Kansas City At Home Dads

Activity: Ice Skating

2011-10-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Location: There are several ice skating rinks and community centers that offer this activity. We went to: Line Creek Ice Arena. Contact nubmer 816-513-0760.

Cost: Varies depending on where you go. Look for the fee to be under 10 bucks a head. Our cost was 5 bucks for ice time and 2 bucks for skate rental.

Age appropriate: 3 and up. Keep the younger kids at home.

Review:

The KCDADS were fortunate enough to have a KCDAD set this up for us which might have made all the difference in the world. He offered to take us and our kids out on the ice and give us Ice Skating lessons. We would like to offer a big thank you to Jimmy for taking the time to do this for us!

With that said, I did find that the staff at the community center very helpful. They took their time with us and helped make sure that we got the right sized skates for the kids. Most of our kids, and some dads, had never been out on the ice before so it was reassuring that we had Jimmy there and the staff to help us make a smooth transition.

As for the ice itself, I have no idea what makes "good" ice and "bad" ice so I will say that it seemed great to me. Another neat little thing that they had was bleachers and a locker room with a glass wall so that you could watch others skate while you tied your own boots on. As you would imagine, this was helpful when some of our kids darting out that way while we were still lacing up.

What made this a great activity for us and the kids though was the home made "ice walkers" that they provided to us. As you can imagine, none of our kids really knew how to ice skate. To avoid a bad experience of noses and butts hitting the floor, we were giving the ice walkers. These were little walkers were made out of plastic tubing and resembled a walker. The kids would grab on to these to maintain balance while out on the ice. We had enough of them as well so that almost every child could have one. And when we were short the kids easily shared between breaks. As you can imagine, this can be a physically challenging task which is good. We need to push our kids at times and this was a good activity to do that.

We were able to skate for about an hour while our KCDAD gave pointers to the kids. As this ice rink was inside, this is also an activity that is good year round. It was a good activity and something that I think we will do again next year. I know that this activity can sound daunting but don't let that deter you from giving this a shot with the kids.

Activity: The Berry Patch

2011-10-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Location: The Berry Patch, 22509 S. State Line Road, Cleveland Mo. For directions see website!

Website: http://theberrypatchonline.com/

Cost: Varies upon how much you pick. It's free to go and play but you pay for what you pick. I found the prices way, way cheaper than buying blue berries at the store though!

Age appropriate: All Ages

Hours of operation: Varies based on season. Visit website for more details but in general, harvest time are in the months of June, July and August.

Review:

Go and pick some blueberries! It's a fun and great thing to do and this is the place to do it at.

For starters, you should check the website provided here for more information on how to get to the Berry Patch and what can be picked at the moment. Crops size and availability will vary from year to year based on growing conditions. Also make sure you check the picking report that is also on the website to see what the harvest will be like.

Now, on to the picking. We went when the it apparently was a "low harvest" and the picking report did not make it sound all that great. I was pleasantly surprised though when we showed up and there appeared to be plenty left to choose from. There are big fields where the blueberry bushes are and there were still some to be had. You had to work for them a bit more than usual apparently, but the group and our kids were up for the task. What we learned was that a 3 foot tall kid is the perfect height to get right up under the bushes for those hard to get berries that most people would skip. After an hour of fun work, and it was fun, my kids and I were able to walk away with a good 2 pounds of blueberries and that doesn't count the ones that they ate directly from the bushes.

The fields themselves were well kept and easy to navigate. Be warned though that you do need to keep an eye on the kiddos for several reasons. 1. blueberries stain. 2. The bushes are high enough that it is easy to lose track of your shorter kiddos. It was also somewhat of a busy weekend when we went as well but I found the entire site well organized, the staff friendly, and the other visitors friendly as well. It made for a good time.

Now once your picking is done, there are other farm like things to be done here. For a small fee (2 bucks a kid) you can have your child ride on their "train" which is a bunch of little cars being pulled by a tractor. There are also plenty of hay bales to climb on which is always a great activity for the kids. Finally, there is a small playground that the kids can run around on. It's a bit run down but still fun. There was a large drainage tube there as well that the kids loved to get inside of while their friends pushed it down a hill. Don't worry, this is intentional and it's not a construction site leftover. It's really fun and there are plenty of places from some great pictures with the family.

Once you have picked your berries, it's now time to pay for them. If it's busy, you are going to have a bit of a wait. You have your berries weighed at the front and then get in line to pay for them. The line to pay for them though is through the actual gift shop, which I'm pretty sure is intentional as they are trying to get you to buy various nick nacks. It works and we walked out of there with some honey sticks and also the best glass of blue berry lemonade that I have ever had. Honestly, it was worth waiting in line just for that glass. I didn't even know there was such a thing. However, if your kids are waiting in line with you be prepared to grab a lot of darting hands here and there. There are a lot of interesting things in the gift shop and they love to grab them when you are not looking.

If you have planned well, and I'm assuming you did as you are reading this, you have brought a packed lunch. This is a great place to have lunch at on a good cloudless day. There are picnic tables but also bring a blanket and throw it between some trees. We did this and it worked out very well.

This is defiantly an activity that we will do again next year. I'm also hearing that Blackberries will be good to go in 2012. Expect to see the KCDADS in full force.

Activity: Drive in Movie Theater

2011-10-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

Location: There are several around time, please use Google. We used the Twin Drive In located at 1320 N. 291 Highway, Independence Mo

Cost: The Price of a movie ticket, about 8 bucks

Age Appropriate: 2 years of age and up. I think the younger kids would be a bit bored.

Review:

There are some good things to say about this place and some bad things. The idea was great and the KCDADS and wives got together for a showing of the Smurfs. I won't comment on the movie.

The drive in costs the same as you would pay for a movie ticket so that's a good thing. The facilities though are a bit worn down. There is no grass to lay blankets on and most of the joint is in need of a serious paint job. I can't comment on the quality or cost of the concessions either becasuse we brought our own stuff.

That is one of the great things about doing a drive in movie. Basically, we tailgated. And that's what made this place worth it. We had a whole set up. We had blankets to go over the gravel, coolers that acted as tables with fresh refreshments. We brought in prepopped popcorn and plenty of other snacks.

We found four great little spots in the middle and backed our vans up. We then popped the trunks and the kids could either sit in there (sometimes they did), on the blankets, or in the lawn chairs. It was mostly wives at first but another dad did join us. One of the other things that I liked about doing a drive in, other than reminding me about my own youth, was that if the kids did get bored, they could run around a bit. It wasn't very crowded and they didn't bother anyone and there was enough space to run between our parked cars. This became an issue the later the movie got.

It was like a late night picnic was some easy entertainment. The adults could also catch up and talk and since we were outside, it didn't really bother anyone. The sound for the movie now comes through your radio as well so that was acutally a nice touch.

Finally, if you were so inclined and the smurfs were about to melt your brain, there were 3 other movies showing behind us. I found it fun to turn around and watch 10 minutes of Planet of the Apes to a Smurf soundtrack. This probably explains my last beef with this place: there was some pot smoking going on. I don't know who and I don't know where but I know what doobage smells like. Just a word of caution on this one.

It's a fun activity and we will go again next summer but I'm guessing we might try to find a different place.

Activity: Kansas City Community Gardens

2011-10-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

Location: 6917 Kensington, KC MO

Phone: 816-931-3877

Website: http://www.kccg.org/

Hours: Monday Through Friday: 9am to 5 pm

Cost: Free

Age appropriate: All

Review:

From their website: a not-for-profit organization that provides self-help and educational assistance to low-income people, children and community groups in the metropolitan area to grow their own food from garden plots located in backyards, vacant lots, schoolyards and at community sites.

This description just doesn't do this place justice. Yet another KC gem hidden in the rough. For starters, this place is what it sounds like, a community garden. But it is much more than that. It's a place where we can all learn about sustainable growing and have a good time doing. And as usual with most of the places we visit, this place is made even better by the attentive staff that gave us our tour. Our tour guide was patient and worked extremely well with the kids.

The garden is a couple acres big and does have many native MO and Kansas plants growing there but they also have many wonderful fruit and vegetables. In fact, the tour is not just a mindless information only kind of thing. It's highlighted by picking your own peppers, figs, Asian pears and other interesting oddities right off the tree and eating them right there. Our tour guide brought along a small knife and would cut up each sample for us right after it was picked. For the record, fresh cantaloupe that you pick your self tastes very, very good.

The tour did include seeing some of the native plants and our tour guide was great at answering any growing questions that we had. As one of our local farmer boys was with us, this was a great thing to have as we had a lot of questions.

We also got to try some things that we never would have tried before such as French Sorrel (leaves taste like a sour patch), a Mouse Melon (looks like a baby watermelon, tastes like a cucumber) and fresh peanuts that we dug out ourselves. Interesting note about peanuts, they are dry roasted for a reason. Eating one straight out of the ground was not so good. Kind of mushy.

The kids enjoyed all of it though and were very game to try everything from the candy peppers to the purple beans. So with that said, it turns out we were actually healthier just for going.

The tour didn't end there either. Once completed with the outside, we went inside where we planted our own Sweet Basil that we got to take home. For Free. We love free stuff. The kids also got a chance to look at a very big spider that I wanted to smush and to play with a very large Praying Mantis that I wanted to run away from.

In the spring or late summer, make this one of your destinations, you won't regret it.

Activity: Longview Lake Beach

2011-07-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

Location: Take I-470 to Raytown Road and turn south, go approximately two miles, turn left.

Website: Longview Lake Beach

Ages: Appropriate for All

Cost: $3.00 for children under 15, $5.00 for adults

Hours of Operation: WEEKDAY

May 31 - June 10	3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m
June 13 - August 12	1:00 p.m - 7:00 p.m.
August 15 - August 19	3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

WEEKENDS & HOLIDAYS

May 28 - September 5

11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Review:
This is the second great lake beach we have found in the KC area. In the summer, it's a great place to go.

Located on west side of Longview lake, it can be a bit difficult to find. But just drive around the lake and you'll come across the facility that serves as the gate for the beach. A word of caution though, the gate to get in can be a bit tricky if you are carrying a load of stuff that going to the beach with children requires. But be patient and persistent, the beach is worth it.

This is a large beach, probably a bit smaller than a football field. It's covered with good sand, not the crap that you can sometimes find at lake beaches. This sand extends into the lake itself so there is no mud or seaweed that could freak the kids out. However, there is no shade or chairs on the beach itself so you will need to bring an umbrella (if you have it) and chairs. Or you could just lay down on a towel which is fine but just remember that the sand can get mighty hot. Bring sandals or flip flops for the whole family to make it past some of the hotter spots.

But once the kids get down to the water, it's all play. Sand castles, moats, little wars between good and evil, it's perfect. The water itself also slopes gently and goes for a pretty long way so it is deceptive about how deep it is. Make sure you keep a good eye on the kiddos when they are out there.

There are also a couple of beach volleyball courts out there for a couple of you more athletic dads. As for locker rooms and bathrooms, I honestly can't say as we had no need for them.

This is worth several trips in the summer where you can spend a great day at the beach.

j

Activity: The Fort at Ft. Scott, KS

2011-06-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

Location: Ft. Scott, Ks. You can probably, ya know, find the city.

Website: Ft. Scott visitor's page.

Ages: Appropriate for All

Cost: Free

Hours of Operation: Open year round. April through October--8:00am to 5:00pm. November through March--9:00am to 5:00pm

Review:

I love history and I love free. Put them together and give me some free history and I'm a pretty damn happy guy.

The Fort of Ft. Scott is located about an hour south of Kansas City. Head straight down highway 69 and you will run smack into the town. The Fort itself is actually part of the town and it's really hard to miss. It's across the street from down town.

So that's where it is, but now let's get to what it is. From their website:

The story of Fort Scott is the story of America growing up. When the fort was established in 1842, the nation was still young and confined largely to the area east of the Mississippi River. Yet within a few years, Fort Scott's soldiers became involved in events that would lead to tremendous spurts of growth and expansion

It's a Fort. Should be pretty obvious as it's in the name and all. Actually, it's 1/2 original and restored from from 1842 and it's 1/2 recreated. Somewhere in it's long history several buildings were lost and destroyed. They have been rebuilt to match the restorations of the other buildings and this provides a very nice scene when you arrive.

The Fort is layed out in a square, as you would expect from forts, with the armory located in the middle. It's bigger than some of the other forts that I have been to and takes a little over an hour to walk around with the kids if you stop to read some of the history markers that are presented.

They do offer guided tours but as I had a 3 and 5 year old, we tend to skip these. Thankfully they also let you do self guided tours.

On these self guided tours you basically go from building to building exploring the lives of the soldiers that lived there. It's really well done, the exhibits in each house are well presented, simple and informative. I was able to get a lot out of it and still keep my kids from wrecking something historic and expensive.

There are the officers quarters, the stables, armory, bakery, quartermaster's house and the commanders house and a lot more. When arriving, the visitor's center provides you with maps so you will always know where you are going and what you are seeing.

I do want to add that the bathrooms are located throughout the property and are all very well kept. When you are traveling with kids, this is a pretty big deal.

As for lunch, I would recommend eating across the street in the downtown area. We ate at the 1950's style cafe and it was super cheap and good. Lunch for the kids and myself and we got out of there for about 15 bucks.

Take a road trip, Ft. Scott is a great place to spend a day and as it's only an hour away from KC, give it a shot.

Hiking: Burr Oaks, Habitat Trail

2011-05-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

Location: Burr Oaks, Habitat Trail, 1401 NW Park Rd, Blue Springs MO

Website: http://mdc.mo.gov/regions/kansas-city/burr-oak-woods-nature-center

Cost: Free

Appropriate for: All ages, no strollers though on this one.

Hike Length: 1.5 miles

Review:

Who's up for a good hike? If you are and you want to bring the kids with you, try this pretty easy trail. Check the website for a map of the trail and the others that they have there, it's located a little bit before you get to the nature center on the left.

This is an easier hike that my 3 year old and 5 year old did without to much trouble. Of course, we took frequent breaks at the numerous benches provided along the way. This was a nice addition as it gave us a chance to try and see some wildlife while we were out there. Along with the benches are educational placards placed to describe what it is your are seeing and what you are looking for. As our hike was a little bit later in the day, we didn't get a chance to see much but we have come across deer and rabbits in the past. These were all nice touches when hiking with toddlers.

The trail itself is decently well maintained and free of any overhanging or over grown grass. For the most part, it is covered in gravel or rock and flows well with it's surroundings. Several bridges span streams and these are also nice places to stop and watch some wildlife while teaching your kids about nature and stuff. Also while we were walking, I did not see any trash or garbage left behind by previous hikers. This is something that I always look for and can tell you alot about the people who walk the trail and those that maintain it.

For the most part, the trail is not difficult with few hills. However, the habitat trail does feature some "limestone bluffs" in the middle of the trail and these provide just a touch of excitement for the little ones. They are really no more than 6 foot high out croppings but provide a decent beginners challenge for kids that like to climb them. They are easily navigated and provided a good chance for the kids to break up the hike a little bit.

All in all, it's a good hike for the younger kids wanting to get the kids outside. Nicely covered by a canopy of trees, the hike provides just the right amount of activity and challenge for younger ones.

The Kite Festival

2011-05-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

Location: Metropolitan Community College Longview, 500 SW Longview Rd, Lee's Summit Mo

Website: http://kckiteclub.org/kitefest.html

Ages: Appropriate for all

Cost: Free!

Dates: Check website but it is normally an annual event held in April.

Review:

Yet another festival in the KC area that is a must see. We seem to have a lot of these but this one might be the best. Located on the front lawn and surrounding campus of the Longview Community, the kite festival features hundreds and hundreds of kites. This is pretty much what you would expect from a Kite Festival I suppose but it's still pretty awesome to look up into the sky and see 500 kites being flown like a scene from Mary Poppins.

The majority of kites being flown will be amateurs and families that have come out for the day. All crowd on the lawn and send up their little representations of their families. It can become crowded at times, both on the ground and in the air, but this in no way has ever taken away from the joyful experience that it is. Everyone seems to be very respectful and courteous to everyone else. Sure, there are times when you kite gets tangled with others, but this is always handled well and with laughs.

Not all the kites in the are are amateurs though (and there are some bitchin kites by amateurs). On the far end of the field is a special roped off section that features the more hard core kite enthusiast. If there is such a thing as a professional kite flyer, and I don't know if there is, this would be it. This section of the field is not for people to wander around in but to gather at the edges and look up and some the spectacular things that are flying.

There are kites and windsocks as large as football fields. There are cartoon characters, animals, flags, just about anything that you could imagine. And they are HUGE. And of course, because this has to be part of it, there are several dragon kites because those are cool and would eat your little kite for lunch.

But don't dispair if you don't have a kite, you can buy one here for a pretty reasonable price. Sure, they have some of the more expensive and creative kites, but they also have good quality kites for the everyday family that can't spend 50 bucks on a kite. We bought our triangle kite here for 15 bucks and it's been going strong for three years.

There are also things to do as you would expect at such a festival. Booths are plenty and there is even a little workshop where kids can make their own kites out of paper. To the credit of the craftsman, these things actually fly and the kids seem to love them. Just be warned though, this is the most crowded part of the festival and if you hit it at the wrong time you may be in for a bit of a wait.

The best part about the fesitval is just being able to sit on the grass, look up and enjoy all the kites in the air while your little one takes the helm of your family crest that took you a good 30 minutes to get airborne.

Check the website in April and make it a point to go to this thing. Your family will love it.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

2011-04-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Website: http://www.nlbm.com/

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday: 9:00 am to 6:00pm. Sunday: Noon to 6:00pm

Cost: $8.00 for adults. $3.00 For children under 12. Free for children under 5.

Appropriate Ages: Stroller kids. Kids probably aged 7 and up and enjoy baseball. Not the best place for toddlers.

Location: 1616 East 18th, Street. KC MO

Parking: Parking is free and on the street in front of the museum. This area can get a little busy so you might have to drive around a bit. We parked on a Thursday morning and really had no problems.

Review: The museum is in the 18th and Vine area which does give off a very cool vibe. It's a place that has some history and the museum fits in well here. The museum itself is in the center of the street and shares the same space as the Jazz Museum. We didn't get a chance to do that one but it's worth a second visit to do so.

Like many museums in the KC area, this one is well done. It tells the story of the players and the people behind the Negro leagues. There are historical exhibits here to see but this is a more of a read as you go thing. That's not to say that there are not artifacts there as well, there are. But the true greatness of this museum is the story that is told that is behind all the artifacts.

The museum does a great job telling you this story. Pretty soon, you feel like you are taken back to that era. The owners, executives and the players guide you through that time. As one of the dad's said, it does a great job or recreating the era that we were there to learn about.

There are a few interactive type exhibits there but not many. You can type in a players name and it will search for it and give you the background or known information on them. There is also a movie but we were unable to see it as the kids tend to have problems staying still for very long.

We did the self guided tour and it ended in one of the highlights of the museum. They have recreated a miniture baseball field at the end and have statues of at each of the positions of famous players. This is actually pretty cool with the low lighting.

A quick note about taking the kids though. There is way to much reading for kids unable to read to really enjoy this. You'll spend most of your time chasing them around. The kids did like looking at the bats, uniforms and balls as much as the dads did. However, they had little patience for the abundance of reading. My advice is to leave toddlers at home and only take stroller kids or older kids that can truly get this a little bit better than ours did.

All in all, this is something that I would want to visit again without the kids with me. Take a chance on it and you won't be sorry.

Activity: Grocery Store Tour

2011-04-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

Who tours a grocery store? Who would come up with this idea? The KCDADS apparently. When I first heard that we were doing this, I was a bit surprised. Don't get me wrong, we like doing new things. It has become the hallmark of our group to do things with the kids just for the sake of doing them. Psych museum? We did that. Mormon historical site? We were all over that. But this, this might be pushing it. How awesome cold it really be?

Apparently really freaking awesome. I know, who would have thought. And yet, it was. It was an original idea and executed perfectly by our fearless leader. The kids had an absolute blast and the dads were pretty much laughing the entire time we were there just from watching the kids.

As for the set-up, I can tell you a little bit on how we did this. We contacted the manager of the store and told them that we would like to a tour of their store if at all possible. We told them a little about our group, that on a scale of 1 to 10, we were an 11. They thought it would be a great idea to. So we set up a Friday adventure day and met the store manager at the front of the store. I suppose any store would work so to do this, just call the one that you go to most.

But what is there to tour at a grocery store. After all, don't the kids go there every week for our shopping. Surprisingly, there is a lot. We started in the cafeteria section that most stores seem to carry now. The kids got free fortune cookies and then everyone had fun poking pizza dough. The kids seem to feed off each other's enthusiasm when we do this and this is I think what got the dad's laughing so much.

Next was the bakery which is surely one of the highlights of tour. We got to go behind the scenes and watch them do their thing. This particular grocery store, Hy-Vee, makes their own bread. They showed us how they made the bread by putting dough in some sort of flattening machine thing. They also showed us the actual dough making mixer. This got the kids more excited than just about anything else. They kids loved seeing the big dough hook rip through the dough.

I do want to mention at this time how great the staff of the store was. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as well and all of them were willing to talk to us for a little bit and show us how things work. And they gave us free cheese, who doesn't like free cheese. The staff was great and I think that this outing was great because of them.

We also got to see the staff decorate a few cakes. The Dad's took special notice of this I think in hopes of recreating this. Good luck with that boys.

Next was the seafood section for our big surprise. They had live lobsters and the staff actually took on meaty looking bastard out for the kids to get a closer look at. At first the kids were a bit standoffish but excited. The staff here encouraged the kids and waited patiently. Eventually they kids each came up for a quick pet of a the lobster. Personally, I think those things look like the devils spawn but the kids liked it. When the lobster jumped a little bit so did the kids. The funniest part of the whole tour.

We got a chance to also meet the in house chief and the Dad's made a point of getting the recipe for his awesome fish that he had cooked up for us. The tour then went into the back but just at the beginning of the back doors. The kids enjoyed yelling here.

We ended up at their classroom/meeting room where the manager had taken the time to make us some homemade chips. Very nice touch, stay classy San Diego.

And of course we had to tour the pharmacy where no free samples were given.

This tour was an unexpected fun thing to do. I would highly recommend it to any group looking for something to do thats free and fun with the kids.

Man Vs. Weeds

2011-04-10T18:24:00.001-07:00

It's going to be tough today. I know it, my wife knows it, and the kids sense it. They notice that good old dad isn't talking. They see a worried look on my face, my brows are creased in thought. They hit me in the balls a couple of times and are shocked that I don't react. They look at each other and then run off.

I've got other things on my mind today, I've got a job to do and I'm not feeling good about it. I've got to go out to the yard. I have to face something that so far has gotten the best of me. This is my last chance or I'll lose it. I'll lose it bad. I'll go to a very dark place and I may not come back from it.

It's the weeds. It's always the weeds. They're back. And they're out front. Waiting for me to come back, waiting for the final battle.

When we bought this house, no one had lived in it for 2 years. That means that no one put any weed prevent down either. The first year we lived here I didn't do much. I didn't have time, I was trying to settle the family in a new city. The second year I launched my first offensive. I laid down prevent, weeded, aerated and laid down new grass seed. Some of it came up to. And the weeds came back up.

About a week ago the dandelions came back followed quickly by the clover. The clover came back in strips so it looks like it was intentionally planted. It's either aliens or my neighbors, I'm not sure. But I am sure that they have allies. But that's ok, because I do to now.

I bought a special chemical. Something deadly. Something that I'm pretty sure I'm not qualified to handle. If it was any stronger I think I would need military clearance and an FBI background check. It is the agent orange of suburbanite weed killers. My sperm count goes down just when I hold the bottle.

I do not have good experiences with chemicals but I feel that drastic measures are necessary at this point. I'm losing this battle, this war is not going my way. Those who follow the blog know that I've had a bad experiences with weeds and weed killers. Last year the big war was against the vine killing my evergreen bush. So I took drastic measures then to.

Oh, I won. There is no doubt that I won. But at what cost? At what cost! I killed the vine. I killed it good. And I killed the bush.

It's time, I head outside. I read the bottle. Mix with water, be careful not to get into eyes, blah blah blah. The bottle says that I should add 1 table spoon per gallon of water. I took this to mean to add 1 tablespoon if you had sand in your vagina and liked to sing show tunes. 2 to 3 will work better. Trust me, I've got a good feeling about this. Maybe I can turn the tide right now??

I pour the chemical into the sprayer. I add water. The vapors sting my eyes and I get a little light headed. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, I'm feeling down right giddy about this. I'm positive that this will work. In fact, I'm feeling damn fine about everything in my life. I'm also a little hungry.

I step out into the lawn and I eyeball the weeds. They eyeball me right back. The clover gives me the finger. I start to cry a little bit. There is no turning back now, I've reached the point of no return.

I grip the sprayer. I walk into the yard with the Ipod blasting. One of us isn't coming back, the only question is which one.

Activity: Cars at Crown Center

2011-04-04T12:48:00.000-07:00

Location: 2450 Grand Blvd, KC MO:

Website: Crown Center. This link takes you to the Crown Center Event Calendar.

Ages: Appropriate for All usually, depending on what activity is being offered at Crown Center.

Cost: Usually Free, however an UNVALIDATED parking ticket will cost a min of $7.00.

Hours of Operation: Visit Crown Center Event Calendar for more details.

Review:

Although we will be talking about seeing the replica vehicles from the movie "Cars", this review is really for all of Crown Center.

Crown Center, one of our area shopping centers, can offer some pretty great stuff from time to time as far as free little programs come through it. We have seen the Lego Exhibit, a replica of The Wizard of Oz, Santa and now the "Cars" cars.

So let's get right to it. Parking kinda sucks. It just does. There are some free lots around the mall but expect a pretty long walk. There are parking garages that offer pretty good spaces though and that's what I went with. However, if you do not have a validated ticket from someone in the mall, it's going to cost you a min of 7 bucks. If it's validated, you get 3 hours free. I forgot to get my ticket validated so I had to pay. In general, I hate paying for parking and I hate it even more for something like this. 7 bucks is just way to much to pay for parking unless there is beer involved. So that part was a bit of a rip off.

Onto the event itself. The cars were in front of the mall in the fountain area. Other Crown Center Programs are usually on the second floor. For this one though, there were 3 cars to look at. Lightning McQueen, Mater, and the new car from the new movie. They were full size and I will say, were very well done. They looked exactly like they did in the animated movie. If your kid is a fan of Cars, this was a cool thing to do. They also had 2 bounce houses that the kids could play in. The set up was pretty nice and really well done visually.

Now this is where I start panning Crown Center stuff.

The organization for this event, and for several Crown Center events usually just isn't that good. In this case, it was a one day showing so everyone and their dog was there. The crowd was huge. I don't like crowds so maybe this sours me a little. However, I don't think so. In order to see the front of the cars, you had to wait in a very long line for about an hour. Then a professional photographer would take your picture in front of the cars, which were roped off and no touching rule was in force. I thought this was kind of crap.

Have you ever waited an hour in line with a kid for a 3 second payoff? Not good man. And since other people were behind you waiting their turn, you couldn't really just sit and look. To do this, you had to go around the side and see the cars that way. Mater, a child favorite, was just to far away for the kids to really get into it. I chose not to wait in line that long and we just looked from the side and took a few quick pictures. It was a lot of hype and waiting for very little payoff. The kids quickly lost interest and it was time to move on.

For us, this is the story with events at Crown Center. They can host some really cool and original ideas. But if you go, you have to be prepared to fight the crowds as they are always, always busy. And that means that you won't be able to spend much time at any individual thing as other people are waiting to get in. It's a tough call on whether to go to these things or not. Good and original ideas with bad organization. So it's a crap shoot.

I believe this is our fourth venture into Crown Center for a display and it's been true each time. To many people in to small of a space with to little time to actually enjoy it. We've even gone on "off times" but there usually a crowd waiting. There is to little space to accommodate the large crowds. Use your own judgement on whether or not to go to the next event held there. It will probably be well done, but chances are you and 5000 other parents will be knocking elbows while your child tries to see what there is to see. Just don't forget to buy $1 dollar worth of some crap to get your ticket validated.

How to make a Yoda cake

2011-01-08T20:59:00.000-08:00

By Mr. Rogers

My son wanted a Star wars cake for his birthday. Being a Dad and thus the maker of miracles meant a sheet cake with the words "May the force be with you" wasn't going to cut it. If my son wanted the force to be with him on his birthday then he was going to have the mother of all Jedi - Yoda himself.

Several KC Dads had mentioned they had made cakes out of marshmallow fondant so I wanted to give it a try. Thanks to Teacher Dad and Enforcer Dad for all of their advice on the application of this alternative to icing. It turned out pretty well so I figured I would share how I did it.

1. If I was going to make his head out of fondant I figured I'd better get real acquainted with what it looks like so I printed up a bunch of Yoda head shots from the Internet and then using the kids play dough made a small model of Yoda.

2. I found several recipes for marshmallow fondant on the internet and it was easy to make. Mine consisted of: 24oz mini marshmallows, 3lbs powdered sugar, 6-7tbsp water and Crisco Shorting to keep it from sticking to everything. I made the fondant earlier in the week and stored in the fridge with no coloring.

3. I cut some thick cardboard 15” by 9.5” and wrapped it in foil for my cake to sit on. It was just small enough to fit in my freezer (damn the side by side) but barely big enough for the cake.

4. I then baked two sheet cakes using a boxed Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix in a 9” x 13” baking pan. Some websites recommend using a denser cake so it can hold the weight of the fondant. I didn't notice any collapsing using the boxed mix, but when it came to carving the face it might have been advantageous to have a denser cake. Once cool I leveled them at about 1.5 inches in height.

5. I then placed my templates on top and cut out my shapes for stacking. I used a can of Betty Crocker butter cream frosting between the sections.

6. The next morning I stuck the cake in the freezer for about two hours to firm it up before carving it. It did make it firmer (mainly due to the frozen Icing). I then carved the cake, taking a little off at a time. It looked horrible at this stage. It was such a fluffy cake that it was hard to shape it without tearing sections of it off. A denser cake may have made this process less troublesome.

7. Next I crumb coated the entire thing in butter cream frosting.

8. I had taken my fondant out the night before to get to room temperature, but I still had to knead it a little to get it workable again. I separated a little of the fondant to use as the white of Yoda’s eyes. Then I added green and a little black Wiltons gel food coloring to dye it the right shade of green. A little goes a long way when it comes to the gel food coloring.

9. I then rolled out the fondant to a little over 1/8 of an inch thick, using corn starch to keep it from sticking to everything. Some sites say to use Crisco Shortening and I might try that next time. Once on the cake, I had to stop working details into the fondant after the surface started drying out and Crisco might extend that time by holding the moisture in longer.

10. I transferred the fondant to the cake by rolling it up on a rolling pin. (avoid using a french rolling pin if you can) In the process it started stretching like crazy so I think next time I might roll it out a little thicker.

11. I then just shaped in the details using a tool I stole from my kids play dough set (gotta love that play dough). I added the white eyes and used additional green fondant to make the eye lids.

12. I then mixed the Wiltons gel food coloring with vodka to make a kind of water color to shade the face. I used a much thicker consistency to color the eyes. And then presto I had a Yoda cake.

Materials used:
24 oz mini marshmallows,
3 lbs powdered sugar,
6-7 tbsp water
Crisco Shorting
2 Betty Crocker chocolate cake mixes
2 cans of Betty Crocker Whipped Buttercream frosting
Wiltons Gel Coloring for Frosting (Black, Brown and Green)
1 Fondant Paint Brush
Foil
Cardboard

How Playgroup Works

2010-12-21T20:06:00.000-08:00

Playgroup is our time each week to get together and let the kids socialize as well as ourselves.

Here's what you need to know:

Playgroup Times: Playgroup is held every Wednesday from 10:00am to 2:00Pm. We have a second "playgroup" on Friday but we term this "Adventure Fridays".

Playgroup locations: Playgroup will rotate between North and South locations around the KC metro area so that, in general, at least twice per month a playgroup should be within 20 minutes from you. The North/South boundary is 47^th St. in KCMO.

Hosting: Everyone is eligible to host a playgroup but it is not necessary in order to join the group. The hosting list is set 6 months in advance and posted in the secure section of the website. The Host decides where the playgroup will be but typically we ask that the Wednesday Playgroup is at someone's home to accommodate all the members with infants.

Playgroup notification: When you are assigned to host PLEASE remember to send out an email to the group at least 2 days (3 is better) before playgroup. Also, not everyone in the group knows who you are or where you live so ALWAYS give your address and phone number so everybody can find you. If there hasn’t been an email, or you want to know sooner than 2 days before, CALL OR EMAIL the host - the host’s full contact info. is right on the playgroup schedule.

Lunch: Lunch is typically handled by the host but is not required. The host will serve what best fits his budget and time table. Bringing extra food to playgroup to help out the host and is always encouraged.

Host trading: If for some reason you are unable to host on the day(s) designated, please find someone to switch that day with you from your “area” (North or South). As a last resort you may email the group and someone will pick it up for you.

Check your email: ALWAYS check your email for ancy changes made that week by the host.

Adventure Fridays: We use the Friday playgroups to adventure out into our community and get everyone out of the house. The Host is responsible for determining where the Friday activity will be. Times are also subject to change, due to start times of community events, but do try and keep it from 10:00am to 2:00pm as well. For example, a museum may not open until 10:30am. For lunch, everyone is on their own and the host provides nothing. Past activities for Friday adventures have been open gyms, civil war battlefields, or field trips to a museum. Weather plays a big part in Adventure Fridays and you should check to see if the activity has been canceled due to weather such as rain or snow depending on where we are going.

What Is Dad's Night Out

2010-12-21T19:54:00.000-08:00

Let's face it, we need a break. We need a break from getting spit up on us. We need a break from reading the same book over and over and over again. We need a break from getting kicked in the balls.

This is our solution: Dad's Night Out and this is how it works.

Dad's Night is exactly what it sounds like, Dad's going out. All Dad's are welcome. New dads, dad's that have aged out and dad's that have had to go back to work. Everyone is welcome. Except Mom and the kids. They are not welcome. Sorry guys, we love you but we need just a short break.

Dad's Night Out is usually the second Thursday of the month. We schedule these events 6 months in advance typically but it is subject to change by group vote.

Also note that during special seasons we change the night of Dad's Night Out from time to time. For example, during March Madness we try to match up the night with the opening Thursday of the tournament. We also choose at least one Monday Night Football game a year as well. If there are other events, like the Hockey Playoffs, we also try to accommodate those as well. Typically, these decisions are left open to a majority vote and discussed on email and facebook.

As far as what we do, believe it or not we have a plan. One month we try and schedule an activity. The next month we schedule a bar. We alternate between these two things for the year. We also try and mix up locations so that everyone has a chance to make it. One month we may have the DNO (Dad's Night Out) in the North part of KC. The next month, we might head East, West or South.

As for the activities, we try and diversify and are always open to ideas. We have gone bowling, pool halls and our favorite: Dinner and a Movie. If you have an idea for DNO, bring it up and let's see if we can get together.

But no matter what we choose to do the idea is always the same. A time and a place once a month to get out of the house without the kids and family to spend some time with our own members. It's a good chance to really get to know each other and blow off some steam without worrying about the little ones are.

Activity: Mine Creek Battlefield

2010-12-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Location: 20485 Kansas Highway 52, Pleasanton KS

Website: http://www.kansastravel.org/minecreekbattlefield.htm

Ages: Appropriate for All

Cost: $2

Hours of Operation: Battlefield is open from sunup to sundown. Visitor Center times vary, so check the website.

Review:

We should really have a special section on civil war battlefields.

From the website:

"One of the largest cavalry engagements of the Civil War (and the largest west of the Mississippi River) was fought at theMine Creek Battlefield in Kansas on October 25, 1864 near present day Pleasanton when 2,500 Union soldiers defeated nearly 3 times that number of Confederate soldiers."

When one thinks of "Civil War Battlefield" the image of this place should come up. It's just a huge field in the rolling hills of Kansas. Seriously, it's gigantic. And it's a huge field.

Kids love huge fields though. They love space to run. They love space to tackle each other. And they love space to hide in the tall grass and hide from Dad.

The field is set up for a walking tour and walk you will. To walk the entire dirt track of the field is at least 2 to 3 miles. But you can get a stroller down there if you so choose. We made it about halfway before screaming kids asked us to turn around. But the parts that we did get to was well worth it.

Standing out in the middle of that big field made you really realize something about the Civil War. Mostly that if you were a lowly infantryman on either side, you were basically screwed. There was no hope for you pal. None what so ever. Where are you going to hide in the plains of Kansas? It's flat. There is no where to go. Now imagine that you were facing down charging Calvary on this plain. Yup, now you are double screwed.

That's the feel you get from this. The insanity that was that war and the bravery it took just to stay still. In the end, this is the battle that ran the Confederate army out of Missouri and Kansas once and for all.

The visitor center is a pretty nice setup. It's nicely built and well maintained. The local curator proved that he was very knowledgeable about the site and was very friendly with the kids. He seemed to enjoy their reckless abandon more than we did. There are several exhibits inside the visitors center that are well worth the stop off to read. There is also a display of all the bullets that have thus far been found on the battlefield and that is pretty interesting.

Take a trip to a big battlefield when you have a day to kill.

As for where to eat, your guess is as good as mine. There's not much in Pleasanton. My companion for the trip described it this way as we made our way through downtown:

"This is the kind of place that you always see the zombie Apocalypse come through."

All we were missing was a breeze and a tumbleweed.

Activity: CW Parker Carousel Museum

2010-12-21T19:03:00.001-08:00

Location: 320 South Esplanade, Leavenworth KS

Website: http://www.firstcitymuseums.org/carousel_main.html

Ages: 1 and up.

Cost: The carosel ride is $1.50 a ride. There is a museum tour at $6 for adults, children 12 and younger are $3

Hours of Operation: Thrusday, Friday, Sat--11-5, Sunday 1-5.

Review:

You've got to do this. Get off your caboose, load the kids, and take an adventure in Kansas.

Of all the unusual things that we may have done, this might rank right up there. It was certaintly one of the most fun. It's a little hard to find but luckily Leavenworth isn't that big of a town. If you get lost, just ask a local.

The carosel museum offers two things: 1. A musuem tour. You are not allowed to look around by yourself and it must be guided. As our kids are notorious for not listening and wrecking things, we opted out of this. However, it is the second thing here that you really can't miss.

You get to ride a 100 year old carosel. Sound boring? Sound mundane? Dude, try it and then come back to us.

There is a working carosel from 1913 that is open for rides during normal business days. It's like no other carosel ride that you have ever seen or been on. First, there isn't really music like you would expect. The music for the ride is supplied by some sort of machine and I'm not really sure how to describe it but I'll do my best. You remember Dick Van Dyke in Marry Poppins? Ok, that's it. It has a drum that beats as you go around and the music is contained on a metal cylinder. And it's loud. Keep that in mind.

The carousel itself is from 1913 and has been restored by the museum. All the horses are hand painted and the look is truly unique. The ride even more so.

Having children I think that it fair to say that I've been on my fair share of carousels. However, I have never actually gotten dizzy on one until I rode this monster. We were told that the carousel moves along at "8 Knots" Now, I'm not a seafaring man, I have no idea how fast a "knot" is. So allow me to translate. It's really freaking fast. Fast enough that you must hold on or you will go flying off. My son only wanted one ride on this contraption but my daughter wanted 6. It was very, very fun.

Also in this room they have another very old carousel. It dates from 1850 and is an oddity that is worth seeing. It's a hand cranked carousel, I didn't even know those things existed. It's fun to look at and wonder though who was doing the cranking on this thing.

All in all, a fun trip and worth the time to get out there. Highly recommend and the staff was gracious and accommodating.

And while you are out in Leavenworth, on a side note here, feel free to drive by the federal prison. After you do, you will be sure that THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL ANYONE IS EVERY ESCAPING THAT PLACE. It's an interesting little side trip to scare your children straight.

320 South Esplanade, in Leavenworth, KS

Natural History Musuem, Lawrence KS

2010-12-21T18:39:00.000-08:00

Location: 1345 Jayhawk Blvd. Lawrence KS

Website: http://naturalhistory.ku.edu/visit

Ages: Appropriate for all ages.

Cost: Free--but parking is $1 an hour

Review:

The museum is located on the actual campus of KU so get your rock chalk jayhawk thing ready and come on down. Although I wouldn't even think about hitting on the coeds my brothers because you are now an old, old man with baggage. The baggage being the kiddos that you drag along to this thing. Coeds don't like that kind of baggage. However, you can buy beer so maybe you have that going for you.

The Museum is a little difficult to find so make sure you visit the website first to get directions. Parking is also a bit of a pain and it costs a buck an hour so bring some quarters and some dollar bills.

But once you find it, it's a great place to go. The museum itself is actually free and we always love free. Free is greatness to all of us single income people. And as is the nature in these parts, free doesn't mean crap. This place is great.

There are 4 levels to the museum. The bottom floor is dedicated to the creepy and the crawly. Giant roaches? They have them. Things that fly and land on your neck ready to suck you like a vampire? They got those two. The whole space down there though is really well thought out and kid friendly. It's a touch and learn type of place. It's a smallish room but it's set up well and seems to encourage the kids learning on their own. And although the giant Godzilla like cockroaches freaked us all out, the bottom floor is really well done.

The rest of the floors are dedicated to other things, the highlight being the dinosaur bones. I didn't think we would find that much when we first arrived and I am happy to say that we were surprised. They the head of a triceratops and without a doubt the biggest damn turtle shell I have ever seen. Seriously, it's like a dinner table. Most things are also set behind glass so your kids won't destroy them. The exhibits are set up on either side of the hallways so there is plenty to look at. It was fun seeing the kids reactions to everything that we had seen.

The top to floors I found a little spooky but still well done. They were filled with stuffed animals of every size and shape. The highlight here is the giant stuffed bear. The signs say "do not touch" but I don't think the kids could help themselves although I'm proud to say that no permanent damage was done.

If you see one thing though in this museum though, see the beehive. It is freaking cool. On the top floor is a hollowed out tree trunk covered in plexiglass. This is where the bee's live. They get to the outside through a glass tube. You and the kids get to see everything, inside and out. It is one of the most original exhibits I have ever seen.

The museum is worth the drive out there and I would recommend it for anyone looking for a cheap adventure.

As for lunch, you have a couple of options. You can go into the town of Lawrence and find you something as there is plenty there. It's a nice town with helpful people so I would expect no problems.

Or you can head to the student union and try to relive your own glory days of eating Roman Noodles and sipping on very cheap beer. We did the student union and I was pleased with the space, the prices and the coeds.

What I learned At the Convention

2010-12-16T19:37:00.000-08:00

So you didn’t get a chance to make it to the 15th annual SAHD convention? No problem. I got you covered.

This is what I leared at the 15th Annual SAHD Convention:

That to parent effectively, I have to keep the situaiton from escalating above my “emotional” line.

That if you open a bar tab, your friends will find out about it and put their drinks on it, too. Then they will call your wife and tell her about the great prank that they just pulled. I now have to sell my Xbox. Thanks guys.

That drunk dialing your buddy’s wives in vengence for the above prank at midnight doesn’t work out as well as you would think it would.

That having a “yuk” list is a good idea to empower your children during dinner time.

That 8 Crown Royal and Cokes vs. Fancy Beer is not a fair contest.

That using “product” is essential in combing a little girls hair if you want to keep her from running away from you in the future and calling child services on you.

That two grown men can go down a slide at the same time if one sits in the other’s lap.

That children want attention, sometimes even if it’s negative.

That you should never open a package that came from the front desk in front of a group of people you don’t know because it may contain a book called “Miss Vera’s Guide To Becoming A Transvestite” that your buddy’s thought would be funny as hell to send to you. Again, thank you fellas.

That there is somewhere between 158,000 and 3 million stay at home dads in the country. I’m glad we could go ahead and nail that one down.

That Omaha, Nebraska serves the best milkshakes. Ever.

That we shold be partners with our children’s teachers and not their adversairies.

That I can pluck a CD case out of the air after it’s been thrown at Mach 3 at my head and still have the presence of mind to come up with a witty one-liner. I am an action hero.

That everyone deserves a door prize.

That you should never argue with the driver of a minivan who has access to the window locks when there are 6 guys driving cross country after a night of heavy drinking. Trust me, the driver always wins the arguements.

That chicks dig the SAHD.

That talking about potty training with other Dads can still morph into a discussion about sports.

That my wife may get tired of the phrase “That’s not how Daddy does it.” after I’ve been gone for 2 days.

That the one guy that roots for Iowa State. will find you and brag about hanging 52 points on your beloved Red Raiders even if he has to mow over a bunch of orphans to do it.

That the loud knocking at 2 am does not signify an emergency but is an indication that your new-found friends closed down the bar.

That everyone wants to hang out with Liam so that they can go home and tell thier wife “Oh man, there was this one guy……..”

