My journey from a Country Girl to a Southern Belle: Another Road Trip Adventure...Destination Oklahoma

Last Friday, the children and I embarked on a 10 hour road trip to visit my family. We started out in the wee hours of the morning, when Pickles was so excited and woke up at 3:30! She waited until she heard me go to the bathroom at 4:00, before she decided to announce that it was time to get up and get ready. We were all dressed, packed and loaded in the car before 5:15. I know this is not a world record by any stretch of the imagination, but I was really pumped that we were able to get ourselves together before 8:00. We started off great, and no one went back to sleep. We arrived at our destination, my Sister's home around 3:15, and it was definately a wonderful feeling to arrive. We were only delayed a few times with bathroom breaks, super high winds, and a bout of motion sickness. All in all, we had a great trip, and were excited to spend some quality time with the family.

Shortly after we arrived, we were greeted by my niece and nephew, and my sister. We had to take the $0.25 tour of her new, beautiful home, and get ourselves settled in for our short stay. The children were so excited to be out of the car, but supper energized on adriniline and sheer excitement for the adventures the next two days would hold. We also had planned to have a family birthday for the Little Man, so we had lots of preparation to make.

I am not sure what it is, but I love spending time with my family. My sister and I both love to cook, and we had a great time making each and every meal. She invited our Grandpa out for dinner the first night, and at his request, we enjoyed "chili dogs!" It strikes me funny that as children, he would never even consider eating a chili dog, unless we were at a ball game, and of all meals to choose from, that was his request! We loved it, and the homemade chili that graced the top of our fabulous dogs. We also had my Uncle Lynndell join us, while his lovely family was shopping in Dallas...

I love the conversation that joins us when we are together. Even though we talk by phone multiple times a week, it is so much more fun to hear the story when you are sitting around the kitchen table. We had a great visit on Friday night, and it was only a small introduction to the next day.

If you have read my blog long, you know that my children are extreme early birds. Pickles thinks that she needs to watch the sunrise each and every morning. She would much rather go to bed early than to sleep late. You know, she just might miss something! She woke up on Saturday so excited, and it was only 5:30. I tried to convince her that if she would only sleep for one more hour, we could go without a nap. That was a lost cause...she had her brother awake in about 10 minutes, and then I hear little feet on the stairs and my sweet nephew was awake as well. So now, it is 6:15, and it is time to have a party!

We contained ourselves for a little while longer, but it was then time to head downstairs and rummage around for some sort of breakfast snack. I am amazed that Cheese-It's were the favorite each and every morning... Pickles found a harmonica, and decided the rest of the house needed to wake up as well!

Saturday's adventure began with us making a quick trip to the local Wal-Mart to buy a card for my camera. I can't believe I left mine in the computer. Thank goodness they are inexpensive! We then trecked across town to watch a little league basketball game. It was the last game of the year, and it was awesome to watch the look on the faces of our special friends. They couldn't believe we were there, and did a double take! They wanted to run off of the court to greet us. What a great time. After the game, we found our way to Taco Bueno and to the park for a picnic. Oh, how I miss Taco Bueno, and what a great park Lawton, OK has to offer. We played for a while, and then went to the Museum of the Great Plains.

To say we enjoyed ourselves would be an understatement. Pickles is fascinated with history. The fact that the Land Run, the Great Dust Bowl, Fossils, Indians and early Pioneer Days were all under one roof, made her little heart happy. She loved plaing dress-up with her cousins and having her picture made in a real-life TeePee! She said she could even smell the smoke! She convinced me to buy her a rose rock, so she could take it to show-and-tell. "Mom, don't you know everyone needs to learn about Oklahoma's state rock!"

After the museum, we decided to venture out to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. We drove across the entire refuge to make our way to the visitor's center. This free museum has real stuffed animals throughout and great exhibits of what you will encounter on the refuge. We watched the herd of Texas Longhorns grazing outside the museum windows and watch a few bison bulls meander their way through another part of the refuge. At the insistance of my nephew, we drove to the top of Mt. Scott and took some fabulous photos and climbed around on the granite rocks. If you think Southwest Oklahoma is a flat barren prarie, you are missing a great treasure!

By the time we returned home, the Little Man was expired. We still had a full day's worth of things to do, including make his cake for his party. I am tired just thinking about how much fun we had! It seems like time flies by when you are with the ones you love!

Tonight I will leave you with Saturday's adventure...I hate to bore you too much in one sitting. Here are a few of the 987 photos we took on our short road trip. It is hard to chose, but I must leave you with only a few...

Until next time, keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah