So if our Tulsa trip was Hallie's first mini-vacation then I think we will call this her first REAL vacation. Which is super exciting for so many reasons. To Riley it was a place to get away and relax. To me it was a perfect place to make plenty of priceless family memories. And for Hallie I'm sure it was pretty awesome being surrounded by her family in a new and fun place. Yep, that's right, it wasn't just the three of us on the trip. In fact, Nanny and Papa treated us all to this Labor Day vacay....and of course we obliged. Riley and i had been throwing around the idea of taking a mountain trip before the summer ended but we ended up in Vegas and before we knew it the summer had vanished. I'm tickled pink that our mountain trip was able to happen this year! Nanny made us an offer that we couldn't refuse, Katie did some searching and found us the perfect place to stay, and viola!!! There we were nestled up in a little mountain town taking in the fresh air, tall pines, mild temperatures and beautiful streams.
The river right outside our condo
But first...before all the vacation fun could begin....we had to brave the seven hour drive....dun, dun, dun.
Are we brave or what?!?!
Thursday was a bit of a mad dash considering I picked Hallie up at 5:00, ran to the grocery store to pick up food for the trip, made a stop by Sonic, let Hallie pee in an alley on our way home, pulled in the driveway, threw the groceries on the counter, handed Hallie over to Riley, changed clothes four times, grabbed a few no bake cookies, hopped in the car and made it to a 6:30 meeting a little before 7:00. WHEW! Deep breath. After the meeting I headed home, packed for Hallie, unloaded the groceries, put Lil Red to bed, packed the food, packed my bag, made a checklist for the morning and FINALLY said adios to Thursday. Another deep breath. I was up around 6:30 on Friday. The sleepyheads were still snoozing until around 7:15 and that's when I started making racket to rouse them both. We worked like a well-oiled machine and were on the road by 8:30. Just a mere hour and a half after our planned departure but as Katie says..."you can't be late for vacation!" We dropped the canines off at Nanny and Papa's house where the dog-sitter would be dog-sitting over the weekend. One more task to complete: Riley did his customary "packing inspection" prior to our real departure. OFF WE WENT!!!!
"You realize what you're getting yourselves into, right?"
I really don't want to spend too awful much time writing about the actual drive BUT there were some high and low points that I'd be silly not to share. First things first.....our "hydration station" kept Hallie going strong throughout the trip.....
A little lady needs options
Oh yes...I must talk about the time we got lost in Texhoma, right?? I must mention that (sarcasm). It turns out that it's not prudent to simply keep driving straight just because it "feels right." :/ We were both to blame. I was supposed to be in charge of navigation but my brain decided to take a short break. And my backup navigator acted like he knew where we were headed so I put my full confidence in him. Like I mentioned, we ended up in Texhoma. Lovely little town (sigh). Spent about five minutes there before he stopped in a convenient store to conveniently steal a peek at one of their maps (instead of buying it.) Hehe. Back up north we headed to catch the road we should've taken out of Guymon. Our only other stop came in Clayton, NM where we stopped to get gas and ate a quick lunch at Dairy Queen where Lil Red devoured a butterscotch dilly bar and I downed a chocolate milk shake. I guess I should mention now that dieting while on vacation is considered a sin in my book. Get this....I even dieted extra hard the week prior to leaving so that I could lose five pounds just to make room for the five I would unavoidably gain while on our trip. Yes, I just admitted that. And yes, I'm a little ashamed. So back to the story......that was our last official stop besides one very necessary stop to dump the potty which had us all holding our noses. Speaking of the potty, it came in VERY handy as we had about ten pee pee breaks throughout the trip. Some were legit....others were lies. Those were the times she would just sit on the potty and drum on the console with this booger-eating grin on her face. All in all the drive was tolerable. I'd give it a 7 out of 10. It was a mixed bag of emotions.
The frustration came from moments like this.....
Probably begging me for more fruit snacks, requesting a drink, needing to go pee pee, etc...
And the laughter came from moments like this....
Who said babes need toys to have fun?! Riley LOVED this "toy" let me tell ya ;)
And the relief came from moments like this.....
Reading to "Melmo"
The real relief came when we finally pulled into our destination. I've never been so ready to escape from a car....
"Look Carmen!!!"
"It's Nanny!"
The Fannings are ready for Red River
Even though all three families had left at different times we all arrived within fifteen minutes of eachother. We checked in, unpacked, toured our cute little condos and then finally headed outside to check out the pretty little river running behind our place. Friday night was simply lovely. Hallie Grace and her dada picked me some wildflowers. She was so proud when she handed the bundle of pretties to me....
She was even worried that they needed to be watered so they solved that problem quickly....
