Fall 2017 Consignment Sales

Here is my biannual list of Kansas City’s consignment sales!  Not a comprehensive list as we have dozens of them in the metro area, but these are the big ones that are great for shopping and selling at each season!

Kids Closet Connection of Overland Park: August 2-5
Overland Park Convention Center: 6000 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS 66213

Just Between Friends All Seasons/Back to School: August 4-6
JCCC Gym 12345 College Blvd, Overland Park KS 66210

Rhea Lana’s of the Northland: August 5-9
KCI Expo Center 11730 N Ambassador Dr. KCMO

Just Between Friends Lees Summit: August 25-27
The Pavillion at John Knox Village: 520 NW Murray Rd, Lees Summit, MO 64081

Rhea Lana’s of Lees Summit: September 10-16
840 Southwest Blue Parkway, Lees Summit, MO

Kids Closet Connection of Lees Summit: September 13-16
Harris Park Community Center 110 SW Blue Pkwy Lees Summit, MO 64063  

Just Between Friends Northland: September 15-17th
PAC Complex: 6014 Missouri 9 Hwy, Parkville, MO 64152  

Rhea Lana’s of Overland Park: September 17-23rd
9101 Quivira Rd. Overland Park KS (north of Court Furniture)

Here We Grow Again Olathe/Overland Park: September 18-23
(tentative date/location)
11934 South Strang Line, Olathe KS 66062

Just Between Friends of Overland Park: October 5-8
Overland Park Convention Center 6000 College Blvd. Overland Park, KS 66211

Spring 2017 Consignment Sales

In past year’s I’ve just put this info in a Google Doc and shared that but thought I’d put it on my blog going forward as it makes it easier to find and share!  This is not a comprehensive of all of the consignment sales in the KC area as there are a ton of them.  I’ve pared the list down to the bigger and more popular sales that are most often recommended for shopping and consigning.

Spring 2017 Consignment Sales

Just Between Friends Lees Summit: February 24-26th
The Pavillion at John Knox Village: 520 NW Murray Rd, Lees Summit, MO 64081

Rhea Lana’s of the Northland: Feb 26 – March 2
Picture Hills Shopping Center 6501 N Cosby Ave KCMO

Rhea Lana’s of Overland Park: Feb 26 – March 4 
9101 Quivira Rd. Overland Park KS (north of Court Furniture)

Here We Grow Again Olathe/Overland Park: Feb 27 – March 4
11934 South Strang Line, Olathe KS 66062  

Kids Closet Connect of Lees Summit: March 1-4
Harris Park Community Center 110 SW Blue Pkwy Lees Summit, MO 64063  

Just Between Friends of Shawnee: March 2-5 
Parkway Shopping Center: 11225 Shawnee Mission Pkwy, Shawnee KS 66203

Just Between Friends of Overland Park: March 16-19
Ritz Charles: 9000 W 137th St. Overland Park KS

Just Between Friends Northland:  March 17-19
PAC Complex: 6014 Missouri 9 Hwy, Parkville, MO 64152

Rhea Lana’s of Lee’s Summit: April 9-13
13720 A Highway 40 East, Independence, MO

Kids Closet Connection of Overland Park: April 12-15
Overland Park Convention Center: 6000 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS 66213 

 

Fall Fun Wrap Up

Our fall ended up getting a little crazy.  Between Gretchen breaking her leg and the exciting World Series win for the Royals, it was a very eventful fall!

We accomplished almost everything on our list with two exceptions.  We decided not to do family photos this fall since Gretchen was in her bright orange cast during prime photo season, and we didn’t make it to the Midwest Balloon Fest (not really torn up about that, it sounds like the event was a bit of a disaster with very few actual hot air balloons on display!)

Here’s what we did check off the list, in no particular order!

Go trick or treating

Go apple picking (we made it out to Cider Hill Family Orchard twice this season)

Make a Thanksgiving craft

Night of the Living Farm at Deanna Rose

Go on a hike (we did a fall scavenger hunt at the Overland Park Arboretum)

Have a cider slush (perfect after apple picking in August, lol!

Fall craft

Pumpkin hollow at Deanna Rose

Make an apple pie

Visit the pumpkin patch (we visited KC Pumpkin Patch at their new location)

Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City, KS

Roast pumpkin seeds

Decorate pumpkins

Host a Halloween party

Drink hot apple cider and eat cider donuts (visit to the Louisburg Cider Mill)
Not pictured:
Make applesauce
Make pumpkin pancakes
Make a pumpkin recipe

31 Weeks at Deanna Rose Farmstead

When Deanna Rose opened for the season on April 1st we didn’t set out to go every week until they closed on October 31st, it just kind of started to happen and as the season went on we made a point of making a visit each week.  Most weeks I took her, some weeks Tyler did, sometimes we went together, and while we were on vacation she went with her grandparents.

