The trip from Enid to Tulsa was only half bad....one hour spent in silence while she napped and the other half...well, you can imagine. She had a pile of objects below her on the floor that I would hand her in hopes to keep her occupied. Everything went straight to the floor. But as we got closer there were big promises made about swimming and fun so she straightened up in her seat and began looking for our destination along with me. By the time we arrived we were ready for a drink. No, not water. ;)
We unpacked our luggage and got freshened up while Hal ran around the room scoping out the place. She was being a sweetie pie giving out kisses left and right...probably making up for the headaches caused during the drive. It was a little after 4:00 and the aquarium closed at 6:00 so I hurried up my posse and off we went. Hal rode down to the lobby in her new car from Nanny and Papa. She also took it for a spin once we got to the Oklahoma Aquarium. I'd been looking forward to checking it out. We whisked her past the waterpark to avoid a potential meltdown. Instead the tantrum came when we tried to push her out through the revolving door while in her car. Apparently this equals terror for a two-year-old. The truck rose was a bit tense as she was not in the mood to be back in it so soon and it didn't help matters that we kept getting turned around while trying to fix the aquarium. We finally pulled in and bailed from the truck as fast as we could. Lil miss rode in her car through the museum which kept her happy as could be.....
She was super sweet as she handed the man her ticket....
She loved the freedom and space to explore....
The creatures were all new to her little eyes and it was awesome to watch her reactions to the sea life. She was most intrigued by the Nemo fish and the jelly fish. Her dad and I were fans of the shark tunnel. This is where Hal almost needed a new diaper. ;) They were pretty scary, I'll give her that. She wasn't much for petting the "pettable" sea creatures. She wasn't shy around the large fish exhibits though as she would stand on the ledge to get a closer look....
She seemed genuinely interested in the huge fish swimming in the big tank. Her facial expressions may have been the highlight of the trip for me....
The highlight for Hallie Grace must've been the sharks. She watched in amazement as they glided past her....
By the look on Riley's face in this next picture you just might be fooled into thinking he was having fun. Hehe!
My silly partners made their way into the shark tank and did a little swinging from the bars....
Overall we were a little disappointed in the aquarium as a whole as we had expected something larger. But who knows, it may have also been the fact that we literally ran through it with a quick little munchkin who had placed to go and fishies to see.....
"Hey dad, think we can take one of these turtles for the 4th of July race?:
Hal found herself in the snack bar area waiting patiently for a bite to eat. I guess she sees a table and it instantly becomes mealtime. We had to break it to her gently that we wouldn't be dining at the aquarium. It didn't go over well.....
"So you're telling me that I just have to starve...."
Of course we couldn't leave without one more photo op by the alligator. Doesn't she just looked so thrilled...
Contemplating her dining choices
We loaded up and got lost once again on our way to a restaurant that was recommended to us. My only requirements were that it be loud and good. It did not disappoint and was both of those things. ;) Los Cabos was awesome! The mango margarita and the cheesecake being my favorites. As we sat down I pulled out my camera and asked Riley to show me how he was feeling at the moment......
I've got to give munchkin a lot of credit for being a good girl at dinner.....
As usual, guess who got the first bite of cheesecake????
After we rolled our fat and happy selves out of the booth we took a walk along the river trail by the restaurant. It was a beautiful night and Hal was in a happy mood.....
After we lugged all of our stuff back up to the room it was time to try out the indoor waterpark that had looked so cool on the hotel website. Well, at least one of use ended up thinking it was cool.....
"Like my bikini mom??"
Let me rephrase that. It wasn't that I didn't think it was a neat little place for kids to roam around and splash. It's just that it was filled with older bratty baseball kids who couldn't have cared less about little ones running around. I swear I almost clotheslined about two boys for being downright rude and disrespectful all the while their mothers sat back and watched them be monsters. Ok, off my soapbox. Back to Hal's fun at the pool....