There was a playground at our condo site that Carmen and Hallie explored....
They even met a few friends that were also from Oklahoma. Hal sat on the bank of the little river beside some of the "big girls" thinking she was hot stuff....
After we had staked our claim and familiarized ourselves with our new surroundings we all headed downtown for dinner. The girlies wanted to be big and walk to our destination so we had a few stops along the way.....
Since it was my first trip to Red River I was in awe of the gorgeous scenery, native flowers, green green green everywhere.....
And this pretty thing was easy on the eyes as well...
But the 90 minute wait time was a bit daunting after all was said and done so we settled for this....
Actually we ended up sending Nanny and Papa off on a hot date and they ate at Texas Red's while Katie, Riley, the girls and I ate outdoors at a picnic table and took in the cool night air. The girls munched on corndogs and chicken rings which meant we had a couple of content cuties on our hands....
After dinner we did some fishin' and offroadin'. Ya know, the typical two-year-old activities done in a jean jacket and sparkly Toms. Her Miss Priss side came out ten fold during this trip (stay tuned for her encounter with a trout)....
"Let's do this!"
"Where's dad when I need him?"
"Got any fishing tips Uncle Luke?"
Dad to the rescue ;)
We went to bed super early that night. My guess is the exhaustion from our drive had finally set in....and the altitude seemed to be sucking the wind out of us....or maybe that was just the stairs. ;)
Our shower was malfunctioning so Hal took a "dip" in the kitchen sink thanks to Riley who was on bath patrol...
We spent Saturday morning watching cartoons, going for a coffee run and getting dressed to go to breakfast at Nanny and Papa's campsite. Walking out on the porch to feel the cool air was so incredibly refreshing. They were not thrilled with the accommodations at the campsite but they had made the best of it and had everything set up for breakfast. The griddle had eggs, bacon and sausage sizzling and smelling wonderful. The river ran right down in front of their camper so we all took turns taking Hallie down to feed the ducks and fish....
Hal sat atop Nanny's lap and threw pieces of her breakfast leftovers to the duckies...
My handsome and very, very silly man was supervising all the action....
She giggled at the "baby ducks" as they raced for the bread....
There's just something amazing about little things like watching your child out in nature, experiencing simple things that mean so much....
As for me and my girl, we're just a couple of nature girls at heart. It may appear as so, but I promise you there's no place I'd rather be than outdoors on a beautiful day with my Lil Red...
I'd done some "fall shopping" prior to our trip and couldn't resist this little aqua colored fleece top. It matched her eyes, duh.....
"Really mom?"
Fishing lesson #2 happened on the bank that morning. She GOT IT!!!! That girl reeled in that orange bobber at the speed of lightening.....and gave herself a big round of applause when she was through. How cute is this little toot?!?
Don't let these pictures fool you though. The morning was not all peaches and puppies. Hallie had been suspiciously whiny on our way to the camper but we assumed it was just the terrible twos rearing its ugly head on vacation. New place, new surroundings....we figured she was possibly over-stimulated. Well, that wasn't the case. She went in and out of some pretty big whining fits all morning until we figured we'd given Papa all the whining he could handle for the time being and we headed into town so that Riley could get his fishing license. I was excited to get out on foot and check out the rest of the town. The three of us hit up the fishing shop for our first stop and it ended up being our last. As we were waiting at the counter I noticed that Hal's eyes began to water and she lifted her finger to point to her mouth. It registered in my brain what was about to happen right about the same time that she began throwing up all over the floor. Oh. My. Worst. Nightmare. The sickness continued outside. Covering her body. In my shirt. Down my stomach. On her shoes. We stripped down in the parking lot after lots of hugs and reassurance that she was going to be okay. I'm convinced that children believe they are turning into an alien when they get sick...it's the only plausible explanation for the look on her little face. She looks at me with terror and confusion. She rode silently in her carseat watching her friend Mickey on the way back to the condo....
I unloaded the chunky clothes and shoes from the toolbox while Riley toted in a very smelly (and sick) girl upstairs for a bath and a nap....
As I was rummaging around in our room looking for something else to wear that didn't smell like rotten milk, I almost had a small heart attack. As if I wasn't already shaken up enough, but Riley had to go and do something creative like this....