I love seeing the animals and the flowers grow throughout the season.  There is so much to enjoy and discover there, we never got bored with it.  Also, it’s free Mondays – Thursdays, can’t beat that!  Usually we only did one side or the other.  Sometimes we only went to play on the playgrounds or see the goats.  During the hottest parts of the summer went during their evening hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Much cooler and MUCH less crowded.  Those were some of my favorite visits.  We made some great memories and I’m so sad it will be closed for the next 5 months.

Some pictures that chronicle our adventures at the farmstead this year.

Spring

First time meeting her favorite goat, Benjamin.  AKA “the goat with no ears”

Bottle feeding Benjamin for the first time, he is a hungry little goat.

Every time we went she had to check up on him and see how he was doing

Introducing Daddy to Benjamin

She loves the colorful garden stones throughout the children’s garden and butterfly trail

First time fishing, sadly we didn’t catch any.

First time riding the ponies.

Her legs were too short for the pedal tractors this year but I bet by next spring she’ll be doing it!

I love watching things sprout and grow in the children’s garden.

She loves to sing the alphabet song while she walks along the alphabet stones.

Summer

Summer evening. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.

The butterfly garden, love the creative ways they grow things out here.

Showdown with a very territorial rooster

Only time we saw all three bunnies out.

She loved to find the “G” brick.

Playing in the little cabin with her daddy.

Trip to the farm with her 5 cousins.

Watching the baby ducks swim.

Holding hands with her cousin Hosanna

Milking the “cows” with two of her cousins

Feeding the ducks with Hosanna and Karis

Checking on Benjamin (can you spot him by now?)

That one time a rooster got loose and chased us down.

Feeding duck food to the fish.

Fall

 

Hay bale slide at Pumpkin Hollow

Visiting Pumpkin Hollow with a friend

Riding the cow train for the first time

Ghosties

Night of the Living Farm (with her broken leg)

Last visit to the farm this season

Absolutely loves dancing to the Disney songs at the gazebo

Til next year Deanna Rose!

Summer Fun Wrap Up

You can see my entire summer fun list here.

 

Make popcicles– we used our awesome Zoku popcicle maker for the first time during potty training weekend.

Go to a Royals game– we went for free thanks to tickets from Tyler’s work.  Gretchen’s favorite part was watching them warm up, she still talks about it!

 

Weekly visits to Deanna Rose Farmstead– we often went as a family during the evening hours on Tues/Thurs but also each took her on our own at various points.  We had so much fun there this summer!  We haven’t missed a week since they opened in April!  Gretchen loves visiting her favorite goat, Benjamin.  Most memorable trip was when Tyler got attacked by a rooster.

Berry picking– we picked Strawberries at Wohletz U-Pick in Lawrence and blueberries at The Berry Patch in Cleveland, MO.

 

Visit a new park: we did this many times this summer, but our favorite new park is probably Little Mill Creek North.

Feed the ducks: another fun activity at Deanna Rose.  When Gretchen’s 5 cousins were in town we took them there one night and the kids enjoyed feeding the ducks together.

 

Have a picnic in a park/go to an outdoor concert: two birds with one stone!  We had a fabulous picnic while listening to a blues band at one of the Overland Park Sunday evening concerts.  Joined by two of my favorite Oklahomans 🙂

Visit a new pool: we went to Splash Cove several times this summer, Gretchen loved the water slides and the little wave pool.

 

Visit Beanstalk Children’s Garden: This was a HOT summer day and my kid was a crankypants.  Nonetheless, it was a fun outing with one of our mom’s groups.  Gretchen ate a ton of cherry tomatoes right off the plant. Want to visit again next year before it gets crazy hot!

Visit Storyland at Crown Center: We made it out twice this summer, once right after it opened and again right before it closed. This was a fun exhibit, can’t wait for the next free exhibit in the winter!

 

Visit a farm: I organized a tour of Shatto Dairy Farm back in June.  It was a bit of a hot mess between collecting money from over 50 other families and then a torrential horrible downpour during the 90 minute drive to the farm.  Wish we could have a do-over!  Gretchen loved sampling all the different flavors of milk but her favorite part was probably the barn kittens.

3 year photos: My friend Brooke German took Gretchen’s 3 year photos and they turned out great!  Can’t wait to get family photos done with her this fall!

 

Wash a car: this was a fun activity on a hot summer night. She loved soaping up the car and quickly moved on to helping us wash our real car!

