more on the surprise trip.

first up, the winner from Jackie's giveaway!


congratulations to 
Angee!
Jackie will be emailing you!


now, onto more from the surprise trip!
for the full scoop about my trip, click here.

a big thank you to my parents and B for holding down the fort for 36 hours.

i obviously would not have been able to do that without you. 

the day i left, D asked B,

"Daddy, in the morning can you dress up like Mommy and pretend to be Mommy?"

my kids got to do a lot of things while i was out of town. 

one of which was be early.

my dad took K to school and he said 

"i guess we're a bit early. what do you usually do when you're early?" 

she said "we're never early!"

and right she is.

at the airport, my purse was flagged at security because 

"that sometimes happens with cluttered purses." apparently, he had no idea what a miracle it was 

that i was actually at the airport on a tuesday morning.

without any children in tow.

and that cleaning out my purse was not even on my to-do list.

and, i got the "you may now check in for your return flight" email 

before even being able to surprising KS!

this little dude was so full of energy.

every single second.

and i loved it!

and he sure loves his momma.

he is a wild boy but always comes running back into her arms. 

and look at that grin.

pure sweetness.

after KS dropped her kids off at school and mom's day out

(how simply perfect was the timing of this little trip?)

we headed to a nature preserve for a little walk.

you see, KS loves to be outside.

and she finds the best spots to 

satisfy her cravings of the outdoors even in wichita.

we walked

and we walked

and we walked

(aren't these hedgeapples so fabulous?)

and we walked

until we realized that we were lost.

and it was just starting to rain.

and we had no idea how to get back to the car.

i even pulled out my gps on my iphone but it wasn't much help.

i'm a city girl, what can i say?

so it was certainly an adventure. 

we stopped here and there to do a mini-camera tutorial

since KS has a fab camera and lens.

and now she knows how to use it.

see?!

the colors were so vibrant

and the reflections, mesmerizing.

when we finally got to the car 

it was pouring

(perfect timing)

so we headed to lunch

and topped it off with a quick stop at sonic.

(how good is that ice?

so good.)

and don't worry all of you people from Wichita,

we avoided all the traffic on Rock Road. 

and this sweet little girl

took a great nap

and so did we.

it was perfect.

really, truly.

and, as much as KS would have liked

(and as much as B would not have liked)

i made it out of Kansas before the snow fell.

1601. watching leaves scatter in the wind 

1602. flying above the rainstorm and finding blue skies

1603. an open seat next to me on a very full flight

1604. sweet little girls who exchange notes

1605. seeing the moon from the plane