Trip Interrupted

Oh, sorry to leave you there on the Turnpike in Oklahoma. It's a seriously long drive, isn't it? Told ya.

Ready to showcase Christine's pool on Cribs.

So, once we got to Texas we went swimming, and visited cousins, and went swimming, and visited cousins, and went swimming...

Really.

We swam in Christine's pool nearly every day, and visited one of our cousins every day. We even swam a second time at a couple of the cousin's homes.

They all fed us well, and kept us well-supplied in our beverages of choice. In return, we kept their kids up past their bedtimes. Great fun all around!

Saturday night we squeezed in a rodeo in Cowtown, Ft. Worth. In hindsight, I should have looked at the website I just linked because I didn't realize there was so much to do in the area. I just requested a rodeo and that's what our Christine delivered.

It's definitely on our 'note to self' list for the next visit.

Real Rodeo Cowboys!

E2 rooted for the calves.

Monday morning Rob and Christine took E1 and E2 to Six Flags Over Texas while E3 and I went swimming (of course) and packed things up for our Tuesday morning departure.

Have You Seen This?

I interrupt my Texas trip recap to ask: Have you seen this show? Seriously, go watch a clip or two.

I dare you not to boogie along.

Yippie Yi Yo - Texas Here We Come

So, we went to Texas last month. Or, shall I clarify and say we DROVE to Texas last month. By 'we' I mean Rob.

We made the trip in 13.5 hours, which included a couple of gas stops and a stop for lunch.

The last few times we drove to Texas, we packed a picnic lunch and stopped along the Turnpike. The drive down I-44, particularly once you hit the Turnpike in Oklahoma, can be long and monotonous (the upside is that the Turnpike allows you to careen down the interstate at a higher rate of speed and you get to your destination sooner...and having viewed fewer billboards). When E1 and E2 were younger they were just fine with a rest area picnic; running off some energy, blowing bubbles, discovering bugs.

But then there was that one time we picnicked in 104 degree weather.

The last time we drove to Texas I was pregnant with E3, and although she has never had the chance to enjoy a roadside picnic, this time I didn't think a picnic along the turnpike was going to cut it with the older girls.

Above all, I didn't want to have to stop at the country's former largest McD's (over the turnpike in Vinita, Ok).

So, some time before the trip I Googled 'I-44 St. Louis Oklahoma City attractions' or something...and discovered that this particular stretch of I-44 roughly follows the path of Old Route 66 (did you just start mentally singing Life Is A Highway? yeah, me too).

I borrowed The Route 66 Adventure Handbook from our library, with a vague plan of finding something interesting when we were ready to stop for lunch.

That's how we found ourselves having a picnic lunch at the world's tallest concrete totem pole in Foyil, Oklahoma.

The artist, Ed Galloway, also had a collection of over 300 fiddles - each made from a different kind of wood.

It was a nice way to break up the drive.

On the road again....listening to Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone.

Friday...Another Week Gone.

I feel like such a slacker.

BUT! Snapfish finally decided to relinquish my photos. We are SO not BFF's anymore. Seems they forgot how to handle film and forgot to scan my photos before sending me the prints. Today, I went to their website and found my photos there...and they hadn't even notified me.

Batten down the hatches for multiple photo posts as I try to catch up on a bunch of junk.

If I can tear myself away from the Little House Rose years books... I've been sucked in and am now reading to the distraction of all else.

The tooth fairy DID come through for Rob's four teeth...and then failed to deliver a few nights later when E1 lost another tooth. We reasoned it out and decided the tooth fairy simply couldn't believe there was five lost teeth in less than a week in our humble abode. TF apparently realized the error in this thinking and made amends.

T-ball is almost over for E2, and school registration is quickly approaching. It's the time of year I start thinking about squeezing in a few more things before school begins, while wondering when we're going to fit in shopping for school supplies. I don't even want to think about shopping for gym shoes with E2 - she's got a narrow foot that difficult to fit and she'd never satisfied.

My goal this week: to write another post before next Friday.

Call Me Nurse Nancy

Rob had his wisdom teeth removed yesterday, and I've been caught up in following the discharge information sheet to the letter: installing and removing gauze pads, administering ice packs, handing out doses of pain medicine and antibiotics (and writing down the time of those doses so I don't forget), serving up cold foods, and of course, eating those same cold foods sympathetically.

I wouldn't want him to have to eat ice cream all by his lonesome.

Hopefully my numerous trips up and down the stairs are counter-acting the eating.

He's in some pain, but other than a comment here or there he hasn't really complained...or even whimpered, which I think I would be doing in the same situation.

He also reports that it's possible to grow tired of eating ice cream.

I may try to get a photo of the teeth later- the top two were removed intact, but the bottom two they had to bust up. The girls were impressed by the teeth when they returned home from an overnight stay at Grandma and Grandpa's last night. Look at the size of the roots!

Oooh, do you think the tooth fairy came?

Best Quote

As I was taking E3 through the food line, she uttered the funniest thing I heard on July 4th:

Me: E3, do you want some beans?

E3: Are they porkin?