Touring Kauffman Stadium - September 23, 2010

As you can see, I am a little behind with our postings. Nothing new about that I guess.

On September 23, Sigrid and I attended a Power Partners reception at the baseball stadium. The Power partners is the retirement club for Kansas City Power & Light employees. I retired from Aquila, but it was bought by KCPL, so I am officially a retiree of theirs now. At least that is where the check comes from. At the meeting, I was elected to the club's Board of Directors which is an honor since I am the first former Aquila person to serve on the Board.

Following lunch at the Hall of Fame center, we got a great tour of the stadium which has just undergone a major upgrade. The scoreboard below is the latest technology and at the time of installation, it was the largest one of its kind.

This is all new.........the Hall of Fame Center and a Stroud's Restaurant. For those who don't know, Stroud's is just about the best pan fried chicken in the world according to many

culinary experts.

Center & Right Field with more new facilities.

A little closer view of the Party Deck.

There used to be more fountains at the stadium, but the new construction eliminated all but these.

One of the many indoor restaurants where you can eat and watch.

The visitors locker room. We couldn't go in the Royals locker room because it is off limits given the personal nature of the items that players keep there during the playing season.

A nice original mural.

Entrance to another exclusive club at the stadium.

Sigrid in the dugout.

The press box.

Who knows.........this might have been the infamous Jason Whitlock's seat.

The view from the press box.

The press room. This is where all the interviews are conducted at the stadium.

Petra's Birthday - Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

Our granddaughter, Petra, spent her birthday weekend with us which we considered a real honor. Her 9th birthday was actually on 9/11 and I am slow in getting this posting on the boards. In the photo below, the sleepy head is just getting started for the day on Saturday morning.

We had to do the gifts before anything else.

Dressed and ready for getting out and about.

We had lunch at the Elephant Bar Restaurant. She loved the jungle decor.

The first birthday cake of the day.

After lunch we visited the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park, Kansas. We didn't know the place existed until one of our Denver relatives found it and visited with her daughter while here. It is a neat place built around the theme of a Kansas farm. There are all kinds of fun things to do as you will see in the coming photos. In addition to the petting zoo, they have various wild animals like owls, hawks, bobcats, etc. that could be found on the Kansas prairies. Most of the wild caged animals were ones that had been injured and would not survive in the wilds on their own.

Petra and Grandmother Sigrid.

Some of the citizens of the Farmstead.

Lots of opportunities to feed and pet the animals.

Petting not allowed here.

Or here.

Petra took the hay wagon ride.

Learning how it was done in the old days

A prairie school house.

Class is in session.

I hate to say it but these could be the same desks that I used when I started school. I used to love to flip the lid on the ink wells because it made noise and aggravated the person in front of me. My apologies to all those who sat in front of me back in the 1950's.

Grandma and Petra at work on the farm.

Learning another important farm chore.

Let's don't leave the Indians out.........they lived on the prairie alongside the farmers.

The fishing pond.

Off to the races.

The second cake of the day. Petra was tired by this time.

A very nice weekend.