So, we decided to hit the road to Tulsa, OK to see Katie & Phil and their kiddos since we haven't met "the other Colin" yet and our Colin hadn't met his other godmother yet! Our GPS said it was just over 6 hours, which sounded very do-able on the front end. One thing we learned on this trip is that once you get over about 3 hours, the time required to get anywhere increases EXPONENTIALLY. Coordinating gas stops and food stops with diaper changes and potty breaks, well, let's just say it didn't quite go as expected! But it was all worth it in the end as we got to see our friends, whom we hadn't seen in a while, and spend the weekend in a very nice hotel that had a "see-through" elevator! Those of you who know my boys know that this was a MAJOR plus. With the little guys' naps (Katie & Phil's Colin is 4 months old), we spent more time in the hotel rooms than we'd have liked, but there was a very nice indoor pool and we had a baby monitor, which made it easy for Katie & me to visit while the babies slept & the daddies took the big kids to the pool.
We arrived Friday night and the kids were so excited to see each other. The babies tried to eat each other while the mommies fended off any eye-pokes and hair-pulls (although, neither has much up top yet!), and the big kids ran around INSANELY excited playing all of the games they invented on our LAST get-together! Here are a few snaps of the two Colins hitting it off:
We then hit our favorite restaurant for burgers--thank goodness for Red Robin!! I don't think many restaurants can handle the sheer pandemonium associated with 6 kids under 5. We headed back to the hotel in an attempt to get the kids in bed early (ha, ha!) so we could have a full day the next day. The best laid plans and all that..... We ended up at the play area at the mall instead of the aquarium because our middle wild man, aka Daniel, was running on fumes. Of course, I forgot my camera, so no snaps of that, but the kids sure had fun. Then, it was back to the hotel, where a monster nap ruined all hopes of hitting the aquarium that afternoon. But, the kids entertained themselves going up & down the elevator (the ninth floor, or "all the way to the top" was their favorite) and swimming in the hotel pool. We then hit Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. Since it was Claire-bear's fifth birthday (I guess this night, we only had 5 kids "under 5"!!), we got a cake & they were even able to make a pizza with no cheese that William & I could eat. The kids had a blast singing to Claire & even though we didn't sing to HER, it was Katie's birthday, too. So, Happy Birthday to two of our favorite girls!!
After all the activity, the kids crashed hard & slept well, so we were able to hit the aquarium on Sunday. We took a ton of pictures, so if you click this picture, you can scroll through them all:
And, some highlights:
We got to feed some turtles! First, they put fish on the end of the feeder:
Then, they put the feeder in the water and the turtles went nutso trying to be the first turtle to get to it:
The girls got to feed the stingrays! The same principles applied:
And, the feeding frenzy:
We got to pet stingrays, along with several other varieties of sea life. By the time we were done, Daniel was wet up to his shoulders and the front of his shirt was completely soaked. Needless to say, getting to touch "fith" was one of the highlights for him:
And, the newest addition to the Tulsa aquarium is the shark tank, complete with walk-through tunnel. Some of these pictures may not be the best quality because I had to lighten them up, but Katie & Phil should have more once they get their blog up-to-date (hint, hint, Guys!). Keep checking
here for more pictures. Their camera is a MUCH better quality than ours!!
Cool picture THROUGH the tank:
And, here are the kids being silly with one of the shark-trap cages:
Daniel was very excited to see his friend Nemo (look in the middle at the bottom, right where he's pointing):
And, William LOVED the jellyfish:
Here are a couple of pictures William took on his own (photography appears to be his newest hobby!):
And, one of his "best friend, Claire":
And, just some random kid cuteness:
After the aquarium, we hit a park. Check out how beautiful the weather was!!
On Monday, we headed home! The ride home was much smoother than the ride over there. Guess we truly do learn from experience. Overall, it was a great weekend with great friends. Definitely, a success!
2 comments:
Let's go again!!! We had so much fun with you guys. Can't believe we didn't think to steal your pictures while we were there - you've got some great shots! OK, turning on the big computer and downloading pics NOW!
Anytime you guys are ready! Now, I'm just hoping you guys get to come through here on your way to your next AF stop ;-) Can't wait to see your pics!
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