Kansas City with Kids - Frugal Edition

Our trip to Kansas City was derailed before it began.

Instead of spending Fall Break with our family, we were waiting in the car shop. That, coupled with some unexpected expenses, meant we were going to have to tighten down on the trip to Kansas City.

I'd lived in KC for a decade, but we found great ways to enjoy the days with Grandma and Grandpa even on a budget. We weren't completely perfect - we did eat a few meals out and did stock up on some local foods to take home for the year - but these were great budget extenders, and even better activities to do!

Getting Crafty At Kaleidoscope

I'd heard of Kaleidoscope in Crown Center but had never been, as we were childless when we lived in the Kansas City area. An afternoon at Kaleidoscope was just the trick for creative types with a big case of the wiggles.

Kaleidoscope is basically a huge kids craft playground, filled with the leftovers from Hallmark's projects. Paper crafting with glow-in-the-dark paints, making cards, designing your own puzzles. It was the fastest hour spent all week. Everyone from my rambuncious 5 year old son to his preteen cousin and grandfather enjoyed experimenting and creating their own works of art. Best of all, it was free to the public - just requires a timed ticket.

(As an aside, Girl Scout leaders and educators take note: Kaleidoscope offers themed packs that you can take home - for 50 cents per child. For frugal troops, this is a great idea, and they do ship!)

Betting on Basketball in Lawrence

One bet failed, but the other was a hit.

We had hoped to attend the (free!) open scrimmage for the basketball team, but weather and a sick cousin derailed our plans. Luckily, our little jock had the chance to enjoy some KU basketball earlier in the week.

The Booth Family Hall of Athletics at Allen Fieldhouse has a stuffy name, it's far from a boring monument to basketball. Sure, there's 100 years worth of sports memorabilia to peruse, but the kids loved the interactive exhibits. Their favorites? Pretending to call some classic basketball games - from the tie-breaker game against Memphis in the Final Four to a game from Wilt Chamberlain's days. They also loved checking out their wingspan and attempting to palm as many balls as they can in 10 second's time. Mostly, they loved wandering the stands around the hallowed basketball court - site of many a memory for their mom and dad.

Other Free Things to Check Out In and Around KC

Family time is just that, so while we had a lot of ideas on our list, we also kept things simple: a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa, with ample time at the local park.

On our list to do this fall but didn't get accomplished:

• University of Kansas Natural History Museum (free, though donations encouraged)
• Louisburg Cider Mill - Washed out by a rainy day, my daughter wanted to return so bad she wrote her social studies paper on it!
• Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

Kansas City natives: What are your favorite ways to spend a week with the kids?

Jayhawk Smoothie

In honor of our basketball team, a smoothie for the Kansas Jayhawks!

This morning while making smoothies, I quickly realized the blackberries I'd grabbed were actually dark raspberries instead. I threw in blueberries in a blender and declared it a "Jayhawk Smoothie."

My 4-year-old quickly corrected me. It's not enough that it was red and blue. We also needed yellow for a beak! A banana quickly pacified him.

Here's the final recipe. Rock chalk Jayhawk!

Jayhawk Smoothie
2 cups raspberries
2 cups blueberries
1 large banana
2 1/2 cups almond milk (vanilla)

Blend. Enjoy!

Recipe for keeping the holidays real

Holiday stress has been more real for me this season than at any other time I can recall. Yet I can't recall a more wonderful long weekend.

Throw in the hassles of traveling 10-plus hours with children, their excitement just because it’s Christmas, the challenge of juggling schedules and no less than four time zones’ difference among the family members, and the worry of making sure that the rest of the family’s expectations matches yours (yes, even “greener” parents worry whether the kids are going to feel that Santa stiffed them this year).

And for a little extra spice, toss in an ear infection and pharmacies closed for the holidays.

Top it off with a blizzard, about-zero wind chills, snow that drifted hip-deep in places and popped exterior panels out of vans, a “check engine” light that glared surreptitiously in the night, a niece that was stuck a city away and highways that were closed.

Yep. It was a recipe for a Christmas disaster.

But here’s the thing about Christmas 2009. It was one of the best holidays we’d had in a long time. (And it was nearly as good as two years ago, when we brought my baby boy home on Christmas Eve.)

We watched my little guy with his new-found obsession with his train set, even without enough wooden tracks really to play with.

We watched my daughter prance proudly in her new gymnastics leotard, jumping up and down with joy when we told her that her grandparents got her gymnastics lessons when she returned.

We teased my niece – who arrived home literally after stomping through snowdrifts to get to her mother’s car after the worst of the snowstorm had passed – about her very toothless grin.

We saw aunts and uncles and cousins who hadn’t gotten together for a positive reason since, very likely, the Christmas we left Kansas City.

We watched the Chiefs lose on TV. (But that was no surprise.)

The road conditions and wild winter weather brought an added blessing: An extra day of togetherness. No racing to cram in Crown Center, the Plaza and other holiday activities. Just hanging out with one another. While I’m happy to finally be back home and in my own bed, sometimes a little slowing down with family is worth the wait. Happy holidays!

Feeling homesick in the fall

Fall is one of those times when I feel the most homesick. Even though it's been more than eight years since I left Kansas City, I've hit that time of year when I wish I was home.

My in-laws are notorious for marking the seasons, and fall and the Christmas season are the times I miss most. Maybe it's been our working schedule or just being the parent of young children, but I've yet to replicate some of the things I miss most:

Driving to Louisburg for a stop at the Louisburg Cider Mill. My husband grew up in Louisburg, Kan., and went to the cider mill from when we was a small boy and it was a small mill, not the enterprise it is now. But it was always a treat to stop by the mill on the way back from a trip to his grandfathers, splurging on apple cider biscuits, a cold gallon of freshly pressed cider and a bag full of seasonings.

Visiting the Mound City Arts & Crafts Fair. Yes, a drive 90 minutes south of Kansas City for a craft show seemed strange for me when we were dating, but the fair was a huge deal for my husband's family and still is. It was a fun way to window shop - as long as weather permitted. I saw a posting on it from my aunt's Facebook page the other day, and felt a twinge of sadness.

Going to the Haskell Indian Art Market. Housed at Haskell College in Lawrence, it's well worth the drive. I wish there was something remotely close to this in Indiana - the kids would love the native dancers, the fry bread, the music.

Losing my voice at Late Night (or, more optimistically, at a basketball game). I'm a Jayhawk fan through and through. 'Nuff said. It's just not the same catching Allen Fieldhouse on ESPN.

Seeing the Plaza lights. While I never did get to a lighting ceremony in all the years I lived in Kansas City, we loved to wander the plaza looking at the lights after it got dark.

So what did I miss? And what even comes remotely close to this in Indiana?

Wine and pizza, why not?

Holy-Field Vineyard & Winery, just outside of Kansas City, Kan., is one of my favorite haunts when I go back home. I've visited it for more than a dozen years, first writing about it as a reporter covering their wine picking days.

My in-laws well know a visit east isn't allowed without a bottle or two of Tailgate Red, which I love for sangrias. A visit or two back my mother-in-law also packed a bottle of the blackberry wine, which was surprisingly good.

So imagine my surprise when the little Leavenworth County winery was featured on the New York Times food blog this week - and with a pizza recipe, no less! The writer came up with an interesting blackberry pizza, which she claims would go great with the Seyval.

Worth a try?