That drunk texting the one guy in your group that coluldn’t go is still very childish but still very awesome.

That I want to be an All Pro Dad.

That drink coupons is the dude way of saying “I love you.”

That the next SAHD convention is on October 8, 2011 in Washington D.C.

That I miss my wife and kids and I’m a better father for going.

Kansas City Speedway

2010-12-16T18:44:00.000-08:00

Kansas City Speed Way

Location: Intersection of I70 and 435, Kansas City, KS

Website: http://www.kansasspeedway.com/

Appropriate For: Dad's Call.

Cost: For the practice run, free.

What makes you a cool dad? Maybe you let the kids have donut's in bed. Perhaps you let the kids play with shotguns while riding the lawnmower. Maybe you even give the kids your credit car and drop them off at the toy store.

You still would not be as cool as us because we took the kids to the racetrack. To a three year old boy, this is a candy factory wrapped in a awesomeness and delivered by a racecar.

What we actualy did was attend the practice sessions the day before the big race. There was no actual race but we were able to see cars go around 5 to 10 at a time testing out the racetrack. We were even able to see a mock start.

Now I'm not a fan of Nascar, I don't really care for it. But I will admit, I am hooked now. I didn't realize that you could feel the engines. I didn't realize that you could smell the burnt rubber. I didn't realize that the thunder coming down the track made you think of Greek Gods. And I forgot that we were there for the kids.

And now back to them and what you need to know should you choose to. Headphones are essential to anyone wanting to do this. You can rent them at the track or bring your own. Without them though, and you won't be there for 5 minutes. So be careful and make the investment.

My boy was three when we took him and he couldn't get enough of it. He totally forgot that he was with me. He totally forgot about everything. All he could do was look at the race cars going up and down the track. The kid was mesmerized.

Another great thing about going for the practice runs was that there was nobody there. We had a 100,000 seat stadium as our own private playground. We could go anywhere. We went to the nose bleed seats and we went to the front seats right at the fence to see the racecars up front. It was one of the most amazing things we have ever done.

After we got tired of seeing the racecars, which took a while, we toured the rest of the stadium and saw all the big trailers that the drivers bring. It was a good way to end our day.

One more word of caution though, you will be walking quite a bit. So if you have a kid that doesn't like to wal, bring a stroller. This ranks as a top 5 outing boys, do it if you can. Check the Speedway website listed above for special promotions.

Activity: Apple Orchard

2010-10-15T18:45:00.001-07:00

The KCDADS decided to go back to Allredge Apple Farm. For those new to the group, this is something we did last year and we look like we are going to go every year because awesome doesn't dominish with time.

But for those wishing to plan a visit, check out our last blog by clicking here. That one has all the information that you will need to plan your visit.

However, a word of advice. If you go late in the season the apples may be all but picked out. That was the case for the most part on this trip to the orchard. But that doesn't mean we didn't find any, we found some. We found some by getting Larry Geographic actually climbing up in the tree itself like some apple hillbilly and pulling down apples in hard to reach places. It worked though and I've got word some applesauce may be coming our way. That's the way that I like to roll, let someone do the hardwork and take the end product. I'm the grasshopper, let the ants prepare for the winter.

Although there weren't many apples this time around, it still remains a great place to visit. The track is still there along with the chickens and I ask you, who doesn't love some freaking chickens??

Finally, there are picnic tables for a good sack lunch if you want to bring it. But if you don't, there is a little country store that sells all kinds of stuff. It's a little pricey but the food is soooooo goooooooooooodd. Another great visit to the apple orchard.

Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Garden

2010-07-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

Location:
8909 W. 179th St.
Overland Park, KS 66085
913-685-3604

Hours:
Open seven days a week
April 10-Sept. 30: 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
Oct. 1-April 9: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Cost: Free

Website:
http://www.opkansas.org/Things-to-See-And-Do/Overland-Park-Arboretum-And-Botanical-Gardens

Appropriate for all ages

Review:
Got nothing to do today? Want to get outside? This is your place.

The 300 acre Overland Park Arboretum is a great place to go. This place is all about getting outside and enjoying some nature. There is a small welcome center that is a good stop if you want to find out what's in bloom and what's good the time of year that you go. But you won't spend much time in there, the Arboretum is all about getting outside.

There are basically two routes to go when you do this. You can go the paved paths through the gardens or you can go the hiking paths for a more woodsy experience. We have written about the hiking paths before so click here for that review. This time we'll focus on the actual garden.

Make sure you pick up a map at the visitors center, it's a little easy to wander around here. But once you get going the place is a great relaxing trip. Tons of flowers, tons of trees and an easy walk. You don't need to do the massive hike here to see everything. It's just a great stroll.

As for the highlight for us, check out the kids garden. As my kids are 2 and 4, this is the place that really excelled. In the kids area there is actually more to do than just look at flowers. Which is great because I get the feeling that after 15 minutes the kids don't appreciate it as much as they should. We're working on that.

The kids area has "fossils" that embedded in the ground. This is actually pretty interesting to do and a good start to the kids area. Once they get tired of that, there is a mini "corn" maze that the kids loved. It's really just high grass that comes up about three feet. For the more adventurous there is a flower tunnel that leads to it but there is also a back way out. While your kids play at the sand pit, there are plenty of benches for you to sit and talk to your dads. Finally, there is a path that passes right next to the stream that looks like a great place to find frogs.

All in all, this is a great days experience and given that it's free, what more do you want?

Blue Springs Lake Beach

2010-06-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

Location:
470 N from Lee's Summit. Exit Bowling Rd.

Cost: $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for kids, children 2 and under are free.

Hours:

June 1 - June 11	3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m
June 14 - August 13	1:00 p.m - 7:00 p.m.
August 16 - September 3	3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

WEEKENDS & HOLIDAYS

May 29 - September 6

11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Longview Beach will be closed Sunday, August 22nd.

Appropriate for all ages.

Website: This site will give you PDF files for both Blue Springs Lake and the campground to help you find where you are going.
http://www.jacksongov.org/content/3279/3763/3765/default.aspx

Review:
I'm not going to review the whole lake, that would be impossible. But I will let you know that the beach is there and a good find.

Kids 2 and under are free to get in, which is always cool because I love free stuff. As for the beach, it is about the size of a football field and it is sand. It's a coarse sand and not the fine stuff you will find near the ocean. But for a lake, it's dang fine.

The beach has 3 lifeguard stands and at least one is manned. It runs about 100 yards next to the lake itself and is about 30 yards deep. This gives plenty of space to house 2 volleyball courts and have plenty of space left over to lay your towel down. The beach eases it way into the lake and the sand actually goes into the lake through the entire swimming area. This is a nice touch. Your kids will have plenty of space to swim or dig in the sand and build sandcastles.

Beware though, there is no shade or umbrellas on the beach. You have to pack everything in such as a lawn chairs. But if you don't mind doing that, it's a really fun day. Just use plenty of sunscreen.

We didn't use the bathrooms but they were there. I was told that there is no locker room or showers so don't expect them.

The White Church

2010-06-04T20:03:00.001-07:00

Location:
2200 North 85th Street, KCK

Hours:
9:00am to 6:00pm

Cost: Free

Website:
http://www.wycokck.org/assets/2EB3F250-9AE7-496F-8D44-52389E2A7C55.pdf

Appropriate for all ages

Review:
Let’s answer the first question right off the bat: What is White Church?

White Church is the oldest continuous congregation in Kansas. It’s been an active church since 1830. It was started by missionaries to preach to a Delaware Tribe and ended up converting the chief of the tribe as well as others. Behind the church is the cemetery where many of these people are buried. So that’s it in a nutshell. It’s a piece of Kansas history that’s worth seeing.

I was a little apprehensive when we first arrived as the church itself is quite small. At least the historic part of it. But don’t let first impressions impede you from going on this adventure. It’s worth it and it’s a fun little adventure.

The original church, built in 1830, burned down and was soon replaced. That church was blown down by a tornado. Undeterred and still together the congregation built the third church in 1904 and it still stands today. It’s built out of stone and over the years has been added on and is still in use. Ring the doorbell at the side and you will be let in by the members.

This is where I thought it got really cool. Our guides knew every bit of history of the place. When it was built, who the preachers where, how it was transformed, all of it. As a history buff, this was totally worth it. But the highlight of the tour was that they allowed the kids to ring the church bell. How awesome is that. They were swinging from that thing like monkeys in a zoo.

Before you leave the church, take note of the stained glass windows which are the originals from 1904.

Head on back to the graveyard to see where many of the Delaware tribe are buried. Don’t expect a large graveyard here though. It’s pretty small but fits with the whole theme of the place. But you wont’ be disappointed as you will see graves from the 1830s and onward. What I was really impressed by is that the church replaced corroded headstones so that you could identify who was buried there but also kept the originals as well. A great activity here would be grave rubbings.

In the end, this small piece of history offered a great little adventure. The whole thing takes about 35 to 45 minutes but is time well spent.

At Home Dads Guide To Garage Sales

2010-05-27T19:51:00.001-07:00

Garage sale season is upon us so here are some helpful hints and guidelines for your bargain hunting. Everyone needs a bargain in today’s economy and since most of us are on one income we need to be thrifty with our dwindling after tax dollars.

First off you need to be organized and have a plan so you aren’t driving all over the place. Once we get more domestic oil production we can afford to drive our SUVs all over town. Until that happens use the newspaper and craigslist to plan your day. That being said there is no better rush than pulling a “UHY” when you see that handwritten sign stuck in the ground. Look for sales that are advertised as “multi-family” since they usually have a larger selection. My favorites are the neighborhood sales. These are when entire subdivisions have sales at the same time. These allow you to park centrally and have a much larger selection of sales within walking distance.

Most sales are on Saturday. However, there are a larger number of people that are opening their garage doors on Friday or even Thursday. I recommend you try and hit as many Thursday and Friday sales as possible. This allows you to get the best selection while all the other poor saps are stuck in their cube auditioning for Dilbert. This also allows you to have Saturday all to yourself since it is the wife’s day to watch the kids for a change.

Take your kids with you. This serves two purposes. First people like to give kids free stuff and whenever kids get a present they think it is the best thing on earth and they won’t whine and throw a fit for a toy (at least on that day). But when they don’t get free stuff, it is a good lesson for your kids to learn the word “No”. It is good for them to learn that they won’t get a toy on every garage sale trip.

Have your friends with you, make it a playgroup activity. It helps to have another dad with you to keep the kids from running into the street after the ball they picked up, dropped and is now rolling down the driveway. It also helps to have your buddy distract the owners by negotiating on the price of the picnic basket while you take your potty training three year old around the corner to pee on the house.

You need to have an idea of what you are looking for when you peruse the classifieds. Personally I won’t go to a sale that doesn’t list the items they plan on having unless I will be in the neighborhood already. A plan is important but don’t let it limit you. Do not be afraid to “buy ahead”: If your child is wearing 3T, you will always need the 5T sweatpants that are in excellent condition. Also, as much as I believe in having a plan I am a firm believer in the old adage “I didn’t know I needed it until I saw it” or my wife’s favorite “you didn’t need it, it was just cheap”.

Now down to the important part, Price Guidelines.

Since most of us are looking for clothes because the kids are growing like weeds and destroy their clothes even faster than they outgrow them, garage sales are the perfect place to shop for kids clothes. Let’s be honest, the kids don’t care what they wear until 5^th grade and t-shirts with Cinderella and Thomas are expensive off the rack even if they are produced with exploited labor from Indonesia. The best part about buying your kids garage sale clothes is that as At Home Dads we aren’t expected to know how to dress our kids anyway so now we have the perfect excuse when you go to the grocery store in plaid skirts and polka dot shirts.

My pricing guidelines are based upon 3 years of undocumented non-scientific research in my geographical area. Storage unit sales in lower Manhattan may have different price points so just use this as a guide.

My price limit for kid’s clothes is $1. There are exceptions to this and I will probably leave some out so feel free to add your own in the comments section.

Boy’s blue jeans – If I find these in good shape which means no holes I will go up to $2. Boys are hard on their blue jeans and they are hard to find.

Girl’s dresses – I specifically mean Easter and Christmas type dresses. Off the rack these start at $20 at the big box retailer. $5 for something probably only previously worn once is reasonable.

Snow boots and dress shoes – Same rational as girl’s dresses

Winter coats and jackets: You have to do your inspections with care here. A lot of fleece type jackets pill easily. If a winter coat has a snap on hood make sure it is with the jacket. You can get a great winter coat and snow pant set for around $7. Don’t forget to always search the pockets for hidden twenty dollar bills.

Toys are a common item that we like to pick up at garage sales. I am a firm believer in boosting my kids’ immunity systems by exposing them to other people’s germs. Again I don’t like to pay much more than $1 for toys. The main reason for this is that most everyone is looking to get rid of them; therefore it is a buyer’s market. Be patient and don’t always buy the first thing you see. I can’t tell you the number of times I bought a GI Joe only to find a GI Joe with a kung fu grip the next week. Again with toys there are some exceptions.

Wooden train track – This is like gold due to that cheeky little English train.

This stuff brings a hefty price new so people try and get their money back. You have to check it closely, though. A lot of people try and slip in some knockoff track and still charge Thomas prices. Don’t let them fool you. Just because they paid too much doesn’t mean that you have to.

Lincoln Logs – These are hard to find as well so I will pay a little more for good quality sets. Probably because I loved these so much as a kid.

Construction vehicles and fire trucks – I specifically mean the big heavy duty types. A couple of years ago I paid $5 for a big Tonka crane and then went out of town for the weekend. My wife still says this is one of the best $5 ever spent.

Kitchens, art easels, workbenches, princess vanities and thrones and all the bigger hands on toys – If you try to buy this stuff via craigslist you will pay through the nose. You can find good quality big toys for $10 and under.

Everything else is up to you. What are you willing to pay? Negotiate, Negotiate, Negotiate. The garage sale market is a buyer’s market. Remember you don’t have to buy anything but they have to either load it up and take it to Goodwill or lug it back to the basement. Most don’t want to do that so they are usually ready to deal. If not, walk away from the craps table and go to the slot machines on the next block. Everything in garage sale world is a gamble. Caveat Emptor. If you buy something electric, test it. Make sure puzzles have all their pieces, there is nothing worse than an alphabet puzzle missing the “S”. Last but not least check zippers. I bought a Lightning McQueen backpack for my boy last spring. Kept it hidden from him in the car and smuggled it into the house. I pulled it out for the first day of pre-school, ready to give him his big surprise to calm his fears and make his first day of school a success. Whammo, the zippers didn’t work. It is a good thing his favorite color is pink and I had been saving a Hello Kitty backpack for his sister.

Activity: World War I Museum

2010-05-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

Location:

100 West 26th Street

Kansas City, MO 64108

(816) 784-1918

Hours:
Tuesday-Sunday: 10am to 5pm
Cost:

Adults	$12
Seniors (65+)	$10
Students (18+ with ID)	$10
Youth (6–17)	$6

**Parking is free**
Website: http://www.theworldwar.org/s/110/new/index_community.aspx

Appropriate for all ages.
Review:
If you haven't been to the WWI museum yet, you should drop what you are doing. Go find a priest. Confess your sin and ask for absolution. There is no excuse for not seeing this. This is one of Kansas City's most spectacular museums (I've seen a lot, trust me) and lives up to whatever expectations you have. Besides, we are stay at home dads, how could we not love teaching our kids about giant guns?

Start your visit by going up top of the museum, where all the granite is. This is one of the best views of downtown and a great picture spot. Check out the huge giant griffons and the really great buildings on top. And if you are feeling particularly adventurous, take the kids to the top of the Liberty tower. It's a long way up man, but take a try and work that heart. This is also a great space for the kids to run around in and not break anything.

Then go to the museum itself. Before you enter, there are several interactive displays showing photos of soldiers from that time period. That sums up this museum, interactive. Once you have your tickets you crossover a glass walkway. Underneath is the poppy field and it's pretty amazing but also somewhat freaky. Some of your kids may be a little scared about doing this but that's ok because they also have black mats that you can walk over. You can choose which entrance you would like to do first: The American side or the European side. Both are very much worth it and you can do both in one visit without to much worry.

Inside the museum it's safe to let the kids off the leash a little bit. There is nothing that they can break. Thick glass displays protect most of the exhibits. The things that aren't protected are huge steel guns and I would pay money to see a kid actually destroy one of those monstrosities. Throughout both sides there are plenty of well done "movies" playing that inform you of the time period and of the war. In fact, there is so much of this that you won't be able to watch them all with kids present as you are constantly being pulled to the next exhibit. You will defiantly want to come back again to get the full experience.

Also on each side of the museum (American/European) they also have some really cool exhibits that give you an idea of what it was like. From a life size, walk through trench to a bomb crater, you will get a feel for what soldiers went through. You kids will really dig this. But what they will dig the most is the middle of the museum. Here is what I call the "situation" room. It's a very large table that has many stations on it. At each station is an interactive exhibit to keep everyone busy. It contains information on just about anything you could want to know about the war. From the weapons that were used to the movements in the actual war. You shine a miniflash light on what you want to know and the display starts. Totally worth it. To the side of the situation room is also something very unique. Sounds of the era. These are little rooms where you can hear original recordings of songs, speeches, diaries, you name it. Worth the stop.

Which brings to the one thing I have to warn you about concerning this museum. The Theater. We usually skip theaters because our kids don't sit still. However, this one is a little bit different and hard to describe. It's a movie describing the war but one of the best done complete immersion experiences I have ever had. You sit in a balcony. Below you is a recreation of a battlefield. A good recreation. Behind that is canvas that serves as the screen. It is realistic enough and scary enough that your kids may freak out during this. Movies start every 30 minutes and very worth it but just be warned that the kids might not do so well.

When you are done with the museum, the front is a great place to have a picnic on a nice day. There is really to much to describe here so just look at the pictures. Then decide to go, you'll be happy you did.

Kansas Cosmoshpere and Space Center

2010-05-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Location:
1100 North Plum Street
Hutchinson, KS 67501
(800) 397-0330

Cost:
All-Day Mission Pass (The Best Value) - Allows entry to one IMAX film, one planetarium show, one Dr. Goddard's Lab and one admission to the Hall of Space Museum.

Under 3 - Free
Children 3-12 - $15
Adults - $17

Single Venue Ticket - Allow entry to one of the venues listed.

Under 3 - Free
Children 3-12 - $9
Adults - $9.50

Website: http://www.cosmo.org

Review:
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! Load up the kids and take a trip into the heart of the Kansas landscape. Hutchinson is located about 50 miles northwest of Wichita and many are surprised to find such an excellent exhibit of any kind in this part of Kansas.

The IMAX:
This is not the typical IMAX. This IMAX is a domed theater. We enjoyed the story of the Hubble in full realistic views. The film contains two parts. 1)Traveling with astronauts in space while working to repair the Hubble. The challenges they encountered and the immense amount of work and time that went into repairing the Hubble. 2)Enjoying the views from Hubble. The Hubble makes you really take in how immense our universe really is. There are wonderful 3-D views of Hubble itself, anchored to the shuttle Atlantis' payload bay, stunning views of Earth, and the many galaxies surrounding us. A must see!!

Dr. Goddard's Lab:
A bit over the head of the younger kids but very interesting for all adults. This show covers the beginnings of rocketeering in a very eventful fashion. I think the best way to describe this to refer it to an interactive science lab where things do get blown up. Very interesting to learn how, primarily, one man, with no government funding discovered, invented, and patented rocket building. All these pattens were eventually sold to the US government and many are still used in the building of our space shuttles today.

Planetarium:
While the planetarium was very interesting, if you watch the IMAX Hubble (which I highly recommend), it would be a good one to skip and spend a little more time in the museum. Most of the information was also shown during the IMAX movie.

Space Museum:
Unfortunately we ran out of time and did not get to spend a lot of time in the museum. With all that they have to offer I think you could easily spend 3 hours in here without checking out any of the other venues. In light of that I have grabbed a very well written review on the museum.
There are several galleries open to ticket holders. The Cold War Gallery follows the U.S. and Soviet space programs as they began as well as history of the standoff between the two nations. There's the German gallery featuring V-1 and V-2 rockets fro World War II, developed in Hitler's Germany. The Early Spaceflight Gallery follows the development of space exploration by America and other nations. The gallery has a Titan rocket, Gemini X spacecraft and the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury Capsule.
The Apollo flights are some of the most famous. The Apollo Gallery charts each Apollo flights from the technology used to the human dramatic side of the flights. On display is the Apollo 13 command module - Odyssey, a moon rock, replica lunar rover, and a model of the Saturn V rocket.

Food Court:
Very reasonable price and good food. You can ever purchase some astronaut food. We chose the ice cream and the kids thought that it was really cool to eat like an astronaut. The ice cream was OK, some better than others.

Gift Shop:
The gift shop has a very wide selection of souvenirs and memorabilia. Anything from a couple dollars to a couple hundred.

Nelson Musuem of Art

2010-04-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Location: 4525 Oak Street, KC MO

Website: http://www.nelson-atkins.org/

Hours: Wed, 10 a.m.—4 p.m.
Thurs, Fri, 10 a.m.—9 p.m.
Sat, 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
Sun, Noon—5 p.m.

Cost: Free. However, it does cost 5 bucks to park. Keep that in mind.

Age Appropriate: How brave are you, that is really the question you should be asking yourself.

The Nitty Gritty:
I'm not going to come on here and actually review any art. The reason being is that I have about as much knowledge of art as I do of jet engines, which is none. But I do like working comparisons of jet engines into my blogs so mission accomplished. But I will talk about the space and the experience for us. You can make a decision yourself about the art. But if someone reads this and actually understands contemporary art, please post a comment because I really don't get that shit.

As for the museum, we loved it. It's a good space and was a good time for the dads group and kids. You would think that a bunch of toddlers would get bored here but I don't think that was the case at all. They seemed a lot more engaged than I thought they would be. Visit the website to see the different collections that the museum has and also anything about the audio tours also offered. Although I would have loved to take the audio tour, I found it in our best interest to be on defcon Delta with 3 year olds running around 1000 year old priceless antiquities. But on the whole, they were really well behaved and again I think it is actually because they had some interest in what we were seeing.

We only had 2 instances of a "Oh My God" moment. The first was when one of little ones started banging his head against the glass enclosure. No biggie but it made a large sound. The next moment was when another of our 2 year olds attempted to climb up on a table that could honestly be described as priceless. Each time we were able to get things under control but you do have to be diligent. There are a lot of antique chairs on display and every kid loves chairs so we had to watch out for these.

