Oklahoma!

Why in the world we plan trips back to back I will never know!

Anyway, we left for Oklahoma on Monday June 2 to visit family and attend a birthday party/family reunion. The trip begins at the airport at the rental car counter. Noah wanted us to have a red rental car. In Noah's world having a red car is the best thing evvveeerrr. This all started with the trip across the country and we usually had a "cool red car" according to Noah. So he voices his desire to the lady at the counter. Lo and behold! They have a red car they are excited for to Noah to ride in. Kevin is accompanying Noah at the counter and with 1 hour of sleep in a 27hour duration I can understand how Noah controlled the situation. Kevin signed the papers and we go to get in the car. There she is....a red mustang convertible. The kid inside me took over and I was excited. How cool! They let us rent this car at no extra cost. Wooo HOOO! That lack of sleep induced enthusiasm quickly turned into me becoming the very tired, easily frustrated monster from the underside when we realized that 2 suitcases, 2 car seats, AND a double stroller WERE NOT going to fit in this car. So, Kevin goes inside to then ask for a different car. Well well well. We were going to have to pay extra for a mini-van cause all of the other mid size/full size cars were gone. GRRRRR. Seriously. Needless to say we jammed, pushed, kicked, and smashed our stuff into that car. And yes, the kids rode with their knees next to their ears! Welcome to our version of the Oklahoma City Hillbillies.

We visited Clara, Kevin's paternal grandmother. The kids flew kites and duck watched. Clara lives in a retirement community and we had plans of taking her to dinner and shopping so she could have a chance to go out in the city a little bit. Well, the wonderful rental choice Noah was allowed to pick out, left us ab-so-lutely no room for someone in the back seat. We did what we called the double shuttle. Kevin took me and dropped me off wherever we planned to go and then went back and picked up his grandma and then returned for us to do whatever we planned. Thank you money-grubbing-oil companies for your gas prices, they make taking a trip so affordable. Seriously, gas is becoming my number one enemy. I am now riding my bike to the grocery store cause I refuse to waste the gas. Secretly, Dave Ramsey is on my shoulder doing a happy dance! Alright, back on track. We enjoy that visit with one grandma, now we smash, kick, jam, push, and cram our things back in the car and visit another part of the family.

On the other side K's maternal grandma had no clue what was going on. For months a surprise birthday/family reunion has been in the planning stages. The entire fam was going to be there. This would be the first time all of her great grandkids would be together at one time, and the first time in about 16yrs the entire family would be in one spot together at the same time. Folks came from California, India, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Washington DC, Texas, and Alaska. It was so awesome to see her so happy and overwhelmed at the magnitude of the surprise. Mimi's bday is tomorrow so, Happy Early bday Mimi! I hope you enjoyed this past weekend.

It was great for Noah to meet his cousins for the first time. He and Caleb had a great time with Maddy, Sam, and Derby. (Kajsa please forgive me if I am misspelling Maddy :)) Noah was quite the influence on the almost 2yr old Derby. Noah loved having Derby following him around, cause in Noah's perfect world he is the boss of someone. So, you know it was going to happen. Noah had Derby reciting "butt butt poop poop" followed by howls of laughter, from both of them. I will go ahead and put on record... "I apologize in advance for anything N and C do that is not in accordance with the way I raise them, that directly affects and influences any child that comes in contact with them. Especially in the area of language skills for which my son N is quite imaginative and mischievous." I will also forward any blame on to Crazy Uncle Ron, because his imaginative teaching only adds fuel and new perspectives to N's already elaborate way of thinking.

This next paragraph will leave all of you, who did not see it, wondering "what in the world is she talking about", but must be mentioned. I can not post a pic of this truly amazing piece of cloth as it will make my blog go from a "G" rating to an "R" rating very quickly. I met Kevin's aunt Katherine for the first time. She is very cool. She and her husband live in Australia but are temporarily (we hope) living in India. I notice one day this shirt she is wearing. Being that I just met this lady I can not find the gumption to tell her to please take it off before we go out to lunch and shopping in small town USA. Another part of me was thinking, surely this symbol on her shirt is not as bad as I think and maybe in India means something else. I then drop the thought from my head and go with the flow. Well, this very garment was passed around the family and I must say there was a total consensus. The folks in India are pulling a fast one on us Westerners. So, now that you are completely confused. For those of you who were there:

Is the symbol on Aunt Katherine's shirt representative of:

A) a sacred cow

B) the gloryhole

We all know how this vote will sway....... Thanks for the laugh at your expense Katherine!!

Finally, we round off the week with a very short stop into Kevin's aunt and uncle Jim and Carolyn's. We had a nice BBQ together and caught up on missed time. They have been living in Russia for the past 4 years. Some of you know their kids, Matt and Leslie Ragland. They went to Essex Village in SC. Well Matt and Leslie's kids are getting so grown up. Isabella, their youngest almost reaches my shoulder!! It is so crazy how fast time flies. Kevin, Jim, Carolyn, and I sit up having a late night chat over diet dr. pepper! N and C love their music room. Their piano probably needs re-tuning and guitars strings tightened.

We arrive back home last night, or should I say this morning about 1:30am Alaska time. You wouldn't know it was that late cause the sun was still up. If I wouldn't have been so tired I would have taken a pic of the boys by the van, but by that time I was exhausted and just wanted to crawl into bed. It was great seeing everyone this weekend and catching up. It is a shame that we have such crazy lives we can't see each other more often.

Upcoming we have K leaving on a trip this weekend for about a week and I am trying to get signed up for my first marathon. The kids have swim lessons. C and I are heading down to Seattle in a couple of weeks for his ortho appt. Sidetrack - Caleb got his first pair of shoes and he hates them, go figure. I signed Noah up to start pre-school in the fall. He is on the waitlist so please pray he gets in.

On another note, my BFF is set to have her TWIN BOYS at any minute. She is scheduled to go in for delivery in a week. So, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Okie dokie, that's all for now. Maybe I will post more later this week.