We left to go to Table Rock lake on 7/16, I worked that morning, and Braden went to an awesome Star Wars party right before we left. We hooked up our gps, and we were ready to go. Everything went really well, until we were maybe 30 minutes out of town, and low and behold hit a giant coyote, I kid you not. I thought it was a deer, and we were driving my car, which is low to the ground. So I was freaking out.Luckily it clipped the very edge of my car, and with it went the fog light flying off the side of the highway. Good thing it was already broken from when we bought the car. ha. Seavie went back and picked it up, and found the coyote with a broken leg. Serves him right from sprinting across the highway right at our car. Everything remained calm all the way to the lake, until about 10 minutes til we arrived. We had eaten dinner at Braum's and the winding hills didn't sit well with poor Mr.B's tummy- chocolate and french fry yuckiness all over himself and his car seat. Add that to the fact that the coyote left a nice suprise on the front of our car. Let's just say that my car stunk. So when we arrived to the lake it was full scrub down mode of the car seat, the inside of the car, and Braden. We spent Sat. night watching tv and the kids had an early bedtime after the whole ordeal.
Sunday was nice and quiet for 1/2 the day as my sister in law and her family didn't arrive until about 2-3 pm that day. We just hung out and snuggled with her sweet new baby. And the kids went tubing that night. We had pizza for dinner and celebrated Grandma's 81st birthday.
Monday we had time out on the lake and at the pool. Lots of tubing with the kiddos. That night we went into town to a super touristy place (which I'm not a fan of) to meet my in laws friends for dinner. The food was awful-cold and chewy and my sister in laws food wasn't cooked all the way. We ended up with a free meal, so that made it a little better. The friends we met gave us free passes to "The Track" which is a fun place for kids in Branson that has bumper cars, and race cars etc. Us 4 adults, each got to take a kid with us and go on go carts on the wood track that goes up 4 levels, and is really a blast. It was a great night of nearly free food and entertainment. Then on the way home I got car sick, or at least very woozy- since I also do really badly with windy roads. So when we got home, I went straight to bed.
Tuesday morning, had a super yummy breakfast of biscuits and gravy courtesy of my brother in law, who is a great cook. Then we all headed to White Water for the day, in Branson. Seavie's parents paid for us all, so another day of free fun! We had a blast, and rotated out during the day who took kiddos on rides and had kid free time. My favorite was a super tall 4 lane slide that you ride on a blue mat on your stomach on the water. It was a blast! The fountains in the kids splash cove area had freezing cold water which felt amazing after being in the hot sun all day. We all got thoroughly fried in the sun, despite all of our sunscreen. We even had a cool cabana to hang out in all day. Dinner was nachos and margaritas. Yum!
Wednesday morning, everyone woke up early except for me. I was completely exhausted from the previous day, and so I slept in until 10am. Rare for me. So I missed out on them renting a Pontoon boat for the first 1/2 of the day. Which I was totally okay with, because it gave me about 4 hours to catch up on design shows on HGTV, which I don't have the luxury of watching at home, since we don't have cable. Dinner was Spaghetti.
Thursday morning we had a big breakfast of eggs, toast and juice. After we loaded up in the car, after about 3 miles, Braden started complaining that his tummy hurt. He was fine for a while. Stupid us for following the gps through the most winding lake roads in the world. He started complaining some more and then started spewing his breakfast all over himself. It was awful. Luckily where we pulled over on the side of the road, the owner was coming down the driveway and said we could use his water pump that was next to the car to clean off. Which resulted in Braden getting a cold shower on the side of the road. He seemed to be better. But then several miles out started complaining again. So we pulled over, this time he had time to get to the bushes. Seavie knocked on the door of an old bungalow and explained the situation to the little old woman who lived there, who was kind enough to give him some paper towels and a cup of water for Braden. This time we got a towel from the trunk and put it under and around his car seat just in case. He fell asleep maybe 15 minutes later and was out until we got to Joplin. We stopped for lunch at Braum's and then drove through the town to see the tornado damage. It was completely devastating running E and W of the main strip in town. The highschool and homes along that area were in complete ruins. It was very shocking to see it in person. After that we headed to Tulsa,OK to see my grandma and we got in town around 3pm. We just hung out for the afternoon talking and had a tummy pasta dinner and brownies for dinner.