The kids seemed to have the best time in the European and Greek art sections, which I can't really blame them. Who doesn't like suits of armor and giant horses. There is a carved lion and numerous other things of this nature that held our interest. However, our general rule was to never stop moving. To stop moving would invite little fingers to touch a Monet and that is not going to be good. If someone asks what color is on that Picasso, just say Grape Jelly and keep on walking. We kept prying fingers off the paintings (which I really did think were amazing) by telling the kids that they were "hot". This seemed to work and I'm proud to say that none of the art work was destroyed by our children, ages 2 to 4. KCDADS rock.

So in conclusion, this was a nice time that took about 2 hours as we never stopped in any one place longer than five minutes. The downside here is that we, and I mean the adults, didn't get to really appreciate alot of the art. This is normal when we go to museums but this is one that I would like to go back to without the kids to fully understand it all.

I also want to put a note in about the bathrooms. Although very clean and well kept, contained no changing table stations for dad. I know that I shouldn't expect it, but it does make our lives easier.

I do want to talk about the outside in this blog as well although we were not able to go there today. I have been to the front lawn in the past and have found that this is truly wonderful for the kids. There are sculpture gardens all along the gigantic lawn and plenty of area for the kids to run off some steam. And who can forget the giant shuttlecocks? In the spring and summer, this is a must see in Kansas City.

The final recommendation is to get off your kiester and go get some art, it's worth it.

Money Museum of Kansas City

2010-04-03T17:55:00.001-07:00

Money Museum of KC Location: 1 Memorial Drive, KC MO

Cost: Free

Website: http://www.kc.frb.org/moneymuseum/?AdLink=Home

Age Appropriate: All ages. From infant to adult. Bring em if you got em.

Review:

Grab the kids, it's time to go see some money.

The Money Museum inside the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is worth a trip. And it's free. I love free stuff, it makes the world better.

But there are some things you need to know: 1. You are going to need to have a picture I.D. to even get into the place. Why? Because it's real money friends. Millions and Millions. 2. You can't get out of the museum unless you are let out by a guard. They are serious about this. 3. No pics where they sort the money.

Other than that, it's good to go. Once you get into the museum they have special wooden lockers that you can put your backpacks and coats in. And they lock, you get the key, no money required to rent them. It's small things like this that make this a great place to go to.

The building itself is more of the granite over the top architecture which is really pretty cool to look at. The museum itself is set on the first floor of the building and if your kids get bored they can run around the massive entry hall.

The exhibits themselves are also well done. They spared no expense as if evident by the exhibit on what 10 million dollars looks like. It's right next to the bigger stacks of millions, you can't miss it. The Truman coin collection is also here which contains from every president, from Washington to Bush. The kids didn't like this part so much but it was great for the dads.

The museum layout is very free flowing. The majority of exhibits are in the center floor and you wander from one to the next in no particular order. There is a lot to see and read but having kids, we didn't get to read all of it. However, there are two things that I want to point out. The first is that they give you a chance to spot a counterfeit 20 dollar bill. I couldn't do it and if I wasn't told which one it was, I wouldn't have been able to find it.

Next, you and your kids get a chance to pick up an actual gold bar. Yup, that's real gold. It's behind glass so you actually don't get to grab it but there is a lever that you pull to get the idea of the weight of it. We spent a good 10 minutes cheering on all the kids to see if they could. They could by the way, mainly because they are being raised by their fathers and are tough and strong, just like their dads. It weighs 27 pounds and when we were there, it was worth right around 500,000 bucks. There is a digital ticker underneath the gold bar that lets you know how much it's worth according to current gold pricing. It was really pretty cool.

The next part of the museum, and probably the highlight, is the glass room where they count and destroy money. A lot of money. Literally, a ton of money. Behind very thick glass are about 5 people that are feeding money into a machine that either shreds it, or sends it back into circulation. Any counterfeits get sent to a person for closer inspection. They fill up these large boxes of money and then the robots come get them.

Yes, I said robots. This is why your kids will love this. Millions of dollars: Cool. A real gold bar you can try and lift: pretty cool. Robots carting stacks of millions back to a warehouse: Totally awesome. You look through a big glass window while these forklift robot things go get the money and motor on back to the warehouse. My son didn't want to leave them.

If anyone is wandering what to do on a cold day, this one is a good bet. You'll be there for about 45 minutes and it's worth the time.

swag4dads

2010-02-09T05:54:00.000-08:00

Or at least that’s what I would call the blog, if I were gearing it specifically for us. I would also include useful, guy stuff like Cheetos, beer, and multipurpose all-in-one tools you can carry I your pocket. But I don’t have time the time or drive to do it myself, so I have to settle for the work of others. Heather at freebies4mom, (freebies4mom.blogspot.com) does. Don’t be turned off by the name. Heather searches the internet for coupons, freebie offers, and great deals on products for everyone in the family. Some of the deals require signing up for e-newsletters or mailing lists, others require becoming a fan of a product on Facebook, and some are just links to coupons on Redplum and Smartsource.
On our last trip to grocery store, Jen and I saved 10 bucks using coupons found through this website. I’ve also received a free 8x10 photo print, free photo cards, a reusable shopping bag, and various samples of products. And more is on the way. As for coupons, I have used a number of coupons for a dollar off of various products, and some buy one get one free coupons as well. I set up a new alias with my e-mail that I use solely for signing up for deals like these. My e-mail program filters out all the e-mail going to this address, so it doesn’t clog up by inbox. So far, though, I’ve received very few e-mails. And the unwanted emails have been easy to unsubscribe from.
The website is update throughout the day, as deals are found. You can also signup for a daily e-mail, summarizing days coupons and deals, or become a fan on Facebook. Freebies4mom.blogspot.com
Yeah. It’s a mom blog. And no, I’m not eating like a woman just because they gave me coupons. I happen to like Special K. Free cereal tastes better. And yes, apparently Secret IS strong enough for a man.

-The Teacher

Home Defense!

2010-01-03T11:50:00.001-08:00

By Mr. Rogers

Ahhh, Snow bound. Outside the snow is piled up in drifts up to 18 inches, but inside it is cosy and warm. The pantry is stocked, Christmas cookies are plentiful, and the children have plenty of new amusements to keep them busy and happy. Everything was perfect until...

"You need to shovel the driveway", she says. "Do we really need to?" I ask (Surely it will melt eventually). "We need to be able to get out", says my perfect and practical wife. Okay, I suppose she is right. But as I head to get my coat and hat, it occurs to me that if we are able to get out then "THEY" will be able to get in.

I am talking about the hungry hoards. The hundreds of people who unwisely chose to ignore the forecasts and did nothing to prepare for current house bound conditions. Our well stocked home will be an irresistible target. A clear driveway would simply announce that this is a well prepared, well stocked home ripe for the picking.

Visions of the cold and hungry mobs roaming the streets to prey upon those of us who had the wisdom to prepare for the worst filled my mind. My wife was right we should have a way out but adequate defenses must be raised to prepare for the inevitable attacking hoards.

I knew that on my own I could easily defend two, if not three, sides of my home from attack, but that would not be enough. Mrs. Rogers had no stomach for combat and as such could only be relied on to provide material support and to assist the wounded from within the home. To whom could I turn for assistance in the coming conflict. I needed individuals who in battle would be vicious, relentless, and possess that touch of cruelty that is sadly necessary in war. My little minions were the obvious choice.

Being only children they could not openly take on the enemy and hope to over come them. But they didn't need to destroy our foes, only harrass them for I had yet another ally in this battle. The bane of armys far greater than any I would face.... winter itself. It would be my most valuable ally. If we could but survive the siege then the winter would do the rest (starving and freezing them into submission). But my little minions would need a fortress from which to engage the enemy. It should have thick walls, and a underground bunker in which seek refugee. It should be tall, as the higher ground always has the advantage. And it would be made out of the most available resource I had handy.... Snow!

So what did you all make with your kids in the snow this Christmas?

2009 Christmas Party

2010-01-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

Do you know what the best thing about the Christmas party is? The wives. They subsidize our life style of museum going and oddly abstract art created by brilliant children. Namely ours. They provide us with the means to go to the battlefields and train yards. All that is awesome and they make it all possible. And it's great to have them come to the Christmas Party every year to finally meet the people that thier husbands hang out with. Sometimes we play with the kids, sometimes we play video games. But more than anything, it's good for them to meet the people responsible for destroying their house every Wednesday.

At the Christmas party I like to play a little game and I'm sure I'm not the only one. It's called "Who goes with who." C'mon, be honest, you all do it. We dads spend a lot of time together. And although truefully we don't discuss wives that much, we can't help but get a mental picture of everyone's significant other. and a the Christmas party, this is where whats in our head meets reality.

As we have had a ton of new members this past year, this was a very awesome game to play. We had a great turn out. A wife would walk around and I would try to guess who her husband was based on what I know from playgroups. Some are easy, some are tough. For example, Mrs. Rogers is an obvious match to Mr. Rogers. It's a no brainier. However, a tougher match is Papa Scrum and his wife. I got the impression that she is way to good for him. On the flip side, he married up so kudos to him. Well done. (Everyone calm down, it's a joke and I know them both well. And Papa Scrum would agree with me.)

It was a fun evening and not only because of the game. One of the things that I find truly special about this group is that we make an effort to get all the families together. To see these dynamics I think brings us all closer together. And you learn a few surprises. Like the wife that not only encouraged us to keep track of the college football scores but to report back to her later. Awesome. We have a Librarian wife in the group, who knew? so the next time I have a hard to find book, I know who to ask if it's been runt or merely suppressed. We have teachers executives, docs and people who are good at math. All very impressive and just a sampling of what we learn about each other when we get everyone together.

I can speak for my own wife (yes, I married up myself. Good job me.) She loves meeting those others that are in the same boat as us. She looks forward to it and enjoys seeing the faces of the people I talk about.

I do want to give a very special thanks to Papa Scrum and his wife for opening up their house and to all the people who supplied the food. Soup, deserts, and numerous things in between. All great and all good. Incidentally, the sausage roll was fan-freaking-tasitic and I haven't' had that great of a corn bread since I left Texas. It was a great year everyone, let's keep it going next year!

Steak Marinade / Fajitas

2009-11-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

This is a marinade I use when making Fajitas but have used it on occasion for other grilled steak as well.

1/4 Cup honey
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 steaks of your choice

Mix all ingredients and pour over steaks. Marinate for 2+ hours

For Fajita veggies/sauce:
2Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
1 bell pepper (color of choice)
1/2 Cup Fat Free Italian dressing
1/2 Cup Teriyaki Marinade (I use Allegro)
1 Tbsp Lime juice

Saute onion and bell pepper in olive over medium heat until desired tenderness. Add Italian dressing, Teriyaki marinade, and lime juice. Reduce over medium until desired thickness.

Increase the dressing and marinade amounts to increase the amount of sauce.

Posted by: Larry

Book Review: Enemy at the Gates

2009-11-05T19:34:00.000-08:00

Enemy at the Gates
The Battle for Stalingrad
by William Craig
Non-fiction

You are going to like this book if you have any interest in history, military, horror, or heroics. It has it all and this stuff actually happened. There are even a couple of love stories (but I don't suggest that your wife read it)

This is the book on which the movie "Enemy at the Gates" was based. As with many movies it pales in comparison to the book. Still, I expected to find it's pages filled with sniper exploits but found instead a fascinating tale of war at it's worst. It was possibly the greatest military bloodbath in recorded history (well over a million men and women died).

Craig wrote this book roughly 30 years after the end of the war, pulling together eyewitness accounts, diaries, memoirs, and official documents. The result is a book that flutters between many many characters from Stalin and Hitler to mere privates and civilians. Because of that there are a lot of stories going on at once. But Criag has arranged the information pretty well and it wasn't as hard to follow as I might have imagined.

The story of Stalingrad takes place in Nov of 1942. Hitlers 6th army under the command of Field Marshal Friederich von Paulus has been ordered to take Stalingrad, as he plunges ever deeper into Russian in his effort to take the country. As any of us who have played Risk or have any knowledge of Napoleonic history knows, conquering Russia is a job that is impossible, especially if you don't get it done by winter. The Blitzkrieg strength of the German military soon grinds to a halt in the street fighting of Stalingrad where soldiers fight for individual houses and cellars.

There were heroics on both sides and some amazing "can't believe it happened" moments of luck and courage, like when two Russian soldiers crawl out of a sewer to find a chow line. Both famished they jump in line to get some food. After a while in the line they realize that everyone is speaking German. Undaunted they go through the line and get some food and sit down to eat. They are almost found out before a kindly cook lets them slip away. The book is full of battle moments you could never imagine. It is sad, sick, unbelievable and heroic, these guys went through Hell. If you have ever wondered about the horrors of war then definitely give it a read. And after the city is saved (spoiler: the Russians Win) it still ain't over for the Germans. A Russian POW camp is not a place you want to be for 12years!!! You will just have to read it.

Reviewed by Mr. Rogers

National At-Home Dad Network

2009-10-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

In March of 2006, Daddyshome, Inc. - The National At-Home Dad Network, was founded as a 501c3 non-profit corporation by 3 at-home dads in the DC area. Its mission was to support at-home dads nationwide and encourage all fathers to take an active role in childcare. It has taken three years, but at the recent 14th Annual At-Home Dad's Convention in Omaha, that mission has begun to take shape.

At the convention, a larger, more geographically representative 8-member board of veteran at-home dads were appointed and took several bold steps toward creating a true National At-Home Dad Network:

Merged with the At-Home Dad's Convention
For the first 10 years, the convention had been hosted by Oakdale Community College in Chicago. When the college decided to discontinue hosting the convention, a group of veteran at-home dads agreed to keep it going and moved the convention to Kansas City for 2006 and 2007, Sacramento for 2008 and then Omaha for 2009 and 2010. Daddyshome began partnering with this convention committee in 2007 to help the convention raise money. With the success of this fund raising and the non-profit corporate structure that Daddyshome offered, the At-Home Dad Convention Committee and the Board of Daddyshome agreed to make the Convention a part of Daddyshome. This now assures long-term sustainability for the convention so that at-home dads can continue to connect in person with other at-home dads from all over the nation one weekend a year.

Appointed Regional Coordinators
These Regional Coordinators will help at-home dad groups become chapters of Daddyshome and will assist new local groups get started. Soon, Daddyshome will have the most complete listing of at-home dad groups from around the country on one, easy-to-search, website. By easily finding local at-home dads to go to playgroups and Dad's Night Outs, more at-home dads will be able to increase their support network which will, in turn, improve their families.

Defined voting members of Daddyshome
The board determined that voting members would be those who attended the convention or paid an annual dues of $10. These voting members would be responsible for electing members to the board of directors and serving on various committees such as the convention, regional coordinators, website, etc.

Amended terms to the Brian Dickson Memorial At-Home Dad Convention Scholarship
Among several changes it was decided that $5 from every convention registration fee would go into the scholarship fund that would help one or more at-home dads attend the convention. Also, the board awarded the first scholarship to first-time attendee Chad from St. Peters, MO to help him make it to the convention next year in Omaha! For more details on the scholarship, see www.athomedadconvention.com.

For the first time, at-home dads can now unite behind one national organization. Many websites and dad's groups have attempted to bring about this movement and now it is being realized. The work is far from complete, but with a dedicated, 8-member board of directors and a vibrant voting membership of 53 and growing, Daddyshome is on it's way to being the National At-Home Dad Network that at-home dads across the country have needed.

I invite you to check our website regularly at www.daddyshome.org as we work to construct a dynamic site for at-home dads as well as www.athomedadconvention.com for details on the next convention in Omaha on October 2, 2010 and www.athomedad.org for great forum discussions.

With your help, at-home dads will change the world, one diaper at a time!

Al Watts
Vice-President, Daddyshome, Inc. - The National At-Home Dad Network
(former KCDAD)

Activity: Holdiay Trains At Union Station

2009-10-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

Location: 30 W Pershing Rd Kansas City, MO 64108

Cost: Free

Ages: all
Hours of Operation: 9:30 to 5:30. Check the website for days open.

Website: http://www.unionstation.org/
Review:
I know that we've all talked about the Holiday Trains at Union Station so let's put it on the blog. This set up is just plain awesome and you should go check it out.

Basically, it's a huge display of toy trains running around a carefully created world. The kids aren't allowed to touch any of the trains but that's ok, they are mesmerized by them. Models of all types go into all the different environments and they have a little something for everyone. They even had Thomas the Train running around the tracks. My 2 year old son ran up to it and did not move, and I mean this, for 30 minutes. He pressed his face against the Plexiglas and just watched. When I tried to pull him away to show him other parts of the trains, he got mad. It's that cool to a 2 year old. Make sure you check the Union Station website to see how long it runs. This is certainly worth a trip to just do this.

Activity: Chocolate Exhibit At Union Station

2009-10-24T21:35:00.001-07:00

Location: 30 W Pershing Rd Kansas City, MO 64108

Cost: $9.50 ages 13 and up, 3 to 13 is $7.

Ages: all

Hours of Operation: 9:30 to 5:30 Tuesday through Sat. Closed Monday.

Website: http://www.unionstation.org/

Review:
Rarely do I rip an activity that we go to as a group. Time to make an exception. But why write about an exhibit? Because it might come back next year.

So let me save you 15 bucks: skip this one. The price just cannot be justified for what the Chocolate exhibit is. It is billed as discovering the history of Chocolate, from seed to sweet. In this, I found that the exhibit did a halfway decent job. Mostly what the exhibit is is a bunch of plaques and a few artifacts from ancient Maya and Aztec explaining the importance of the cocoa bean. Then it goes through the evolution of it.

And that's about it. It took us about 20 minutes to go through the whole thing and for 9 bucks for an adult and 7 bucks for my daughter, I was expecting more. They talk a little about the making of chocolate but not enough and certraintly no hands on experiences here. There were a few videos of chocolate being made but no discussion of it. Plus, the video's looked like they were from the 80s and were only missing a guy with a bad haircut and a porn stach. If you are going to talk about chocolate, then show a hands on approach to how it's made or cooked. Get a Foundu pot at least, that's all I'm saying.

The biggest disappointment was no samples though. Which is surprising considering when you enter the exhibit you are over whelmed with the sweet smell of fresh chocolate only to be disappointed to find that there is actually no real chocolate there. I was told that they would have some free samples on the weekend but that really just shows how half assed this exhibit was.

But let's give this one good thing to it's credit. The docent's were awesome and took family photo for us.

Activity: Alldredge Orchards Apple Picking

2009-10-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Location: They are located at six miles south of Platte City, Missouri:
> 10455 Highway N
> Platte City, MO 64079
> 816.330.3448

Cost: Flucuates depending on how many apples you wish to take home with you. Word of caution: A bushel of apples is a LOT.

Ages: Appropriate for all ages

Website: http://www.alldredgeorchards.com/

Hours of Operation: Open Spring through Fall. Hours vary according to the season so refer to the website.

Review:
If you have a hankering for some apples, come here. They also had pumpkins and various flowers available for purchase as well.

Let's start with the apple picking. Having never been to an apple orchard before I didn't know what to expect. Now I do. There a ton of trees to choose your apples from and numerous sizes of baskets to take. But let me warn you again, a bushel of apples is a lot of apples. So have some recipes ready becuase you are going to need them. Alot of the apples hang close to the ground level so the kids can have fun picking thier own right off the tree. For those more hard to reach areas for that perfect apple, they give you a tool. I'm sure it has a name but I have no idea what it is. It's a long pole that you use to grab the apples down. My kids had a great time and I think everyone else that went did as well. We had a great turn out which is one of the reasons I love bringing all the families into it.

But it's not just You-Pick apples that are offered here. It's an entire farm so that means animals, namely free roaming chickens. I don't know why but kids love chickens. They love to chase them, they love to try and catch them and they love to run away from them when they squawk. Very funny stuff. Goats and a pony were also on site. The kids discovered that goats love to eat apples who knew. There is also a track for pedal cars that every father felt the need to get on and race. I don't know why we are still competitive but we are. For the record, I'm slow.
There is also a small playground that the kids enjoyed.

But we couldn't really give a great review without mentioning the store and the food. The store has fresh farm produce that you would expect. It's good stuff. But not as good as the made from scratch food that they offer. If you go, I highly recomend getting the chicken soup. I know, raving about soup, that's wierd. But you have never tasted soup like this before. Hands down the best soup of any type that I ever had. And the apple dumplings, well, as this is a family site I won't use the word orgasmic. But it was.

Go prepared to spend a good amount of time here. It's well worth it.

Hiking: Overland Park Arboretum

2009-10-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

Location: 8909 W. 179th St. (just west of Antioch) Overland Park, KS 66085

Cost: Free
Website: http://www.opkansas.org/_Vis/Arboretum/index.cfm

Ages Appropriate for: All. Older kids can do these trails without much difficulty and the younger ones will be fine in a backpack. Some of the trails are paved around the Arboretum so they would be stroller appropriate.

Review:
The trails at the Overland park Arboretum are great for beginners. The trails we did were about 2 miles long and a very easy hike. The trails themselves were well kept and trimmed back. On average they were about 6 to 8 feet across and mostly level.

Here's the reason this is a great easy hike, especially for beginners with the backpacks. It's a flat hike. There are a few hills but no major climbs. Your kids should also have an easy time with this one as well because of this. And with the trails being so wide there's not a whole lot of stepping over anything. The best thing about these trails were that they were mostly covered in cedar chips, or at least it appeared so. This had the benefit of soaking up any water and cutting down on any mud. The day we went it had rained before and we found the hike extremely enjoyable.

The scenery is nice but doesn't have any really breath taking views or formations. However, it does have a neat little cabin where you can do some bird watching. It was really well done and if you have some time to kill I would head out there. It's basically a nice little walk through the woods that your kids will dig.

Activity: Ghost Tours John Wornall House

2009-10-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

Location:
6115 Wornall Road
Kansas City, MO 64113
Phone: (816)444-1858

Website: www.wornallhouse.org/
They admit that the site stinks (alot of info is wrong) and said they are working on changing it. Best bet is to call them.

Hours and rates:
Ghost tours happen one weekend every October (This year it was Oct 23-24th) they also might do it in March. So chances are you missed it. I am basicly reviewing this so you know about it for next year. Tours ran at 7, 8, 9, and 10pm, and cost $15 per person. Be sure to call since space is limited, I am not sure if reservations are required.

The Missouri Irish Brigade fireside ghost stories and the Paranormal group demonstration were free. The Irish Brigade was camping out on both nights, the Paranormal group was there on the 23 but I don't know about the 24th.

Ages: Any age for the Irish Brigade and Marshmallows, not sure about the tour, I imagine it depends on the kid, same goes for the paranormal group.