Lookin' pretty thin there babe
Feverish and feeling just downright crummy, she went down for a nap without as much as a whine. She slept soundly for two hours while Riley went fishing at the pond and I did some blogging and channel flipping. After all, it was the first week of college football. While I wanted to be giddy and jumping for joy about the beginning of pigskin season, I was in a tizzy wrought with worry about my silly goose. Of course worrying helped nothing during the two hours I waited for her to wake up. She was still groggy and acting strange but perked up once we found some Mickey Mouse on the tube. Fisherman had returned about that time and the three of us sat around and began to wonder if the entire trip would consist of cartoons, juice and sitting indoors. The outdoors were calling our name, the mountains were eyeing me from outside our balcony and I was getting antsy. We ALL were getting antsy. So we decided to give it a whirl. We were armed with a change of clothes and made sure not to set our hopes too awful high. We took the same windy road back into town as I watched Hal like a hawk. Step one: make it back into town. Step complete. Step two: pry her away from her DVD player which seemed to be the only thing keeping her in somewhat good spirits. Our first stop was the little park in the middle of town. I love the park already. But you put a park in the middle of the mountains and I could stay forever. It turns out that Hal didn't quite see it that way. Mostly because the play toys were a big on the "big kid" side but she was still acting pretty puny. Her and Riley did take a turn on the slide together and did some ridin' on the animals....
We figured she'd probably be better off with a less active approach to the afternoon so we did a lot of sitting. Sitting is okay. But sitting in the mountains? Now that's great!
I may have been the slightly overbearing mother that afternoon as I forced her several times to try to pee pee. The last thing we needed was another public display of bodily fluids (that sounds funny). Paranoid momma assumed her inability to use the bathroom was of course severe dehydration and we needed to get her to the ER immediately. Ok, maybe not quite that drastic. But I was offering her up anything and everything to drink. The girl even got to have a Sprite for her tummy (and bladder). The Sprite cheered her up....but the posing by the flowers thing, well she could've lived without that.....
Despite my touch of drama on the whole situation we truly did have a great time downtown on Saturday. I'll let the pictures do the talking.....
"There's a new sheriff in town...and I ain't messin' 'round."
The hat was a hit for approximately five minutes...then it became dad's hat
The sucker, on the other hand, was a hit right down to the last (and very devastating) lick
Still in love with all those wildflowers
We spotted a hiking trail right along the river downtown and decided to give it a go since we'd been dying to get out and sweat a little bit. Actually, if I'm being honest, that's all I really wanted to do is hike. Hike. Hike. Hike. Ask Hallie how she felt about those plans.....
No caption necessary
We loaded up miss fancy pants in the car, flipped on Mickey and she melted into her carseat yet again for some cartoon bliss while we discussed our next stop. Fawn Lakes. Hike attempt #2. It was gorgeous back in the clearing where this gorgeous pond set with the mountains in the background....
Ask Hallie how she felt about our plans to hike here.....
If you look closely enough you will see her incredibly pouty lip and tear-stained eyes.
Guess what the toot wanted?? I'll give you one guess. Ok, wait, you can have two guesses.....
Cartoons. Good first guess. ;)
We let her do just that. She was feelin' alright still by the time we had cleaned up and were dressed to head downtown for the evening. Nanny was going to brave the evening with both girlies while Papa, Riley, Luke, Katie and I went out to eat. Katie and Luke ended up going into town a little earlier than the rest of the group to get their name on the waiting list at Texas Reds. Smokin' hot couple right here!
My pretty-in-plaid lady posed for a picture with her dear ol' momma before we left....
We found Katie and Luke playing pool at The Bull O' the Woods when we walked in. They sat with us while they waited to go eat....
The adult time was nice but I was still worried about Hal. The boys watched a good part of the OSU game which didn't entice me much as I sat there inhaling buffalo wings and diet cokes. Yes, that was my vacation diet in a nutshell right there folks....
The guys had a good time watching their team whoop some tail. I had acquired the wireless passcode and was catching up on some blogging using my blogger phone app. Ah, technology. :) They didn't seem to mind that I was in another world....
In the midst of her attention-seeking display of "talent", BAMMM!!!, she was feeling the yucks again. We doffed the boots, gave some hugs and kisses and off to bed she went....
"I promise I'm fine...see?"
We kicked back and watched some random television and football games. The OU game didn't start until after 9:00 that evening and it wasn't showing on any of our channels in the condo. Bummer Sooner. Another bummer?? The fact that Hallie woke up screaming just 30 minutes after we'd put her to bed. Fever and very sluggish. Mom terror alert!!!!!!! I rocked her for a bit and put her back in bed where she stayed for about another hour of tossing and turning in between these awful-sounding whines. My heart was breaking because I had no idea what was going on. Was it altitude sickness? Was it a real fever or was she just nauseous and feeling yucky? So I did what I always do when I don't know the answer to something. I googled altitude sickness in children.....
BAD. IDEA. SERIOUSLY.
