Winter Jam… Ice Roads and a Suite Time

The 31st was WINTER JAM day.  If you don't know what Winter Jam.. it's 10 Christian bands in one place on one day for $10.  There is not assigned seating, so we try to get there pretty early and wait in line so we can get a good seat.

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When we pulled up to the Sprint Center there wasn't anyone there waiting… You know what that means… FIRST IN LINE!

winterjam2These children were pretty happy about that.

We had a plan for this cold last day of January.  #3 and 3.5 would stand in line for an hour, while #2 and #4 would go to Consentinos and warm up. Then they would switch.

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Here they are waiting….

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While they were waiting #5 and I did a little shopping, ran some errands… and you know hung out with a few Lego people.  I knew the weather had the potential to be bad on Friday, but I didn't think it was going to get icy until AFTER the concert was over.  Right after this photo was taken I receive a phone call that the roads were really bad, and that none of the others that were coming up to meet us wanted to take a chance on the icy roads.  I called #2 to let him know and he informed me that #3, #3.5 and #4 received passes and were getting into Winter Jam early… he didn't want to wait any longer and was going to take a taxi to where I was…

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As it turns out he couldn't get a taxi, so he rented a bike to come see me.  I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but it was raining little ice pelts in this picture. Since we were about 60 miles from our house… I thought it would be best if we stayed at a hotel, and maybe the weather would be better in the morning.

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Here they are all safe and snug in our hotel room.

embassy6A fantastic breakfast on Saturday Morning.

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A view of Kansas city from our hotel room.

 

 

 

 

Deep Thoughts.. of Winter

I don’t know about where you are.. but here in Kansas it’s been hot.  SUPER hot.. as in 107 degrees… on some days.  So to cool us all down here’s a shot of this last winter.. during an ice storm.

winter in the woods, keep cool

This is our side yard..

A pot with icicles..

Even in this heat.. I still like summer best.  How about you?



Camping in a Ice Storm

This last weekend I took my Girl Scout troop (Brownies, Juniors and Cadets) to Camp Timberlake in Stillwell Kansas.  I've taken the girls camping at least once every year since I became a Girl Scout Leader in 2004.  You may or may not know that I am NOT a camper.  I even think that some of the parents refer to my troop as "Troop Beverly Hills" (after the movie of the same name).  In my defense, I do have a huge troop, over 30 girls and how can you cook for 30 girls outside all at one time? Camp Timberlake was once the vacation home of Kansas City native H.R. Block (you know the tax guy?)  We pulled up to the door and said.. hmm.. "Troop Beverly Hills fits us!"

Ok.. this isn't the camp.. but nice spread huh?  This house is just a few blocks away

from the camp.

When you enter camp there is the cute.. but tiny bridge.. over a

peaceful pond and a steep hill that takes you to the lodge.  We picked

Timberlake because of the size of it's kitchen.  Our goal this weekend

was to have fun and work on our cooking badges.

The kitchen at Timberlake is awesome!

There are several sinks, a stove/oven, 2 refrigerators and 1 freezer.

Perfect for working on cooking badges.. but we didn't just cook…

 

We danced…

Played games

Painted souvenir mugs.

Played charades

 

Worked on our weaving projects..

Ate..

Sometimes we even slept…

The weekend went great until it was time to go home…  Saturday night some kind of weather front was moving in.. and we received rain and snow.  Which turned into slush and ice.

Sunday when parents were coming to get their girl scouts they also encountered

that huge hill.  All of them made it up, but one slipped and became stuck.

After 5 hours and 2 tow trucks they were able to get the van un-stuck

and we could leave camp.  For awhile there I thought we'd be there an extra night.

Which would have been ok.. because I am an expert camper 😉