Easter...

We have very simple Easter traditions in our house:  brunch and the zoo.  Basically, we like cocktails and elephants!

This year we went to Voltaire for brunch.  It did not disappoint and we will definitely be back.  I was hooked once I had one of their yummy cinnamon rolls!

In our house, brunch always includes bloody Mary's and mimosas!

This cinnamon roll was delicious!  Those are brandied cherries you see. Yummo!

The weather was not super wonderful Easter morning.  In fact, it was snowing.  The snow did not last for long, but it was still pretty chilly out.  It was not too cold for us to venture off to the zoo.  Apparently, we were a few of the only people in Kansas City that was braving the zoo.  

I had to take a picture because we have never had rock star parking at the zoo before!  It was like our own private zoo.

Since it was on the chilly side, we did not get to see all of the animals like we would have on a nicer day.  In my opinion it is almost worth it not to have to deal with the stroller mania that is usually at the zoo.  I was only disappointed that I did not see the chimps.  You win some, you lose some.  

The stare down.  We walked around the corner and this guy was hanging out on the path.  He waited quite a while to move too.

The elephants' habitat was under construction, and for a moment, I thought we might not get to see them.  We saw some zoo workers walking llamas and they told us where to go to see the elephants.  Ken and I also got to pet the llamas!  

The elephants were getting ready to be let out of their sleeping area and have some lunch.  I was very excited to see the elephants eat hay.  I had no idea that they ate hay.

Lunch is served

Sweet little elephant

The hay always tastes better on the other side of the fence!

I love the elephants!

The sun finally came out and made it a beautiful day!

Celebrating Katie's Birthday...

On Saturday we spent the day celebrating our wonderful friend Katie's birthday!  She wanted to go to Union Station for the Uncorked Wine Event.  This was the first year for the event, but the March of Dimes used to put on a Winefest and this event was very similar.  I will say that the March of Dimes event was much better and I am not just saying that because I know the people at March of Dimes.  :)

Nonetheless, we had a great time at the event.  Ken chose to drink only rose wine, which was kind of difficult to come by.  All too soon it will be nothing but rose season at our house.

The birthday girl and her man.  

Ken and I had a good laugh about this picture. I usually do not notice our height difference, but it was in full force on Saturday!

Katie and me. We both liked the New House wine the best.  It is definitely what we like to call a Porch Pounder!

After a few hours of drinking wine, we made our way to the Melting Pot for dinner.  Mike and Katie had never been and Ken swore he would never go back, ha!  

My delicious raspberry-lemon martini

Katie and Mike red-faced from the steam.

Happy after eating our weight in fondue.  I consider it practice for the fondue eating in Switzerland!  You have to train for those sorts of things, you know?

Happy Birthday Katie!

Vacation Planning...

Something that is near and dear to my heart, vacation planning.  I almost love the planning as much as I like taking the actual trip.  Although, I am not so sure that my husband likes hearing about said vacation planning.

We have a very exciting trip coming up!  We our heading back to Europe for some hiking and fun.  This time Mike and Katie are joining us!  We are so excited.

Our first stop will be Lauterbrunnen Switzerland.  I dream of this place everyday.  Ken and I had such a wonderful time visiting in 2014, that we cannot wait to go back.  We will spend a few days hiking and taking in all of the beauty that the valley has to offer.  If I could pack up my hooligans and move there tomorrow, I would.

Lauterbrunnen.  I really hope this is what Heaven looks like, with husky puppies running in the field, of course.

I cannot wait to roll around in the dandelions again!

After we hike our hearts out in Switzerland, we will be heading to Munich, Germany.  Ken and I fell in love with Munich the last time we visited and cannot wait to have a few liters of beer with Mike and Katie in our favorite biergarten.  

The Marienplatz

Pretzels, schnitzel, and dunkel for everyone!

After Munich, Mike and Katie are heading off to Venice and Cinque Terre Italy.

Venice (source)

Monterosso, Cinqe Terre (source)

Ken and I will make our way to Salzburg Austria, which is the Sound of Music country.  

Salzburg (source)

While we are in Salzburg we planning on taking a few day trips for a little hiking in the Austrian and German Alps.  One place we plan on visiting is Berchtesgaden Germany.

Berchtesgaden (source)

After Salzburg, we will make our way to the beautiful lake village of Hallstatt.  I am hoping to rent a paddle boat and enjoy some time on the like with a bottle of wine.

Hallstatt (source)

We will end our trip in Vienna Austria.  I am most excited about visiting the famous Demel Bakery and visiting a cafe for coffee.  We will also visit Vienna's wine area and just enjoy the atmosphere of the city.