My results included words such as "death in small children", "cerebral edema", "pulmonary edema"...I think I'll just stop right there. Full on mommy panic mode. And of course it's no secret that everything seems so much worse and dramatic at night. Riley waltzed back to bed as if I were a crazy lady (and he had every right to think that) and I was left sitting on the couch with that stupid google page over in my hand. I then began to google the nearest emergency room. Yes, I'm certifiably insane. But I'm telling you, people, this altitude sickness stuff sounds kinda scary. I could've just taken one look at the no-longer-sleepy baby girl sitting beside me on the couch sipping her cuppy and watching cartoons and realized that I was being irrational.....but no.....I did an eye exam on her....I listened to her lungs....I had her breath in my ear....I felt her tummy....I watched her like a hawk. SHE WAS FINE, PEOPLE!!! I was the one that needed the help. I'm sharing all this to remind myself later on in life just how silly I was as a first time momma. Here's a lovely photo of my girl at 1:30 in the morning after we had played 3+ hours of musical beds. I'm convinced that there was caffeine in the medicine I'd given her prior to bedtime. I would've given anything to have some Benadryl within reach to dab on her tongue. Sleep, o sleep, where art thou sleep???
Probably during one of her many giggling stints where she made herself laugh by screaming at the tv
Let's just say that it ended up being a long night. I found myself in three different beds and even on the floor beside her. We slept from about 2:30 to 7:30. :( Riley woke up rested and ready to take on the day. So did Hallie. Don't ask about momma. Hehe.
I put on a happy face. Literally. My face needed makeup ASAP. I had forgotten how rough a momma with no sleep looks come morning time. The sun was shining, baby girl was feeling better (praise the Lord) and we had one last day in the mountains together. I wasn't about to let a little exhaustion keep me from having a great day so the three of us headed out the door for some morning fishing....
The slide was soon calling our name over yonder. First the boots had to test things out...
Then it was Halster's turn....
Look at that grin...she's healed! ;)
"come on mom, don't you know I'm a resilient creature?"
Hal spotted Aunt Katie while walking down by the water....
"Hey you!"
We walked over to find Luke and Papa by the bank cleaning their fish. They had returned from a successful morning and had prizes to show for it....
De-scaling, I believe is the term
We watched as they flopped the trout on the grass in front of these two curious cousins...
"Do you think it's still alive??"
It turned out that one cousin was a bit more curious than the other.....
"I'll find out"
We were in amazement as Carmen bravely grabbed the trout and tried her darndest to keep a good grip on the slippery fella....
All of the laughing just kept her going. She'd drop it and pick it right back up. She even got her hands on one that had been cut up the belly and didn't seem to mind it at all. Heck, she almost locked lips with one of the guys....
"I'm not sure about this one...."
It was quite a sight to see. Hallie was long gone by that point and had said a quick "peace out" while Carmen put on a show with all the fish.....
"Carmen's my name, adventure's my game"
Nanny and Papa cooked breakfast again that morning but Hal and I made a quick exit after she began what appeared to be another episode of the yucks again. After some mommy/Hal time up in our room she was feeling much better so the entire group drove down the road about a mile to Fawn Lakes around mid-morning for some fishing. Katie and the guys did some fishing while Nanny, the girls and I kept busy exploring the area....
Hal braved the bridge in her trusty red car with Nanny....
Once we set up camp along the water she was finally beginning to show some signs of partying too hard the night before and took a break on a ledge....
It should come as no surprise that her break didn't last long. Before I knew it she was requesting her "fee po" and lugging it over to learn some technique from Uncle Luke....
Papa was looking pretty determined to catch some fishies in his fishin' hat....
In between keeping the girls occupied and somewhat quiet (as to not disturb the other fishermen) I managed to get some shots of the beautiful scenery....
Hallie Grace learned some things while hidden in the trees with Nanny. I peeked over the top to find them throwing rocks into the water....
Hello down there!
She then showed Riley how to throw the rocks....
"First you pick up a rock..."
"....and then you throw it, just like THAT!"
The guys played quite the mean joke on Katie by attaching a dead (already caught) fish on her line when she wasn't watching and pretended as she reeled him in. Boys!!!! ;) We spent the rest of our time just checking out the area, taking the girls on a walk to try to lull Carmen to sleep in her stroller, hunted down a potty for Hal to use and of course took plenty more pictures....
Nature girls
Sweet, sweet cousins
Carmen wanted to get in the water soooooo badly!
Hiking honeys
A picture of the non-fishermen/women
Hal picked more flowers for my collection
All fished out
I was pretty impressed with Hallie's comeback so we decided to take a risk and head into town for some lunch with our lady in purple. She was once again enthralled by her Mick-Don (as she lovingly referred to her friends Mickey and Donald)....
