Day 1,310 - "It's a Small World After All"

Does anyone else remember the classic Disney ride/song, "It's a Small World"? I know that anyone reading this is currently shaking their fist at me in anger. For the two people who aren't, I proudly present the lyrics to "It's a Small World".

It's a world of laughter
A world of tears
It's a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world

I'm going to assume that's probably enough of "It's a Small World" for most people BUT if it's not, I'll include a hyperlink for the entire song/ride!

I realize that me going on a semi-rant about "It's a Small World" seems fairly random. However, I trust that it will all make at least a modicum of sense at the end of this blog post.

This may not come as a big surprise, but my kids are definitely suffering from occasional boredom this summer. Despite plenty of time playing outside and exploring the neighborhood, they definitely find themselves asking the age-old question of "What do we do now?" . Therefore, today on a whim, we decided it was time to head downtown and take a ride on the streetcar.

I realize that riding on the streetcar may not sound like anything special. However, Ellie and Ethan absolutely love. They think it's awesome to see all of the new areas of the city that they don't normal frequent. They also love seeing new people and there's few places better to do so than on the streetcar.

Ride that streetcar!

On this day, I decided that we would park at the City Market and ride to Union Station. I also went ahead and informed the kids that as long as they were good and well-behaved, we would stop off for ice cream at Betty Rae's before heading for home. While the kids were informed about those parts of our journey, I (purposely) neglected to inform them that we would be stopping by the Kansas City Public Library just to explore something new along our route.

When the time came to hop off of the streetcar, we wandered a block west and made our way into the library where we were directed to the children's section by a very helpful security guard. As we hopped off the elevator and wandered into the children's area, the three of us were legitimately shocked to see my sister-in-law, Nicole, and her three boys there in the library. It was especially shocking when one takes into account that neither of us frequent the Kansas City Public Library! Ellie and Ethan were especially excited to get an unexpected hangout with their cousins.

Ethan and Edmund are hard at work...doing something.

After an hour or so at the library, it was time for us to hop back on the streetcar and continue on our way. Lucky for Ellie and Ethan, Aunt Nicole and their cousins had nothing else going on that morning so they joined us for the rest of our ride on the streetcar. It was especially fun getting to see the five kids all standing side-by-side and looking out the window at all of their surroundings.

L to R: Ellie, Edmund, Elias, Ethan, and Elbert

Finally, the time came for our friends to disembark the streetcar as we continued on back to the River Market. When we finally exited the streetcar, it was time for ice cream just as I had promised. For Ellie, the greatest reward in the world is getting to have a scoop of ice cream all to herself. Therefore, I was more than happy to oblige since it makes her feel so special. Ethan, for his part, desired to share a sundae with me. Therefore, he and I happily split a S'mores sundae while Ellie enjoyed her cup of Cookies and Cream.

Finally, we finished our ice cream and since our meter was running out of time, it was time to make our way home. A good time had been had by all and as you can see/read, we certainly did confirm that it really is a Small World after all. #DaddyWrite