Flying Barrel Of Monkeys

Well, actually we’ve already been there. Twice. Our journey last week took us through the Barbecue Capital of the North and I have to say it definitely lived up to its name. We had dinner one night at Jack Stack Barbecue and it was divine. They have a cheesy potato bake that was so delicious I wanted to swim in it. We usually have steak and lobster on Christmas Eve but I’m tempted to mail order some Jack Stack burnt ends, beans, and cheesy potato bake this year. It was that good. My only regret is that we were too full to try their creme brulee.

Our other dining adventure in KC was geared towards Monkey Boy. On the way through Kansas, he announced that he had to go poopy. Not being anywhere near potty trained yet and not anywhere near a rest stop I just told him it was okay if he went in his diaper but that we’d stop at the next potty. About ten miles down the road, we pulled into a rest area and I took him in to change him. Well, the little guy surprised me and he hadn’t gone yet, so I put him down on the potty and he went right about his business. Hooray! We decided that was an event worth celebrating up, so we stopped at the T-Rex Cafe as a special treat. He was very excited to see all the animatronic dinosaurs and we ordered him special dino treats including dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets and a decorate your own giant dinosaur Rice Krispie treat which he enjoyed eating “T-rex style”.

The grown-up food was delicious as well, and I indulged in the kid’s mud pit dessert complete with gummy dinos (which MonkeyMan enjoyed).

MonkeyBoy surprised us by being willing to meet and greet the dinosaur mascot. Note, he does still hold onto one ear for comfort as he reaches out to shake the dino’s hand.

The restaurant has an extensive gift shop (of course) complete with a Build-A-Dino station by the makers of Build-A-Bear. We let MonkeyBoy build a friend and he selected a Pterodon which he named Tiny, after a character in the Dinosaur Train show he loves. Tiny was a constant companion on our trip and sleeps with MonkeyBoy every night.