Oklahoma Trip

In June, we received an invitation to my little cousin Jacque's wedding in Oklahoma for August 9th! We were excited since it had been about 2.5 years since we've been out for a visit! When we got the invite, we checked airfare but unfortunately, it was SO expensive for us all to fly - almost $1600! We decided that we would pack up the family roadster and make the 10 hour drive to see my family. Mason had never been on a road trip, so it may actually be fun! The original plan is that we were going to leave on Thursday, the 7th and drive to St. Louis, stay the night and then finish the rest of the trip the next day. However, on July 31st we received some devastating news that had us change our plans. My cousin Michael's 18 year old son, Christian, had taken his own life. This was shocking and was a huge loss for my family. My heart ached and I felt so helpless being so far away. We knew that we wanted to be there to support my family, so we moved our schedules around and were able to leave a few days earlier to attend the services, as well as stay for my cousin's wedding.

So on Tuesday morning, we packed up my mini-van and hit the road at 7:00 am. We had lots of snacks and movies on-hand for the almost 10 hour drive.

Not even 5 minutes into the trip Leah busted out all of her markers and coloring books. I was hoping she would save them until at least hour 2 or 3, since I knew it wouldn't last long. I will say, I am SO proud of how well the kids did in the car. There were no meltdowns and no crying the whole ride there. Surprisingly, there were no naps either. I encouraged the kids to rest their eyes and take a nap, but for some reason they were wired and didn't sleep at ALL! We made a few stops for bathroom breaks and gas, and then also stopped off at a cute little BBQ restaurant for lunch. We made excellent timing. It was supposed to be a 10 hour ride (with no stops) and we made it to Tulsa in 11 hours. The kids were such troopers! However, Leah probably asked at least 50 times how many more "minutes" we had left until we got there.

 Less than 5 minutes into the trip

 Watching Frozen

Mason has his own city!

We made it to Missouri in about 4 hours

 The Arch (from a distance)

We made it to Oklahoma!

When we arrived in Tulsa, we went to the hotel to check-in and get situated. I gave my Aunt Debbie a call to let her know we were here. We wanted to see them, so we met my aunt and uncle for a quick dinner near our hotel. I was nervous how the kids would do since we spent the last 11 hours in the car and they had not slept at all. They did good at the restaurant. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to call it a night.

The next day were the services for my cousin Christian. In the morning, when went to our car to leave for the funeral home, we had a complete flat tire! Argh! We were parked in the parking garage on an angle. Rob was unable to change the tire, so we had to call AAA. I was pretty impressed with how quickly they were able to make it to the hotel and take care of our tire for us!

We were only an hour late to the services. The funeral was sad. It was a packed house with all of Christian's friends and family. After about 30 minutes of being there, Leah complained that she didn't feel good. I thought she was pulling my leg because she was a little antsy. She wouldn't let up, so Rob took her and Mason to the car to settle down. Poor Leah ended up throwing up in the car. Rob took the kids back to the hotel and I stayed with my family. The visitation lasted about two hours and the pastor spoke. It was very emotional and my heart was so sad for my cousin and his family. After the services, we went to the cemetery for some short words and a final goodbye. Rest in peace sweet Christian.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/obituaries/localobituaries/christian-michael-snyder/article_543081ac-1d8d-5a50-b012-195eff6c5cae.html

After the services, my cousin Nicole was hosting a lunch at her home. Leah ended up being sick the entire day and couldn't keep anything down. I ended up just bringing Mason with me. Leah also started wheezing really bad and we did not bring her breathing treatments with us. Luckily my aunt had a nebulizer machine and I was able to call Target to get a refill on her treatments. Over at my cousin's, one of her foster boxer dogs just had puppies - 10 to be exact! They are almost 3 weeks old. Mason was in love!

By Thursday, Leah was starting to feel better. She had stopped throwing up and we had given her a few nebulizer treatments. We met my family for lunch (my dad, Mary Ann, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Bill, cousin Jason and his daughter Megan) at an Irish Pub. Afterwards, Rob had to go get our tire fixed, since we had a doughnut wheel on my car. Luckily, they were able to fix it and I didn't have to get a new tire. While Rob took care of that, me and the kids went back to Aunt Debbie's and swam in her pool! Leah and Mason loved it and had such a great time!

 Loving the water

 Papa and Mase swimming

Leah chickened out and didn't jump off the spring board

 Relaxing at Aunt Debbie's house

I think Kain is pretty comfortable!

Later on,  we all went to grab a Mexican dinner at Chuy's. Another day with no naps for the kids, so they were ready for bed by the end of the night.

Friday we did some running around. When we got to Oklahoma, Leah had been asked to be the flower girl! She didn't have a dress, so we went to David's Bridal to get her one! At first Leah was hesitant if she could be the flower girl (because she is so dang shy), but was excited to do it. 

Later that day, we had Jacque and DeWayne's wedding rehearsal. We met over at the venue for a short practice. It was such a cute place!

 So excited!

And.....he's off! 

 Me and Jacque!

 My cousin and Leah

Practicing for the big day!

After the rehearsal, we went back to my cousin Nicole's house for dinner. Leah hadn't gotten to see the boxer puppies yet, so she was super excited to go back to her house. We all had dinner and hung out. Nicole made a video of Jacque and DeWayne, with pictures of them growing up. It was really cute.

 Leah lovin' on the puppy.

 10 little puppies!

 The soon-to-be bride and Flower Girl!

 Mason got a kick out of cousin Logan's drums!

 Leah did too! We need to get some of these!

Logan was so sweet to Mason.

Saturday was the big wedding day (which I write a separate post about because it would be too long). Unfortunately the day after the wedding it was time to head home. We didn't get back to the hotel until almost midnight. We were up early and hit the road by 7:30 am. We are about 4 hours into the ride (I'm blogging as we are driving), so here's to a smooth ride the rest of the way!