Hawaiian Shaved Ice--In Kansas!!!

Who would imagine finding a Hawaiian Shaved Ice stand in Kansas??!!! This little place in Junction City, Kansas was a surprisingly great find.  Living in Hawaii I'm used to having some delicious, authentic shave ice.  Pelican Pete's in J.C. was a treat!  The ice used at Pelican Pete's was more finely ground than what we're used to in Hawaii (I liked both kinds), and the flavors were just as yummy.  The 110-degree heat index also made these taste especially good.

We got a huge kick out of the decor......

 Tiki man was a bit scary-looking.....

And I'm pretty sure we don't have alligators in Hawaii....at least not on my roof we don't! 

The kids (my two daughters and a friend) enjoyed the oversized swing.

But my favorite decorative item was the pedal-boat-to-nowhere....

A great place to go on a hot summer afternoon!  (Evenings are great, too--the place is ablaze with twinkly lights and happy music.)  How can you help but love a place like this??!  It'll definitely be on my tour stop the next time I'm in town.

City Girls and Country Cows

I was in Kansas recently, helping my oldest daughter get settled back at K-State.  It was also a great time to visit with friends and family.

One of the first days I was back home, we visited a dairy.  Since my girls are "city girls," my mom thought it'd be fun for them to see some cows close up.  Visiting cows was not on my girls' list of things to do while on vacation (their idea of sightseeing is to visit shopping malls), but they went along for the fun.  We were warmly welcomed at Hildebrand Farms and invited to go visit the cows in their pens.  (I had to remind the girls to stand upwind, not downwind!)  It was great fun, and I'll bet those cows have never been photographed so much!  

This little calf craved attention:

She even offered free kisses:

And more pics:

It was a great little visit to Hildebrand Farms.  Although we didn't get a chance to try the ice cream, we did buy some delicious fresh cheese curds.  The ice cream will have to wait til our next trip....