The Fab Weekend

Abby and I just returned Sunday night from our Fabulous Kansas City Weekend. In Abby's words... "It was SOOOO AWESOME!" Here's why-

*We got to Enterprise late, which meant we didn't get our original compact car. It was gone, so they had to give us a brand new (1600 miles on it) Ford Escape Hybrid for the same price. What a bummer, eh? :) Cool factor #1

*Abby and Greg made a CD to listen to on the trip, and this particular rented vehicle had great speakers with incredible sound. Cool factor #2

*We got everywhere we needed to be in plenty of time without getting lost. Miracle #1

*The CDs we listened to by Dennis and Barbara Rainey of Family Life Today were very well done; Abby loved them. We had great conversations, good questions, good cries, tons of laughter, deep prayer time, and meaningful times looking at scripture together. Cool factor #3

*ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS FOOD AND BEVERAGES. Our eateries included: On The Border, Panera Bread, Mokas Coffee, Starbucks, Embassy Suites Cooked to order breakfasts, and The Cheesecake Factory. Definitely Cool Factor #4

*The Moon Marble Company was just as groovy as we hoped it would be. Google this place to see the website. It's great! Abby collects marbles, and we happened to get there right when a marble was being made. They make them by hand. We had our picture taken with the famous Moon Marble Artist. He's on all kinds of posters and t-shirts; I just can't exactly remember his name right now. Anyway, he was really funny and extremely talented. What an amazing combination of art and science. O, they have a place there where you can play marbles, and ahem, I won! Cool Factor #5

*The Country Club Plaza (an amazing outdoor shopping neighborhood; it seriously covers many blocks) had more culture to experience than I've ever seen all at one time. Highlights:

outdoor jazz and blues bands

many street musicians

a begging comedian: "Hey Red, I'm looking for a down payment on a cheeseburger."

The guy who asked me for a dollar and proceeded to talk about life, playing guitar, Christianity, marriage...

Harri Krishnas (have no idea how to spell that, just be phonetic, and you'll get it) playing a cool drum and singing the same dumb song over and over and over...

The street preacher who looked miserable and stood on a stool pointing and yelling at everybody that they are headed to the Lake of Fire. The thing is that Abby and I are not, but I didn't know quite how to tell him that.

The other street preacher who yelled that God is ready to give His mercy to everyone. That sounded nicer.

The lady with a saxophone on her lap who didn't actually play it. She just cried and wailed really loudly with it on her lap and her case open to receive money for... crying? Not sure what that was about, but it was definitely attention-getting.

A very cool corner break-dancer. Made me feel young again. Go 80's!

The dog that was the size of a horse standing outside of Barnes & Noble with his owner who looked like a college professor from England. I had no idea dogs that big actually existed. There was a great crowd of people taking turns petting him. Abby got to pet him; he was very sweet... "Just a great big teddy bear," in Abby's words.

Then there was the guy in front of us who aimed his finger at everyone near and "shot them" and then yelled at them. We kept a good following distance.

Cool factors #6-16

*We had so much fun being "kids" at Science City on our last day. With so much "grown up" stuff to deal with and talk about, it was refreshing to have a play day. Cool factor #17

This was an incredible bonding time for Abby and I. What a valuable blessing this was. She's already said she'll be doing this with her daughter some day. Emma can't wait for her weekend (in a year or two). And Grace is already asking if she can go to Science City and eat cheesecake when she's 11.

I do believe we've started a tradition. Thank you for your prayers.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen.