Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, Oh Wine!!

The feeling that I had on the last day of school was so surreal.  I knew that the year was over and I had somehow survived my first year of teaching.  While I sat screaming hallelujah on the inside, my little cynic voice was still telling me, " Um, you know you have to do this all again in the fall right?"  Damn you inner cynic.

Of course I would start up again in the fall, but I was going to blissfully enjoy my summer up until then.  And the first way to do that would be a trip home to Kansas with my mom and Shadow.  The plan was that Shadow and I would do the 10 hour drive over there with Mom, and then I would fly back with Shadow a week later.

So, a 10 hour drive with a 2 year old was ahead of us.  Shadow can normally handle being in the car for 4 hours at a time before he starts fussing that he is stuck in his car seat and needs to get out.  Thankfully, Mom's dog, Sadie, would be riding in the back with him to keep him entertained.  Not to mention the Mickey Mouse and Elmo DVD's as well.  Shadow did very well with the ride so we were able to make it to Kansas City.

The next day we took on the 3 hour ride down to the farm.  But, being the wine lovers we are, we had to stop at Somerset Ridge that conveniently happens to be on the way.  Mom has often told me about her little winery so I was eager to stop. It was very cute, sitting among trees and fields of wheat, with bottles of red and semi sweet whites on the wall, decked out in bottles with buffalo and sunflowers.  I think we left with 4 bottles. 

We made it to the farm that day and I was glad to be out of the car, possibly even more than Shadow was.  I was looking forward to spending time with my grandparents.  My grandma would be having knee replacement surgery while I was there so we got most of our visiting done during the early part of the week.  Since the farm is no where near a "hop skip and a jump" away from any kind of advanced medical treatment, her surgery would be done in Manhattan, KS.  

When she went in for surgery I took Shadow down to Derby, just south of Wichita, to see my Grandma Hemingway.  We talked about the weather, her bridge club, and jeopardy.  She later took us out to eat at the local Village Inn.  We had to get there before 6 so we could get the good deals and the free piece of pie with our meal.  Shadow wasn't too thrilled at the idea of sitting in a booth so he thought it necessary to hop over into the next one.  Let's just say I ate as fast as I could so we could get home.  Grandma made me a fuzzy navel that night and we watched the Queen's Jubilee celebration on television.  Oh yes, we party hard at Grandma's House.

The next day I was anxious to get back to the farm and check on my other grandma.  I took Shadow to the Botanical Gardens in Wichita.  It was early, so it was still cool and there was a breeze.  He enjoyed looking at the flowers and fountains and seeing how fast mommy could run after him.  We both especially enjoyed the children's garden where Shadow got to play in a tree house, sit on lady bugs, and play instruments.  It was a fun day.


Later in the week my mom and I would discover another winery that will go on my top 10 list for sure.  We went to visit grandma in the hospital up in Manhattan, and it just so happens that Wamego is only about 10 minutes from there and home to the Oz Winery.  I was in heaven.  Downtown Wamego is lined with old shops and restaurants, bordered with American flags on every light pole. The winery is just a block from the Oz museum.  I have never been so impressed with a creative idea before.  This winery took the movie to whole other realm, by making wines to compliment characters, places, and objects from the movie.  The artwork on the bottles was enough to get me interested.  I left with 'Run Toto Run' and mom left with 'Drunkin Munchkin'.  I've determined that this will be a mandatory stop on every future Kansas trip.

Sadly, our trip to Kansas went by to fast and it was time to head home.  Shadow would take his third airplane ride so I wasn't nervous about having a 2 year old by myself on a plane.  We said our good byes, hopped on the plane, ready to see Jordan (daddy) again.  The plane took off and Shadow was a pill the whole time.  Screaming, wining, kicking, etc.  Our previous flights were a bit smoother because I think he was too littler to know what was going on.  Peanuts from a kind stewardess, a giant cookie from passenger 15C and a lollipop from the mother behind me, seemed to occupy Shadow for short periods of time.  Jordan will be accompanying me on our next flight.

Jordan greeted us in Nashville as we arrived safe and sound.  We were going to stay overnight in Nashville so we could visit with Samantha until we went back to Lexington.  Before I could give my sister a hug I hurriedly opened my suitcase, hoping my precious Kansas wines had made it in one piece.  Priorities, right?