Because He Wanted to Say Shuttlecock

Last installment, I promise!

 

After we debated whether or not Pretty Boy Floyd was at Union Station to kill those G-Men, we headed off to the Nelson-Adkins Art Museum for a very specific purpose. You see, the Nelson-Adkins has a sculpture garden on its grounds with a very interesting installation: several large shuttlecocks. You know, the birdies you play badminton with. And when I say large, I mean ginormous. So, in our quest to find oversized leisure equipment (remember the World's Largest Bowling Pin from our honeymoon?) we felt we needed to go see the giant shuttlecocks. Oh, and the 12-year-old voices inside us that kept giggling when we said "shuttlecock" made it something we had to do as well.

 

We arrived at the Nelson-Adkins and made a beeline for the shuttlecocks. We were in the midst of taking pictures when we heard the voice of God, or, rather, the voice of a loudspeaker say, "Ma'am, please don't touch the shuttlecock." There was no sign in the immediate vicinity of the shuttlecock telling you not to touch it--the "do not touch" mandate was posted on the maps at the openings of the garden, we found later--but there were cameras and speakers posted near the art so that security guards could let you know not to touch the art. I got chastised for touching the shuttlecock, as you can see.

 

Shortly after that we left the Nelson-Adkins in shame. Well, not really. We left laughing because really? "Please don't touch the shuttlecock?" It just sounds awesome.

 

We went over to the Plaza to walk around and eat some delicious food at a restaurant called the Classic Cup. I ate something called Dutch Babies, mostly because it was called Dutch Babies. It was a baked pancake with lots of fruit on top and was wonderful. Not at all cannibalistic. We walked into Tiffany's and then back out of Tiffany's. We then walked over to a lovely fountain that happened to have an alligator as part of the scupture work. Shooodit!

 

Later that afternoon, Alec and I headed over to visit my cousin Sarah and her boys. And a lively crew they were! She has three sons who are almost four, one and a half, and six months. We had a good time playing and hanging out, eating and talking, Alec made a fantastic jungle gym, we watched them play on the "big phone" (the iPad), and by the end her oldest thought we needed to spend the night. We told him we would next time :-) We were just sad we missed seeing her husband, who was at work. Sarah and I are more than just cousins, we are also sorority sisters, so we share an extra special bond.

 

When we left that crew, we headed over to Shaun's house again for another Pi Kapp night, but this time there were more! A couple of the other guys were in town, so we had a good time hanging out, playing some pong, and laughing. A lot. Mostly at the expense of one of the guys, but I think that has a tendency to happen with the guys.

 

We finally headed back to Jay and Jinal's for the night. They made us a wonderful Indian lunch the next day before we had to head out on the road home.

 

So, to evaluate:

 

1) Everyone go to the World War I Museum

2) Everyone go on the Boulevard Brewery Tour

3) Pretty Boy Floyd probably didn't kill anyone at Union Station

4) Please don't touch the shuttlecock

5) Dutch Babies are yummy

6) It's really great to have friends who live in fun cities