Karah’s Road Trip

Tom and I have long held the annual tradition of traveling to Kansas City to see “A Christmas Carol” at the Missouri Rep Theater. We decided that Karah was old enough to join us this year and so we took her on a special road trip. The boys stayed back with friends and had a party of their own.

First, we checked into the hotel for some time to rest from the drive and freshen up before our night out. Karah loved the view of The Plaza from our room. Many-a-dances were performed in front of that window.

 

 

Karah and I hung out in the lobby while we waited for Tom and Grandma to come pick us up. A woman stopped to tell Karah how beautiful she looked in her dress. Karah smiled and graciously said, “Thank You”. After the lady disappeared from sight, Karah twirled like a princess.

We saw a white truck waiting outside – so I hurried out and tried to open the door…but it was locked…and the man behind the wheel was not Tommy T. Karah got a kick out of that!

We enjoyed an incredible dinner at The Classic Cup…one of our favorite restaurants on the Plaza. Karah loved having us and Grandma all to herself. She was so big.

We loved watching all of the horse drawn carriages pass by our window as we ate. Karah was in horse heaven.

We arrived to the show early enough to enjoy playing dress-up with their costumes. Tom even participated…much to my amusement.

That boy loves his little girl…enough to do THIS for her…

We sipped some hot cocoa before the show as we listened to the carolers and enjoyed the festive decorations. Karah acted so mature…

But don’t worry…she still reminded us she is 8, from time to time.

The show began and she was enthralled. She held my hand during the frightening parts…which I loved. We bought her a special Tiny Tim ornament for our tree at home so she could always remember this special night.

 

Back at the hotel we ordered midnight room service…chocolate cake was needed. Really, it was.

We slept in the next morning and awoke to the sound of the cold wind, howling. We decided to go for a swim before we did anything else. The pool was indoors on a high floor and there was a huge balcony that you could go out on (in the summer) directly across from other large buildings. Karah and I dared Tom to go out on the balcony in his bathing suit (soaking wet) and do some jumping jacks to entertain the people in the other buildings. The temperature had fallen to the single digits and the wind was well into the double digits. Traffic lights were swinging and the American flag across the street looked as if it was going to be shredded by the wind.

Tom could not resist the chanting of “DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!”…and plunged into the cold air…entertaining us with jumping jacks and push ups. We laughed and laughed in the comfort of our heated pool. Tom swears to this day that this episode is how he got bronchitis. No matter the medical bills…it was worth any amount of money to watch. If only I had videotaped it. :(

We went back to The Classic Cup for breakfast. Did I mention how incredible their food is?

We then did some Christmas shopping at the mall and took Karah to the new American Girl store. She was completely overwhelmed by everything there was to see and do. She eventually decided on some matching jammies for her and her doll. She also picked out a boy “Bitty Baby” for Bradley. He has always wanted one and she was thrilled to bring it home to him.

Lunch at The Cheesecake factory and we headed back home. A whirlwind trip…but hopefully one that she will always remember.

We love this little girl. We are so proud of the young lady she is becoming.