We are spending lots of time changing diapers, holding Carter, and feeding supplemental bottles. We are out of practice of changing diapers, and we had forgotten the satisfaction of teasing a burp out of a little body. We are loving this up-close time with our favorite little girl, and her parents.
Instead of hiking on mountain trails with panoramic views, Denisa's view on this "hike" was from behind a stroller, with Mark and the family dog leading the way.
Mark is a brave man, staying outside with both a newborn and a dog while Denisa and Jordan went inside the grocery store. When a woman coming out of the store saw the baby and dog, she commented, "What a cutie!" Mark cheerfully said "thank you" and then added dejectably, "Oh, you meant the baby." As the woman ducked away towards her car, we think she was secretly deciding to shop somewhere else next time.
Even though we are tempted to spend every minute at our son and daughter-in-law's house, we recognize that they need some space. So we are exploring the areas in our new town. We did manage some hiking on a trail at Kemper Outdoor Education Center.
We seem to be snake magnets, as we came across this guy slithering across the trail.
Not far down the road is a pasture with a herd of bison. This hot weather is miserable for animals that are still sporting their winter coats.
The herd of elk is staying in the trees. But this guy was showing off his velvety horns close to the road.
Feeding the animals is actually encouraged here, with signs listing only a few things that the animals shouldn't eat. We almost always have fruit in the car, and this bison was very glad we stopped by with our apple slices
We spent another evening exploring Longview Lake, where we discovered a nice biking trail.
After spending an unusually large amount of time sitting while holding a baby, it felt good to be getting some exercise. We were surprised that one off-shoot of this trail would take us to the Truman Farm Home. We made that turn toward that National Historic Site, but turned back after the second big hill. Denisa really prefers a bike ride along a nice flat lake shore, rather than the hills of Northern Missouri.
Another day we made the trip to Benny's Berries, to pick strawberries.
Hidden among those lush green leaves, were some brilliant red berries just ripe for the picking. It was hot outside, and it was muddy, and this strawberry picking is back-breaking work.
Since we were providing the sweat and labor, one would think these berries would be ridiculously cheap. Quite the contrary, they were four times the cost of the ones we bought at the grocery on the same day. Can you guess which are the store bought, and which are the fresh-picked?
The large ones on the left came from a local grocery, and were on sale for 99 cents per pound. The smaller berries on the right are the ones we purchased for (ahem) slightly more. We used a combination of the two to make a yummy batch of fresh strawberry freezer jam. We can tell you that Benny's berries were definitely juicier. They were also red to the center, instead of white like the ones we are used to buying at the store. Speaking of wonderfully fresh local produce, we also made a trip to the Kansas City Farmers' Market.
In the shadow of downtown Kansas City, we could see the tall buildings behind the fruit and vegetable stalls.
Denisa was on a quest to find spring peas, and she hit the jack pot here! It feels like we have slid right from winter into summer, so we are afraid we won't be able to get these spring delicacies for long. We've had a couple days of record-breaking heat here, with temperatures running 10-15 degrees hotter than usual for this time of year.
So even though we are hanging out in Kansas City because of precious relatives that we know so well, we are still exploring and finding new things to do in our new temporary home town.
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