Fun at the Pool

We had grand ambitions to go to the lake a lot this summer.  I had purchased a lovely little rubber boat on Amazon for just such a thing.  Sadly, due to all the rains (and consequential flooding) the lake is too high and all the beaches are underwater and the swimming areas are all closed.  It was disappointing news. 

 Fortunately, a lovely couple from church runs a resort near the lake and they offered to let us come swim at their little pool since they had no guests needing it that afternoon.  Yay!  I took the girls out and we had a wonderful and refreshing time.

More Family Reunion

These are in random order.  Whatever.  Tuesday was July 4, and a local running store put on a FREE 5k!  Awesome!  So we showed up with about 22 of us from the Reunion and had a.... er... maybe not so great time.  It was raining, not hard, but a good drizzle.  That was good, because it wasn't hot.  But it also wasn't good because I don't like squishy shoes.  It was also a trail run, with lots and lot of up and down.  I had a good time.  Callie decided she wanted to run it, so she came and did a great job on the first mile.  Then she walked and I ditched her.  Dan was fantastic and I think was top 10?  I can't remember now. 

 Here is our Reunion group! 

Okay, I couldn't get the photos from the website, so I screen-shotted them with my phone  And they are totally out of order.  This is Aaron and I walking in with Callie. 

Callie's semi-truimphant not-run up the last steep hill.

Did I mention the last hill was freakishly long and steep?  I didn't have it in me to run it, so yeah I walked most of it. 

Dam, of course, killed it and ran the whole thing.

And back at the Reunion, shenanigans were going on. And Rylee had a mustache.

I bet you didn't know my dad and his brother looked so much alike!  And Dan photobombed my shot.

The melty beads were a huge hit and the kids spent a lot of quality time at the bead table.

Delaney had a number of interesting creations.

My sweet Rylee!

I do love Delaney.

Marian had no problem hanging out with the little kids and having a blast on the slip and slide.

 There were some fun games that the kids enjoyed. 

Watching the hula hoop relay was good fun for me!

The reunion site had a pool that was well utilized.

 The kids were trying to get up on this giant ball.  As soon as they got on top of it, they would roll right down into the water.  I laughed.  A lot.

There were two cats on the property and this one was quite tolerant.  This photo makes me laugh!

Family Reunion Part 1

 I am woefully behind!  We arrived in Tulsa on June 29 and Miranda picked us up.  She's so fantastic!  We spent Friday June 30 at her house and had a lovely time with her family, despite the severe lack of coherency.  On Saturday July 1, we drive up to Kansas City to the big family reunion.  My pictures are not really sorted, but here are some to start you off!

 Best fun ever!  The girls LOVED the trampoline ball pit.

They spent a good amount of time out there jumping, which made me very happy.

We also went for a walk down to her donut shop, where we did partake with enthusiasm.

Ethan and Alex, my adorable nephews, proving that sometimes they get along.

At the Reunion, Callie was pleased to help with clean up, especially with the brownies.

Josh was too cute, playing ping-pong with his cousin Christopher.

 When I peeked in a little later, this is how he and Christopher were playing!

Rylee and Emma played really happily together.

Marian is giving Samantha a piggyback ride.

A bunch of Fox cousins on picture day.

Josh is getting schooled by Vic.

The pool was a great source of play and a good time was had by all.  Even Josh, who was reluctant to go in.

There were several adorable little girls about this age, and Delaney was thrilled to be accepted by this one.  Hailey sure is a cutie!

Okinawa.... and Beyond

 This is our new van.  Toyota HiAce.  Callie says that the beige interior makes it look like an old people's car.  I like that it is big, but it does drive like it is big.

The view from our hotel room in Okinawa.  It was a long week in cramped quarters with a bunch of bored and cranky children.  Good times.

Callie is looking great with her short hair.  And I need to mention that for about 10 days, we ate out every single day.  So gross.  By the end there was nothing that anyone wanted to eat, we were so sick of fast food and restaurants. Here we are out to breakfast at the place next to the hotel.

 Thursday June 29.  We are heading to the US!  We took the shuttle bus to the Naha airport, and here we are waiting for the check in desk to open.

 We flew Naha to Narita (Tokyo). That took just about 2 hours. The Tokyo to Chicago flight had really nice TVs and lots of movie choices.  The kids were quite pleased.  But it was a looooong 12.5 hour flight.

Chicago was a pain and we needed every minute of our 2.5 hour layover. The kids were totally zonked for the last leg to Tulsa. 

We left on the shuttle at 8am Thursday morning Japan time, and arrived in Tulsa at almost 9pm Tulsa time, so we spent 27 hours traveling.  I felt like Delaney here!

And we were welcomed to Tulsa with this beautiful sunset as we were landing.

Goodbyes. They stink.

 We had way too many goodbyes to make.  And I hate goodbyes.  I know I am leaving, and you know I am leaving, so why do we both need to make a big deal about it and cry? We did do some formal ones though.

We went out and enjoyed Mongolian BBQ one last time.

We went to Sako's one last time to enjoye their amazing BLT's for lunch. Missy, the owner, was sad to hear we were leaving.  I'm sad that my selfie is so blurry.

 Missy gave me this kokeshi doll as a goodbye gift.  Actually, she handed it to Josh and joked that it was his new girlfriend.

 Delaney had to say goodbye to her good friend, Serenity.

Delaney wanted to go to "The Very Berry Soup Factory" for lunch with the sister missionaries, for our last goodbye.  She enjoyed it very much.

 I got the corn chowder.  It was tasty.

 Goodbye pictures withthe Sisters.  This is Sister Lofthouse.

And Sister Vogelsburg. I love our missionaries.

We had to say a temporary goodbye to Levi.  He is staying with the next door neighbor until we have a house and are settled and can go back to get him.

But the neighbors are fostering baby kittens and those were more fawned over than the poor, confused dog.

Last trip to Soba Express for dinner.  Saying goodbye to the yummy orange chicken. 

 My darling friend Steph.  Saying goodbye to my great friends sucks.  And I have several really awesome friends here. 

 Rylee's friend Milly tracked us down to the Terminal and she showed up for one last run around at the USO.  We will miss Milly and her family.  Here are Delaney and Rylee with Milly and Andie.

Getting on our flight to Okinawa, and here is our plane to take us away.  Goodbye Iwakuni!