Whimsical September

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Flamingos & Ferris Wheels: Fourth of July Weekend + My Parent’s Visit


This time last year I was so miserable that we were moving to Kansas, but a year later I’m so (so so so) happy that we’re here. Though I still wish that we lived closer to our family and friends, we’ve really fallen in love with our little section of Kansas. My parents drove up from Alabama last week to visit us for the long holiday weekend, and entertaining them here has been easy and wonderful. 


One of the highlights of their trip was heading about an hour west to the Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, Kansas. We left bright and early Friday so that we could have plenty of time to run around before Hadley’s afternoon nap. 

We totally lucked out with a breezy 80 degree sunny day; Temperatures near 100 are totally normal (or so we’ve heard) for this time of year. We brought along Hadley’s little ride-along car which worked out beautifully! She loved riding along sight seeing but was quick to fly out of it as soon as she spotted a new animal. 

Parents of littles, we highly recommend having one of these Step2 Ride Buggies. It folds up nicely and travels with us often!

Check out the diva leg propped up on the “hood” of her car. She kills me. 😉

She is very over eating apple slices and very into eating apples like grown ups. Miss Thing has personality spilling everywhere.  

She spotted the playground way before we did, so of course we had to make a pit stop!

Trying to take a family picture was interesting and didn’t quite result in any framers, but I think the outtakes that my dad snapped are just as amusing and much more representative of what life is really like with a one year old. Love it.
Hadley’s zoo highlight: when the goats “barked” at her. She fell into an absolute fit of giggles, and then so did we.

Around 12:30 we grabbed a quick lunch at the zoo’s little restaurant area before packing up and heading home. If you’re ever in the area, I’d highly recommend the Salina Zoo for a low-key family outing. We really enjoyed it!

For the Fourth of July we planned not to make much of a plan and just see how the day went and what we felt like doing. The only event we put on the calendar for the day was a local 5K/10K race over in Junction City. My mom stayed home to keep Hadley, and my dad, Jamie, and I were out the door by 6 to head to the run.


I decided to do the 5K and the guys knocked out the 10K. Race time weather hovered around 64 degrees, which is absolutely insane this time of year! We were thrilled because we figured it was going to be a brutally hot run. The course was totally flat, so I was doubly thrilled! 

My dad and I both PRed, but neither of us placed in our age groups. Jamie was the only one that didn’t PR, but he was the one who ended up placing FIRST in his age group and fifth overall! I was so proud of both of my favorite guys!

When we got home later that morning my mom had a hot breakfast waiting for us that we devoured before taking it easy for a bit. Hadley ended up taking a 3.5 hour nap (!!!!) which gave us much-needed downtime. Mid-afternoon we put some pep in our step and got ready to head to the neighboring town of Wamego for their advertised carnival and parade.

Have you ridden a ferris wheel lately? Because ferris wheels are TERRIFYING. I’m not sure I’ve been on one since I was five, and when that thing started moving Jamie and I may have simultaneously screamed a few choice words. That thing moved fast, and I’m not too proud to admit that we were flipped. Hadley was cool as a cucumber though as long as she was holding our hands (precious). This picture below was absolutely taken before we started moving because our faces surely looked much more frazzled when we were done. Chickens!


I know I say this about every age and will probably continue to do so, but I want so badly to just freeze the stage that Hadley’s in right now. She’s so easy to please and thought everything we did yesterday at the carnival was just the best thing ever. Watching her love life makes me the happiest I’ve probably ever been. I so love being a mom!


We ended the night with spontaneous ice cream cones from Freddy’s before slipping on comfy clothes at home and watching fireworks. 

The older I get the more thankful I become for weekends that are care-free and simple like this one was. This will definitely go down as one of the most special Fourth of July holidays that I can remember!

What was the highlight of your holiday weekend? Do you have any favorite Fourth of July traditions? I’d love to start some new ones for my family as Hadley (and any future kids) get older!


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