June Oklahoma Trip!

The pandemic continues although a few more things have opened up like restaurants at reduced capacity. So we still have pretty much been staying at home. Chad’s boss asked everyone to take vacations this month since no one was taking any at this time (nowhere to go) and she doesn’t want everyone taking it at the end of the year. So we headed to Oklahoma!
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.

William loved hanging out with Landon so much. And Landon was so awesome to entertain him the whole week.

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! 

May

With everything shut down for almost 2 months some campgrounds finally opened up at the end of May and we jumped at the opportunity to spend some time in the mountains. We found a huge tree that had been hallowed out by fire.

It was so nice to get out of the house! The kids pretty much hadn’t left the house except to swim or go through drive thrus to eat in the car or back of the truck just for fun. As always it was beautiful up on the mountain and a nice little break.
We are chicken sitting for about a year for our friends who are building a home. The kids are so excited to take care of Hei Hei, Darth Nugget, Cutie Pie and Chickie. These poor chickens are so patient with the boys wanting to hold them all of the time.

William has decided to swim without a life jacket and is quite the little fish. He loves to just float face down in the water which is a bit stressful. But he is doing a great job!

April

Quarantine continued.....
Chad has been working from home now which has been nice since he doesn’t have to commute so far! And we have been able to do some house projects with all of the time we have. We added a patio area in our front yard and filled in some mulch and plants.

We also cleared off our back patio and painted the cement!

Easter was a bit different this year. We couldn’t have any family over so the egg hunt was much quieter. But the kid’s still had fun and enjoyed dying eggs. And William enjoyed his first Cadbury Egg.

Sophie has been learning photography and took some family pictures for us!

Easton turned 7!!! He was supposed to have a birthday party but with the pandemic we couldn’t so we will have a party for him later. He made his own Minecraft Pig cake and did such a great job!

He got a remote control car which he lived jumping off of his bike ramp and got to play Minecraft with Jackson all day over zoom. Which he probably enjoyed more then a party anyway haha.

With the quarantine we have played a lot of board games, gone on a lot of family walks, and Lots of swimming. The kids have been doing school from home and the teachers make the zoom calls fun by letting the kids dress up. Lydia has a crazy hair day and we made her hair into a cupcake. Easton had a day where he could wear purple, crazy socks and a hat.

The girls have been keeping themselves busy during quarantine with a new hobby. Peeler Beads! They have been making as many Disney characters as they can think of...