If you still need proof that she was feeling a lot better, I've got just the right picture....
We found ourselves at a little place called Black Diamond Grill where we dined on some ridiculously delicious fried food. Hal wouldn't eat a bite of her chicken strips nor would she drink anything. But she did manage to steal one of my onion rings and used it as a spy glass to check out the other restaurant goers nearby....
We took upwards of ten trips to the potty while we were eating until I finally had to lay down the law about going to the bathroom just to wash her hands over and over. The cleanliness is appreciated BUT the back and forthness was a little much. It wasn't until we left that Riley informed me that the door was not very soundproof and my entire bathroom lecture could be heard by the entire restaurant. I hear everyone got a good laugh out of it. ;) After lunch we headed back to the condo for naps (they napped, I blogged). Much to my delight Lil Red woke up feeling alright so we headed back into town to finish our exploration of Red River. Our first stop along the way was at The Dairy Bar again for an ice cream treat....
The ultimate test of her appetite. The couple bites of ice cream ended up being about the only thing she would eat all day....
A lovely couple walked by and noticed me taking pictures of Riley and Hal so she offered to take a shot of all three of us. Thank you lady walking by.....
From that point on we had an amazing time together in the 80 degree weather with a few sprinkles here and there falling on us as we made our way down the sidewalk downtown....
We hopped in and out of several shops along the way. I had to do much work trying to convince Riley that he didn't need to buy one of these bears....
Hal enjoyed growling at them
Hallie, Nanny and I couldn't resist popping into the candy store that was wafting some amazing smells our way. She picked out the perfect sucker while I did some searching for the most delectable chunk of fudge....
She had success!!
And so did I!
We met up with the rest of the group and headed down toward The Playhouse. We stopped on a bridge along the way to look down over the rail to the water. Matching lollipop in hand, Hal marched in circles and galloped while licking away as Carmen sat up tall in her stroller giggling and grinning at the sight of her silly cousin....
The Playhouse seemed like it had seen better days. When we arrived we soon found that most of their kid-friendly options weren't operating any longer. Except for Big Bird. Big Bird was on his game and Hal rode in the car with him several times....
We didn't spend too much time there and each couple went their separate ways. Nanny and Papa went down to the Bull o' the Woods, Katie and Luke went to do some more fishing and my lil fam made a stop by the grocery store for a drink and an impromptu ride in the mini shopping cart....
"This is how I roll"
Hal was once again in a Mickey daze immediately after getting strapped into her carseat so we took advantage of the silence and took a tour of some areas that we had yet to see. Riley was itching to go off-roading and was half-tempted to forego this warning sign and head up a very steep and precarious hill....
Sign says "not suitable for passenger cars"
No, we didn't ignore the sign and fall off the side of a mountain obviously. But we did drive through some beautiful areas of Red River and scoped out some potential spots to to stay in the future. The day had flown by and it was time for me to head back and get busy in the kitchen. I had planned to make a Mexican family feast for everyone that night. It felt great to be busy in the kitchen. Riley and Hal stayed occupied coloring in her books, reading, watching cartoons and playing on the balcony. A couple hours later I had an oven full of food and eight hungry bellies up in our condo....
Hehe
That's more like it ;)
Hal's new shirt that Nanny and Papa picked up at a store downtown
We ate out in the cool night air on the balcony until it was time for the girls to get their baths. Nanny and Katie took them downstairs for a good scrubbing since our shower still wasn't working (yes, sink baths for adults had become very interesting). Riley and I cleaned up, packed up and headed to bed early. It was another long night (this time listening to Riley's stomach growl all night long) and another early morning. The time change was still throwing us for a loop on the day we were loaded up to leave. We drove out of the mountains around 8:30 Monday morning after Riley had lugged our truck full of belongings back down the stairs. Off we went back to reality. But it sure felt nice to pick up the dogs and walk in the door of our home. Tired and relaxed all at the same time. It's hard to describe. I guess I'll put it this way: having a sick child is exhausting and worrisome (that's no secret). But I suppose if those are the circumstances then it may as well be in the mountains where it's hard to be anything but relaxed.
It was an amazing place to experience and we're already thinking about our next trip to Red River. Skiing sounds fun. Can you imagine Lil Red on a pair of skis?!?! Ha! A BIG HUGE GINORMOUS THANKS to Nanny and Papa for inviting us along and giving us a vacation to remember. Goodbye mountains, until next time.....
P.S. - I'll just say sentence about the ride home: 7 hours, 10 minutes of crying, 20 minutes of napping, five stops to pee, thumbs up from momma!
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