When we first showed up the pool was fairly empty which meant she had free reign over the slides and palm tree without being trampled. The frog slide was a BIG hit....
We went down the big swirly slide about a gazillion times together and only hit our heads five of those times. Success! It was a little tight in that slide! Once the pool got super busy we headed outside to the big pool area to walk around and dry off a bit before we went to go drag Riley down to swim....
We had to grab our sunnies when we got back up to the room.....
And yes, we did coerce Riley into coming down to have some FUN!!!!
He stood at the bottom of the big slide to catch her after I gave her a push down it. This is when I wanted to strangle a couple bigger kids for trying to push Hallie out of the way while she got into the slide. I'm beginning to find that I don't do well with kids messing with my girl. By the time we decided it was time to say goodbye to all the rowdy big kids we found out that the outdoor pool was closed because one of those said bigger kids had thrown up in the pool. Awesome. The three of us left rather disappointed (one more disappointed than her parents), cleaned up for the night and settled in to the bed for some cartoons. Hal took some time to adjust the Sleep Number bed trying to find the perfect number for her....
"56....that sounds pretty good."
"Ohhhhhhh yeeeeeaaaaaaaah."
The sun went down and our anxiety began to rise. How would little miss adjust to hotel living...and sleeping. She seemed to have to concern as she hogged the bed and caught up on Elmo....
After plenty of strategic parent planning we gave our goodnight kisses and hugs and placed her in the crib. And she didn't make a peep. We sat there smugly thinking "see, I told you things would be fine husband of mine." Ok, I'll admit...I was astonished that she actually went to bed with us in the same room as her. She's just not one to fall asleep without being forced into dreamland so this was a blessing. Sweet girl is a blessing herself....
All three of us got a wonderful night's sleep and woke up in cheery bright spirits. There was plenty of time spent jumping on the bed like monkeys....and lots of banana-eating too. We were officially ready for a big day at the zoo.....
Riley toted along his own monkey food for our morning at the zoo.....
And yes, I said MORNING at the zoo. The temps were already climbing rapidly and we were trying our best to get a head start on the heat. Hallie was on hydration duty as we made our way to the entrance...
As we entered the bridge to the zoo Hallie spotted the giant zookeeper so Riley veered toward her so that they could say "hello" to eachother. Once she heard the giant person talk it scared the bananas out of her....
She was looking adorable in her new colorful flowered dress and matching blue and green headband. I'm quite partial to this sweet pair.....
We hit the pavement and began exploring the beautiful Tulsa Zoo.....
We made a stop along our way to pick up a cute little hat for shade in the gift shop. At this certain shop she spotted plenty of stuffed "nakes" (snakes) to tease me with.
She let me get pretty close to the docile creatures but was a huge supporter of getting the heck out of dodge....
"How do I say this mom....I AM TERRIFIED!"
If you look closely you can see how much "fun" she was having ;)
We were pretty steamy by this point and I felt like I'd just walked across the desert so we found a nice cool exhibit inside where we found fishies, birds and reptiles. I found a great photo op for Hal and plopped her down between two statues. She was thrilled....
And the joy continued....
....and kept getting better....
Down from the statues and off on foot, she made her way toward some vines that were too tempting not to touch....
With a little help from daddy she was able to hold onto some of them....
"It's nice to have help when you're a shorty"
Hal and I were fascinated by some cute little monkeys and did lots and lots of pointing and hollering before we moved past them....
"Momma! Momma! Monkey!!!"
Thank heavens for the mist tent which kept my babes cool in the heat....
She continued her cooling down process inside the flamingo building where she took a quick bath in the water fountain thanks to her dad....
"Is this what the flamingos do?"
Yep, something kinda like it. ;)
Ready to go!!!
After her bath she caught her second wind and took on the zoo with zeal. She got a good look at the pink skinny things from the outside.....
Checking out the seal show.....
Chatting it up with Mr. Bear....
She viewed the elephants from afar....
Jealous of the tall giraffes....