Ride an outdoor carousel: she got to do this a few times this summer.  At the Omaha Zoo, the K, and the KC Zoo.

Go to a zoo: Memorial Day weekend we took a trip to Omaha and visited their amazing zoo.

Visit a museum: Also stopped at the Omaha Children’s Museum on our trip.

Other things I don’t have pictures of:

make lemonade
plant flowers
visit the farmers market
do a fun summer craft
Frozen on Ice

Not accomplished:

ice cream truck-  Dude. I don’t know what it is about our cul de sac but the ice cream truck never came by 😦  We would hear him in the nearby neighborhoods but he passed us over.  Maybe next summer!

JoCo Park Tour Summary and Best Of

We were able to visit 13 parks on our tour of Johnson County parks from April-August.  It was a really rainy spring and summer so some of the parks we had to visit as a family as our Friday morning playdates got rained out.  We didn’t make it to Porter Park or Osage Park but I hope to visit them sometime in the future and add them to the list.  Also can’t wait to check out the new playground and splash pad going in where the old Roe Pool was in Overland Park.  It is supposed to open in the spring of 2016. Here is the full list of parks we visited as well as some “best of” list.

Leawood

• Gezer Park
• Ironwoods Park
• Leawood City Park

Lenexa:

• Blackhoof Park
• Electric Park
• Little Mill Creek North Park
• Sar Ko Par Park

Merriam

• Antioch Park

Olathe

• Arrowhead Park
• Blackbob Park
• Brougham Park
• Frontier Park

Prairie Village

• Franklin Park

Best parks for a hot day: Franklin Park, Blackhoof Park, Gezer Park.  All three have streams for the kids to play in and the first two are significantly shaded by trees.

Best parks for pretend play: Blackbob Park (castle theme), Frontier Park (pirate ship), and Antioch Park (dodge town)

Best parks for big kids: Little Mill Creek North, Blackhoof Park

Best parks for little kids: Antioch Park, Franklin Park, Blackhoof Park

Best parks for kids that love slides: Little Mill Creek North Park, Sar Ko Par Park, Ironwoods Park, Blackhoof Park, Gezer Park.

Best parks for kids that love to climb: Little Mill Creek North Park, Electric Park, Sar Ko Par Park

Best parks for a kids that like digging in the sand: Franklin Park, Gezer Park, Blackhoof Park

JoCo Park Tour: Electric Park

This was the last stop on our official tour of Johnson County parks, although I hope to add a few more from our own family outings in the future.  Full disclosure: my child was a hot mess this morning.  Cranky and uncooperative so we didn’t get to spend as much time at the park as I would have liked and my pictures are not fantastic, however you’ll get the gist!

Electric Park

9299 Loiret Blvd Lenexa KS 66219

What we love about Electric Park:  The shaded play structure is awesome!  It was HOT this morning but the shade made this part of the playground enjoyable.  We all eventually migrated over there to play in the shade.  Bonus: the playground equipment did not bake in the sun!  This is a newer playground and another one designed by Landscape Structures.  There is a large covered play area, a robe climbing structure, four swings, and a smaller play structure for younger children, also under a canopy.  My daughter loved the little monkey bars on the smaller structure, just her size!  There is a shelter with several picnic tables here as well as bathrooms nearby.

Other things to know about Electric Park:

– there is a huge community garden right next to it, we didn’t get a chance to go check it out but it would be fun to explore.

– this park is right off of 435 and 95th street.  Very accessible to eastern Johnson County.

– also available at this park are volleyball, basketball, and horseshoes and there is a large open field great for ultimate frisbee (do people still play that?) or soccer.

Three year photos

My friend Brooke took Gretchen’s photos a couple of weeks ago and we LOVE them.  She was able to capture Gretchen’s personality so well.  We took the pictures around the Olathe Community Center.  The dress is from Hanna Andersson and we called it her “Elsa dress” to convince her to wear it.  There was a lot of bribery involved in getting her dressed and ready for these photos but she definitely earned her ice cream!  If you are looking for a photographer in the Kansas City area I highly recommend Brooke German!

Week Full of Fun

June has been a very full month for us so far, and last week we crammed in tons of fun activities both during the day and in the evening.

Evening Visit to Deanna Rose Farmstead:  On Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summer you can visit the farmstead in the evening between 5-8pm (for free just like during the day).  Activities like feeding the goats, fishing, and hayrides are not available during these hours, but you can still see all the animals, explore the gardens, and play on the playgrounds.  The general store and ice cream parlor were also open.  The night we were there the weather was absolutely perfect and I counted fewer than 20 people during the entire time we were there.  It was practically empty!  Much easier to appreciate the beauty at the farmstead without strollers and screaming children everywhere you turn!

