Oklahoma!

This week my mom, the kids, and I made our annual trip to Oklahoma. It's about a 4 hour drive and the kids did great on the way up. Harper slept the first hour and 1/2, then we stopped for lunch, and Jack slept the next hour and 1/2. Both kids were done with car riding when we had 30 minutes left in our journey, but some snacks helped make the last bit of our drive bearable.

We walked into Grandpa and Mama Reba's house, and the kids made themselves right at home. They were a little leery about this new place, but that didn't stop them from exploring and finding out what cool things they could play with.

Harper took an immediate liking to a wooden rocking horse that belonged to my cousin, Cody. This horse is at least 32 years old, and I used to ride on this thing many moons ago. It took Jack a little longer to build the confidence to try the horse, but as you can see, it was a hit with both of them.

Jack also had a great time running from the front door to the living room. He convinced Harper to run with him and the two of them went back and forth squealing and laughing and wearing each other out.

While we were in Oklahoma we helped Uncle Andy celebrate his birthday and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins Bronc, Clancey, and Blaze. The boys were so sweet to the little ones and Harper and Jack followed the "big boys" around watching everything they did.

We also got the opportunity to spend time with my aunt and uncle and cousin who live in Minnesota and came south for a visit. Tucker, Becky, and Aubrey had never met the twins, so it was nice for them to be able to see the kids in person. They arrived on the last night we were in Oklahoma, and by that time, the kids were used to "new people" coming in and out, so they didn't act quite as timid as they normally do. In fact, Harper, the girl who is notoriously shy around strangers, opened her arms wide upon first meeting Aunt Becky and she hardly left Becky's lap until we headed home the next day. I joked that Harper and Becky are kindred souls. My mom and I couldn't help but laugh; that is the only time we've ever seen Harper so eager to meet someone new.

Aside from spending time with family, Mom and I also took the kids for walks and explored downtown; Harper even got a new pair of tennis shoes from our trip!

While we were out on our walks, the kids found some pinecones- as you can tell, they were excited to figure out what these things were (we don't see many pinecones in north Texas).

We also played in Grandpa and Mama Reba's backyard. Harper's favorite activity was climbing the back steps- she spent 10 minutes going up and down saying "up, up, up" while she climbed and then clapping when she got to the top.

Jack liked the cement pig in flowerbed; his favorite activity was picking up rocks on one side of the porch and then carrying the pebbles over and putting them on the pig. I think Jack made seven or eight trips back and forth "decorating" the pig.

We also made a couple of stops at places of significance to our family. The first stop was the Cherokee Nation headquarters to update some information. The kids liked the art work and interacting with all the people we saw. We also walked around campus at NSU and stopped to take our picture by the statue of Sequoyah. NSU is the alma mater of many of my family members, and I have been visiting campus during the summer for 25 plus years and the campus is beautiful.

Our time in Oklahoma wasn't all spent on the go, we did make time to sit and talk and relax. One of Harper and Jack's favorite things to do is read a book, and we read lots of books. We also managed to take naps- Harper and Jack were very interested in Grandpa when he was trying to take a nap. The kids also had fun watching old western movies with Grandpa.

The only "mishaps" we had were small things. Jack managed to break a knick-knack and a glass about an hour before we were set to leave, and as we were saying our final goodbyes, Jack stuck his finger a little too far into his mouth, gagged himself, and had to change shirts. I was frustrated in the moment, but now I'm glad it happened before we got in the car and on the road. Aside from those last minute hiccups, the trip went great.

I feel so blessed that we had the opportunity to see our family and that we had a safe trip. Now, however, it's back to reality and back to work for me this week. I don't know where the summer went, but to cheer myself up, and to add a "throwback" aspect to this post- check out what Harper and Jack looked like when we traveled to Oklahoma last year.