Vienna (source)

Once again we will be utilizing our backpacks for carry on only.  This always makes my outfit selection a well thought out process, but I am always grateful to not be dragging a large suitcase around on cobble stone streets.  

Do not fret, when we finally leave and return, I will be back with mountains of pictures to share!

Life Lately...

Life lately has not been super exciting around here.  I spend most of my days at home with the three hooligans which allows for a lot of time snuggling.

These three love to help me with my homework.  

Ken and I attended the Martin City St. Patrick's Day Parade.  

A beautiful sunrise I captured on my way to school one morning. 

We attended a wedding over the weekend.  It was fun to dress up, since I am either wearing scrubs or running clothes these days!

We had a great time at the wedding hanging out with Colleen and Brenden.

Kya and I have also been spending a lot of time running and walking to Starbucks.  That girl now knows what Starbucks means and gets so excited when she hears it.  If you ask her, she can tell you that they serve her one heck of an ice water!

Ken's Birthday! (A Wee Bit Late...)

Happy Birthday Ken!  Thank goodness he does not wait around for me to blog in order to wish him a happy day.

February 14th is the day of love for most, but for me it is the celebration of that sweet husband of mine being born.  It is the one day that he will let me make a fuss over him and pay for everything.  Fortunately for me, he is a super cheap date and always wants Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.  Don't worry, he started this request well before I became an unemployed nursing student.  :)

Like last year, we decided to spend the Saturday prior to his birthday taking a self guided brewery tour around Kansas City.  Obviously, Mike and Katie joined us.  I am not sure we can make our way, drinking around Kansas City without them.

Our first stop was Grinders for little grub.  Ken also made the mistake of ordering a $12 beer.  I mean, I realize that I was paying and all, but $12 for one beer?  Geeze, it is going to be an expensive day!  In reality, Ken felt so horrible about ordering such an expensive 12 oz beer and he still will talk about it.  I guess you know it is true love when he will spend hundreds buying Tory Burch shoes, yet feels horrible about a $12 beer...

Our foursome walking around downtown Kansas City.  It was the coldest day of the year too.

We hit up Double Shift Brewing Co next and did go to Border Brewing as well.  We did not get a picture at Border Brewing Co because Katie and I were freezing and the boys announced that we would be walking to Torn Label, straight into the wind. 

Katie, Mike, Ken and me at Double Shift

The Birthday Boy, trying to look tough at Torn Label.  This ended up being his favorite beer of the day (besides our faithful Dunkel), but I cannot remember what it is called.

This is a picture of what Trouble looks like.  :)

If the picture of Mike and Ken is trouble, this is a picture Innocence.  

After our walking tour, we made our way to our favorite place, KC Bier Co.  I must say, I drove us a way that I had never been before and saw a few new areas of Kansas City on the way.  I guess I should leave my three mile radius more often.  

A Russ'n and a Dunkel make for a happy couple.  

Ken loves ordering one liters of beer.  Ken loves order one liters of beer in Germany more!

Finishing up the night at Buffalo Wild Wings with a shot of Fireball!

On his birthday, Ken requested Imo's for dinner.  He is a St. Louis boy after all.  It was a night eating Imo's and enjoying a Gigi's cupcake, yummy!

One St. Louis box coming right up!

In reality, the cupcakes were really at my request, but Ken did not hesitate to eat his red velvet!

Happy Birthday Ken!

Arizona Hiking: The Superstition Mountains...

Are friend in Arizona kept suggesting that Ken and I check out the Superstition Mountains.  On our final day in Phoenix, we did just that.  It was kind of a last minute decision and I was already dressed for the day in normal clothes.  Since we decided we were going to hike, there was a wardrobe change in the car, a small car to be exact.

After a quick change, we set off to hike Siphon Draw Trail.  Boy, was it hot out.  It was a little later in the day than our other hikes and we were completely in the sun. I know, the sun in Arizona, how maddening!

Ready for our final hike of the trip!

The Superstition Mountains

One of the things I liked about our hikes in Arizona this time was that they were all completely different scenery.

We were originally going to hike about 7 miles or so, but decided to cut it short.  We turned around about 2.5 miles up since we still needed to leave time for a brewery stop and In-N-Out.  You know, priorities.

My happy hiker

Heading back down the trail.

Our beloved cactus

I think he enjoyed his Arizona hiking!

Our quick hike in the Superstition Mountains was a great introduction to this area.  We of course wish we would of had more time, but this just gives us a reason to come back to check it out again.

Hiking is not complete without a little beer tasting!

While we are quite fond of the Rocky Mountains and the Alps, we also love the desert.  There is just something about it that we really enjoy.  I know we will be back to Arizona again soon, but up next is a wonderful trip to the Alps!  We cannot wait for more hiking in Europe!

Thanks for the Arizona Adventure Ken!