Blueberry Picking at The Berry Patch: This was our second year picking blueberries at The Berry Patch and I was pleasantly surprised by how many more berries ended up in Gretchen’s bucket than her mouth! 😉  She was a great helper, picking the blueberries close to the ground that others had missed.  The patch is open until 9pm so we decided to go after dinner.  There were only a few other families there and the field we were picking in wasn’t as muddy as we feared it might be after all the rain.  Lots of bugs but I remembered our bug spray for once.  We came home with about 7lbs of blueberries and made a pie and blueberry muffins to celebrate Fathers Day, yum!

Craft and Draft at The K: Our 9th anniversary is next week and we decided to go to a Royals game to celebrate.  Hud had talked the new Craft and Draft area up so much we figured we should try it out.  We bought tickets with reserved seating and $20 credit towards food/drink for each of us.  The seats were comfortable, the view was great
(and covered so no rain on our heads!) and a waitress brought us all the food and drink we could stomach. The menu was gastro pub fare, nothing over $15 and the portions were generous.  I had street tacos and Tyler had the pork belly.  The Royals won, completing a 4 game sweet of the Brewers!

Oceans of Fun: I believe the last time I visited OOF was the summer after I graduated from high school, so 13 years ago!  A few things had changed but many of the same slides and attractions are still there.  The park looked bright and clean for such an old water park, which was nice to see.  My friend Brie had some free passes so all we had to pay for was parking (which is $15 now! times have changed!)  We took our kiddos down to the new Splash Island area, which is basically a huge splash pad with shade.  Gretchen was a bigger fan of Coconut Cove, my favorite as a kid.  I was surprised to see that there are 4 areas well suited for little kids now. The two I mentioned plus Captain Kidd’s and Crocodile Isle. If we lived closer I might consider a season pass.

Leawood Aquatic Center:  One of our summer fun list items was to try a new pool. We typically go to Blackbob Bay since we have a membership for the Olathe pools.  Several friends recommended we check out this pool so we decided to go as part of our Fathers Day festivities.  This pool has 3 separate areas for small kids, including a splash pad, zero depth pool with lots of floating animals and a whale slide, and another shallow pool with a little slide and fountains.  Gretchen said her favorite part was the “rock slide.”  We had a great time minus all the mosquito bites!  They were feisty today.

JoCo Park Tour: Little Mill Creek Park North

Several friends had been raving about this park for a couple of months now and we were so excited to finally check it out.  It did not disappoint!  This is probably the newest playground in Johnson County, constructed in the last year.  It is a Landscape Structures playground, which seems to be the popular manufacturer of playground equipment in Johnson County.  You can also find their playground designs at Arrowhead Park, Antioch Park, Stagecoach Park (Olathe Community Center), Blackhoof Park, and the new playground at the KC Zoo.  A couple of elementary schools in JoCo have also installed these futuristic playground structures,including Mission Trail Elementary School in Leawood and Cottonwood Point Elementary in OP.  I’m going to add those to our list to check out as a family!

Excuse the dark pictures, we were at the park on a very cloudy day but fortunately only felt a couple of raindrops!  This spring has been so rainy!

Little Mill Creek Park North

79th and Cottonwood, Lenexa KS

What we love about Little Mill Creek Park North:  This park offers some really unique playground equipment, including a big disc swing, modern merry go round, and a zip line.  Gretchen was not brave enough to ride the zip line but she loved watching the big kids (and adults!) ride it.  The merry go round and disc swing were a hit with her and other kids her age though.  Gone are the days of hot metal merry go rounds where kids can go flying off.  This one is made of molded plastic with seats on it and it takes some strength to push it.  No where near the speed of a traditional merry go round.  There are four swings in addition to the disc swing, including 2 baby swings and 2 regular ones.  There is a small play structure for toddlers with a little table for playing with mulch, every toddler’s dream!  The large play structure is huge, and from the upper platform kids have to climb a vertical ladder to get to the top where there are two very long slides.  There are also lots of climbing structures made out of cables, typical of the Landscape Structures designs. This is a large park with so many different areas to play that it can keep kids entertained for a long time.  Always great when you are trying to tire them out for nap time!

Other things to know about Little Mill Creek Park North:

– There is a great jogging/walking trail here, perfect for getting some exercise before exploring the playground with your kids.

– As of June 2015 the restroom building is still under construction, but there are several port a potties available.

– This park is out in the open but does have a shaded pavilion in the middle with several picnic tables where you can get out of the sun.