Free Will

If you have any interest in literature, theather, or just sitting in a park on a warm summer evening, you should check out the Mid America Shakespeare Festival right here in Kansas City. Every year actors come out and perform one of Shakespeare's plays for a few weeks over the summer. This year they are putting on Richard III from June 15 (that's tonight!)-July 3 in Southmoreland Park (that's right across Cleaver Blvd. from the Nelson-Atkins art museum.) Purchase reserved seats for $20 or bring a blanket and sit on the fringes for free. There are snacks and drinks for sale at the park or bring a picnic and make a night of free fun! visit www.kcshakes.org for more information.

The Unexpected Greatness of Iowa

I am lucky enough to have a family who built a cabin by Lake Okoboj i in northwestern Iowa. My Grandpa, uncles, and some friends of the family all put in a lot of time and muscle to build our well loved cabin. Although not all of us get up there as much as we'd like, anytime we're there we have the best time. For Grandma's birthday that's where we held the festivities. We went out on the boat, grilled out, and had all the fun you'd expect to have on the lake. Anyone who hasn't been there needs to go, the Lakes are all very clean, they have a great amusement park, Arnolds Park , which boasts The Legend, a wooden roller coaster built in 1927 which is still going strong, a super fun log ride, lots of shopping and you can take a ride on the Queen II, which tours the lakes and looks like an old time steam boat. There are also golf courses, mini-golf, tons of flea markets to scavenge on rainy days, and concerts in the park. If you live anywhere in the midwest, or really anywhere at all, you have to experience the wonder that is Okoboji. You'll want to try and figure out how you can stay all summer.

ahhh, Loose Park in the spring

I am so lucky to live just blocks from Loose Park in Kansas City. Although spring has just graced us with its presence in the last week, I can imagine the rose garden in full bloom this summer and all the local kids feeding the ducks at the pond. I took a nice, refreshing walk around the park today and it really lifted my sprits. What a beautiful place!