On our way we stopped at White Sands National Park. Which was also closed but there was some sand to play in on the side on the freeway!
We for the second time slept at a truck stop which actually wasn’t as bad this time. We all slept pretty well except Chad who started driving again at 3am. But that meant we got to Kimberly and Alex’s early! The virus numbers aren’t nearly as bad in Oklahoma as they are in Arizona so it felt more normal and was such a nice break. Things were actually open! We enjoyed a lot of fun things while still being careful.
We went to a fun new park with a splash pad and checked out the botanical gardens.
Upon William’s request we went to Chuckee Cheese. His favorite place. It was the cleanest I have ever seen one and only a couple other people there which was nice. Brad was on his way to Missouri for work and stopped by to say hi. It was so fun to see him! Can’t wait to visit them for Thanksgiving.
We had a fun day at the lake which I forgot to take pictures of. There was a water park with slides and then an awesome inflatable obstacle course on the lake. They even had kayaks and paddle boards. We played for several hours and it was so much fun!
Then we headed to Pawhuska to see the Pioneer Woman’s Mercantile. We had planned to eat at the restaurant but it was a two hour wait so we enjoyed the bakery instead. All delicious!
We went to a ranch that had Clydesdales! They have only black and white ones that only make up 10% of the breed. They were so cool to see up close.
We celebrated Fourth of July Eve with every hour popping a balloon and doing an activity. We made and decorated flag pancakes.
We learned that Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey so we made turkey cookies.
In honor of 244 years since the birth of our nation we made 244 cards for the military.
We played a little baseball.
We exploded some soda with mentos.
We attempted to make sugar density drinks that were supposed to separate into colors. Pinterest fail. But they tasted delicious.
The kids broke up into teams and made powdered wigs and made a dramatic patriotic speech.
We ended the day with ice cream, sparklers, and a Statue of Liberty competition where they had to hold a cup of water over their heads. Landon and Parker were awesome at this. Landon was the winner! Throughout the day they earned points and the top two winners got a gift card. Landon and Easton won!
On Fourth of July the kids got all dressed up for their neighborhood parade.
Later we did a painting class with world renowned artist “Chee-show” (Chad) where he gave them instructions on how to paint a fireworks scene.
Earlier in the week we had picked up some ceramics to paint at home and it was so much fun to get them back and do a big reveal. They all turned out amazing!
We had so much fun spending time with family and didn’t want to leave!
