the sound of the water and the feel of a pumpkin

So this post has pictures from the last day that josh and I were at my parent's house. I have to say, I was really surprised how fast two weeks went! By this time, it hadn't actually been two weeks, but josh and I were leaving for the weekend - and leaving the kids too! - so for me, it was really the last day there. My general thought about staying with families, or even visiting with family, is that you should keep your stay short enough that everyone wishes there was more time. If you get to that point where you've stayed too long and you all feel like it's time to go, that's just too bad. I though two weeks was the limit for me, but I felt like the time passed quickly and I was more than willing to stay with my family and relish the time together.

I truly feel so blessed by having such a great and close-knit family. Not that it's perfect, no way, but we all love each other and truly enjoy each other's company.

We decided to spend the day going to Bricktown, the area of okc that has been transformed to be similar to the riverwalk in San Antonio. It's actually a super nice area, with beautiful landscaping, fountains, great restaurants and shops, and a beautiful riverwalk. My parents had never actually ridden the boat on the canal, so we headed down there to ride the boat and eat some lunch. It was the perfect day for an outing - but so far, we hadn't had anything other than a perfect day!

First item of business was to buy the armband. It gives you unlimited rides all day, which is kind of a rip-off because you really only ride it for a little while, but that's ok. Samantha gets her little armband and was really thinking it was very cool to have an armband.

My cute parents, walking behind us holding hands...(not always easy, because my dad is five steps above a power walker!)Near the end of the canal, the city has commissioned work on a set of bronze statues depicting the Oklahoma Land Run. I think by the time it is finished, it is supposed to be the largest set of bronze sculptures in the country, and it is actually really beautiful, detailed work. I have always had fond memories and feelings about the Land Run, partially because it's such an important part of our statehood, but also because in the 3rd grade, our school reenacted the Land Run. They divided up this huge field into plots of land, and everyone had to wear their cowboy gear, with bandanas and stuff. We all lined up and at the sound of the bell (I'm sure no gun was used at school that day), we all raced off to find settlements for our "families". It was terribly fun. Plus, oklahoma is just a cool place to live, so the land run must have been cool too, right? :)Emma and daddy, after our picture-taking pit stop...
We de-boated (?) and walked around trying to decide which of the lovely places to eat at for lunch. We all had a hankering for barbeque that day, so we decided on Earl's Rib Palace. Thank you, Earl, for such a lovely, lovely beef brisket sandwich.

During lunch, emma spied this yellow bike hanging from the ceiling and just HAD to have her picture taken with it. Daddy was the only one (of the two of us) able to hold her high enough for it.

Later on that afternoon, it was pumpkin carving time! I always remember my dad carving a pumpkin for us during the fall season - always happy, friendly pumpkins, by the way - so he was delighted to do another one for the girls. Remember now, that a lot of care was taken to choose just the perfect pumpkin a few days ago at the pumpkin patch!

Everyone gathered around for the big event...Looking at how the top is cut...waiting for the moment when we pull it off!Eeeew! Pumpkin guts!The girls were gung-ho about it at first. They each had spoons and they were supposed to get all the gunk out. Seeds and stringy pulp awaited them...They did a good job, but after a while, it got a little too messy for my girly-girls! They were happy to let someone else to the dirty work! The knife came out again as we applied facial features to our friend...Finally, he's all done! Emma fell off a chair just before this picture was taken, so that's why she didn't make the picture, poor girl. But samantha was happy enough for both of them!

A search of the house yielded no votive candles, so a trip to Walgreens later and our dude was ready to shine his pumpkiny light for all to see!