Aidan’s Farewell to Lee’s Summit

Our little man, Aidan, is a sentimental guy. Must have something to do with being born on Valentine’s Day. :)

I asked him what he wanted to do in Kansas City before we leave for Alaska, and all he cared about was seeing his friends (especially Lily), going to AWANA, and visiting Downtown Lee’s Summit.

We lived in Lee’s Summit for a couple of years while we served as Resident Managers for Hillcrest Transitional Housing. We enjoyed being within walking distance of the downtown area and often ventured that direction when the weather was nice. We continue to visit every few months just because we love it. Lots of fun moments, like this:

We have our routine – shops that we like to hit every time. He wanted to do it all once more before we leave this comfortable place and have to get to know another.

So, we started with friends at the coffee shop:

Moved on to the children’s book store a few buildings down where they always play with trains while I browse:

I snagged a book about Missouri for the kiddos to take with us:

And then my wonderful friend Leslie took my older two back to her place for play and lunch while I went home to sort and load the van with donations that the kids might have protested had they been around.

I picked them up after lunch and we made one more downtown stop: our favorite ice cream shop. We had ice cream and bought daddy a pint for later. I didn’t get a photo at the shop, but there was still plenty of evidence left when we got home. :)

I’m thankful for all of us that Juneau has a downtown area that’s just at active and adorable as Lee’s Summit. It will be bittersweet to get to know new shop owners and form a new routine. I think we’ll adapt fine, though. Aidan told almost everyone we saw yesterday that we are moving to Alaska and he’s “so excited.” :)