The adjustment of living in Alabama hasn’t come as easy as we thought but I think that has to do with our move 4 years ago from Oklahoma. DC was a hard place to live and knowing it was temporary made it harder. We had lots of friends move away and move on. We have been alot more leary when it comes to making friends because I think we don’t want to get too attached. The more you move around the harder it seems to get.
We received an invitation to a friends surprise birthday party. When I first saw it I thought man how badly do I want to go to OK to see our church family. I really thought we wouldn’t have the funds to make such a short trip. I told George thinking he would say no, I would be sad and have to let it go. But to my surprise he said “Yes , let’s go. We miss our friends dearly and it would be really great to see them all.”
The drive up and over to OK went better than expected. Our kiddos have spent alot of time in the car traveling but you just never know how they are going to react. We did our best to get a good 2-3 hours in between each stop. For lunch we made sure to find an area where the kids could get out and run around. Rest areas really are becoming fewer and further between each one. The kids were easily entertained by Archie’s Weird Mysteries and Dungeons & Dragons the animated series. The also spent some time playing I spy or Hangman. The kids are great little travelers.
We arrived in Oklahoma on Friday night after a long 12+ hours in the car. We were happily welcomed by our really good friends and the kids Godparents, Larry and Jill plus their 5 kiddos. They were very generous to share their home with the 8 of us for the few days we visited. The also made us some really delicious meals. 11 kids plus 4 adults and grandpa made for a house full of fun.
Saturday, Duke had the fun opportunity to do something I’m sure he will be talking about for years. Duke became fascinated with lizards when we moved to Alabama. He has grown to love them so much that he talks to everyone we know here including the librarian and our neighbors about lizards. His God-Father, Larry took him to see the lizards. By lizards I mean lots of different types of lizards, all shapes and sizes. He was able to touch and even hold some of the lizards. He also got to hold a cockroach that made him chuckle as it climbed up his arm. Duke was very happy to share his love with his God-Father.
Saturday Night, We all headed to the 50th surprise birthday party of a very good friend of ours, Frank. We decided to keep our visit a secret just in case something came up last minute. Our secret was a welcome surprise for everyone. We received many hugs and handshakes. It felt like going home. We ate some delicious food and chatted with some awesome people. We toasted our dear friend Frank and his 50 years with many more to come. The kids ran around and played with friends they hadn’t seen in years. It felt just like the old days when we lived in Oklahoma. The boys started to get a little cranky near the end so we decided to head back to Larry and Jill’s house.
The next morning we woke up alot earlier than normal . Well, it at least felt like it. We slowly woke the kids up and told them to get dressed. We are very much a military family in that we are almost always 15 minutes early for everything. If we are late to anything I can promise theres a story, Anyways, St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church is where some pretty important events happened. After Our Lady of Fatima Church was closed we found a great church family at St. Teresa’s. It’s where I was confirmed into the Catholic Church and Pooh was Baptized. It’s also where I had the fun honor of teaching crafts for Vacation Bible School and made some really great friends. I am very blessed to know so many amazing okies and to have been a part of a very active parish.
A little later that afternoon when went to a pool party at Frank and Joelle’s. The kids had a blast throwing water balloons, splashing around in the pool, and running around with their friends. We had an amazing buffet of food for lunch. It was a good afternoon spent with some pretty amazing people.
We spent the rest of our Sunday with Larry and Jill plus kiddos. We let the kids stay up as long as they wanted. I just figured they would spend the next day sleeping in the car. Duke and his buddy spent their time hunting and rehoming toads. Pooh and Baby Kermit built many Lego creations. The girls did make overs and dressed up. George went to bed early so he would be well rested for the drive home while I stayed up to chat with Larry and Jill whom I knew I would miss as soon as we left.
The trip home was about the same as the drive to Oklahoma. Knowing that the kids can handle a long car ride gives me alot of hope for where we can go exploring in the future. It was a really short trip to Oklahoma but I’m really glad we went.
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