From 2003 - 2021, we took a Zoo Trip over Labor Day weekend with Joy & Scott's family. Life changed a bit as kids grew older, so the last two Labor Days we spent the weekend at Bull Shoals instead. As much as I love the lake, I kind of missed our tradition of seeing a zoo and exploring its city. Somehow in those 19 Labor Day Zoo Trips, as we visited Omaha x3, Tulsa, Des Moines x2, St. Louis x2, Oklahoma City x2, Wichita, Kansas City x3, Springfield, Topeka x2, Salina, and Rogers, AR. . . we never visited the Little Apple right here in Kansas. (I'm guessing this is because there isn't an Embassy Suites in Manhattan, and this was more-or-less a requirement for our zoo trips. . .) Anyway, we had a VERY good reason to visit Manhattan this year, so reinstated our tradition and Zoo Trip Year 20 is in the books! We were thankful Ty could go along for the first half of our trip. Russ, Oliver and Ty started out by golfing in Topeka on the way. We arrived at Calvin's house just after noon. Aren't these boys so handsome?!?
No one except Russ and I had seen Calvin's house yet, so he gave a tour to the rest of the family. They were impressed with all of it, except maybe the sleeping dorm :) The library, gym and chapter rooms are really nice.
Ty and Oliver weren't so sure they'd be able to sleep with this set-up. I'm not sure how much Calvin is sleeping with this set-up, either! The black-out curtains and box fans do help, though.
Calvin's assignment from me was to get a recommendation for our lunch before they left for the game. The Tap House it is! We walked downtown on this beautiful Saturday while waiting for our table to be ready.
As it turned out, it wasn't just a table -- we got a whole party room! Which was especially nice with Violet, who often gets a little distracted/anxious with lots of people around. And there were certainly LOTS of people around on this Game Day.
The food was delicious! And in case you didn't notice earlier, Calvin was giving his new boots their inaugural wear. If you remember, Syd & Jack gave him these boots for graduation. I'd say the first football game is the perfect occasion to break them out. He looked so handsome in them! And yes, I'm wearing a K-State shirt. But no, I didn't buy it; it was a gift. I'm trying hard to be a good mom, but sometimes the pain and sacrifice is tough.
So the boys all took off for the game while the girls and I had a relaxing evening. There were plenty of shopping options near our hotel. We hit up Ross, Academy, Old Navy and GoodWill, and found a couple fun things, including some new boots for Evie & me! Violet was a good girl and her reward was Starbucks when we were done.
Then we went back to the hotel for a bit. I thought the girls might want to swim, but they were content to just relax in the room. Evie and I read for about an hour out of our book, "An Acceptable Time", the final installment of the Time Quintet series I'd loved when I was her age.
In spite of our huge lunch at the Taproom, we started to get a bit hungry as the evening wore on. It was seriously a PERFECT evening outside so we went and got picnic fare at Aldi to take to the park. We had a GREAT time while the boys were at the game. And I was so proud of Violet -- she was so good for us!
I requested pics from the boys, but got very few. Understandable since (1) they're boys, and (2) they were excited to be at their 1st K-State Football game! Here's a pic of "The Bill" as we drove by the next day.
And here are two pics I got from the game itself. Oliver and Ty were about midfield and had a great view, as you can see.
Thankfully, one of Calvin's friends took the pic of him in the student section. He had an awesome seat right up front! He sent a video of the "wabash" with Coach Tang just a couple people down from him. I know he is going to have a blast at the games.
The next morning we got up and had breakfast at our hotel, and then picked up Calvin for church. Once again, everyone was very friendly and the pastor's sermon on Mark 7:14-23 (the Gospel reading) was spot-on. He finished with the final stanza of hymn 566 in LSB, "By grace! On this I'll rest when dying; In Jesus' promise I rejoice; For though I know my heart's condition, I also know my Savior's voice. My heart is glad, all grief has flown Since I am saved by grace alone." I'm so thankful Calvin has a faithful, Gospel-preaching, Sacrament-administering church to become a part of while in college. It certainly makes his being away from home more bearable.
After church, we headed to Aggieville for lunch.
Aggieville was HOPPING. We found an Indian restaurant that didn't have an hours-long wait, and it was great!
After lunch, it was ZOO-TIME!
The Sunset Zoo was just perfect for our family's afternoon outing. Violet wanted to see monkeys, and they had several awesome monkey exhibits. First up were the chimpanzees. They had 5 of these active chimps and they were hilarious! Check out the face on this guy as he yelled at one of his friends.
And this guy had us cracking up as he repeatedly licked the rock and the trash can. I think he may have been a bit senile. Or just bored, I couldn't tell.
Violet could've watched them all day.
And I know I said there were 5 active chimps. Actually, it was really just 4. The matriarch of the bunch, Susie, didn't move much at all from her resting place by the wall. At age 70, she is the oldest chimpanzee in human captivity IN THE WORLD. She's been at the Sunset Zoo since 1974 and I was just reading that she gave birth to her youngest baby at age 56 -- you go, girl!
We reluctantly left the chimpanzees because we could hear the gibbons. They were so loud with their yelling. It was hilarious and annoying all at the same time.
In addition to the monkeys, we saw some really chill kangaroos and even more chill tortoises.
A sloth bear, Bengal tiger, flamingos and storks were also fan favorites.
It had been a few years since we've visited a zoo, and never have we attempted to take Violet without Joy & Scott's family. This zoo was just right for her. Not too crowded and not too large. We had a great time. My heart was so full having my four kids together again!
Once we were done at the zoo, we could get checked into our Airbnb for the night. It was much more spacious than the hotel room the night before. With 3 bedrooms, I told Calvin he could pick whichever one he wanted and sleep as long as he wanted.
The backyard at this place was so peaceful with a cute koi pond and waterfall.
The inside had plenty of space for us to spread out and relax also.
Oliver wanted to go to Academy so we did a little shopping there as well as Aldi's to get dinner supplies. My boys never miss an opportunity to swing a golf club.
Then we went back to our house and hung out for awhile on the back deck before it was time to start on dinner.
On the menu were Oliver's famous smashburgers. They didn't disappoint.
After dinner we went for a walk to enjoy the beautiful evening and played some cards before bed.
(We forgot to bring cards, so went to the Dillons down the street to pick some up. Even the cards are purple in this town.)
This weekend in Manhattan was JUST what this momma's heart needed. Three weeks without hugging my boy is too long! #20 Labor Day Zoo Trip just may be my favorite ever.
