Memorial Weekend in Oklahoma

Since we are now living in Texas, this means that we will have a lot more opportunity to visit family down here.  Last summer when we were here we went for the weekend to meet up with my cousins and it was a lot of fun, but there was only Paul who was 4 and Lydia who was 5 months.  This trip was a bit different.  Tom and Becky were able to adopt a baby boy in October and Tom and Erin had their first in November.  So there was Paul who is 5, Lydia who is 1, James who is 7 months, and Grayson who is 6 months.  It was kind of funny to have so many babies around and I had TONS of fun playing with them.   And for those wondering....NO it did not make me baby hungry!  I am quite happy waiting another year before thinking about having another one.  (Of course that's if I get clearance from the Dr.)

We did so many fun things and had such a great time.  We got there on Friday afternoon/evening and we all stayed up talking until like 9pm!  It was crazy!  Then everyone was up at like 6:30 - 7ish!  We were living wild I tell ya!  I guess Kelvin joking the whole way that this was going to be quite a different trip wasn't very far off!  The Drive there went pretty well, Lydia didn't scream too much.

On Saturday Morning we went to a small ma and pa kind of restaurant that had some great food!  I am sure I ate my entire days worth of calories in that one setting, but it was great.  That afternoon we had a picnic in a beautiful park with P.F. Changs take out and Lydia had a ball chasing the squirrels.  There were a lot of them and they aren't too afraid of humans so Lydia could get pretty close before they would run away.  We were supposed to take some pictures, but it was so hot and humid that we ended up taking the babies home because they were overheated.  We did drive through some neighborhoods of "old money".  That was kind of cool to see these mansions but older houses.  That night we had to go to Braums for ice cream and everyone thought why not get something to eat there too!  So off to eat out for the 3rd time that day.  The ice cream was soooo good, but I was so stuffed from the other meals that I just had ice cream.  I admit I did steal a few fries but went to bed satisfied.

Sunday morning was nice and relaxing before Church and Church was great.  Possibly because my dear sweet husband took the baby the entire time so I was actually able to listen.  They had a combined Priesthood and Relief society where they talked about Emergency Preparedness and the clean up times they were scheduled with for Joplin.  One guy read a list and asked us to see how prepared we are from this list.  I was happy to report to Kelvin that we are pretty prepared.  The only thing we are a little low on is Water.  I guess all my preparedness since I was a teenager comes from my parents who are preparedness gurus!  In some situations though, like Joplin, you can have it all but it can still be taken away in an instant.  That night we feasted on ribs, potatoes and salad.  I went to bed early because I hadn't been getting much sleep.  Lydia was not sleeping well the ENTIRE trip.  She would wake up 3-4 times a night and it would take forever to get her back down.  Of course she was out of her element and not in her own bed (which she LOVES) which all contributed to our lack of sleep.  Sunday night was no different.

Monday morning we got everything packed and ready then went to Tom and Becky's church for a Memorial Day breakfast of pancakes, sausage, eggs, etc.  It was a great way to get us ready for the trip home.  We left a little while after we got back to the house.  Lydia didn't do so well on the drive home but she was crazy excited to get home.  We were pretty excited too.  A four hour drive with a very active toddler is not so fun.  Especially when she won't take a nap in the car. 

It was a great weekend and we are very excited to be so close to family we haven't seen in a long time.

The restaurant Saturday morning had a train in the front.  Lydia and Paul took a great picture wouldn't you say?

She was fascinated with all the squirrels and would chase them.  The cutest thing was when they would run up the tree and Lydia would get so excited and point up the tree and jabber away like she just saw the coolest thing in the world. 

Like I said before, the squirrels would let her get pretty close and she loved chasing them all around.

"Where did he go Daddy?" 

Love love love this picture!

That's all for pictures.  I can't believe we didn't take any more but we've been so focused on other things right now that pictures have not been on the forefront of our mind.