A Quick Oklahoma Recap

All packed and ready to go!

We took a family trip down to Oklahoma at the beginning of July.  When we left Minnesota, it was so cold that morning, I had to have the heat on.  14.5 hours later, we arrived in Oklahoma and it was so hot, I couldn't take off enough clothes to be even remotely comfortable. 

Skogen was happy to find that Nana had
all of Daddy's old cars waiting for him
to play with while we were there!

The trip down wasn't easy.  I drove alone with the three kids and two dogs (Erik met us down there a few days later).  45 minutes into our trip, Skogen threw up all over the car. Of course we were miles and miles from the next town or gas station.  Luckily I found an exit with a small river near the road.  I pulled the car up to the river and what I couldn't wash in the river, I wiped with wet wipes and called it good.  Luckily the car didn't smell like puke for too long and we rode comfortably and happily until we were about an hour out of Kansas City.  We had stopped to let our dogs out to run and go to the bathroom and while I had the car door open, Skogen's backpack of his entire car collection fell out.  Being at a sketchy truck stop and not trusting anyone around, I hurried the dogs through their potty process and we took off - leaving all of Skogen's cars behind.  I didn't realize until we were two more hours down the road and I was devastated!  We had one more bad stop where our puppy, Summit, ran away, forcing me to chase him for 10 minutes in over 100 degree weather.  While I was chasing him, the kids locked themselves in the car and Klaasen spilled my entire large Mocha Frappe all over the front seat. Other than that, our trip down went fairly smooth and we made it all in one drive.  I even got to introduce the kids to the Beach Boys and was extremely excited that they liked them just as much as I do!  :)

We arrived just a few days before my brother-in-law and sister-in-law had their second baby!  Ever since they announced that they were expecting over Thanksgiving, I had big plans to be there for this event.  I was beyond excited to receive a call from my sister-in-law at 3:00 in the morning, two days after our arrival, saying that she thought she was in labor!  I loved ohhhing and awwwing over my new niece, Evyn Ruth for the remainder of our trip and won't ever forgot how special it was to be there for her big arrival.

We made lots of good memories while we were there.  The kids really enjoyed spending some good quality time with their cousin, Kinley.  They spent most of the time in the pool, running through the sprinkler, or sliding down the slip'n'slide.  That's all we could do to keep them cool.  We also enjoyed a trip to my cousin's farm (pics to come later), Fourth of July with the family (pics to come later), a trip to the zoo, a visit to the emergency room, making and playing with the Blob, seeing my college roommate, Aubrey, and her sweet babies, and we enjoyed some good old Oklahoma snowcones...

Klaasen, Maida, and Kinley in the pool

At the zoo with Papa.  We took a ride on the train!

Klaasen fell out of our big Excursion and got a concussion.  We made a trip to the emergency room for a CAT scan to make sure that everything was alright (it was!).

I got my baby fix :)

The Blob we made out of a big piece of plastic and duct tape.

Sweet sleeping baby

Aunt Karlie (not looking like she just birthed a baby), Evyn, Kinley, Kyper, and Uncle Brandon

Snowcones with Daddy

Nana helping Maida hold baby Evyn

 Our trip home was rather uneventful (thankfully).  The most memorable part of the trip was when I was driving through Kansas and recognized the truck stop where we left Skogen's cars!  I quickly pulled off and ran into the gas station nearby, thinking there was no way they would have the backpack full of cars that we left in the field behind their station.  But, to my surprise, they had found it and kept it for us!  Skogen was so excited to be reunited with all of his cars.

Skogen with his cars!!!

To see all of our pictures from the trip, click here.  I'll post a few more pictures and stories from Oklahoma soon...