The Walton Family
If you haven’t had a chance to meet this fairly new family in Lake Quivira (https://www.lakequivira.org), make sure to introduce yourself! You’ll love their friendly, down-to-earth, witty personalities. Their children will keep you entertained, and you’ll really enjoy getting to know the whole family!
Names: Dustin and Lindsey Walton
Family member names: Dustin, Lindsey, Lucas, Madeline, Jack
Professions: Lindsey – Pediatric electrophysiologist at Children’s Mercy; Dustin – Deputy general counsel at Populous.
A Little Bit About Us
Lindsey grew up in Connecticut and spent her summers in Cape Cod developing a love for the water. Lindsey is a pediatric cardiologist who specializes in electrophysiology at Children’s Mercy (https://www.childrensmercy.org). She is a graduate of Providence College and Dartmouth (https://home.dartmouth.edu) for a Master of Public Health and attended medical school at the Kansas City University of Medicine.
Dustin is from Oklahoma and is deputy general counsel and a principal at Populous (https://populous.com), a global architectural and design practice specializing in sports facilities, arenas, and convention centers, as well as the planning and design of major special events. He is a graduate of Bethany College, Washburn University Law School (JD), the University of the Pacific for a master’s degree in international business law, and finally Rockhurst University (https://www.rockhurst.edu) for an MBA.
"We met during Lindsey's first year of medical school and got married during Lindsey’s second year of pediatric residency at Children’s Mercy. After pediatric residency, we moved to Iowa where Lindsey completed her pediatric cardiology fellowship at the University of Iowa (we welcomed Lucas while in Iowa), followed by a move to California where Lindsey completed her pediatric electrophysiology fellowship at Stanford. During this time, Dustin was successfully working from home well before “WFH” became mainstream!"
"We moved back to Kansas City after Lindsey accepted a position at Children’s Mercy, and Dustin went back to working in the office at Populous. We continued to live happily in Fairway, KS, with amazing neighbors and welcomed Madeline in 2015 and Jack in 2019 to complete our family!"
"Although we lived in Kansas City for over 10 total years, we didn’t know anything about Lake Quivira until COVID caused the pools to close in 2020, and we knew we needed to find somewhere for our kids to get some quality time in the water for the summer. Through one of Lindsey’s close college friends, we met a wonderful young family living at Lake Quivira who invited us out to a day at the beach followed by an evening boat ride and dinner (thank you, Jo and Mark!). From the moment we drove through the gate the first time, we both fell in love with everything LQ had to offer. We joined as social members a week after our first visit, then spent over a year looking for a home within LQ. LQ is a hidden gem, and we are very thankful that we finally found a great home and get to come through the gate every day to amazing lake views."
"Lucas (9) and Maddie (6) attend Good Shepherd (https://gsshawnee.org), and Jack (2) will start pre-school next year. The kids and their activities keep us busy. With our hectic work schedules (Lindsey is on call every other week), we rely heavily on our nanny, Natalie, who currently watches Jack during the days while Lucas and Maddie are at school, picks up the kids after school, makes sure everyone gets food and gets to where they need to be, and generally makes sure we survive each week. Natalie has been with us since we moved back to KC in 2014, and in addition to being the most amazing nanny ever, she is an invaluable part of our family."
Lucas and Maddie love the water, especially swimming and fishing, and are looking forward to getting a boat for the summer!
Favorites
Activities/Hobbies:
Swimming at the lake/playing at the beach, youth soccer, baseball, hockey, gymnastics, Royals games, golf cart rides, family nerf gun battles, and hoping to golf more now that we are living here!
Park/Play area/Hang out:
The beach, the Q playground, the trails, the pool at the Q, our dock
Restaurants:
With kids – Tavern, The LQ Clubhouse, Tapatio Mexican Grill, Jack Stack, or anywhere with buttered noodles! Dolce for bakery items!
Kid-free – Capital Grille, Silo, Stock Hill
Vacation destination:
Chatham (Cape Cod) every year
Other favorite vacation destinations (depending on time of year): Breckenridge, CO; Destin, FL; Scottsdale, AZ; Bay Area, CA.
Sports teams:
All KC – Royals, Chiefs, Sporting, KC Current
TV show/Movie:
Not a lot of time for TV and movies, but we’re finally finishing up Ted Lasso and love it! The kids love Mulan, Sing, Peter Rabbit, and The Sandlot.
Music:
We listen to everything – current favorites on the playlist are Sam Hunt "House Party," Masked Wolf "Astronaut in the Ocean," and Pitbull "I Feel Good"
Family dinner:
Family dinner is usually Chick-fil-a, Chipotle, pizza, or anywhere with buttered noodles for the kids.
Do you have any family traditions?
Trip to Cape Cod every summer.
After a driving trip to Connecticut this last Christmas, we’ve decided that moving forward our new family tradition will be to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our house.
What college/university did you attend?
Lindsey – Providence College (bachelor's), Dartmouth (MPH), KCU (medical school), Children’s Mercy (pediatric residency), University of Iowa (cardiology fellowship), Stanford University (electrophysiology fellowship)
Dustin – Bethany College (bachelor's), Washburn (JD), University of the Pacific (LL.M. International Business Law), Rockhurst University (MBA)
Where are you originally from?
Lindsey – Newtown, CT
Dustin – Enid, OK
How long have you lived in this neighborhood?
We moved to LQ in August 2021.
What do you like to do to relax?
Between work schedules and the kids, there isn’t much time to relax! Still try to sneak a weekend catnap in if Jack is down and the older kids are quiet, a few evening holes of golf, the rare date night is always relaxing, and we each make time to relax with friends at least once a month.
How are you involved in the community?
We’re still relatively new but hope to get more involved. Dustin is planning on participating in men’s league golf, Lucas did junior golf in the fall, Maddie hopes to start riding lessons at the stables soon, Lindsey will likely get involved with Mother’s Club, the kids will all swim this summer, and we plan for Jack to attend pre-school at the Q.
If you have kids, what activities are they involved with?
Lucas (9) – baseball, ice hockey, golf, flag football, soccer, piano, swimming
Maddie (6) – gymnastics, soccer, basketball, girl scouts, piano, swimming
Jack (2) – planning to start swim lessons and just generally being awesome!
What is your favorite part about living in your neighborhood?
We’re still new and hoping this feeling doesn’t wear off – but coming through the gate, crossing the dam, and taking in the lake views is a great way to decompress after a long day of work
Everyone (residents, members, staff, etc.) has been very welcoming and helpful
Lots of young families
Amazing sense of community
LQ offers so much to its residents and members in terms of activities and opportunities (water sports, golf, hiking, fitness, tennis, basketball, parks, horseback riding, etc.).
We look forward to raising our kids in an environment where they can safely enjoy exploring all that LQ has to offer.