In Kansas City, I stayed with my cousin Rebeca, her husband, Samir, and their kids, Cecilia (4), Gabriel (3), and Julian (1). When I arrived on Wednesday evening, we went to her in-laws’ house for dinner and to watch the US vs Bosnia and Herzegovina game. After the game, I read a few bedtime stories to Cici and Gabe before they went to bed.

On Thursday, I played Candyland and Chutes and Ladders with Cici and Gabe. Then, I kept Julian entertained so that the older kids could make a puzzle. Julian kept wanting to walk all over it and pull the pieces out. After that, we went to the pool. It’s right next to Rebeca’s house, which makes it a lot easier to get to with the kids. We spent some time in the little pool and then moved to the big pool. Cici and Gabe kept wanting to jump in. At first, they wanted me to stand really close to the edge to catch them, but as they jumped more, I was able to slowly move back so they could jump farther. Cici was really excited about her big jumps towards the end.

In the evening, Samir bought a sample of Kansas City barbecue so I could compare it to Texas barbecue. The popular thing in Kansas City is burnt ends. It was delicious! On par with Texas brisket. After dinner, I wanted to take a picture of all of us. As usual when you try to take a picture with kids, we had to take a bunch to get one with all of us looking at the camera. Even Samir made it into the picture. You can see his shadow on the wall with his hand raised as he tried to get Julian to look at the camera.

That night, Cici wanted me to sleep in her bed. I told her I would stay with her until she went to sleep and that I’d come back later once I was ready for bed. I read her and Gabe bedtime stories and stayed with Cici for a bit. When I came back to her room to sleep, I realized that the A/C vent is right next to the bed. I kept feeling the cold air on my back and couldn’t sleep, so I went back to my bed. The next morning, I told Cici what had happened and she said that next time I visit she would sleep on the other side of the bed so I wouldn’t have the vent next to me. She is so sweet!

On Friday morning, we all had breakfast together and then I drove to Nashville, where I spent the 4th of July.