road trip day thirty nine: drive to okc

After getting a good night's sleep, we left Albuquerque and headed east.  Our first stop of the day was just outside of Amarillo, TX at Cadillac Ranch.

July 19, 2017 - Amarillo TX - State #7 Again - 4852 miles

- Cadillac Ranch -

The kids all learned how to use spray paint so that they could add to the graffiti on the cars.

Some followed directions better than others... and one ended up with spray paint all over her forehead!

We drove past Cadillac Ranch every year on our drive home but this was the first time that we ventured out to the cars.  It was so cool to see the bright colors against the green fields and blue skies.

After our spray painting adventures, we stopped at Braum's for "lunch" (we just had ice cream!) and then continued east to Shamrock, TX to see the gas station that was the inspiration for Ramones in Cars.

When we made it to Oklahoma City, we got settled into our room and then went downstairs for happy hour.

July 19, 2017 - Oklahoma City OK - State #11 - 5120 miles

We ordered pizza for dinner and had a relaxing evening in the room watching TV.

road trip day thirty five: drive to oklahoma city

We continued our drive east and unfortunately, Ben wasn't feeling too well so we pulled over.  After a couple minutes of fresh air, he was feeling better and we were back on the road!

We drove on the musical road (on Route 66) outside of Tijeras, NM quite a few times!  It's only musical going eastbound so we had to drive in circles for awhile to hear the song several times.

We stopped in Amarillo for a delicious lunch at Leal's.  Ellie only wanted to eat if she was sitting on Christopher's lap and he agreed to feed her-- he's such a good big brother!

July 12, 2016 - Amarillo TX - State #7 AGAIN - 4928 miles

We FINALLY made it to our hotel in Oklahoma City!  Clearly, the kids were tired of being in the car (especially the little one!) and enjoyed stretching out in the room.

July 12, 2016 - Oklahoma City OK - State #11 - 5188 miles

road trip day twenty nine: drive to oklahoma city

Our drive to Oklahoma City was uneventful.  We planned to stop at Cadillac Ranch to see the graffiti covered cars but all of them were painted bright pink for a special event that was going on.  We took some pictures from the car but did not venture out into the field in order to avoid disrupting the event.

We checked into our hotel in Oklahoma City and then enjoyed happy hour and ordered pizza in our room for a relaxing evening.

Miles Driven Day Twenty Nine: 541

Total Trip Miles: 5424

melissa and jeff's wedding

"Truck" Grandpa stayed at our hotel and had a slumber party with Christopher and Nicholas on Thursday night. We got up on Friday morning (in time for breakfast!) and headed downstairs to eat. After some yummy waffles, we got everyone ready and went to Target to finish up some shopping. We dropped Grandpa back off at Uncle Jeff's house and went back to the hotel for naps and to get ready for the wedding.

We needed to be at Camp Loughridge by 3:45p for pictures, so we just did quick naps and then everyone got dressed. We made it to the chapel and then had to wait for the photographer to get there!! So we had fun taking our own pictures while we waited.

"Truck" Grandpa and Nicholas

Benjamin was excited to get all dressed up!

After the photographers arrived we did the family pictures outside on the balcony and the pictures of the bridal party. Then we sat in the chapel and let the kids run around and play before the wedding.

Christopher, Grandma Robin, Nicholas

Ben had a blast running up and down the aisle!!

The kids had fun playing in the chapel before the wedding. They had fun running up and down the aisle and playing in the bride's room. About a half hour before the wedding started Ben started getting tired. During the processional, he started saying "Go to car!!" rather loudly, so once I got Christopher and Nicholas into our row, I headed out of the chapel with Ben. He had fun running up and down the hill outside and I could kind of hear the ceremony from the back of the church. It was a beautiful wedding and I'm hoping other people took some good pictures!!

After the ceremony we went to the reception hall. The kids were excited to see Auntie Missa and Uncle Jeff!!! We had some dinner and then it was time for dancing!

The cups at the table were a big hit!!

Mr and Mrs Foster's first dance

Auntie Missa was a great sport and made sure to dance with all the kids!! Christopher and Nicholas would have danced with her all night if they could. Ben gave her a dollar during the money dance, but wanted nothing to do with her after that!!

Auntie Missa and Nicholas

Auntie Missa and Christopher

And a big "thank you" to Jessica and Jenni for all their help during the wedding!! I couldn't have done it without you guys!! :)

I think Lexie spent most of the reception in her stroller!

thursday in tulsa

Thursday morning we slept in and just barely made it to breakfast before they were putting everything away.  After we ate, we came back up to the room and got ready.  Then we drove over to Uncle Jeff's house to pick up Truck Grandpa and we headed to the mall!

The boys needed shoes for the wedding so we took care of that.  We also hit up the Disney Store since our mall doesn't have one any more.   Then it was time for some lunch before dropping Truck Grandpa back off.

When we got to Uncle Jeff's house, no one was there and we didn't have keys so we headed to Starbucks for coffee and hot chocolate.  It was a nice afternoon snack.  We headed back over to Uncle Jeff's and luckily, lots of people were there!!  As soon as we walked in the door we were surrounded with the smell of coffee.  Jeff had all of the coffee at his house for the wedding favors.  Nick burst into tears as soon as we walked in and started wailing that he hated Uncle Jeff's house because it smelled bad!!  For a kid that spends a great deal of time at Starbucks and loves drinking coffee, I was amazed!!  He had to stay on the front porch because the smell bothered him so much!!  (I thought it smelled great!)

We were there for about half an hour and then headed to Camp Loughridge for the rehearsal.  The chapel for the wedding was beautiful.  The glass windows overlook Lake Parthenia and there are tons of trees.  Ben and Lexie had fun playing while Christopher and Nicholas practiced walking down the aisle.

The bridal party

Ben's silly face.  This is what I normally get when the camera comes out!

But Lexie, it's 5 degrees out.  You HAVE to wear shoes!!!!

"Truck" Grandpa and Christopher

Steve and Melissa headed down the aisle.

After the rehearsal we dropped the kids off at the church for their fun evening and headed to the rehearsal dinner at Jeff's parents' house.  I'm amazed that they were able to fit 30+ people in there and have a sit-down dinner, and it was fabulous.  We had brisket, baked beans, cole slaw, cornbread, and cheesecake: Jeff's favorite meal!!  Once again, Lexie was the hit of the party.  She sat in her highchair all through dinner and then crawled around and mingled with everyone.

Jacob had his phone that night and called during dinner.  He was able to talk to Melissa and tell her congratulations and offer her all of his brotherly advice.  He also got a chance to talk to his mom.  I talked to him too, and he's doing fine!  It's been really cold, they did Warrior Tower on Monday, they started MP training today, and he's counting the days until graduation!!  :)

fun at auntie melissa's house!

Wednesday was the Bridal Luncheon.  There were 8 of us and it was at a cute little bed and breakfast.  We had a great time chatting and getting to know one another.  And lunch was fantastic!!  Lexie was the hit of the luncheon and she thoroughly enjoyed being there.

After the luncheon we went over to Melissa's house to play.  All the kids headed into the backyard to play with Dolly, the dog, and burn off some energy!

Christopher working on his jump shot!

Uncle Abraham- look at the difference in clothing between the boy from AZ and the kids from CO.  :)

Playing a strange combination of basketball and soccer.

Look at that crazy hair!!!

Sweet Ben

Wednesday night was the Bridal Shower and it was phenomenal as well.  Sadly, I didn't get to take any pictures while we were there.  Lexie was the hit of the party yet again and she loved helping Auntie Melissa open presents and played with all of the tissue paper.