"So, what's it like to be able to reach things?"
So many animals, so little energy. She began to show some signs of fatigue and exhaustion. She also showed signs of being ticked off after rubbing sunscreen in her eyes. It didn't help that I had applied it about ten times to protect her sensitive skin. We thought it best to stop for a bit of a distraction and to get water to wash out her poor red eye....
"I hope they don't plan on me sharing..."
We spent almost thirty minutes under the shade cooling off and washing her eye out. But the toot just kept rubbing...and rubbing. And crying. And whining. And making us want to leave the zoo. Then the clouds opened up and the Lord shown down and gave us a ray of hope: the playground.
My sweetheart was full of life and laughs as she explored the big play area.....
As I watched her giggle and run around I thought to myself "ok, this was totally worth it." And it was. She was so happy......
It may have had nothing to do with the actual animals at the zoo. It may have had everything to do with the playground. But it didn't matter to me why she was having fun. Bottom line is she was LOVING LIFE!
My very own monkey
She was fearless as usual and had quite a big fall as she slipped while swinging on the bar above the slide.....
But no tears. All giggles. It's no surprise that she was not a fan of leaving the play area. We had one sweaty, mad baby on our hands.....
Which quickly turned to a sweet, smiley baby in a matter of minutes. A very bipolar morning....
We left the zoo around 12:45 after three hours of hot zoo fun. We made our way back to the hotel and ate lunch across the street. Hal was a doll during lunch and colored with her crayons and filled her belly after a big morning full of walking. I left with lil red and put her down for a nap while Riley stuck around to pay for out meal. After he made his way up to the room I left my two sleeping beauties and went to spend some time laying out in the sun by the pool. I was even able to fit in a short nap and some quiet "me time" while Riley went down to run at the gym. Once Hal woke up I was antsy to get out of the tiny room. She didn't seem to have any problem finding entertainment in the room though....
hide and seek
We ventured out to dinner and decided we would just drive and pick something that looked good along the way. Riley suggested we eat at Twin Peaks and me being naive as usual said "sure!" I googled it to find out it was a version of Hooters. Nice try my dear. Nice try. He completely redeemed himself by pulling into Cheesecake Factory and surprising me a couple minutes later. Um, can we say "HEAVEN"?? I make a big about it because it is certainly not one of his favorite restaurants and he knows how much I miss it. Major hubby points earned!! ;) We had a bi-polar kinda dinner with an angel/devil baby dining alongside us. Based on the rapidly changing mood we had to improvise a LOT.
"Here momma, our table's ready"
It was her first trip to Cheesecake Factory and I have a feeling that the number of menu choices astounded her just as much as it always does me.....
Once we'd settled on meal choices she sat quietly and sipped on her milk....
Hal was sporting her new pink flamingo dress from Nanny. We thought it was perfect for her zoo day!
She helped me eat my key lime cheesecake and I happily shared my whipped cream instead of the actual cheesecake. She was having a case of restlessness at dinner and was being what you'd call a HANDFUL!!!! Needless to say we were happy to see our check come and walk out the door. Dinner was delicious as always and I was stuffed to the max as we made our way down the road to Sapulpa for our evening plans. Hallie saw one of the bandaids I'd picked up during our quick stop at Walgreens and of course she had to have one for her own "boo boo." No boo boos in sight but I obliged and placed one on her knee after asking where her ouchie was located. It turned out that she had four boo boos by the time we made it to Sapulpa.....
Blurry but they are Mickey Mouse bandaids on her boo boos
We made it to Aunt MaryAnn's house a little later than we had planned but Hal didn't seem to mind the late hour so it worked out well. MaryAnn was hosting Riley's Uncle Danny and Aunt Norma for the weekend and Angela, Hannah and baby Jessi were all there to greet us. Hallie was in an unusually VERY happy mood. She even stood next to Jessi to take a picture....
MaryAnn was busy loving on her sweet new grandbaby when we arrived. You could tell that she was exploding with happiness and ready to share him with us.....
