My 32nd Birthday Weekend

Scott drove back to Kansas for my birthday weekend/week, and it was nothing but activity filled.

Saturday morning was a long run.  Remember that whole training for a 50 mile race thing? 

Yeah, turns out that takes a lot of time.

I found him a 30 mile trail near Perry Lake when he was here back in May, but poison ivy ended that one short. 

We decided to give it a shot again this weekend, but with long compression socks.

It got cut short, too.  This time because of flooding.  The trail was washed out, so there was lots of walking and back-tracking.  But he did still manage to get 24 or so miles in.

A long enough run to let me drive the van while he foam rolled and stretched in the back!

After dropping some stuff of in Topeka and visiting with some of my friends, we made the last second decision to head to Manhattan for a few hours.

We were already half way there, and it's a place I've wanted to show Scott.

First stop, of course, was Aggieville.  More specifically, Varsity Donuts.

We ate lunch at Taco Lucha - mainly because the line was too long at So Long Saloon and I wanted the famous Rasberry Black Bean dip...

After a quick tour through campus and to the stadium, we went out to Pillsbury Crossing.

Man, has that place changed!

It used to be a hidden gem - a quiet oasis. 

And now?  This:

Trucks, drunk guys, and college girls in bikinis. EVERYWHERE.

I was so bummed, we only stayed a minute or two.

Which was good because we had to get right back to KC to have dinner with all my high school girls.

I have no idea how I managed an entire evening with my best girl friends and didn't take ONE picture, but it happened. :(

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On Sunday, Christa cut Scott's long-overdue-for-a-cut hair...

...and then we took Allie and Brody paddleboarding on Shawnee Mission Lake.

(After a stop at Academy Sports for a new life jacket and paddle!)

Allie had a great time, but Brody absolutely loved it.

Which was the point since this was his birthday "present."  I offered to take him to a water park or anywhere, and he just wanted to paddle.  So that's just what we did!

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Monday was my actual birthday, and I got a pretty cute FaceTime call from Hadley and Hudson bright and early.

Hadley even sang to me!

My presents from Scott came in the mail, and were adressed to me.

So...I opened them!

I didn't know what they were - I order stuff all the time and forget what it was.  I had no idea they were my birthday presents.

Oops.     Surprise over!

I got maps of New Zealand and Australia -- two of the first places I want to go when I start my traveling!

That night, my whole family got together for dinner -- at Houlihans, again.  

It's centrally located, there is room for all of us, and something for everyone to eat.  Win-Win-Win.

The girls ^^

All 12 of us looking at the camera!  

(Hadley is obsessed with Scott.)

I love my big, crazy family. :)

Instead of taking all the kids out for ice cream like we did the last time we got together, we just invited them over for some fun at my house:  slack lining and drum playing.

Scott showed us all up, of course.  He can walk all the way across that thing!

Hunter got ahold of my phone and decided he would be the photographer for the night.

The next three pictures are courtesy of him.

(And they actually aren't any worse than my pictures!)

Allie really got the slack line thing down and took a few steps on her own:

Jason?  Eh - not so much.

But I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard...

Oh, and this is what my house looked like on my birthday, thanks to a new roof installation: 

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I convinced Scott to stick around KC for a few more days after my birthday, so on Tuesday evening, we went GoKart racing in Raytown, MO. (His idea!)

I don't think I had ever raced actual GoKarts - big, fast ones on an indoor track.

I might have googled tips and strategy so I didn't get destroyed.  I don't like to lose...

And my googling paid off  - because I BEAT SCOTT!

25.456 to 25.479.  So, I mean, just barely.  But whatever, I'll take it.  A win is a win! 

We're not competitive.  At all. ;)

Of course we had to race a second time.  And I might not have fared so well that time around.

I'm blaming my poor performance on my motion sickness and the fact that I was about to puke the whole time. 

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The real reason Scott stuck around in KC was because of a Drum Core International event in Olathe on Wednesday night.

The sky didn't look to promising, but we went anyways.

I was seriously impressed with all the drum lines we listened to -- and they were just warming up!

The actual performance was even better!

(And the rain held off!)

I definitely had to get a drum lesson after that. ;)

Scott got up early Thursday morning and hit the road to Denver...to pick me up at the airport that night...for our road trip back to Tahoe!