum until this past year, and it sounds like it will be a blast! When I was young, the exciting thing in STL was the Magic House - apparently the City Museum is in the old Brown Shoe Factory in St. Louis, and has some amazing things for kids, and the prices are very reasonable. Check out the link above!
· Zac Brown Band – Kansas City, Arrowhead Stadium - Dave and I are heading to see ZBB, Kenny Chesney and more at an all-day event in July; Tara/Luke are driving from Quincy to join us, along with several folks that work with Dave.

One other thing on my wish list is to take Jace to a concert; he’s never been to one, and always likes to hear about it when I go – one of my favorite things to do – because he likes music, too. (And, I need to take him while he’s still willing and excited to be seen at a concert with his MOM!) We have a big 3-day event coming to Springfield, and a couple of bands he would love to see (One Republic and Train), but tickets are $139 each for a three day pass – yikes! Maybe we’ll find lawn seats to something less pricey in STL or KC this summer. Any suggestions - let us know!

That’s my tentative list for now, but it will be a challenge to get it all accomplished -in addition to Jace and Neil’s full schedules of baseball games and our other commitments at home during the spring and summer. Never enough time to get it all in, but we’ll give it our best shot!