Where the Wind Comes Sweepin’ Down the Plain

We had a wonderful time visiting my family in Oklahoma this past weekend!

Even though it was unbearably hot….

we made the best of it! We baked some cookies in the van; it took a couple hours, but it was pretty fun for Ryley. :-)

Pappaw shows Ryley his impressive coin collection!

My parents have season passes to the Oklahoma Aquarium, so we took advantage of that fantastic air-conditioned activity on Friday morning.

Mammaw and Jack….

Alyson with Will and Jack…

Ryley touches a shark of some sort…

and a stingray!

Justin has taught the boys to call Ryan “El Guapo.” So all weekend, when Ryan wasn’t in sight, Will and Jack would wander the house yelling, “Guapo! Guapo!” It was so funny!

They are also surprisingly good at using I-Phones. Several times when I had one of them on my lap, they would reach out and swipe screens or close an app altogether!

The boys rode their first carousel on Saturday, and it was a hit!

 

Looks like Justin was enjoying the ride too!!!

We met some family friends for lunch…

Then went to some other family friends’ house for swimming and BBQ in the evening!

We took family pictures on Sunday morning at a nearby park; I don’t have copies of those yet, but here’s a cute moment I captured….

Justin and family left in the afternoon, and that evening we fished in my parents’ pond. It was amazingly successful. We caught more than 15 fish in two hours!

Pappaw was so nice to touch the bait and fish so the girls didn’t have to! :-)

It was such a lovely few days, and it was really hard to leave! I am so grateful for my loving family. :-)

I feel like we really got some good rest while we were gone. I took a nap every single day, and I actually forgot to look at my phone for hours at a time!

Work has been insane since we’ve been back, and with a freelance writing project coming up this weekend, as well as preparations for the start of school, I’ve been feeling pretty stressed. This has not been the best summer, so it was nice to get away and rejuvenate, if only for a few days. :-) Thanks, Mom and Dad, for everything!