Review:
Okay I wasn't there to see the house or hear it's haunted history, which apparently it has plenty of. So I know nothing of the actual Ghost Tours. I will say the house looked kind of creepy with all of the lights off inside which is enough to weird me out. The house was used during the civil war by both sides I believe and at one point was a battle field hospital with an amputation room, so I am sure it has plenty of dead people available to haunt it. I went to see the Missouri Irish Brigade and the Paranormal Group.

So the fireside Ghost stories were told by a group of Civil War Reenactors who portray the Unions Missouri Irish Brigade. www.moirishbrigade.org/index.html Two of the members are Stay-At-Home Dads which is half the reason I went. They were all dressed up in their civil war garb and it was a shame it was so dark because I couldn't get a great view of their outfits or equipment, but what I did see was pretty cool. They are happy to tell you all about their group, how to join and what they do. Like a bunch of drunks they are always looking for fellow drinkers to join the party. They had some chairs arranged around the campfire and were quick to get you a stick and a marshmallow to put on it. The stories were cool but I must admit the one story I really paid attention to got stopped because everyone was heading into the house for their tour but up until that point I was riveted.

The Paranormal group was housed in the carriage house (I unfortunately don't remember their name). It was two women and a table decked out all of their Paranormal gear. They were very knowledgeable regarding what they do and why, and it was truly interesting talking to them. Checking out their gear was fairly cool. I was expecting to see a bunch of exotic ghostbuster type stuff, but most of it was things I had seen before: digital voice recorders, flashlights, digital cameras, infrared cameras,and walkie talkies. The more impressive stuff was the funky thermometer and electromagnetism detector. The really cool part was the laptop computer that they used to play the recordings of their encounters (some of which were at the Wornall house). They seemed to have an endless supply of recording to show.

I can't say I was convinced that ghosts existed from talking to them. Most of if not all of their recorded "voices" were not clear enough to positively know what made the noise or what they were actually saying (you could easily hear what you wanted to hear). But hey, I wasn't there when the sounds were recorded, so what do I know. On one file they had what sounded like a thunderclap and a scream that the recorder pick up loud and clear but no one in the house actually heard. And they also showed a video where the camera was knocked off a dresser it was sitting on. It all comes down to wheather you trust them or not. I do know that if you talk to two true believers long enough they will get you to wondering if it's true, and they will have you looking over your shoulder as you walk back to your car.

I would do the fireside ghost stories again especially as my kids get older. A life isn't lived if you haven't sat around a campfire and heard ghost stories, it should be required. The Paranormal group was also worth seeing although I don't know if they will be back every year. As for the Ghost Tour someone will have to go on it and tell us how it is.

Reviewed by Mr. Rogers

Fear and Loathing in Omaha

2009-10-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

10 Stay At Home Dads (SAHDs) from the KC area recently attended the National SAHDs conference in Omaha. For this first time attendee, it was an amazing experience. It was three days filled with fun, bonding, and the sharing on knowledge and experiences that will enrich our roles as SAHDs. So I offer to you, fellow SAHDs and SAHD groupies, two takes on the whole experience.

At Home Dads' Convention in 40 words:

Dads, steak, beer, football, planes, bombs, big planes, mexican food, beer, gambling (lost only 23 cents!), bacon!, research, hairstyling, spread the word, 3 year-olds are a pain, feminism, praise-consequences-consistency, tie-dyed apples, networking, beer, football, beer, missing the family, and unity.

Reflections from a newbie:

Never have I felt so instantly connected to a group of people before. Sure, we've all made a choice that is outside the norm. But what unites us is more than our societal role and genetic make up. It's the struggles we face on a day to day basis: feeding our kids nutritious meals, dressing them and styling their hair in a socially acceptable way, making an acceptable dent on the honey-do list, taking care of the health and well being of our kids and ultimately ourselves. They are concerns that most parents have. It's just that we've volunteered to be the primary parent responsible for these tasks in our family. And we're men. And so when we meet, there is a comfort and an understanding in knowing that we are not alone in the challenges that we face. We may do things differently, and that's OK. Oh, and even though we're the primary care giver in the family, we can still like beer, and football, and not have to check our testosterone at the door.

The Battle For Fatherhood Dominance, Part 2

2009-09-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

It was dire my friends, dire. Looking at the board was like looking into your own demise. The Politician had control of 80% of the world, with only Africa and my little Australia untouched. No one had heeded my warnings and it happened the only way that it could have happened.

But I was still alive and spoiling for a fight. I talked to the Gamer. Let us put our differences aside my old adversary. Separately we are doomed but together perhaps we can change the course of this war. Turn and fight my friend, fight for everything you hold dear.

He would not. He was not convinced. It is often this way with the power hungry and delusional. The truth was there but he refused to see it. At that moment I could have wiped him off the face of the board and I considered it. But again, Risk is more than just tactics. It’s about people. And in that moment, I decided that the course of action that I would take was the only one that I could take. If you would not hear my words of peace, dear Gamer, if you slap away my hand of friendship, so be it. I will show you through my actions my commitment.

At that moment, I started the greatest march ever seen in the board game of Risk. 1000 feet with 1000 dreams marched. Victory or death, there were no other options. The ground shook, the heavens rumbled and the women quivered. If others lacked the courage, then so bit it. From Australia we marched. Through the steppes of the Mongol empire we marched, conquering as we went. Into India we slaughtered, up to the communist block we freed the people. We bypassed the Gamer. If he wanted to see what kind of men we were, then we would show him.

We made the leap to Greenland and pushed on. We swept over the land like the bubonic plague, crushing each hotspot of resistance offered by the Politician. We steamrolled through the East Coast and then exploded through the Midwest. We turned north and retook Alaska. We erected a monument to those fallen and then we turned our attention once again south. In the west coast we threw the invaders into the sea. My army was unstoppable. When the Politician rolled 5’s, we rolled 6. When he put up a barricade, we burst through it like a bloody spear. We could not be stopped.

We faced off with his South American Army, the main force of his empire. They could not avoid the onslaught brought to there doorstep. When it was all done, the Politicians army lay in tatters, strewn about on board like a strippers nurse’s outfit on buffet night. We had marched from one end of the map to the other. It was a march that would have made General Sherman proud. It made the blitzkrieg look like a Sunday stroll. The Politician was not defeated, but he was severely weakened I had effectively taken away every major army that surrounded the Gamer, giving him the only chance he would ever get, if only he would believe. If only he would have faith.

He did not. The politician is wily and has skills. To underestimate him is to sign your own death warrant. He rallied his troops and organized his reinforcements. He then took out his vengeance on the Gamer. Very calmly and methodically the Politician wiped the Gamer’s forces off the board like crumbs from a plate. The politician had erased the memory of every single player from the game, with one lonely exception. And now he turned his attention to that exception.

Like a scourge he came and like a badger I defended. I lost hope, I lost faith. In my moment of darkness I questioned if I should go on now or just open my torso to his bloody conquest. But I said before that the game of Risk is more than just about tactics. It’s about more than just strategy. I wanted to concede but the ghosts of the vanquished allies would not let me. Yes, the game is also about people and their memories.

“Fight on!” whispered Mr. Rogers. “Yes, to the end!” The Teacher said. “Anyone have anymore chips left?” The Hippie asked. I did not have any more chips. But I did have some fight left in me.

Wave after wave I defended. Again and again I gave ground but inflicted heavy casualties on the aggressors. Like the Spartans at the hot gates I drove back the Persian horde. And then the politician made a mistake. He split his forces. Sun Tzu, I know thee well. His split forces could not erase me from the map, although they tried. Now it was my turn. Opportunity, that fickle mistress, had arrived at my pad without any panties on. How could I refuse her?

I began my counter offensive. No mercy, no prisoners. We traded blows, punch for punch. Every move made, every move countered. Back and forth, each inflicting damage, each taking it and then asking for more. The Politician and I, locked in a bloody struggle for more than just the Risk game, this was the struggle of Fatherhood dominance.

But my army, fueled by the righteousness of our cause, rallied and would not be pushed back any further. Coordinated, we attacked everywhere at once impaling the dreams of the vanquished upon my pikes. The Politicians world grew smaller and smaller while mine grew larger and larger. The urging of my fellow players at the beginning, seeing them wiped out without mercy, my trying to convince the Gamer to join my cause, my heroic march across the board: all of it went through my mind. In the end there was blood and carnage. In the end there were screams and cries. In the end there was destruction and chaos. In the end, there was victory.

The Politician had been vanquished and my army stood alone upon the Risk board. Tired and hurt but united on the board of victory. 6 of us started and only 1 remained. It had been a long road. A road where friendships were tested and chips were eaten. Beers were consumed and wives went to bed. There will be other challenges and other challengers. The Teacher, The Hippie, Mr. Rogers, The Gamer, The Politician and myself all fought for ultimate control of a child’s board game. Just a board game and yet, something much much more.

The Battle For Fatherhood Dominance, Part 1

2009-09-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

They all should have listened to me, that much is clear. But they didn’t and most of their carcasses litter the battlefield with the buzzard’s getting the more juicy parts. Yes, they should have listened to me.

My strategy was as sound as as old as the game of Risk itself. Fortify Australia. One way in, one way out. My armies would die for me to the last man. Some called them fanatics, barbarians. Little plastic men with little plastic minds. I called them Legion. They would unleash hell and horror on the battlefield, driving my opponents ashes into the board game itself.

Mr. Rogers and the Hippie both tried to control N. America from the beginning, ignoring the rest of the board, forgetting about the power of Europe or the rich mines of Africa. Had the cold war taught them nothing over the last 50 years? Mutually assured destruction, making it easier for 3rd world terrorists to come in and take over our beloved country. The cry of “Wolverine” would be heard no more.

In Western and Easter Europe dwelt the Teacher, a newer member to be sure but did he hold some ancient wisdom? Perhaps. Perhaps not. If he did he would need all of his cunning if he was to fight off the attack coming from his south. The Gamer had set camp in all of Africa and his intentions were clear from the start: Go North to the rich bounty of armies that holding Europe commands.

I was not worried about any of these players. You could easily see the chaos that was about to erupt and the only thing that comes from chaos is the annihilation of all those who try to control it. They would blindly kill each other without seeing who the real enemy was even though it was close enough to peep in their windows as they got undressed. In South America the Politician roamed freely, unchallenged. His boarders heavily defended, it’s inner secrets heavily guarded. He was poised to launch multiple attacks in multiple directions. Burn and pillage his way through the game, becoming stronger with each captured territory. In my mind’s eye I could see the outcome, I could see each maneuver, each roll of the die. Eventually he would end up at my doorstep and I only had hope that my group of patriots could drive him back.

“Brothers!” I screamed. “Can you not see the threat poised directly to your south and west? The Great Satan has arisen and means to consume you all in fire and ash! Unite my brothers! Forget your petty squabbles! Unite and defend our freedom!” I say again, they did not listen to me.

With a lust for power and an all consuming greed for control, Mr. Rogers and the Hippie began their struggle for North America. Again and again they attacked, neither gaining an advantage but only proving that little plastic soldiers can die a hero’s death. 40 armies became 30. 30 became 20. 20 became a handful. They had decimated themselves, leaving only a token force in all of North America. The Hippie retreated to Alaska choosing that place to make his last stand while Mr. Rogers went to Japan and I offered him my protection. And the Politician? He waited. Silently.

In Europe, the teacher attempted in vain to hold off the advances of the Gamer coming up from the dark reaches of the Congo. Like a 16 year old zeroing in on a drunk cheerleader, he was relentless and a bit handsy.. The Gamer had a good home base and a nice little fatwa going in the subcontinent. But he had no objectives, no direction to point his force. Into Europe he would venture, then stop short of victory and pull his men back. Into Asia he went where my fantastic fanatics pushed him back. But he ignored the Politician, right next door and growing more powerful. And the Politician? He waited. Silently.

The Teacher was desperate and his forces were quickly diminishing. I offered him sanctuary in East Asia as well. I set a circle around The Teacher and Mr. Rogers giving them the protection at the level that they haven’t seen since their mother’s held them in her bosom. I did this not only because I am merciful and kind, but because I know that the board game of Risk is more than just strategy and tactics. It’s also about people and this was perhaps my secret knowledge that would, if used correctly, allow me to defeat the scourge in South America. With my blessing the Teacher and Mr. Rogers unleashed their minions back into Europe, trying to persuade by force where diplomacy had failed, that the Gamer should renounce his ways and attack the Politician immediately. In the meantime, I used the extra time bought to slowly grow my empire. And the Politician? He waited. Silently.

In the cold of the night, hidden in Alaska, the Hippie tried to replant his soldiers but it appeared futile, the ground could not be sown. Supplies were running low, moral was on the brink of mass suicide and desertions were common. The Kool-Aid was being prepared but they never even had the chance to drink it. A rumble in the south, a scream by the gate. The Politician was on the move. He was silent no more. Like an uncaring tidal wave crashing on the shores he consumed all before his path. Up through the Rio Grand Valley, into the heartland of America he swept virtually unopposed. Taking a detour to Greenland and then back into North America The Politician came, unstoppable until he reached the hot gates of Alaska and the Hippie. I wish I could say it was a valiant defense. I wish I could write of the bravery and sacrifice. I wish I could tell you of the Alamo like stand the Hippie made. But I cannot. It was over before the first breath screamed a warning. The Hippie was no more.

The Politician was not finished and would not be finished until all bowed to him on bended knee. Using the Bearing Straights he swept into Northern Asia and then south to confront Mr. Rogers. That lovable Mr. Rogers who just wants to make arts and crafts was being besieged and I could not help him. But his stand was valiant and he took many a men to the grave with him. But in the end, the force opposing him was just to strong. Mr. Rogers joined the Hippie in destruction and the prophecy was complete.

The Teacher was now being pushed on all sides. His Asian force went with a whimper but his Eastern Block army held there own for a little while until cold and hunger took them. He was eaten alive by the Gamer and by the Politician. Let his name be sung and put into ballads of old. He was in a better place now and the mortal world could no longer hold him.

To Be Continued.................

Activity: Ariline History Museum

2009-09-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

Location: 201 NW Lou Holland Dr
Kansas City, MO 64116-4223
(816) 421-3401

Website: http://www.airlinehistorymuseum.com

Hours and Rates: Monday through Sat, 10 to 4. Sunday 12 to 4.
8 for adult, 4 for 6-12, kids under 4 are free.

Ages: Any and all. It's plane's man, everyone loves planes.

Caution!: These planes still fly and do airshows. So before you go, give them a call to make sure you can see them.

Review:
I'll start the review this way: My 2 year old son was so excited that he cried.

Located in the downtown KC airport, the hanger that houses the planes and the museum sets the tone just right. The hanger is huge. I mean really huge. It's the type of huge that they use football field lengths to describe. And it has to be huge because that is where they house the planes.

The museum portion of the attraction is not bad either. Located on the inside of the hanger, it offers a glimpse into air travel over the last 60 years and provides a good chuckle. For example, in the 1940's, flight attendants could not be married and it was suggested that they have a degree in home economics. There are a lot of model aircraft as well as some actual 1970 style airplane seats. The kids loved these although I have no idea why. Wait until they are 30 then they will come to loathe them.

On display on the inside are numerous items that include flight books that you can flip through, china from airlines (they actually used glassware at one point) and other neat little oddities.

This sets you up for the big dog of the show: the planes.

They have three planes that you can see. A Super G Constellation, a Martin 404 and a Douglas DC-3. Now you may have no idea what these are so let me clarify. They are huge commercial planes from the last 50 years. Did I mention huge? Yes, huge. It just seems so different when you are right up next to them.

This is a little bit of a guided tour but most of the kids were in awe of the planes. When they weren't, remember that this is in a hanger so there is PLENTY of space to run. And what are they going to break, it's a plane man.

Not only do you get a chance to get up close and personal with the outside of the aircraft, you actually get to walk through 2 of them, all the way up to the cockpit. Now I know, who hasn't walked on a plane before? Well, this is a little different. First off, they are old. Nothing says old like nicotine stains from years and years of smokers on planes. When was the last time they even allowed this? Second, you'll be surprised what you will find in them. Some of the compartments had fold down beds that looked nicer than what I had in the dorm. Arranged in a bunkbed style and featuring great 1970 curtains, travel in style as you sleep away the miles. You also get to go to the "galley" where all the food was prepared. It's interesting to actually see this. FYI: the drink cart hasn't changed in 50 years. It's the same then as it is now.

But wait, we're not done. Also in the hanger they have an engine ripped apart that the tour guide shows you. How cool is that? You'll learn all the interesting facts from this tour. For example, one of these beasts guzzles 500 gallons of fuel an hour. Makes your Hummer look down right respectable doesn't it?

A couple of oddities that are also worth seeing here. They have the rocket ship from the old TWA building downtown. It's larger than I thought it would be. Also, when you get in the hanger, look up. They have a ceiling fan that is by far the biggest thing I have ever seen. Apparently if you crank that bad boy up to full speed you get a 4mph breeze going through the place.

So if you have an afternoon to kill and what to do something cool, this one is for you. Our kids loved it and the dads found enough interesting to ignore the kids at our leisure

.

Activity: Steam Boat Arabia Musuem

2009-09-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

Location: 400 Grand Blvd, KC MO.

Website: http://www.1856.com/

Hours and Rates: Open 7 days a week. M-S 10am until 5:30. Sunday: 12 pm to 5.
Adults: 12.50. Ages 4-12: 4.75. 3 and Under are Free

Ages: I would keep this for the older kids, atleast 5 years of age. However, if you have a kid in a stroller, that works just as well.

Review:
For those who are not familiar with this museum and what it is, let me explain. The Steam Boat Arbia was a steamship that sank in the Missouri River in the later half of the 1800's. The river then changed course and the ship was covered by dirt. Eventually some people dug it and that's how you got the museum. What makes this interesting though is that everything that was in the ship was intact and was basically a big time capsule.

I have seen a lot of well done musuems and exhibits in and around KC. This one though, has got to rank up there with one of the best. It's a huge building that appeared to be really well kept. The top floor is reserved for eating and shopping and this is where the tours begin. This is one of the reasons I wouldn't take toddlers to this. You have to be part of a tour, at least at the start. They do give you plenty of time to roam free but 20 minutes is spent listening to a tour guide. This is great if your kid can stay still and not distract you. Those aren't my kids though so I missed most of what our tour guide said.

However, shortly after the speeches you are allowed to roam through the exhibits and I think this is really the thing that sets this musuem apart. The exhibits are exceptionally well done. They have a recreated paddlewheel that is actually working on the old drive train of the boat. My son couldn't get enough of this. Other pieces of the boat are spread throughout the museum and are in really good condition. They put back together a back portion of the boat so you can actually see what it was like and it's really well done.

Most of the other exhibits are behind glass which was a great thing in our case. 3 year olds can tend to be a bit grabby and this prevented them from destroying anything and us getting banned. As you can see, the museum is not built for the younger crowd so I'm not sure how much they got out of it. Toddlers are big in to touching and learning and there wasn't much of that here. The dad's however thought it was great and loved to see everything that was pulled out of the boat.

Woodworking tools, nails, horse gear, sacks--you name it. It almost felt that if it existed in the 1800's then we had a chance to look at it. Guns, ammo, and tons of other stuff made this one of the more interesting exhibits that we have seen.

I do want to add this: the museum is superbly laid out with large spaces so even the kids that weren't able to really grasp any of this had plenty of room to move around without worrying about hitting anyone. As a parent, I always appreciate this.

Final call on this one: 12 bucks is a little high but in the end I thought it was worth the price. The exhibits are first rate and so is the building. The large spaces makes it manageable for younger children and the paddle wheel will distract just about anyone long enough for you to read a couple of plaques.

Cell Phone Eulogy

2009-08-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

I did not know Father Hitman's wonderful and glorious Touch Pro cell phone and as such I may not be qualified to speak on it's recent demise. I did not know of it's many applicatoins. I did not know it's smooth and silky touch screen. It may have been like stroking the hair of God, a warm lover's touch with the deepest intimacy. I did not know any of these things, but I do know cell phone loss.

I know of the pain and confusion when a cell phone moves on to that big Sprint store in the sky. I know of the hurt and the feeling of abandonment, that same hurt that resides in your heart forever. Every button after that feels different, like an accidental caress of the stranger on the street rather than the knowing fell of what you are used to. Yes, I know these things brothers and maybe that's why I can see the pain behind Father Hitman's eyes more than the rest of you.

Given my daughter's destructive nature I have known many a cell phone and I have lost them all. Even my current one has a cracked screen thanks to the awesome destructive power that is my mongo. I know the hurt! Yes! I KNOW THE PAIN!

And I know bravery when I see it.

We told Father Hitman not to climb that cliff. We told him dammit, but the man wouldn't listen. We told him that flip flops were not appropriate attire for cliff climbing. But he didn't listen, because he is Father Hitman. It's in his nature, he's a free spirit.

It's that same free spirit that came tumbling down Tryst Falls, landing with a mighty "UMPH!" When the rest of us turned and saw nothing but feet and ass, we knew that this was going to be bad. He was up 8 feet if it was a foot.

We ran over to see if he had brained himself, broke a leg or possibly even shattered his thousand dollar camera.

"I had to get the picture, I had to get the picture, I had to get the picture" is what he was mumbling as we came to him and pulled him off the ground.

He seemed ok, bleeding in a couple of places but that was about it. Can I get an amen. We did a status check. Blood minimal. No broken bones. Camera working.

Then he pulled the cell phone out of his pocket.

The back of the phone was popped off, a big dent in it. The battery lay on the side like guts hanging out of a tour guide that was mauled by a lion. The screen was black.

He had it in his back pocket and when many an electronic device would have fled, texting in terror, the HTC Touch Pro stood it's ground and took the majority of the impact from the fall.

And now it had paid the price.

With trembling hands and a tear in his soul, Father Hitman attempted to put the phone back together. Caressing each piece like one would caress fine cashmere, desperately forcing pieces back together that didn't want to get back together.

He pushed the power button. The screen remained black. He screamed "Why God, why!" and continued to push the button as if he was giving it CPR. "It's not your time! It's not your time!"

And then the faintest flicker. Was that the power or our imigaination? He pushed it again. This time it wasn't a flicker, but a striaght white line on one half of the screen. New life had been breathed back into the mighty HTC Touch Pro. A cheer went up but died quickly in our throats when we saw the rest of the screen.

Only one half of the screen was working. The other half remained in darkness and shall forever more remain in that same cold void of nothingness.

Yes, the phone came back but to what kind of life? What kind of quality usage can it expect with only one half of the screen working? But he can't let it go. Deaf, dumb and blind, the phone remains in his possession to this very day.

