Hurts Donuts

Who waits in line for donuts? We do.

Hurts Donuts opened about two weeks ago and apparently has been breaking donut records.

Sugar overload - mint orea, birthday cake, cosmic brownie, peanut butter cup.

At least we rode our bikes there and back...so there's that.

Train Museum

Matthew drove back with us from Kansas City to spend a few days. We spent one day at the Train Museum.

This one had a horn you could pull and honk.

The old "Wichita" sign from Union Station.

Not sure what any of this does, but it looks important.

July 4

First time to Worlds of Fun. Scott and Zach spent the whole time riding roller coasters. I think they rode every one twice, at least. Adam and I chose not to ride any roller coasters. We rode Fury of the Nile (at least five times), the Ferris Wheel, bumper cars, train, and taxis. We all rode the SteelHawk, which seemed nice enough. But it was high and in a circle the whole time. If the spinning would have been a little slower, I would have liked it much better.

Zach and Scott in the taxis (they took a break from their thrill seeking to hang out with us).

The log ride, which I think had not been upgraded since I went rode it as a kid.

Train.

Adam also played some carnival games and won Tuxedo Sam (the penguin).

Then onto fireworks...

Adam making homemade fireworks (by watching a YouTube video). All you need is aluminum foil, matches, a candle and scissors! #LivingWithBoys

Zach's smoke bombs. #LivingWithBoys

More fireworks

Throwing fireworks down critter holes.

Brothers.

Playing Are you Smarter than a 5th grader. We are not.

Summer Soccer

Zach: June 13 El Dorado 3v 3 tournament.

Just missed a huge thunderstorm.

Warming up.

We don't like to play each other.

Shenanigans in between games.

Adam: June 27 Winfield 3 v 3 tournament.

So hot.

I think there were three teams made up of our one team?

After winning the finals.

Coronado Heights, Kansas

It was an unexpected day trip.

Scott and Zach were supposed to travel to Kansas City for a soccer tournament, but it was cancelled because the fields were underwater from all the rain we've had the past few days.

Road trip!

We picked Adam up from a friend's house where he had spent the night, and drove north on Old Highway 81 through towns like Bentley (pop. 530), Halstead (pop. 2,085), Moundridge (pop. 1,737), Elyria (unincorporated), and the big city of McPherson (pop. 13,155).

We discovered there wasn't much going on in Moundridge on a Sunday morning and that McPherson had an airport.

The hour and half drive was mostly this:

We passed the time "dealing" with Ali and laughing at her car antics. We played a game called "Associations" (I think) where someone says a word, and the next person has to say a related word. For example, Adam said tree. I said bark, Zach said dog and Scott said tail. Somehow the game seemed to always veer towards bodily functions or general inappropriateness, but I guess that's what happens when there are three boys in the car.

We were headed towards Lindsborg, Kansas to visit Coronado Heights. It's one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas, and a scenic Kansas landmark 300 feet above the Kansas prairie.

A brief history lesson: It was first discovered by a Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado who is believed to be looking for gold and used the hill as a lookout. He didn't find any gold here in Kansas, and eventually went back to Mexico. Atop the hill is the Coronado Heights castle, which was built under Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration.

It was lunchtime when we arrived in Lindsborg, so we parked downtown and got carryout from a neat bar and grill called Farley's. We couldn't eat inside because most eating establishments frown upon a dog in a restaurant. We walked around while we waited for our food. Ali barked at a cat sitting on the steps of an old church.

Coronado Heights Castle.

Views of the Kansas prairie.

 Everyone enjoyed the view from the top of the castle.

We hiked around the castle too. That person in the green shirt is Adam.

Inside. There was a fireplace too.

Ali did not want to be in this picture.