Kohl Children's Museum

 So.... we flew out of Tulsa on Friday morning.  We arrived in Chicago at 11am.  Unfortunately, our flight out of Chicago did not leave till midnight!  What to do?

We rented a car for the day and headed to this cool museum that Miranda suggested.  It was pretty amazing!  It was sectioned off into neat areas where the kids could do hands unlearning and playing.  Rylee loved the grocery store and vet areas.  Actually, I think they enjoyed all of the fabulous areas. Josh and Marian took a little longer to discover there were fun things they could enjoy, but everyone had a good time.

Trying out the large size car seat.

Checking out the old-school telephone. 

Rylee wanted a photo of her lego creation. 

Marian and Josh had fun with the clay. 

Delaney at the art station. 

Joshua got in touch with his creative side too. 

Delaney in the grocery store. 

Helping out at the bakery area. 

Rylee is getting the shopping done. 

Time to check out. 

What cute pets at the vet office! 

The water station was amazing. 

Delaney enjoyed playing there too. 

Learning about gears. 

I loved this!  There were several phones around the area and if you look closely, you can see Josh, Delaney and Rylee on the video screen!

Yes you can play, but don't get wet!

 While at Mirandas, on Thursday, we wanted to get the kids out of the house for a bit.  We made a poor decision to go to a park. It was beastly hot.  And while I had been told there was a splash pad, I had envisioned something substantially smaller than what was actually there.  You know where this is going, right?!

The kids played on the playground for a bit.  They went down the slide and swung on the swings. It was miserably hot.  We sat in the shade for a bit and the girls asked if they could go into the splash pad.  I said yes, but asked them not to get too wet, as I had not brought any towels for them to sit on on the ride home.

Well, it did not go like I planned!

Rylee loves this swing.  She was happy to be pushed for a while.

Marian was happy to sit in the shade.  Too hot to be running around. 

It started like this- "Look Mom, I'm in the middle and I'm dry!" 

And then it was "Oops, I'm soaked!" very quickly. 

Josh and Marian had to gear up to jump in. 

They thought they were SO cool. And, I guess, they were. 

End result.... pretty wet. 

I don't think Rylee even tried to stay dry. 

Saturated.  That's what she was- saturated. 

But this one took first prize! 

And had a fabulous time!

It really wasn't a big deal that they were soaking wet.  Halfway through the drenching I realized that their suitcases were in the trunk of the van, so they (mostly) had clothes to change into.  Yay!

Slacking

 Our summer exit strategy was complicated, and involved a lot of coordinating.  On Monday, we went back to Silver Dollar City.  I took ZERO pictures, despite hanging out with Kera and her kids and Deborah and her kids all day.

Callie went home with Deborah, while I took the other four back to Mountain Home with me.  Tuesday (July 26) we packed up and left.  We drove to Deborah's and spent the night with her and picked up Callie. Wednesday afternoon we went on to Miranda's house to return the van she so loving let us borrow for the summer.

We stayed with Miranda and got a ride to the Tulsa airport on Friday morning.  This is about all the pictures I got with their families.  I am a slacker!! I am so sad I did not get more pictures with the kids and their cousins!

Playing hide and seek at Deborah's.  That's simon on top, Rylee in the middle and Delaney on the bottom.

I don't recall what I was in the middle of, but someone borrowed my camera and I saw this on it. I couldn't figure out what I was suppose to be seeing. 

Until I saw this photo, and went back and looked at the other one again.

Callie was too cute!  She was reading an Avengers book to Ethan and Camden.

Pioneer Day

 Mom and Dad's ward generally does a big Pioneer Day activity and this year outdid all the others I have attended.  Tasty lunch, lots of activities and a mock Trek.

The kids enjoyed the tug-o-war.

Especially since it was against Grandpa (the Bishop!) 

Josh got in on the action as well. 

Rylee made a friend.  She chased Bro Giles all over the building and stole his hat.  He got her back with some mock spanking. 

Callie worked hard at the quilting area. 

Grandpa did some arm wrestling. 

Silver Dollar City.... trip #3

 On Friday July 22, I took the kids to Silver Dollar City. I think it was the only time all summer that we went, just us, and no other family.  It was a short visit, just a couple hours, but it was fun!  Not crowded at all and the kids had a good time. The 4 older kids ran off together and had a blast riding all the roller coasters. Rylee and I hung out and did all the stuff she wanted. And she went on the one ride I like best, even though she hates it!  (Roller coaster called "Thunderation")

Paper hats for everyone!

Rylee felt brave enough to ride this alone.  Well, alone with no one from her family!  She's the little girl on the right, next to the lady. 

We enjoyed adding to the giant coloring wall.