So you see, I may have never known this amount of loss. The kind of loss that stairs you straight in the face every time you try to check the weather on your cell phone and only get Monday and Tuesday when you need the 7 day extended forecast. The kind of loss where you get directions only to the halfway point or where your wife sends you a text message saying "I love............" Who does she love? Father Hitman may never know as he keeps vigil over his shattered cell phone. A phone more fit for a texting donkey than a SAHD who was just trying to get a great picture of Tryst Falls for his kids memories.

So gather around tonight my brothers, my fellow dads in the parenting jungle. Raise your glass to that brave cell phone that sacrificed itself so the thousand dollar camera could live. Sing it's praises and send it on it's way to that great big voicemail box in the sky. And remember what it was in the prime of it's life, when it gladly told you who was calling and gladly let you ignore it. Just hope that one day it's in a better place, surrounded by 72 virgins and 1000 night and weekend minutes.

Pico De Gallo

2009-08-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

There are still some great tomatoes, onions and green peppers at the local farmers markets. Here is a great way to put them to use.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 4-6 Depending on tast. Roma or plum tomatoes work best
Green Pepper - 1
White Onion - 1
Jalapeno - 1
Cilantro - 1/4 cup Again a matter of taste
Garlic Salt - 1 teaspoon

Dice all of the vegetables. Do the tomatoes first and put in a collander to drain. Roma tomatoes work best because they don't have as much water as other ones do when diced. Chop the cilantro. Add garlic salt to taste. Mix and enjoy.

To make it into a Mexican Salad add one can of black beans and one can of corn.

Activity: Tryst Falls

2009-08-13T21:41:00.001-07:00

Location: There is no actual address for the Falls. However, it is located 6 miles East of I 35 on Route 92. Head toward Kearney, exit route 92 and go 6.1 miles. It will be on your right. It is a dirt road entrance and can be easy to miss.

Cost: Free, it's a park.

Appropriate Age: All

Review: I realize as I write this that I haven't tanked many of the activities we have done this summer, which I now dub as Year of Discovering Missouri (next year we do Kansas). We've been lucky in the activities we have done through a combination of good planning and good hosts. Even when things are not appropriate or kinda crap, they are usually made more enjoyable by the docent or locals that help us out. However, this is not that type of place.

I'm not going to totally bash on this though. I love nature and any nature is a good start. With that said, let's get to ripping.

Tryst Falls is "Kansas City area's only scenic waterfall", not my words. And to it's credit, it is a waterfall and it's not bad. It's not Niagara Falls, but not bad for a day trip.

However, there are some problems with this site. First, when you roll up to the park there is a sign asking you not to swim in the water, touch the water, bath in the water or inhale the water because "test show Fecal Coliform Contamination" In other words, poop water. This is not a good start.

The falls are just a short walk down a small field and a path. They are about 15 fee high and you can walk to the top and look down or walk to the bottom and look at them from the side. But don't touch the water. It's a nice view but one that could be better.

First off the road is built right up next to the falls with a highway bridge going over the stream feeding the falls. This kind of messes up the scenery a bit. The field around the falls is also not very well kept up and I noticed plastic bags, styrofoam and other assorted trash here and there. I didn't notice any trash cans around which would explain the random trash It wouldn't kill them as well to mow a little closer to the water at least for appearance sake.

There is a single picnic table at this park but we didn't want to eat next to poo water.

I don't mean to imply that the falls are not cool to see, they are. But it's not a place that you would want to spend your entire day at or eat lunch at. There are plenty of really cool attractions in Kearney such as Jessie James' grave and farm house (both worth it) and Watkins Mill State Park, where we did have lunch and visit. I won't write a review of them just yet as we did not experience the whole of the park and I don't think I could do it justice. But I will say that the parts we saw were very nice and well kept and the Mill Museum is pretty cool for the older kids.

Back to Tryst Falls. They do have a playground at the park but we didn't much play on it and instead opted to go to the Watkins State Park instead.

My final vote: If you are in Kearny, it's worth a drive by for a quick look but not an activity to go see on it's own. As for trash--someone pick that up. It really does bother me when people treat natural resources like shit. I'm not a hippie, we have one of those already. But as one of our members say "make it so like we weren't even here." This is a good motto and one that I think KCDADS does really well when we do all of our nature hikes.

Activity: Art Class

2009-08-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

Location:

Website: www.littlemastersbigart.com

Cost: $5.00 per family, suggested donation.

Appropriate Age: 3 and up but we did have several 2 year olds participate and it worked out well.

Review: This is an Art Class that was held by a very nice lady named Kristen. It's an actually art class and not just paint by numbers kit. We went through the color wheel and identified the primary colors.

Although this was a kid and dad activity, the teacher controls the class while Dad hangs back and only intervenes as needed or if someone is getting punched. She seemed to have really good rapport with the kids and they responded to her. Before the actual painting took place there was music and some physical activity to stimulate the creative process.

After the running around it was time to get our paint on. We used 3 primary colors and the idea was to copy a picture posted at the front of the class and demonstrate our knowledge or the color wheel. OR paint like Jackson Pollack to the rocking theme song from Apocalypse Now. That was cool. Either way, the kids are painting and that is fun. There is defiantly structure to what they were trying to teach but the teacher seemed very patient when the kids decided to go off the reservation and paint like mad.

A couple words about the set up for everyone. Very nicely done. The tables were covered with butcher paper so any mess was easily cleaned up. For the younger kids that couldn't participate there was a playroom with plenty of toys and some cartoons going on. This was one of the most impressive things. So if you have two kids and one is to young to paint with the class, don't let this scare you off. They can hang in the kiddie jail with you while the teacher takes your other kid and teaches them to be an impressionist.

A couple of dads split off to watch the kids and the rest of us helped their kids with the painting. It was well done. As this class is more about the kids interacting with each other and the teacher, dad does get to kick back a little bit here and there was a couch for our comfort. Finally, the teacher brought paint shirts for everyone so paint wouldn't get on their clothes.

All in all this was a great activity and one that I would recommend to anyone with older kids. Check out there website as they offer scheduled classes or if you have a group I'm sure she would be willing to again set something up for you.

Hiking: Lakeside Nature Center Trail

2009-08-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

Location: 4701 E Gregory Blvd Kansas City, MO 64132-1693
The trail is located behind Lakeside Nature Center

Review: This is not a stroller friendly hike, so leave them at home. Even if you think you got a jogging stroller, don't do it. The trail can be narrow at points and there are several falling trees that you have to climb over. Which the kids loved doing by the way.

This trail is about 3 miles long. However, if you have the little ones with you there is a cut through at the beginning which makes the trail about a mile. We had a group of kids under 4 and they seemed to do really well with only the under 2 crowd needing to be carried.

The trail itself though is one of the better ones that I have been on around KC and I thought it was very kid friendly. A couple of the members thought that some of the brush could be trimmed back a bit but it's not really noticeable.

It's a flat trail for the most part but does offer some hills that can give a little bit of a challenge to the kids. There's plenty of greenery but it's broken at parts by a stream that runs through the middle of the area. The stream was one of the awesome parts of this hike and the kids loved it. It's very picturesque. The riverbed is rock and it's easy to cross without getting anyone wet and offers some great opportunities to throw some rocks. Which kids don't like to throw rocks?

The scenery of this hike is the real joy of it. The sunlight would come through the trees in spurts, creating little highlights of the kids. I believe we found an aqua duct running through the forest and that was really cool because honestly, how often do you see something like this. There is also a weird tree stump that is worth seeing as I have never seen anything like it before. There is a group of trees growing around a big whole where another tree used to be. It's very strange but very worth it to spend some time there and check it out.

All in all, I would recommend this hike to everyone. We did it without backpacks and just carried the younger kids on our shoulders. With the cut through option it makes the trail short enough that this wasn't a problem especially when your stopping at the different things to see. Great nature hike and one that I bet we go back to again soon.

Review: G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

2009-08-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

Boob Suit. Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit.

Ray Parks plays Snake Eyes, not Ralph Fiennes

Boob Suit. Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit Boob suit boob suit boob suit.

Molded Nipples.

That's about what you need to know.

Jim Cosgrove

2009-08-10T05:39:00.001-07:00

Jim Cosgrove
Jim Cosgrove (Mr. Stinky Feet) puts on a lot of free concerts throughout the KC area. He does a good job of entertaining the kids. I have never been disappointed. He throws a few things in for the parents amusement. For example teaching the kids to raise the roof. Or telling the kids the next song is a rock ballad. I think the Wondertwins have become certified groupies. Each week they ask if there is a Stinky Feet concert they can go to.
I have always wondered what it is like to be a children’s musician. Is it weird that your biggest fans are four or five years old? Back in DC, Mr. Knick Knack would play to fans screaming in awe…only the fans were all tots. It’s a weird gig. Maybe Cosgrove would be willing to hang with the KCDads sometime. I get the sense he is with his kids more often than he is not.
http://www.mrstinkyfeet.com/calendar/index.php

Ernie Miller Nature Center

2009-08-10T05:27:00.000-07:00

Cost- Nature Center and Trails are free
Storytime is $2 per person

http://www.erniemiller.com/

location k-7 and 135th Street (Santa Fe) in Olathe

Ernie Miller Nature Center – Olathe
I took the wondertwins to their storytime. The stories themselves seemed lame. My kids said they were bored. The wondertwins are not adverse to storytimes and have enjoyed many at Barnes and Noble and Borders.
They did enjoy seeing an owl up close. The Nature Center sounds somewhat similar to Lakeside. Maybe a few less animals. There are a few aquariums and a few cages with owls. They have a number of easy trails, some paved, most not. We enjoyed crossing a creek on rocks, picking up fallen walnuts, listening to birds, seeing a large frog in a pond.
In a nutshell…storytime-not so great, nature center- small but fine, trails- a lot of fun (not too hard nor too long).

Jazz Storytelling

2009-08-10T05:24:00.000-07:00

Jazz Storytelling
Jazz Storytelling is a free event at the American Jazz Museum. It runs once a month on a Friday morning and once a month on a Saturday morning. We have gone twice this summer (and another time at JiggleJam).
First of all this is free. It should really be called music time with a little storytelling tied in. The group consists of a drummer, bassist, male and female vocalist. They teach the basics of jazz music. Kids are encouraged to dance, stomp, sing and sometimes play an improvised instrument. Miss Lisa interacts really well with all of the kids. The wondertwins like this a lot and I do too. Some of the songs can stay in my head for a long time.
Next storytelling is this Friday Aug 14th. We have another commitment or we would be there.
http://www.americanjazzmuseum.com/index.php?page=getcalendar

Johnson County History Museum - Kidscape Exhibit

2009-08-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

Link and Address: http://www.jocomuseum.org/history.htm

________________________________________
Museum Information:
HOURS:
Tuesday-Saturday:
10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Sunday: 1:00-4:30 p.m.
ADMISSION:
FREE
LOCATION:
6305 Lackman Road - Map
Shawnee, KS 66217
CONTACT US:
ph: 913.715.2550

Cost: Free
Our Experience:
I had the kidscape exhibit on my summer activity list for a while now. I took the wondertwins (almost five years old) along with me for our adventure. We arrived around 10:30. The parking lot was pretty small. The first thing I noticed was three KinderCare buses. Day cares, camps and other large groups of children have every right to go to places like this but I wish they would go on days when I was not there.
The kidscape area reminds me of an exhibit at Crown Center a couple of years ago. This “community” of colorful plywood tot size buildings includes a hospital, theater, library, putting green, magnetic fishing etc. Nothing is totally amazing but collectively it is pretty neat. The theater has a backstage where kids can try on costumes and also play with the lights. The small stage has red velvet curtains. There are four or five theater type seats for the audience to watch the kids put on their “shows”.
Dads heed this warning. The door ways are low but are of inconsistent heights. I saw a couple of SAHMs take some blunt trauma to the head. I thought the one was going to pass out.
The kinder camps kids were actually well behaved but their sheer numbers made my kids have a little less fun while they were there. Once they moved out, the wondertwins activated their happy adventurous little selfs. We stayed for two hours and I got protests when we needed to depart for lunch.
Also in the building is the history museum. This has some exhibits for kids. Including a kid size old time house with kitchen and chicken coop. For some reason the wondertwins really loved this thing. I quickly read a little history of JoCo while they busied themselves and learned that in the post WWII era Prarie Village was finishing a new house a day. And that much of JoCo was developed to help support the railroad. There was much fuss about the Hannibal bridge in KC. Hannibal is actually on the other side of the state from KC. So I don’t know where they got the name. I traveled through Hannibal and over a bridge many times to get to my grandparents houses. One memorable summer evening, snow plows were out to plow off the junebugs that covered the bridge. I digress.
Free Kidscape exhibit is open until early next year. I would recommend this and I would go again. I think the 1950s electric house is also at this property but I am not sure and did not check it out.
There is a park within sight of the museum. The playground looked fine. Nothing huge but this could be a picnic lunch option. I failed to notice if they had picnic tables.

Activity: Lakeside Nature Center

2009-08-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

Location: 4701 East Gregory Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri

Website: http://www.lakesidenaturecenter.org/

Cost: Free Ages: Good for all ages.

Hours of Operation: Tuesday through Saturday, 9 AM to 4 PM.
Closed Sunday & Monday

Contact for setting up programs or groups:
Sharon Goff
Friends of Lakeside Nature Center, Inc
FOLNC President
Sharon4890@sbcglobal.net
(816) 513-8960.

Review:
This is the reason I like Kansas City, little nuggets like this place. In all the things we have done over the last 2 years, I did not know about Lakeside Nature Center. It's located by the zoo. I've been hiking all over this place but have never been here.

Although when I say "little nugget" I don't mean to imply that this place is small, it's not. It is a huge building that contains the nature center, picnic area and hiking trail near Swope Park.

Let's start with the Nature Center as it is probably the first thing you want to do when you get there. The nature center is really well done and it may be hard to describe. First off, everything seems very hands on for the kids, which I always love. There are bones and fossils that the kids can play with. There are things that they can climb. There is a play area with books and games. There are little doors that they can open to see the animals. There is a kid friendly microscope that they can look at feathers through and other things. Really impressive and really well presented.

Next of course are the animals and there's plenty to see here. Like snakes? You'll get your fill from rattlers to copperheads, all safely tucked behind glass. Like fish and turtles? Got those galore and their aquariums are pretty well done. They have the best, and I mean best, snapping turtle I have ever seen. This thing is huge, atleast 3 feet long. We saw it when it was napping and I swear I thought it was fake, just laying in the water. Then it moved. Very cool and the best one I have seen at any nature center. And if you like the creepy crawlers--they have them too. Scorpions, spiders and cockroaches--man those freak me out. They also have a collection of birs--vultures, hawks, etc, that they have rescued. And Jeff the squirrel. Who doesn't like Jeff the squirrel. Note: my kids call all squirrels Jeff.

Finally, we were lucky enough to attend a presentation held by Ms. Sharon Goff. The kids absolutely loved this. Ms. Goff brought out a rabbit and let the kids pet it. She also brought out a snake and told the kids about that as well and let them pet it. Ms. Goff was patient with all of them and put on a first class presentation. I would highly recommend calling her or emailing her (info at top) if you are bringing a group down.

The next stop is the picnic area and I like putting stuff like this in here to help you plan your day. It is a large picnic area with heavy duty picnic tables. It is well covered and is neat the woods so the kids can play when you are done eating.

There is a hiking trial that is connected to the Center but I won't write about that here, it will be it's own blog as we were so impressed with it.

All in all, this is one of the places in Kansas City I would take out of town visitors to if they have kids. It will blow their socks off and it's free, what's better than that? I highly recommend to anyone who wants to get into nature and do some hiking. Tell Jeff the Squirrel we said hi.

At Home Dad Convention

2009-07-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

Website: http://www.athomedadconvention.com/

We here at KCDADS just want to give a little love to the Stay At Home DAD Convention coming up on OCTOBER 1OTH.

Above is the link to the website so you can go check it out if you wish, which I highly encourage you to do. For our group, I think we are going to have a pretty strong showing. There are 7 of us that are going and I hope to get more.

Unsure if you are going? Think of this:

1. We are carpooling, and there is a strong possibility that we will have the Xbox hooked up to the in car DVD player. Take that Dora, we hate you. But we love Pablo. 3 hours of smack talk, alien destruction, and talking about dad stuff-like potty training. There's still room in the carpool, so sign up and come along.

2. 2 days of no one head butting you in the crotch. That's worth it right there.

3. We may or may not be producing a song. Come and find out.

4. A little game I like to play call "Hey Cow". Don't know what that is? It's a Texas game, so saddle up and bring your spurs.

5. A meal you can eat from start to finish, without any interruptions. And get this, you only have to cut up your own food!

6. Don't want to sleep solo? We are all rooming together and there is still those that don't have that domestic partner lined up yet, could it be you?

7. Support the movement, go meet other guys doing the same shit as you. Sure, you're weird like 90% of the time. But here, with other SAHDs, we're all weird so no pedophile looks from the moms!

8. If we are challenged to a beer drinking contest, how are we going to win without you? KCDADS must represent! NYC thinks they are better than you.

9. Honestly, you can go to bed at bedtime with no distractions. That's worth the registration right there.

10. Private bathroom time. That's all I'm saying.

So come to a playgroup or post an email and we'll get you set up with us. We have one member leaving on Thursday night and the rest leaving Friday. We will be coming back Sunday. Hope to see you there.

Activity: Shatto Milk Company Tour

2009-07-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Location: 9406 N. HWY. 33 Osborn, MO 64474. Phone: 816-930-3862 It's on your right hand side as you are coming up. It's smaller than you think but it's there.

Website: http://www.shattomilk.com/contact.html

Cost: 5 bucks per person for the tour. There is also a Country Store there as well that sells all thier products and give out free cheese. We like free stuff.

Review:
For those that weren't there, this was our family day outing that we have been planning for the last couple of months. We decided to pack everyone, wives included, into the cars and took the trip an hour north of KC to visit the Shatto Dairy Farms. A special thank you to Mr. Rogers who set all this up. He did a great job.

My first impression was that it is smaller than I thought. Given that you see their milk everywhere, I expected it to be huge. It's not. It's family owned with about 250 cows. But that doesn't mean it's not worth to go up there, this was totally worth it.

Your tour begins in basically the bottling room. Our tour was given by Mr. Shatto himself and it seems like he does all of them. He's a charismatic bastard, that one. Anyway, the bottling room is pretty small. We had to crowd in to get everyone in there. They show you where the milk comes from, the machines it gets pasteurized in, and then how they bottle it. They then show you the actually process using water. It was really cool and the kids seemed to enjoy this.

Then they start giving you free samples of milk. Big deal, right? Turns out, this is a big deal. Have you ever had banana flavored milk? What about root beer flavored milk? Not bad, not bad at all. Didn't think it would be, turns out it's pretty cool. They explain the process to you and they seemed to take special pride in their chocolate milk, which was thick and awesome, I'll give the credit where the credit is due. So for the next 20 minutes were spent taking shots of all the different kinds of milk.

The next stop on our tour was to actually milk a cow. We had different successes with different age children. Some were scared which is to be expected but some other's were pulling on that teet like there was no tomorrow. They also had a bunch of calfs that were born within days that the children could touch and pet.

Finally, they took us to the "milking line". At least that is what I assume it was as 12 cows were lined up to be milked. They showed us how they do it and seemed to be really ok with us touching the equipment and cows.

I want to add that the staff was attentive and exceptional. They gladly answered all our questions, we never felt hurried, and they were generally pleasant all day.

After the tour we commenced our Picnic. Papa Scrum had brought his grill and I made some truly awful potato salad. Seriously, it was like toxic starch and I apologize to everyone for that. But the meat was good.

There are only 3 picnic tables available in a field next to the farm but we planned ahead and brought more tables. If you are planning to make a trip out there though and picnic, bring a fly swatter. It was the one thing we needed that we didn't have. The field provided a lot of room for the kids to run around and play in. Different families brought wagons, or balls or numerous other toys for the kids to play with. The parents bought milk from the country store.

They have some really good strawberry milk though, good god that's some good stuff.

We made a whole day of this and I think that everyone had a great time. It was one of those perfect sunny Midwestern days that look like a picture in a brochure.

It's tough to say what the best part of the day was as it was all pretty good. I like it when the wives get together but it unnerves me sometimes to see them talking without us. Are they judging us? Are they asking private questions about my back hair? But it's good to see all of them getting along together.

The kids playing at the picnic might have been the highlight of my day. We had enough space that basically everyone could go crazy without anyone getting hurt or running into eachother.

End recommendation is that his is a good day trip to plan, bring the family and a sack lunch, and go play with some cows. And for god's sake, buy some of that milk, it's that good.

Also a note on our Pictures: Most all the pictures on these blogs are supplied by either Larry Geographic or Father Hitman. Just a thanks for them and their fancy cameras.

Playgroup conversations

2009-07-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

As a stay at home dad I often get asked, especially by wives, what the hell do you guys talk about. I get it all the time. My sister, my wife, just about every mother I know asks that question. It seems that many can't imagine what 15 guys talk about when we get together when we are surrounded by future presidents and award winning cancer curing scientists. Well, they aren't that yet but we all have high expectations. My kid in particular. I've her slotted for Ruler Over All. I am hoping that she will let me live in a sweet villa beside the ocean. And I get free steak. That would be awesome.

Do you guys talk about breast feeding? About potty training? About snot and poop? It's like they have a hard time imagining that a bunch of guys, as manly as we are, talk about these things. And I can't blame them. Their experience with men has routinly been guys trying to get into their pants. Including their experiences with us. Except we succeeded. Go us. And now we are stay at home dads with the children to prove our smoothness.

But c'mon, we aren't always ruled by whats south of the border. We have bigger interests than just that. I know a lot of our wives read this sight to see what's going on with thier kids and check up on their husbands. So let me put it all to rest, let's answer that question once and for all. What do we talk about at playgroup when it's just us and the kids? So here's what we talk about.

That chick at the grocery store.
That chick at the gas station.
That chick at the mailbox.
That chick that had to be at least 21.
That chick with that thing at that place.

Potty training.

That chick at Blockbuster getting that romantic comedy.
That chick that looked at me all sexy like when I pulled up to her at the stoplight.
That chick who I bet is wearing a thong.
That chick who found my kid lost at the grocery store.
That chick who was in the swing waiting for her boyfriend.

Finding the right preschool.

That chick at the gym.
That chick that looked like she went to the gym.
That chick in that commercial.
That chick on that TV show.
That chick who was in the commercial and the TV show.

Diaper rash.

