Kansas Trip: Ulysses

The kids always fight over who gets to ride in Grandpa's truck. Grandpa makes sure the girls and guys get an even amount of riding time.


Aunt Laci is a celebrity with Jillian.

The golf course always generously allows us to borrow a couple of carts to add Grandpa & Grandma's so we have enough seat space for four kids and three adults. Hmmm...I wonder if they know we let the kids steer???



Jillian had to have a little help from Grandma holding "her" goat.

Grandma taught Justis and Madalynn how to play "Wahoo."


Ulysses is where I was born and raised, and family is always the number one reason our visits back to Kansas are so great. Ulysses was our first (and longest) stop on our "Kansas tour" this trip. The kids and I made the two day drive starting Thursday afternoon and got to Ulysses Friday evening. We stayed for a week and had a blast!

My mom and dad are doing well. Both are now retired from teaching and doing what THEY want to do on THEIR own terms. Laci and her boys, Cole and Chadd, came down a few days before we left. I love seeing my sis. Although we were like night and day growing up, we realize now we have always had more in common than we thought! She's always had the good hair and sense of style though. Hehe.

Eating at Alejandros (usually multiple times), visiting the goat farm, the donut shop and the golf course are all staple activities when we visit Ulysses. We did them all with gusto this time we were there. One of the goats had triplets and most of the babies were still very little, so the kids had fun holding them and chasing the bigger ones. Alejandros had the best tamales ever, as always.

Mom and dad took us on a progress tour of the new "back nine" they're putting in at the golf course. It has been so dry and windy, they have had trouble seeding the newly graded course. The wind was so bad the day we went out we had to turn our 3-golf-cart caravan around and shorten our tour. Jillian kept burying her head behind me and saying, "I don't like the coldy." She meant windy. Ha! My baby had truly never experienced wind like that...that she could remember anyway. Her hair looked hilarious all wind-blown when we were done.

Speaking of "coldy," it was downright cold most of the time we were in Kansas. The first two days were beautiful, but then it got cold and down to 18 degrees one night. Brrrrr. My kids didn't get it. They kept trying to go outside in the morning with no shoes or jacket like they do in Louisiana. Mom finally gave up and decided to let Dawson freeze his little toes off, because she just couldn't convince him shoes were necessary in cold weather.

I went to Hugoton to catch up with my friend Misty, and I also caught up with my friend Dana who drove from Sublette to see me.

We picked Travis up Friday at the Liberal airport (an hour from Ulysses). He flew in from Decatur, Illinois, where he had been at corporate headquarters for business. He got to spent a good, but short evening with all of my family while we were still in Ulysses.

Travis and Dad used the power tools and helped me build the bench plan I drew up that Mom wanted for her guest room the night before we left. Talk about too many chiefs and no Indians. Putting that bench together was HILARIOUS! Of course, the experience was "serious" with "heated discussions" at times.

Mom took my temperature when I felt hot, and Dad argued about politics and religion with me. I was running a fever (thanks, Mom) and I will never change Dad's mind about Republicans...which are two reasons I still love going "home."