For The Win!

After rocking out at the Weezer concert, we sought out a place to hydrate ourselves and landed at Chubby's. I ran into my roommate Ben out with a few friends as well and had to take a picture, of course!

What really tickles me about this photo is not just that it records a happy, random moment in life, but that in addition to the photo bomb by my friends; the random guy on the right ALSO got in on the photo bomb action. Priceless!

Wild, Warm, Wet, Weezer!

The day started with a trip to the KC Zoo with Angela & Jeff and our friend Lynne who was in town from TX with daughter Maddie. It was only my second time to the Zoo...I think. I seem to recall having gone before, but it is possible it was only to see Disney's Fantasia at the IMAX theater. This may have actually been my first time in the Zoo proper. Only Africa was open today, which worked out perfectly as it turned out to be quite a scorcher and our attention spans & Maddie's energy level lasted as long as a tour through the area.
The highlights for me were the hippos, having Maddie 'lead' our group with the map, stopping at unconventional 'sights' along the way, and charming Maddie through the last stretch of the park.

We finished right around lunch time and with the help of a GPS navigator they'd brought along, found our way to New Peking in Westport; one of my favorite Chinese food establishments.
Angela and I had fun coaching Maddie on the use of chopsticks, marveling at the Hispanic family across from us who'd had fire brought to their table and watching as their under-attended daughter set fire to one of her chopsticks, and catching up a bit with Lynn, Angela & Jeff.

From there I headed home to take a much needed nap, then switched gears for the Buzz Under the Stars concert out at City Market. My friend Dennis bought a house not long ago out in Olathe AND he happened to have won tickets to the show off the radio. We combined efforts and I got the tour of his new place, then we rode together to the show. Once there, we met up with a bunch of friends and ran into several more. I love this city!

The show was great. The opening acts likely gained a few fans and Weezer really put a lot into their performance with lots of crowd pleasing tunes and also a few gimmicks for laughs!
After the show we were in much need of hydration and as luck would have it, some sprinklers turned on right by where our car was parked, giving Jessica and I the opportunity for a refreshing frolic through the sprays of water! We eventually found our way in a most Family-Circus-style to Chubby's. It was nice and cool inside and our waiter tried valiantly to keep us supplied with water as fast as we consumed it.

I ran into my roommate Ben who was out with Amanda and a couple other friends. (See tomorrow's post since technically it was already Saturday at that point) I really do enjoy living in KC and have to count my blessings for days & evenings like these made possible by wonderful friends!

Because we live in Kansas, THAT's why!

I was almost certain this would be one of those days where I just didn't have any photos to post. I got a few things done around the house this morning, worked a couple hours in the evening for the Census and on my way to my supervisor meeting, I saw THIS.

He looked almost as stunned and puzzled about me taking his picture as I was to see him riding a horse through the nehehehborhood!

Adventures Abound!

Day two and the return trip from Manhattan were full of friendship and fun, and also quite a lot of sun! I had breakfast with Jessica and Ryan at a local establishment and it was really nice to sit, relax, eat and just enjoy each others' company.
On the way back, Ryan navigated us to a place called 'The Top of the World', a park with a trail that begins at a high look-out over the city. We could see the 'KS' hill in one direction and Tuttle Creek Dam in the other. SUCH a beautiful day!
We dropped Ryan back by the house as he is up to his elbows in home repair.

Jessica and I made a trip to the K-State garden where we discovered the Insect Zoo! It was small, but then, so are insects, and they had quite a few of them packed in there. We'll have to see the cutter ants on a return trip as they were in the process of renewing that exhibit. There were LOTS of other creepy-crawlies and a bit to my chagrin, not all of them remained in their containers. We were careful not to set down any of our personal belongings...
I was most excited to see the florescent scorpion and the Queen bee!

We made our way to Aggieville, enjoying browsing through the air conditioned shops. I ended up getting quite a fashion boost! Time was getting short so we just drove past the park where I was excited to see they are building water slides! More to look forward to on the return trip!

We met up with Ryan for lunch at the very retro-tastic Vista where it was two-corn-dog-Tuesday! Paired with cherry limeades was a tasty combination. Mmm!

We bid farewell to our gracious host Ryan and set off on our return home. Along the way we stopped at a scenic over-look and also found further adventure in Topeka. Jessica has been very encouraging for my sense of adventure and it certainly made the trip all-the-more memorable!

Some say her heart grew three sizes that day!

Jessica notes changes in Ninja Austin...but she'll never tell!

Oh, and also this:

Austin: Hey chica! Thanks for sharing an awesome day with me.

Jessica: I know, right? Let's totally recap what we did!

Austin: Sure thing! That sounds amazing!

Jessica: Ha ha! Okay, so.......first you came to my house, yes?

Austin: Uh, how detailed do we want to be? Like should we tell them that you ate Reece's cereal, or should we skip to something meatier?

Jessica: I didn't have a steak if that's what you mean.....

Austin: Thanks for following through with pith. Let's just continue shall we? I was rather impressed with your new doormat, I suppose that is worth mentioning for would-be guests to your abode.

Jessica: Yeah, or we could just tell them how we slayed a dragon and became princesses of another realm....or skip that part and go right to the drive...your call.

Austin: That is good to leave in there, oh and also how important it is to read labels and how easy it is to 'steal' ice!

Jessica: Oh man...calories are hidden everywhere! So yeah, we drove across Kansas while talking of EVERYTHING and listening to great music. :-)

Austin: Enjoyed a snack of delicious apples...which I'm pretty sure were NOT grown by a Kansas farmer...but I digress

Jessica: Those were good apples. Like, if someone had asked how I liked them apples, I would have said, 'I like them just fine sir and/or ma'am.'

Austin: lol Yes n'deed! It were some beautiful country we traveled through and some wonderful weather to go with it.

Jessica: Oh gorgeous!

Austin: We need to make a point of going back through Topeka to drive over the new clock bridge!

Jessica: Right, good call, I forgot about that. Ultimately, we made it to Manhattan, KS. I've never been before, super cute town!

Austin: I am really proud of you, jumping right in to help with the house work and climbing up the ladder to work on the roof with me!

Jessica: Oh man........ladders. They scare me. I swear that one was out to get me!

Austin: But you made it down safely and with style!

Jessica: cha..........scaredy cat style! :-D

Austin: *mreowr!* On your way to becoming a Wildcat! I had really felt like we earned our dinner once we were done.

Jessica: Ha ha! Yes, dinner was earned. Oh yeah, and our invisible friends were a lot of fun at dinner time. Thanks, guys! And what a lovely walk we took afterward!

Austin: A great night for it, there is so much still to show you tomorrow!

Jessica: I can't wait! Some of those stores looked really fun!

Austin: I think we wrapped it up at a good time though and I'm glad we made good on your idea of a Sonic stop.

Jessica: Yeah. They have frozen yogurt now. Who knew? Either way, it was a fantastic night to end an amazing day!

Austin: And how!

Jessica: Aaaaaaaaaaaaand how!

Austin: That's all she wrote!

Austin: That's all she wrote!