That chick who was walking her dog as we came to playgroup.
That chick that was crossing the street as we came to playgroup.
That chick that was doing yard work as we came to playgroup.
That chick that was doing jumping jacks by her car as we came to playgroup.
That chick with the jogging stroller that we passed as we came to playgroup.

The difficulties of breast feeding.

That chick that was all greasy underneath the hood of her car in the short cutoffs.
Those chicks that were in a full out pillow fight at the slumber party.
That chick that was eating that Popsicle.
That chick in the nurses outfit.
The fact that none of those things were scene but it would have been cool if they were.

How to make a quilt for ever lasting memories.

Princes Leah.
Princes Leah and her hair buns.
Princes Leah and her gold bikini.
Princes Leah and her hair buns and her gold bikini and how she seems to like fat guys.
Princes Leah and fat guys and what might be her home phone number.

Recipes for losing weight or becoming an interstellar smuggler.

That chick who reads this blog.
That chick who will no longer talk to us.
That chick who thinks we are a bunch of disgusting jagoffs but yet bad boy sexy.
That chick who thinks that she can fix us.
That chick who wishes we drove a motorcycle with a carseat on the back because that would be cool.

Aprons.

That chick at the zoo.
That chick at Shatto Milk Company.
That chick at the civil war battlefield.
That chick at the Library.
That chick on the hiking trail.

The best way to put in a carseat.

There you go. That's just about all that we talk about. I hope that I have shown our wives that yes, we can be a little neanderthal at times, but underneath all of that is a caring husband who has a nurturing side. Someone that doesn't just think unpure thoughts all day like it is rumored that men do. Someone that can cook you a kick ass dinner and make sure that the kids aren't jumping off the roof.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go sleep on the couch for a couple of days until that chick at the flower shop hooks me up and gets me those roses.

Activity: The Vault at KC Downtown Libary

2009-07-25T21:23:00.001-07:00

Activity: Day trip St. Joe Adventures

2009-07-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

Location: St. Joseph, Mo. About an hour north of Kansas City

Cost: Up to you. Some of the attractions are free, some cost 4 bucks.

Appropriate ages: Depends once you decide where you want to go.

Website: Visit www.stjomo.com for a full list of everything to do here. We were only able to do 3 different sites so we'll only review those. There is a lot of things to see and do here but there isn't enough time to see it all with kiddos.

Site #1:
St. Joseph Historic Fire Museum.
Location: 1202 S. 11th, St. Joseph MO
Website: http://www.stjoemo.info/fire/fire_museum.cfm
Cost: Free

Did you know that the very first fire pole in firehouses was in St. Joe? That's right, it's a down right Biggest Ball of Twin kind of thing. As for the musuem itself, one of the most awesome for young kids ever. They have 2 firetrucks from the 1940's that are in restored condition. And get this: they let the kids climb all over them. Inside the cabs, inside the backs, everywhere. Then there is the bell that they also let the kids ring. Over, over and over again. The docent there was one of the best I have ever run into. She was so accommodating and friendly that made this trip even more worth it. She brought out fire helmets and gear and actively encouraged the kids to play with it. There are some actual displays as well but we didn't get much farther than the awesome trucks. The kids loved it and if you are planning to go to St. Joe it would be a shame not to start here.

Site #2
Pony Express Museum
Location: http://www.ponyexpress.org/ Right across the street from the Fire Museum
cost: 4 bucks for adults, kids under 6 are free
Website: http://www.ponyexpress.org/

Did you also know that the Pony Express also started in St. Joe. This is a regular history smorgasbord of awesomeness. And once again, as always in a lot of these towns, the docents were awesome. Is everyone so damn friendly in the Midwest?? Anyway, any age of kids would dig this place. They have enough to keep Dads interested and the kids occupied. The museum is well laid out and seem to have a lot of hands on stuff for the kids. There is a good flow to the whole thing. There are some saddles that the kids can actually sit on and do a little fake ride. We found this cool because it gave us a chance to read the information on the exhibits. Also, when they were building the museum, they discovered an old hand dug well that used to water the horses for the riders. They put a plastic top on this and incorporated it as part of the museum. Then they hooked up a hand pump to it so the kids can actually pump water out of the well into a trough. The kids went nuts for this. Finally, they have a play area at the end of the museum that the kids can enjoy. It was really well done and again gave Dads enough time to read some more history. Totally worth it.

Site #3
Glore Psychiatric Museum
Locatoin: 3408 Frederick Ave., St. Joseph, MO
Website: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2142
Cost: 5 bucks for adults, free for kids under 6

This one might not be appropriate for certain children. I'll admit it, we may have been pushing our luck on this one. It can be pretty gruesome so if you take a younger child there be prepared to answer some odd questions like "what is a tranquilizer chair" and "Why does it have a bucket on it's seat". This museum is part of several on the same sight: The St. Joe Museum and The Black Archives. We only saw the psych museum because we are a very morbid crowd. Basically, it chronicles treating mental illnesses throughout history. From a depiction of burning at the stake to the giant patient treadmill. There are some original pieces there but there are also alot of reproductions of some of the equipment used. Either way, it's well done as far as that goes. But it's all very creepy, which I like but realize that some won't. The weirdest exhibit was of 1400 objects that one patient ate. They have all of these on display, and yes, they are the originals. He died when they finally took it out. If you have a teen who digs this, I would definitely go see it because alot of it is way cool but if your kid freaks out easy, skip it for something else.

Activity: Hiking--87th St Trail, Kansas City MO

2009-07-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Location: E 87th, East of HWY 71. Kansas City

Directions: Off 71, exit 87th street. Head east for about a mile. The trail is on the east bound lane of the road. There is a small shoulder on this side of the road. If you hit 435, you've gone to far. It's hard to see sometimes, but keep you eyes open and you'll find it.

Distance: 1.5 miles or more

Ages appropriate for: 3 and up but only for those that truly like to climb and get dirty. Any younger will need to go in the backpack.

Description: This trail isn't for an easy little jaunt through the woods. This one takes some climbing. With that said,leave the strollers at home and grab a good kids backpack for any younger kids.

The trail itself is kind of nestled a little way back from the road. It's only about 2 feet wide at it's best and there are times where you might lose it. The trail markings need some work for the inexperienced hiker which I am. However, going with the more experienced Hippie, it was no problem for him. I suck and he's awesome.

The trail could use a little more upkeep by cutting back some of the brush but we were able to get by just fine.

That's about the only bad things I can say about this trail. It's pretty freaking awesome. The trail runs part way by a stream which allows for plenty of opportunity to throw a lot of rocks at water, always a favorite kid past time.

There's a lot to see throughout the trail as well. It goes a little up and presents some pretty decent climbs for the kids that they will find challenging. One of our favorite parts is when the trail goes between two limestone bluffs. At the top, you will find a tree growing into the rock. Way freaking cool. There are several areas like this and the view from the top is worth the trip. You alternate between going up the heights and then heading back into the canopy and the deep shade. The trees and brush are pretty dense and the humidity can get up there on a warm day once you area in the canopy.

There are a few clearings where the kids and you can take a break and it offers a good chance to take a real good look at all the fauna around you.

There are several chances throughout the walk to take different paths and you could honestly spend a good 8 hours out there doing this. We did about 1.5 miles and it took us a little over 2 hours. At the end of it, everyone was exhausted but felt great. My 2 year old and my 3 year old had a great time and were massively worn out. I would say this is one of the better hiking trips we've taken and I would recommend it to the more adventurous.

Activity: Friday Outing--Lego

2009-07-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Location: Crown Center. 2450 Grand Ave, KC MO

Cost: Free

Ages: All ages.

Review: This was pretty good for us. There were 6 dads and about 9 kids that went. Some of the old guard showed up which I always love and one of the reasons we wanted to start doing things on Friday during the summer.

The exhibit was pretty cool. It's sculptures made out of Legos. Some of them are really freaking like a life size guy ripping his chest open and legos spilling out. Then there was the 7 foot high sunflower. The highlight for the kids though is several tables set up so that you can try your own hand at Lego sculpting.

I built a square. Mr. Rogers built a dinosaur that actually looked like a dinosaur.

If you get a chance to go, it runs through Sept 7. The Crown Center almost always has exhibits like this though, so check the website for the future.

We had a good time. It's a quick visit though so don't expect to kill 3 hours doing this.

Activity: Battle Of Lexington--Civil War Battle Field and Town

2009-07-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

Location: Main battle field is located at 1101 Delaware St, Lexington MO. However, the whole town has a lot of other things to see. Lexington is about an hour North East of Kansas City. It's an easy drive and a straight shot.

Cost: The battlefield and museum is free, a tour of one of the houses on the battlefield is 2.50 per adult, kids under 6 are free.

Website: http://www.visitlexingtonmo.com/index.cfm?Page=BattleofLexington
This is the website for the actual town as there are a lot of things to see in the town other than the battlefield.

Ages: Appropriate for all ages. The younger kids get a big field to run around in and the older ones will probably enjoy picking up the cannon balls.

Review:

For those not familiar with this, it's a civil war battlefield. It was known as the Battle of the Hemp Bales because Confederate soldiers rolled wet hay bales up a hill to get close enough to attack the Union soldiers. Once you actually see the battle field and the hill they had to roll up, you can see the balls it took to do this.

The battlefield has a pretty decent visitors center/museum that is attended by very friendly staff. However, my daughter got stung by a wasp as we were walking in but I think it was just one of those freakish things. The staff, without my asking, produced anti-sting wipes and my kiddo was good to go.

The museum itself is on the small scale but pretty well done. You get to see old medical supplies for cutting off legs, bullets and other things that will catch the history buffs eye. The kids probably won't care about a lot of this but everyone loved the cannon balls. They actually let you pick up one to see how heavy it is. Even I thought that was cool as crap.

After the museum you get to walk the field. There is a decent trail that is well maintained and you can get a real feel for what it must have been like rolling the hay bales up. Our only complaint here is that a lot o the woods around the battlefield is grown up and blocks some of the view, but the kids didn't seem to mind. You can also see the mounds where the Union Fortifications were. There are also several informative plaques placed around the battlefield which fill you in even more. The whole field is not that big so the younger kids won't get tired taking the walk.

You will pass by several things as you walk the battlefield. There is a grave stone marking 5 unknown union soldiers and also the Anderson House. This house is pretty cool and the only thing you have to pay for on the tour. This house was a main area of fighting during the battle and they have tried to keep it in it's original form. You can still see all the bullett holes which we all agreed was badass. History note: muskets seem to be a bad shot. I can't speak on the inside tour as we didn't take it. The younger ones (3 and under) might have had a hard time not wrecking the place.

I think the kids really liked this. We had two 1 year olds with us and two 3 year olds with us. They got along well and seemed to have a really good time on the battlefield itself while the Dad's got to soak up some history.

The North end of the battlefield is the Masonic College which was the Union Headquarters. This is known as College Park. It's big attraction is a cannon from Old Ironsides, the Union steel ship. The college building itself no longer exists.

I would skip this section of the battlefield. There are picnic tables there and a playground. However, none of it appears well kept. The playground's ground mulch has worn away and weeds are rampant. The equipment was rusted in a lot of places. There were wasps everywhere. We ate a quick bite there and then took off. The cannon is worth to see but not the rest of it.

All in all, it was a nice day trip for the history buffs and I would take my kids there again. I would give it a B, not the best I've ever seen but not the worst. Interesting enough to go back again when the kids are older.

The Rest of the Town:
As you are in Lexington, you might want to check out the other things that they have to see there which could be very interesting. Look at the website to give you an idea of the other things. I can't comment on them all but I can tell you what we did.

The Courthouse: This is totally worth a quick visit because there is actually a cannon ball stuck in the top left column. That is pretty awesome and one of the highlights of our trips.

SALUDA MEMORIAL at HERITAGE PARK: Skip this one. It's a bit hard to find and get to and we found it just by accident. It commemorates the worst steamboat disaster on the Missouri. It's a neat idea but bad location. Not worth it unless you just drive by.

Old Neighborhoods on Franklin St.: Mixed review on this one. It's a walking tour so grab your stroller. The houses seemed to range from 1830 to 1900. Some of them are just awesome. You can really see the style and appreciate. Most of the houses have a sign on them to let you know when they were built. I dig this. However, everything is privately owned and alot of people still live in them. Which means that some of them are in need of some repair. But it's a good stroll to take after lunch, which we had in the downtown area.

Scenic Route 224: This was an intersting road that leads back towards Kansas City. It follows the river but you don't get to see all that much of it. There are two points to stop and lookout but nothing closeup and a lot of it was blocked by trees. But it's a relaxing drive if you want to take it. A lot of farmland out there.

Final review: Lexington is worth an adventure. Plenty to see and you can get done in about 2 hours and head on home. There are also a lot of Wineries and Orchards up there that we didn't get to see but would love to. I do feel that I have to mention the people. About as nice as they could be. Friendly, willing to go out of thier way to show you around.

Recipe: Frittata

2009-07-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

This came up at playgroup the other day so I thought I would go ahead and post the recipe for everyone.

If you have never had a Frittata before, give it a shot. It's a great breakfast dish that is easy to prepare and a little something different than poptarts. Not knocking on the poptarts, god knows that I love them, but variety is always good.

For those not familiar with what a Frittata is, think of it as a big baked omlet.

Note: This recipe is from a cookbook called America's Test Kitchen. If you don't have this one, get it.

Ingredients: Serves 4
6 Large Eggs
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped up
2 tablespoons of minced parsley, basil, dill, tarragon and/or mint.

To Cook

1. Put an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350.

2. In a 10 inch nonstick skillet, add the onion and oil and cook until soft, about 4 minutes.

3. Beat the eggs, the cheese, salt and pepper together. Add to the pan with the onion. Throw in the parsley. Stir gently until the eggs on the bottom are set and firm, about 30 to 40 seconds.

4. Gently pull the eggs back from one edge of the skillet and tilt the pan, allowing any uncooked egg to run to the cleared edge of the skillet. Repeat this process, working your way around the skillet until the egg on top is mostly set but still moist.

5. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the top is set and dry to the touch, about 3 minutes.

6. Run a spatula around the skillet edge to losen and then invert onto a serving plate.

That's all there is to it. Try your own variations. I have used spinach and the kids don't notice the difference. I also like a lot of meat in mine and breakfast sausage or ham goes real well with this. If you have any other variations, add in the comment section. Enjoy!

Playgroup: July 15. From the Kids Perspective

2009-07-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Insanity. But always in a good way.

Kids running, running, gotta get there, gotta play hard, gotta play fast. Oh, look there is the trampoline, gotta jump, gotta jump high and gotta jump hard. Ouch, I busted my lip. I don't want to get down, you can't make me get down. Ok, I'll get down and you take me to my dad and I'll show him my bloody lip. Look dad, I have a bloody lip, I'm a real man now, gotta get back.

The swing set, that's cool, gotta sing on it, gotta swing high and hard. Let's climb to the top because that's really high. Now down the slide, WEEEEEEEE, that was cool, let's do that again. But I want to climb up the slide and I can't with my flip flops on. Here dad take these, they are a pain, stupid shoes, let me go shoeless like Tom Sawyer, he was cool, I'm cool, I want to go rafting. Where did my shoes go?

Oh, what's that over there? That's rabbits. Hey dad, hey dad, hey dad, hey dad. HEY DAD! LOOOK!!!! There are rabbits over here!!! Hey DAD! RABBITS! RIGHT HERE! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!

Gotta go potty, where is the potty, hey someone take me potty. I gotta go over here! You there, tall guy, you look like a dad, take me to the potty before I ruin this carpet. Ya know, I don't really care one way or another. But I gotta go, now are you going to take me?

Now I'm dancing, because dancing is cool. Look Dad, I'm doing the Charleston. See dad, see dad, see dad, PAY ATTENTION TO ME! I'm dancing. Hey, now everyone dance, see we're all dancing. And we're next to the kiddie pool. Can I get in? Please dad? Can I please get in? I'm going to get in. What you mean no! That's not right, I want to get in the pool, let me in the pool, I don't need my dress on, here, let me take it off. Let go of ME! NO! I WANT TO GO IN THE POOL! Put me down. I swear I'll kick you in the junk! Put me down! I don't want to get in the car, I don't want to go home.

I'm tired.

Daddy, have you seen where my underwear is?

Kansas City Musuem Review

2009-06-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

Location: 3218 Gladstone, Kansas City

Cost: Free, for now

Website: http://www.unionstation.org/KansasCityMuseum/

Review: This was going to be awesome. It should have been awesome. Everything about it screamed awesome. But it's not, don't go.

This is why: The main musuem is closed and will be for the next 3 to 7 years. That's right, 3 to 7 years, maybe less if it gets out for good behavior.

Here's the deal. The website proclaims that the Corrinthan hall is closed but states that admission is free for the other things. Having never been there, I thought we would get to check out the actual musuem. However, it appears that the Hall is the musuem. I thought that the website was misleading and there were other things to do there. There's not. They direct you to the Visitors Center, which is really the gift shop. They say that there are things to see there, but there's not. There are a few plaques on the wall next to the T-shirts but thats it. You can't even walk the grounds. You have to walk around on the outside.

But in it's defense, the mansion that is the actual musuem is freaking awesome and I'm sure that when my kids are teenagers they can't wait to go with me. If you do go though, there are some really cool houses around it. Historic stuff but people are living there so you can't actually tour them. So we just played in thier front yards. That's right, we're rebels. Take that bad website! We're fucking with your neighbors, see how they like you now.

Well, we actually just played on the sidewalk in front of thier houses. But I spit on the street, so take that!

All in all, this one was a bust. Skip it.

Playgroup, June 3

2009-06-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

What does around 20 dads and kids do to a house? Take a gander and show respect for the awesome destruction that our children can create. Shock and awe baby, shock and awe.

How did 20 people eat with 4 chairs? It's the whole feed a thousand people with one fish kind of thing. I can't explain it, you have to take it on faith. That's right, just like Jesus.

8 pizza's, 1 full box of Mac N Cheese, 1 carton to strawberries, 3 pounds of grapes and 21 juice boxes. And this is all that is left.

And they huffed and the puffed, and they tore the ever loving shit out of the cardboard house.

Keep in mind that this is AFTER pickup. Also the scene of the famous "NO! It MINE! MINE! MINE!

Just for a recap, as you can tell, we had a great turnout. Now that summer is here some of the preschool kids are getting back into the swing of things which is always awesome. All dads were promptly able to ignore thier children and talk about important things, like the KC Royals and LOST.

What does around 20 dads and kids do to a house? Take a gander and show respect for the awesome destruction that our children can create.

A day out with Thomas

2009-05-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

Location: Midland Railway in Baldwin City Kansas (also held at other locations in the Metro area I believe)

Cost: $18 per person age 2 and up. Parking was free but you have to park at the local high school and take a shuttle/school bus to the Railway site.

Website: http://www.midland-ry.org/

Review: A really great time. Every one gets to have a 25min ride on a Thomas Train as well as take part in a lot of fun activity tents. Since this is an outdoor event the weather has a lot to do with your satisfaction but if that cooperates then you can have a lot of fun. If your kid loves Thomas then you will have him flipping out of his/her gourd.

The "Day out with Thomas" only comes to Baldwin City once a year for two weekends, so you have to plan for it. Baldwin City is located about an hour from Kansas City and by the time we got there the kids were very excited. We sat at the back of the shuttle/school bus on the way to the Railway and they loved all the bouncing up and down. Once there, they had a lot of things to do:
• A ladder truck that the kids could have their picture taken in as well as actual firefighters clothes they could try on.
• A Bubble station where kids could blow soap bubbles
• A moon bounce and inflatable slide
• Activity tent with 6 wooden Railway tables, 3 Trackmaster railway tables and a duplo Train Table as well as Thomas Coloring pages and crayons
• A Video and Storytelling tent where a big screen TV played various Thomas videos between story telling presentations
• A Tattoo Tent where every kid can get one Tattoo
• A sort of petting zoo with goats, a Tortoise, a cow, the second largest rodents in the world (can't remember name), a monkey, a camel, and a kangaroo
• A Magic show stage (didn't catch the show)
• A meet Sir Topham Hat station
• And of course the Gift shop tent where everything Thomas can be purchased (I stayed out of that one)

They did have a baby changing/nursing Tent. Which impressed me as that was one of the first tents we visited when we got there. It was small and later I had to settle for a shady tree when a Mom was in there nursing but it was a nice touch I rarely see anywhere and would have been a god send had the weather been wet. For the older crowd they had portajohns and hand washing stations but they were in good shape.

There were about four food vendors as I recall. Typical fair food: hot dogs, burgers funnel cakes, and one vendor selling PB&J (Which I appreciate). You could get a hot dog meal that included a hot dog, drink, chips and a train shaped whistle for $5. The whistle doesn't seem to work real well but my kids didn't seem to care, as long as it was shaped like a train they loved it. Our kids drink milk so we brought our own and don't recall if any was available. I suppose you could bring your own food but be warned you would be carrying it around all day since you have to take the shuttle. There were picnic tables available, some under a pavilion.

My kids loved the tent with the train tables so we spent a lot of time there. The video/storytelling tent was also a hit.

The big event of course was the train ride. The Thomas Train really looks like Thomas but I am fairly certain it couldn't pull a feather and that the diesel engine at the back of the train did all the work. My kids gladly accepted the explanation that Thomas rarely pulls so many cars and just needed a little help. The ride is 25 minutes and we got the first passenger car behind Thomas. The line for Thomas gets broken up into different lanes which direct you to the different cars. All but the last car were enclosed passenger cars. The last one had benches and a roof but was otherwise open the the elements. I don't believe the cars were air conditioned and luckily for us it wasn't too hot and we had a nice breeze. I have heard that the ride is murder when it is hot as the windows on the cars don't cool it off near enough. On a really hot day you might want to choose the open car. My kids have never been on a train so they loved the ride. The novelty of sitting on a train being "pulled" by Thomas, and feeling the car gently rock side to side seemed to be thrilling enough. There really wasn't much to see out the windows but farmland and one or two old trains on sidings near the "train station". The route is a straight line with Thomas going backwards for about 12 minutes then forwards back to the station. The kids all got certificates stating they were junior Engineers on the return leg of the journey. After the ride you have the chance to get your picture taken in front of Thomas. You can use your own camera but they will take your picture and make it available for purchase in the Gift Tent later in the day. You can also have your picture taken with Sir Topham hat and purchase it the same way.

All in all it was a great day and money well spent. The kids loved it and there really was plenty to keep them busy. The staff on the train weren't dressed like conductors which bummed me out a little, but the kids didn't seem to notice. I would strongly suggest going in the morning as it is much cooler and the play tents aren't as crowded as they will become later in the day. The Thomas Train runs again June 5, 6 & 7 so you could still catch this one before it is gone till next year.