Our first time to meet precious Jessi was just perfect. He was fed and happy and did I mention precious
.
I got some snuggle time with the little guy while Hallie caught up with family that she hadn't seen in awhile. I was worried about the possibility of a stage 5 meltdown because of my attention being divided between her and Jessi....but instead of crying and throwing a fit, she came and padded his tiny foot and softly touched his head and SMILED at him. Oh well melt my heart why dontcha. It was a very sweet moment to see. And so was watching her get to know everyone in the room......
Hugs and kisses for MA
Tickles for Uncle Danny
I enjoyed a yummy glass of sangria and Hal and I shared a bowl of fresh strawberries. She watched Hannah swim and light some sparklers.It was well past her bedtime when we started the thirty minute drive back to our hotel. She didn't make a peep while she held her baby tight and closed her eyes.....
Putting her to bed that night was a breeze again and we didn't last too much longer before passing out. Another great night of sleep later we were ready to face the last day of our trip. Giggles and belly laughs could be heard coming from our room that morning as we got packed up and ready.
Other than a mini meltdown while passing by the waterpark as we checked out she was a sweet lil toot all morning....that is until we got to Cheddar's for a quick lunch. Besides a few minutes of building forts out of crackers with her dad it was NOT a pleasant dining experience. After we jetted out of there a bit frustrated and HOT (it was already nearing 100 degrees) I ran into Target to grab a couple of things. There was no way I was going to be near civilization and not take advantage of it. I was sadly limited to a five minute run in and out of Hobby Lobby and a ten minute spree through Target all the while Riley and Hallie drove around the parking lot. I think he looks at this as a money saving strategy. ;) From that point we realized that it was already time to head to Coweta for the family party.The long drive out to the country was quite entertaining to say the least....
Once we got to the party location Hal got dressed in her bikini, sunscreened up and was ready for an afternoon of fun in the sun....
"It's hot out here. Just lettin' you know."
On second though, maybe the shade.....
"....much better"
The location was absolutely beautiful. There was a huge pond with a dock for swimming off of where you could feed big catfish that would congregate and wait for a bite to eat. It was a little bit scary with Hal right around the edge of the dock so we made sure she was attached to our hips. One parent was a little more protective than the other. I'll let you guess.....
"Dad, I got this"
"Here fishy fishy"
It wasn't long before the rest of the Woodward crew arrived along with the Tulsa fam. We were sort of the early birds just scoping everything out. Hal showed Nanny the ropes once she came down to the dock....
Up on the hill by the outdoor grill/ gazebo Angela had set up a kiddie pool for Carmen and Hallie. Lil red wasted NO time getting her sunbathing on....
Nanny was on Hal duty as I chatted with family and got to hold baby Jessi again....
Goofball was in a great mood and played peek-a-boo with her soaking wet hat....
Where's that Hal?
There she is!!
Angela, Don and Jessi had a big turnout for the party and the sweet boy was a big hit being passed around to everyone....
Carmen wasn't too sure what to think of her momma holding her newest cousin....
She traded her duds for a swimsuit and joined cousin Hal in the pool....
Linda had some extra special snuggle time with baby while she pleaded her case for having a grandbaby of her own soon.....
Hallie Grace was in the mood for some big girl fun and really, really, really wanted to swim with the big kids....
"I think as long as I use both of these noodles I'll be able to swim down there Papa"
All the big kids swimming
Our first family TRIP is in the books. Looking back now a week later it doesn't seem so bad. It was a rare occasion where all three of us spent three whole days together. Hallie was able to see a lot of new and fun things. Although I'm sure she won't remember it all she can read about it here. I guess if I'm being honest I should also mention that she may have learned a new word this weekend. And not a good one. It may have been shouted during a road rage fit. We won't mention said word but let's just say mom and dad will be watching their language more closely from now on. ;)
I'm thankful for the memories (good and bad) that we made on this trip!!!
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