Friday was a fun day. My grandma took Seavie and the kids and I to a place called Incredible Pizza. Which is kind of like a Power Play here where we live. It had a small movie theatre showing "Where the Red Fern Grows", a giant arcade, mini golf, bowling, go carts, bumper cars, and an incredible food buffet, which was the yummiest-in 3 different retro dining rooms! We got a deal on the buffet that came with a $5 gift card, so the kids each got $12 worth of game cards to play on which lasted them quite a while. They had a blast!!! We headed back home so the kids could rest for a few hours. That evening, my aunt took the kids to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie, and they loved it. Seavie and I went out on a mini date night to Applebee's for some dessert and drinks since we were so stuffed from lunch still. Then we got back and talked with my Grandma and Aunt for a few hours before bed.
Saturday morning we headed out to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. It was about 10 miles N of where my Aunt and Uncle live. They had aeronautical exhibits from local Tulsa history as well as space displays. The kids got to sit in an F-14 fighter jet, like the one Tom Cruise flies in Top Gun. They got to use the robotic space arm, and do a simulated flight launch, as well as fly a plane in an air tunnel. The highlight of it was the Planetarium show. For those of you who have never been to one, it has a domed ceiling, where all the stars and planets are on the screen. It went through a tour of the solar system and the planets, and Grace's eyes and mouth were wide open. She said oh.my.gosh. this is so cool. She was on top of the world excited! We watched a show about kids traveling through the solar system in their cardboard rocket. It was fun. After the museum we headed to the Oklahoma Aquarium. It was pretty crowded, but definitely worth it. It had all types of organized sections and exhibits. The kids loved the jellyfish, and the nemo fish. Braden got to touch the shrimp and a star fish. There was also an area where the sharks were that they had a domed tunnel that they were swimming overhead. They absolutely loved it! After that we all went to a yummy little Mexican restaurant called Ted's. It had great salsa and cheese dip-complimentary, and free sopapillas for dessert. I thought my grandma was crazy for wanting to get there at 4pm, but by 4:30pm it was packed. I guess people in OK eat dinner a lot earlier than they do in KS. After dinner we headed back home and hung out and talked.
Sunday-today. We left this morning after a nice big country breakfast courtesy of my Aunt's cooking and headed back to KS. Pretty non eventful trip headed back except for the check engine light coming on in my car right when we left town- almost 100% sure it's the exhaust system, which we already know we need to fix. Then right when we got into town, there was construction backed up on the highway and it took for.ev.er to get home. Then we got stuck behind the train by our house. And finally we were home. The kids went down for a long nap. and I just enjoyed being home. I thoroughly missed my sunflower shower and my foam mattress. Small luxuries that I've had to go without the last week. So now we're all settled back in. The dogs were thrilled to pieces to see Seavie again, and spent some time inside cooling off. Early bedtime for the kiddos, and it's movie date at home for Seavie and I. It was a great vacation and I wouldn't have changed a thing.
We had the best time ever with my grandma, talking and hearing her stories. My Aunt told us that she has slowed down since last Fall, and that was really evident. Her memory is staring to slip a little, and her handwriting. She has a hard time getting up, and is on oxygen. It was sad to see her not her normal self, but she was still her spunky self through it all. We got lots of great pictures with her, and of our trip, which I'll try and post soon. Keep her in your prayers, she's finally going in to have surgery to have a pacemaker and a defibrulater put in on 8-9-11. She told me if it doesn't go well, she'll be in heaven, which made me cry, because I would miss her so much. But also happy knowing that she would be going to a better place. I love my grandma so much and it was a great last few days spending some extra time with her.
1 comment:
oh, what a great vacation. I am so glad for you to spend that time with your family. I hope B is much, much better, poor guy with all those tummy aches. Love ya, K
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