Our Last Baby-Free Visit to Kansas

Our close friends from college, Amber and Travis Dawkins, live in Olathe, Kansas and thanks to Southwest deals (Luv Southwest!), we usually get to fly up (over?) to see them once or twice a year. This time we went over the 4th of July. It was a short trip, but totally worth it to catch up and hang out with Amber and Travis - love you guys!

Michael playing the Rock Band guitar...

Me and Amber! Funny story how we met. We went on a mission trip to Scotland together with Lipscomb when we were freshman. We didn't know each other beforehand and really didn't get to know each other well until afterwards. At some point while we were there though, we got locked out of our apartment with no cell phone and no way to contact anyone. So we decided to try and WALK back to the boys apartment. Genius idea...but we didn't know what else to do except for sleep out on the landing of our apartment! So we started walking...this was back in 2003, the day after President Bush declared war on Iraq and many of the Scottish were not happy with that decision. Earlier that day, we had walked through an anti-war (kind of anti-USA) protest where we all just kept our mouths shut so people wouldn't know we were not from Scotland! Anyway, so now it's 2am and 4 American girls are walking the streets of Scotland trying to find an apartment complex we don't have an address for. Here's where Amber comes in. I made her take her stylish hat off because I said it made her look too cute! At that point, I wasn't really worried about being Amber's friend, I just wanted to make sure we didn't make the morning headlines for some horrible reason. I specifically remember telling everyone, "Don't look cute - we want to blend in, not stick out!" Somehow we ended up in a hospital ER where we called a taxi and miraculously (thank you God!), one of us remembered the name of the road the boys' apartment was on. We made it safe and sound, but boy were the guys surprised when we showed up at their apartment at 3am!
Our first experience with Rock Band.

Just a preview of some of the cute pictures Amber took for us that weekend! I'm almost 24 weeks here.

Amber and Travis!

Waiting for it to get dark so the fireworks could start!

Earlier in the day, we went to the driving range and played their mini golf course. This was no putt-putt course. This was literally mini golf. Each hole was designed after a famous golf hole in courses across America...complete with sand traps and water holes. Here Amber and I were trying to click out heels across the bridge, but Travis cut out heads off when we jumped!

The guys with their clubs on the driving range. This was mine and Michael's first time ever hitting a golf ball that wasn't on a putt-putt course. Michael was a natural. My talent kind of came and went. :) But I got a few good ones in there!

Amber has a set of pink golf clubs. She showed me the proper way to stand, swing, hit, etc. Can't guarantee that I did it that way every time, but I sure tried!

Playing fetch with their dog, Pancake. Or is that Pita? I think it's Pita jumping and Pancake watching. Anyway, it's a great mid-air shot!

We went to dinner at Cinzetti's with Amber's family. It's a great Italian restaurant where they do made to order crepes right in front of you - yum! For once, I played the "eating for two" card and ate two! See I wait and use the pregnancy card only when I really "need" it so it's more effective! Ha ha ha... :)

Boys being boys in the lobby of Cinzetti's. This is what I can look forward to with Baby Boy Payne one day! Especially if he gets any of my tendencies...I was a little monkey too when I was young!

Thanks Amber and Travis for a wonderful visit! Can't wait for you guys to come down and meet Baby Boy Payne. It's your turn to come to Nashville! That overnight stop on your way to Disney World doesn't count. :)