Monday, June 29, 2009

Oklahoma Trip

Last weekend I flew down to Oklahoma with my parents for my cousin John's wedding party.  He and his new wife Jennah were married in Hawaii where they live, and traveled back to OK where John grew up to celebrate with his side of the family.  Jennah is very sweet and we are thrilled that she is now a member of the family!  It was really nice to finally travel out and see where my Dad's sister Marilyn and brother Michael live.  Uncle Richard and family also came down from Michigan- so that meant 4 of the 7 kids were there!  We roasted while we were there, the temps were consistently over 100 degrees every day.  The downtown area of Oklahoma City was nice, with a lot to see within walking distance.  There is even a little canal and restaurant area that has water taxis.  It reminded me of San Antonio's Riverwalk, but not as big. 

You won't see any pictures of Maddox during this trip because she wasn't there!!  She stayed at my sister's house and spent some great quality time with her cousins.  After 2 months of single parenting I just decided I needed a break for a few days!!  I knew that everyone (but mostly me) would enjoy the trip more without an almost-2-year-old along, and Emily was excited at the chance to have the 3 kids together.  It really was an amazing and very strange feeling to sit in a nice restaurant and have dinner without having to entertain and feed another person.  I also slept full, long nights waking up to a much different sound than I am used to....an alarm clock!

The whole trip was great until the last morning.  I realized that I couldn't find my camera!   We searched the hotel room, it wasn't there.  We looked in the lobby where we sat with Dad while he watched the race, it wasn't there.  We asked at the desk, it hadn't been turned in.  We looked in the rental car, it wasn't there.  We called Uncle Mike and asked if they had seen it there (that was the last place I remembered having it)....it wasn't there.  We even went back to Mike's house before driving to the airport to look for ourselves, but at that point I knew my camera was gone.  We figured out that since I remembered grabbing it when we left Mike's but not having it at the hotel- I must have left it in the rental car overnight...and it must have been taken.  We didn't remember if the car was locked or not- but either way- you never leave things in rental cars parked in a parking deck.    I was SO SO SO SAD!!  All I could think of were the pictures I took and the videos I lost.  I had a great video of my Grandfather singing a Polka at the wedding party- I'm not likely to have many more chances to see that.  Most of all I was disappointed in myself because it was not a cheap camera and I really wanted to have it for the rest of my travels this summer.

I ended up replacing the camera with a cheaper one once I returned to NC...but the pictures you are going to see are from my Mom's camera.  I'm waiting for my cousin Ilana to send me hers- but I'm not holding my breath!  :)

Granddad, Uncle Richard, Uncle Mike, Cousin John, and Dad at a Fish Fry at Mike's.
The newlyweds at their wedding party.  It was held at the Myriad Crystal Botanical Gardens in downtown Oklahoma City.  It was a beautiful location, but still very warm even inside!
Uncle Richard, Uncle Mike, my Dad, and Aunt Marilyn at the party.
Granddad and Grandmom are so cute in this photo!  They love to take cruises, gamble, and play golf.
Cousin Ilana, Aunt Marilyn, and me!
Singing the polka...a video of this would have been hilarious- but oh well.  We have pictures and memories!  "Roll out the barrel....."

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