KC in 24 hours

Rico had his fantasy football draft back in KC this weekend, so I tagged along so we wouldn't miss out on family time AND so I could show Eli some of my favorite KC people and places.

The trip there was good- thanks to Mr. Owl who seems to be able to make Eli feel better about being restrained to a stupid seat for hours at a time. 

 We met my friend Jess at my favorite BBQ place, Oklahoma Joe's (now Joe's Kansas City) and it was everything I remembered.
We went to her house and Eli met her dog Hope.
There was a little growling and Rico got nervous.
We dropped Rico off in Lee's Summit to play some video games before the draft (I can't make fun of him too much- the last time he played was literally the night I went into labor when he had nervous energy he was trying to harness)
Jess and I went straight for the plaza to visit the children's section of H&M- which I had heard was amazing.
(and by amazing I mean cheap and without cartoons on everything)

It was pretty good, certainly many more options for clothes that looked like small adult clothes (my favorite), but still lots of cartoons and surprisingly still expensive.
I found the CUTEST gray sweater, but had to put it back.
This mama is not paying $24 for a sweater than my child will wear twice and probably get poop on.
Sorry.
When we went back to the house to get ready for church (and for me to pump), Jess re-tried the Hope thing.
I wasn't there, but when I came out from pumping, she had this adorable evidence that it went better this time around.

Off we went to church. Jess's church is downtown. It is basically in the parking lot to the KC Star and down the street from the Sprint Center. It is in a cool old brick building turned hipster awesome.
More important than any of that- it is able to be cool AND still remain focused on biblical truth and not get lost in trying too hard to be cool.
Many churches have a hard time balancing those things.

Where do you go to dinner after church- well, KC's favorite drag bar of course!
Hamburger Mary's is just a block or two over, and Jess (and Eli) had never been, so of course we had to go!
That's what totally normal people do after church, right?
Eat at a drag bar?
Sitting on stage?
With a 4 month old baby?

He slept until the show started- and then he giggled, danced (ok HE didn't dance but I made him dance), and truly enjoyed the show as much as we did.

What's not to love?
Bright colors.
Animated voices.
Singing.
Dancing.
It is everything a kid's concert would be, except entertaining to us as well.

Eli was a hit. One of the first things the headliner said when she came out was: "Oh look, baby's first drag show! Awww, and he even got dressed up in a bow-tie!"
She had me tell the audience how old he was and introduce him.
She dedicated songs to him and referenced him between almost every song. It was amazing.

He stayed awake AND in a good mood for the entire 90 minute show.
We paid for it on the car ride home as he screamed and cried (real tears, the kind that make me cry too because I can't pick him up and fix it so I feel helpless. I think I hate the carseat as much as he does).
It didn't get better when we got out of the car either.
I was SO full, I knew I couldn't feed him or he would choke and I would squirt milk all over him, me, and any surface within a few feet (sorry, but it is true. I was packing milk-guns), so I had to pump in one room and listen to him scream in the next.
It was so sad.
Oh I HATE that feeling.
Thankfully, once I was able to give him the bottle he was his normal happy self and he made a better impression on Jess's mom who had been lucky enough to be holding him while he was screaming his head off minutes earlier.
Thankfully she'd been there with 3 kids herself, so she was gracious about it and so VERY sweet and loving to Eli.
We BOTH slept like logs.