Missouri State Fair

We felt 'oh so Mid-West'

as we headed with our friends {Josh & Lauren}

to the Missouri State Fair

In Sedalia, MO

{1.5hours south east(ish) of Kansas city}

It was/is huge... 

much bigger than any fair Nathan or I ever attended.

Fun!

love!

Cowboys

would love to go...

The main event we watched 

was the Championship Bull Riding.

*It was CRAZY!*

Seriously crazy...

Aside from giving me mild heart attacks,

it was very entertaining, 

and a true Mid-west experience!

Ferris wheel at night!

There were SO many people out!

Cheers to embracing the mid-west!

Our week-end at the Lake of the Ozarks

Inspired by 

a book we found last week-end 

we are really trying to make the most of our week-ends:

Our latest week-end adventure was 

~3hours south-east of Kansas city

to the Lake of the Ozarks

It is another huge body of water supported

 by the construction of a damn.

See how windy it is...

The Lake of the Ozark's can be a very posh experience, 

lots of resorts along the lake, huge yacht clubs, and marinas...

However we camped at the State Park.

Nathan, especially, enjoyed being in the woods!

We arrived at the park Friday night around 9pm 

and set up camp in the dark.

 It was totally worth it to wake up all ready to go in the morning. 

There was SO much wildlife in the park, 

deer (we probably saw 100), racoons, possums, and armadillo's

Armadillo's are curious little creatures!

Mama deer got all in a huff as we got close to her babes...oops!

We spent Saturday on the lake

We rented a kayak 

It was fantastic!

Sunday

we explored more of the Missouri country side...

Crossing this old wooden swinging bridge 

while it creaked and cracked was an experience.

It is also so sad to see miles-and-miles of dead corn...

On our way home 

listening to the radio 

we heard that the Sate fair was happening in the 

town of Salina, Missouri.

It wasn't, too far, out of our way so we stopped in...

To me, it looked like the picture of a classic Midwest town.

 

We did check out the fair but, didn't go in...

Not yet,

We are planning on returning next Saturday!

~All for now 

Art's and Entertainment in Kansas city

Wow! for one thing

I cannot believe another week has come and gone...

Last week was a great week exploring
some of the Art's and Entertainment experiences in Kansas city.

Tuesday Nathan and I 

went to a Counting Crows concert at the local Starlight theatre.

It is a great outdoor venue!

So pretty, clean, and organized.

I don't think you could have a really bad seat... 

Last minute we bought the least expensive tickets we could

 and our seats were great!

Friday 

we joined the "First Friday's" Festivities 

in the Crossroads district, downtown KC.

Every first friday of the month

 local art galleries open their doors for the evening

Plus there is live music and entertainment throughout the streets.

The Streets were filled with people!

The crossroads is an old KC neighbourhood, 

Lots of industrial buildings now turned into fashionable lofts and gallery's.

Side note: 

There is SO much brick in downtown KC...

It ALWAYS makes me think the developers must have read

  'The Three Little Pigs'

(we are in tornado valley after all)

We will definitely be back next "first friday"

Since it was a long weekend in Canada

Many of our Canadian friends had visitors, 

so we enjoyed festive gatherings and ended our 

week-end adventures with a 

BBQ picnic in the park

Michelle, Devon, Nathan

Other than that...
Nathan has been busy with his clinical rotationsand

I have been organizing my/ our next adventures:

At the end of the month 

I am heading to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon 

for orientation into their Nurse Practitioner program.

But the really exciting part is that

 on my way 

I am stopping to visit my friends Anne and Joel in Winnipeg!

And 

on my way back 

Nathan is meeting me in Denver, Colorado!

We are spending the long weekend in the Mountains!

I am also continuing to make very slow, painful, but steady progress on my paperwork 

to maybe, eventually, get a job in this country...

Slow and steady wins the race right?

All for now!