Sorry for the length of this review I will try and make it shorter next time.

Reviewed by Mr. Rogers

Kansas City Central Library

2009-05-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

Location: 14 West 10th Street, KC Missouri. on the corner of 10th and Baltimore. (Downtown KC)

Website: http://www.kclibrary.org/central

Cost: Free, but be warned that YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR PARKING. Parking is 1 buck every 20 minutes with a max of 8.00. You can have your parking ticket validated and get a free hour. But chances are you will be here long enough to pay the 8 bucks, I did. The parking garage is located on Baltimore, directly across from the library.

Review:
Fucking awesome, no other way to say it. I recomend this for anyone and everyone that has kids of any age. From the 5 month old to the teenager. It's that awesome.

So let's start. The parking garage itself is made to look like a bunch of books. Way cool. The library used to be an old bank and the look was very cool. All columns and granite. The first floor is very majestic looking and your first impression is that you don't your kids to wreck anything, but stick with me, it's ok. I did enjoy the architecture of the place. It was very cool. On the bottom floor is a cafe as well where you can enjoy a quick snack while you read your books.

Now head up to the second floor which is the kids section and this is where the awesomeness starts. It's huge. It's the entire floor and it's awesome. In the middle is a big mural and large cow that they demand the kids climb on, but do please take off your shoes first. The rest of the second floor is broken into sections and they are very well done. They are set according to age groups, from baby, toddler and on up. A ton of books are laid out so that the kids don't have to go to any of the stacks. Each section also has kid sized over stuffed chairs and grown up chairs as well. Finally, there are toys there as well. We played with huge lego blocks. Basically your kids can go apeshit here without embarrassment. The librians are also awesome as they came to us to tell us about some of the activities that the library's have on Fridays.

Next head on up to the fifth floor. This is where the rooftop garden is located. This is also way cool. If the weather is nice you will want to visit this. It has patio style tables with umbrellas, the garden of course and a life sized chess set. I don't know if you can eat lunch up there but I bet you could. It's also a great picture spot as there are tall buildings behind it.

And if you have time after all that, you might want to visit the Vault. We didn't do this but this is what we were told. If you call ahead and reserve it, you then can bring your kids and a MOVIE THAT YOU OWN on DVD and then watch it on the big screen in the Vault. We only found out this later and but are so going back to watch some big screen Dora.

There are a ton of things that make this worth it and it's a safe place to take any of your kids without to much worry.

As for lunch, if you want to eat there, a Jason's Deli is located just 2 blocks north on Main street. If you get there at 11:30 you won't have any problem getting a seat. I also mention this because Jason's deli did something way cool. 2 of the kids that went didn't like the hotdogs. So the staff there said don't worry about it and brought them 2 PB and J sandwiches, free of charge. Way awesome and really just made the day that much better.

This is a 3 hour activity if you include lunch and it's worth it.

Liberty Bank Museum

2009-05-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Location: 103 North Water Street, Liberty

Cost: 5.50 for adults, kids under 6 are free

Review: I'll cut right to it, I thought that this was worth it, without a doubt. The price seemed a little steep but was more than made up by the type of service that we got there.

This bank is thought to have been one of the first robbed by Jesse James and possibly The Younger gang. They seem pretty sure that Frank James was there. They robbed the bank of 60K which is about 2 million in todays dollars then shot a guy in the street and took off. Obviously, they were never captured.

The bank is attached to the gift shop which is where you enter and pay for your admission. And this is where it gets good.

The tour guide was one of the best and most adaptable that I have ever been involved with. First off, she took it in stride when the kids starting wrecking the gift shop. In fact, she seemed to be having fun. Second, she demanded, yes demanded, that each kid take in one toy from the gift shop into the actual bank for the tour so that they wouldn't be bored. Here presentation in the actual bank itself was great. She didn't seem to mind the starting and stopping that is required when 4 kids are running wild. She would speed up her pitch and then give us the highlights and if we missed something, she would gladly tell us again. She encouraged the kids to sit on the bank counter because "it's not original" and was great.

The bank itself is pretty small, not what we are used to at all. One room but the ceilings are the original tin and the floor is original as well. The bank vault itself was pretty cool to, a heck of a lot smaller than I would have thought. The door was heavy as hell though.

I would gladly take any age kids through this tour. The whole tour lasts maybe 20 minutes from start to finish and was something cool for both kids and dads to do. I get my history fix, learn a little something, and my daughter gets to try and lift up heavy bag of fake gold. Very cool and a nice little place to go.

Finally, make a day of it as this bank is located in historic downtown Liberty square. The courthouse is pretty cool and there is a water fountain that the kids played in for a while. There are also a couple of places to eat on the square and I was happy with the Mexican place, I'll add that name in here later. It was a good day.

I would recommend this place if you want to kill a couple of hours.

Liberty Historic Jail

2009-05-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

Location: 216 North Main, Liberty

Website: http://www.lds.org/placestovisit/location/0,10634,1811-1-1-1,00.html

Cost: Free

Review:
Let's start off this way, if you bill yourself as a "restored Liberty Jail" that's really what I expect to see. Sadly, not so much.

Maybe I'm going to be a little hard on this because I like history, but seriously dude, look where you are at. There is so much authentic history around here that if you go bullshit you are probably going to be called on it.

Here's the story: Joseph Smith (founder of the Mormon Church) was imprisoned here in the 1830's. This jail eventually just about feel down or was pillaged for the limestone. One wall remained when another person bought it and knocked the whole thing down. This guy built a house and lived there for 35 years and finally sold it to the Mormon Church. The Church then came in and bulldozed the house and built this shrine and a REPLICA of the actual jail, not the jail itself. It would appear that nothing is original.

When I asked if anything was restored or original, they said the floor was restored. I'm calling bullshit. It's dirt, that's it.

Everything though looks nicely done and it is an appropriate shrine for that religion but I do not find it authentic as a history buff, at all. The staff was nice but was more intent on going through the lectures and what not than adapting to the situation which was 2 guys with 4 kids. As you can guess, not a good place to take children at all.

If you get a chance to go to this activity, pass it up and instead throw wet toilet paper at the walls.

Playgroup, May 20

2009-05-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

Rather than actually tell everyone about Playgroup today, let's just let some pictures tell the story. I will say that this may have been one of the most fun playgroups I have ever been to.

The Hippie Hollow: Episode 77.101.A

2009-05-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

77.101.A

So I'm sitting at my computer writing a blog that is meaningless, on the other hand is is very helpful to humans. drinking a Pepsi, I always drink Pepsi's. I'm a stay-at-home dad, I take care of my boy or as my wife says he takes care of me. I really don't expect you getting this but I will tell you that if you read the these blogs as my wife says and some of my friends I just to really say a lot of random shit. but once in awhile I'll say something that makes sense or genius or are clever enough that I shouldn't have came up with it.

Okay so I'm using speaking Dragon so my hands are free and I'm kicking back and relaxed. If you find things misspelled or confusing that maybe becouse I didn't check my spelling and will on be reading this blog again and I really don't care, about much. I mean that I care about you and this blog.

I am in a dads group, most of you that are reading this blog know that the groups called Kansas City dads in Kansas City. I guess whoever thought of the name couldn't come up with a clever, catchy, funny, or even different name but you know its fine, I found it right next to escorts in Craig's list. It's a great group there are 15,30,60 someone might even say 90 members and we have our own website as you can see at the blog. bunch of great guys I must say, when you ask a question like I have you can ask a lot of dumb questions and get a lot of dumb answers. I have also asks good questions and got a lot of dumb answers but of those dumb questions there were three or four that were really good answers that helped me out. you know he you you you um you see moms and they looked like they had all under control in a supermarket or walking down the street and kids behaving and then you see a dad as a doing the same exact thing but stressing out, see the mom has a the timing down. She knows when to aventure out, when to go to the park, when to go shopping or when to take a trip across country with the kid and hold together.

Well I'm here to tell you that dad's have the same thing, we know there are some days that you wish that every day could go just like this one :-} perfect everything went fine you got up you have breakfast and played, you had lunch, took a nap, and made dinner you wife when she came home - everything is happy. BUT then there was that other day where you woke up at five in the morning kid was screaming as he/she had diarrhea and the crib was (lets say very very very very wrong smellling) and the wife cannot help, she was getting ready for work. You have breakfast but he doesn't want to eat, plays for about an hour, he starts crying because he's hungry but he didn't really want breakfast. so you try to feeding him snacks, you try playing with him AND at one point just ignore him you're frustrated. why, why doesn't he just tell me what he wants? okay maybe he can't talk and then we realized that it's only Monday we got four more days and were really really hoping that the last four days are smooth because if not you really hoping that your looking at the wrong date and it's really Friday.

Okay so one bought to do Dallas on when to explain to you without facing any typos or misspellings with a natural speaking dragon you run a see how frustrating it is to use a sometimes if you don't speak correctly or if you are running those we call a my life to become a crack to be really annoyed by a Congress tried to sow the sound after I proofread this paragraph but if you're reading this paragraph and you realize that it makes no talking sense at all then you're reading it correctly because it really doesn't and this is not that this happens his biggest win a topic tautly fast in the computer can't keep up with me maybe but that's the New York coming out.

so not exactly this blog but the future blogs i'm going to explain a little more about what I do as a stay-at-home dad, see I want you to see it as a famous person but I'm not so maybe more to a nonfamous person in the eyes of a stay-at-home dad. Look as the Colorado person we just went to today and I think next week might be the Ohio drive to a stay-at-home dads house, I don't remember and I love the drives I love going to a friend of mine that is stay-at-home dad that lives towards Kentucky and another friend of that is just down the street - matter fact hes a Xbox lover. okay anyways not to pick on anybody or any of that.

so if you're one of those guys that want to know how to make a compost or dog bin compound I'll explain it, might even draw a picture. LET ME KNOW. Ohio person your getting a new house how about it.

So if you really think I'm a хиппи and you think that it's a normal world out there and were all crazy * things are funny.

If you have read this far then my goal to tell you something or story every time I blog. every time will not important probably, but I hope it helps you in the future on your relationship with your wife and your kids. You don't have to be old to tell a story or young to not tell one.

77.101.A I know this guy and he told me when my son or daughter was about to be born remember one thing, the life you have does not revolve around your kid, you and your wife created him or her. So when you get stressed out - you and your wife are yelling each other more often than usual find a babysitter take your kid to grandmothers house. Go to a movie DON'T just treat your wife to a dinner and movie, treat each other, remember you created your kids - YOUR kid don't come first, your family comes first.

HERE IT IS I DON'T HAVE NAMES FOR EVERYONE (LIKE SOME OF THE DADS THAT ARE ON THIS BLOG) SO IF YOU HAVE A NAME AND YOU THINK THAT ONE OF THE PEOPLE ARE YOU LET ME KNOW AND AFTER THIS BLOG I'LL START USING YOUR BLOG NAME.

хиппи

How We Roll

2009-05-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

Normal dads may take their kids to a nice Mcdonalds lunch. Let them play on the jungle gym a little, maybe make some eye contact with hot mom in the corner looking to trade up. They'll sit there in silence and eat some chicken nuggets, just a little ketchup please, and then perhaps an ice cream cone. Then they'll go home and drop the kid off and brag about how they took the kid all by themselves to lunch. And they'll get credit to.

But us. No, that's not how we roll. That's rookie dad stuff.

Instead we go to a downtown restaurant during the rush hour lunch. 4 dads and 6 kids, 3 of them are toddlers and 3 of them are still in diapers. This is dading at an advanced level.

We rolled into the restaurant, put our names down--yes you heard that right honey, we need three high chairs--and then continued to the bar. The 3 toddlers saddled up to the bar.

"Three shots of milk sweet cheeks, this one's on dad."

We finally get out table and left the bar remarkably intact, just a few thousand sets of silverware that our kids had slobbered on and thrown on the floor. A minor setback, it's true, but nothing that we couldn't handle. This isn't a challenge, this is a walk in the park.

We strolled through the business people talking about business things. Take over a corporation here, bankrupt a rival there--all trivial when compared to taking 6 kids, 3 strollers and enough diaper bags to change every baby in America, to a busy downtown restaurant at noon.

The place got quiet as they stopped their discussions of corporate evil and glanced our way. Oh, I know what they were thinking. They were thinking "What the fuck is this."

This is awesomeness personified, observe and bask in our glory.

We got to our table. We had chosen to implement a 3/2 zone defense, yes even our sports knowledge exceeds yours because what else do we have to do all day other than to analyze sports?

Within seconds the table was set and the kids were placed. No one was out of arms reach. The kids in the highchairs were already seated and munching on chips. Smooth. If you blinked you probably missed how we set this up. It's ok, we hold workshops.

And then we ordered. Just like that. No arguments, no questions, no surprises. My own kid threw a challenge to everyone else in the restaurant. He started downing handfuls of salsa. Carnage everywhere, salsa dripping from his chin and mixing with the tears from his eyes. But he was not crying, they were tears of victory. The gauntlet had been thrown, could the corporate pukes keep up?

They could not.

We were a sight to see, something that perhaps is not normal. A group of dads who are actually good at taking their kids out. A group of dads who aren't hurrying to get home, a group of dads and are ready to show you how it's done.

And then it happened. A lady came up to our table with her camera.

"Oh, I've got to get a picture of this." she said.

Yes baby, get a picture of the gun show passing around a package of wet wipes.

This, my friends, is how stay at home dads roll. Try and keep up.

DNO the way of the Dodo?

2009-05-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

Well, as it has been since I joined the Stay-st-Home Manclub. We met again in the second week of the month. On a day of our choosing. At a place known for it's beer, food, and atmosphere.

Oh, and the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus is to DIE for. *Ahem**cough**drink beer*

As it has been lately, the womenfolk have gotten together to conspire against us.
Man1: My wife planned something. I can't make it.
Man2: I can come. Man2 / part 2: My wife made some plans, sorry.
Man3: I will make it around 8pm if the wife gets home in time. (wife took long way home thru Nebraska)

And so it has been that the gang has dwindled.

Last night was a great night for a get-together. One of the first clear nights. No rain. No cold. No clouds.

So here we are. The die-hards.
Mr. Single. Mr. Gotta get out. And me, Mr. OnShort leash.
Arriving there about 7:30 I found the others relaxing at a table enjoying a drink and some chow. I sat down, (Waited.... waited...) and ordered a beer.
And we just talked. My daughter did this. My son did that. I've been there. Have you tried this? This recipe is great. School. Travel. Potty.

Every topic under the sun and then pulled a few more from around the moon.
Enjoying a beer, food, and friends.
Not that there weren't things to look at. The table of pretty girls. (My wife would cut off my....) The crowd walking by outside. The nut job with the tatoos (he's pierced WHERE?)and augments.

You get the idea. *shudder*

I am just hoping that more of the guys realize what they are missing. Why wait for a convention every year? This day, every month. Is when we can vent without worrying if the kid can hear. Ask those "Does your wife do this?" questions. Learn mora about each other than we ever wanted to know.

Turn this "group" of SAHDs.
Into a group of friends who stay home with their kids.

Sub-blogger: Chuckles

Union Station KC Rail Experience

2009-05-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

Place: Union Station, 30 Pershing Rd, KC Mo

Website:

Cost: 6.50, kids 3 and under are free

Age Group: Pretty much all ages.

Most everyone has heard of union station. Most have been to some of the exhibits and at least Science City, which is still awesome. But most may not have been to the KC Rail Experience.

The entrance to the display is on the second floor but the actual exhibit is on the bottom floor. The area used to be the actual train depot but they have remade it into an interactive exhibit. So what about it do the kids dig?

In the center of the room is an honest to god locomotive engine. The kids are free to climb up and down this until the cows come home. They can actually go and sit in the captains chair and push all the wonderful, wonderful buttons. they are kids, who doesn't like to push a crap load of buttons. Hell, I like to push buttons. Although the train is decommissioned, they recreated the feel of it in motion so the kids love this.

They also have a replica of a caboose that the kids can go in and see and climb all over as well. Everything is made to be touched and climbed which is a big bonus in my book. And of course for the dads, the rest of the exhibits and the history is interactive with sounds from the actual time period. You just step on a place and it comes on automatically. Pretty cool. I'm a bit of a history nut so I loved all this.

You can also go outside through a double set of doors and look at several other types of train cars that they have there as well. We were not allowed to go inside, like the passenger cars, but you can walk around. If you walk to the end though this is where you will see the real trains doing real train like things such as making loud noises and hissing. I think the kids might have loved this part most of all. Amtrak trains always come in and out and cargo trains were there as well.

This is a great activity and I think everyone had a great time. If you get a chance or need an indoor activity to do, this might be for you.

Playgroup, April

2009-05-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

We had two new members today. So the rest of us decided that we would be on our best behavior so as not to freak anyone out. So naturally we began to talk about Marilyn Chambers and how she passed away this week. She will be missed but her movies will last forever.

Playgroups are getting large. We had around 12 dads and close to 20 kids. Chaos ruled. They split up into little camps and plotted doom against all comers. The posted guards, held top secret meetings in the tent of silence and then laid on the floor while we cleaned up the carnage that they had created.

Talk is circulating about having playgroups 2 days a week again with the second day to focus on some sort of activity like a park or Deana Rose Farms. Because we are not happy with just unleashing the minions on eachother, we have to unleash them on the world.

Again there were minimal fights which must show how awesome dads are at raising thier kids. Instead of punches being thrown they all calmly sat down and talked about the best way to share their toy. The conclusion was "GIVE IT TO ME, IT'S MINE!" in which the most aggressive kid won and then hauled ass away from the rest of the group. We love it when the children work problems out on their own.

Movie Review: The Spirit

2009-04-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

I rented this movie and totally intended to write a review of it. However, I only got 20 minutes into it before I decided that it might be one of the worst movies ever made. Sure, the screen shots looked cool but that was about it. The hero was goofy as hell and I quickly, very quickly, lost interest.

I decided to clean my house instead. That should tell you the quality of this fine film.

Book Review--A Tribesman Memoir of Darfur

2009-04-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

As you would expect, this book was a tough read but a tough read that I felt was worth it.

Most of us know what has been going on in Darfur but this book brings it a little closer to home. We have all seen the news articles about Darfur and some of us have actually looked it up on the map. However, it's one thing to see a 10 second video bite about a war somewhere with people we don't know and another to read about the atrocites from someone who experienced them first hand.

That's what makes this book difficult to read. There is only so much human suffering that a person can read about but I would encourage everyone to make an effort with this one.

The writing is decent but what really stood out was the lack of emotion in some of the story telling. I say this as a good thing though because the feeling that I get is that this guy had seen so much evil that emotion has kind of left him, at least when describing it. It makes the stories that he tells that much more powerful and closer to home. How this guy is not a raving lunatic I have no idea.

The basic story is this: The author is from Darfur and witnesses his villiage being destroyed in a most brutal way. We follow him as he escorts what's left to refuge camps in Chad. From there, he begins to work as a translator for the different relief organizations and news agencies that want to go back into Darfur. The book continues by describing some of the situations that he finds himself in.

This is a book that I call a "thinker" which obviously means it will make you reevaluate your own place in the world and give massive thanks that you live where you do. At the same time though, I do think it gives some pretty good insight into that part of Africa and some of the jacked up politics there. Sure, there is a lot of debate and I would even say massive dislike in our own politics. However, the difference is that we don't drive tanks into farmers when we get pissed.

Go to your local library and give this one a chance, it's not bad but you might need to do some drinking when you finish.

Geocaching

2009-04-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

Location: Usually in parks or other wooded areas.

Cost: Free, if you have the right equipment

Equipment: You are going to need a GPS system. Several on the market. I actually used my Garman. The only problem with that is that it wasn't very accurate in terms of feet but would get us pretty close. My partner had one made for hiking. Several in our dad's group have these things so pairing up shouldn't be a problem.

Website for coordinates: www.geocaching.com

What it is: I think just about everyone has heard about this. Basically, think of it is a treasure hunt. People had little caches in different locations, then go to the website and log in the coordinates for those. You can either play the hunter and go find them, or the pirate and hide some of your own. All in all, pretty simple.

So what is a cache and what do they look like. It could be any kind of container. We found 2 today. One was a coffee can wrapped in camoflauge tape. The other was about an inch long and it was hanging from a tree.

Inside the coffee can were different trinkets that you could take, but only if you left something. Inside the inch long container, there was a coupon for pizza. Here is what I liked about it. Usually there is a list inside the find where you can sign your name, showing how awesome you are. We showed the greatness of KCDADS and signed it that way and left our website address.

I went with the Hippie today. Because after all, if you are going into the woods what better person to go with than the vegie loving earth mother? But it worked out because he had an awesome child carrier that I put my 1 year old son in. He had his 1 year old as well. Bringing up the rear was my 3 year old daughter. We wanted to do some actual hiking as well today so we parked about a 1/2 mile away. We were at Shawnee Mission Park.

Here is what I learned. A 1/2 mile through brush and woods is a lot different than a 1/2 mile on the road walking by yourself. My daughter was good to the first treasure but then wanted to be up on my shoulders. By my count, I had a 30 pound kid on my shoulders and a 20 pound kid on my back. If I haven't said this before: this is why Dad's are awesome.

The Hippie and I worked together though and we found both without much fuss. I would recommend that those with smaller children drive as close to the treasure as you can and then do the hiking. Both that we found were actually just off the road.

They have these caches everywhere so don't think you have to go deep in the woods to find them. Chances are there is one in your local park by the swing set. It's a pretty fun little activity that got everyone out of the house.

My daughter fell asleep as soon as we left.

Also a word of note: watch out for ticks and bugs. It would appear that I was warned about this in an email that I didn't read. That would be my fault and my inexperience. I have pulled 2 ticks off my daughter this afternoon and a grand total of 4 off myself. My son didn't have any because he was riding me like a pack mule.

But all in all, with the proper precautions, a great free activity to get the whole family out of the house on a gorgeous day.

Playgroup: April 13

2009-04-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

There were no fights. I swear to all that is holy we went though a whole playgroup and no one hit anyone else on purpose. No one threw a ball at anyone's head. No one pushed anyone down a flight of stairs or tried to shank anyone else with the official Pablo shank.

This is a momentous occasion. There are always disagreements when you get that many kids together. I think we had around 10 or so. But not this time. This time they all shared. They all played chase me chase me without ending it in push me push me. They brought eachother toys. They ate like civilized human beings.

We are the most awesome dads in the world!

How we did it?

We gave the kids a bunch of plastic balls and let them throw them over the railing to the downstairs basement. That then evolved into throwing any toy over. Which we allowed.

Totally worth it.