Hotel [Spring Break part 3]

We arrived to the next hotel in OKC late afternoon. We all got changed into our swim gear and checked out the pool. This one certainly did not disappoint. It was VERY kid-friendly. The deepest part of the pool was maybe 4' at the most. Isaac could walk around in most of it. It also had a little slide, a mushroom waterfall, and some water fountains. EVERYONE was quite pleased with the pool!!

The boys ate leftover pizza from last night while watching a movie, and we ordered food from the bar across the road. It was really good. I got chicken strips and mashed potatoes, and Ben got fish and mashed potatoes. The boys didn't take long to fall asleep...we had a full day, with lots of going going going.

Except this guy. Isaac SHOULD have been up there among the most tired. But for whatever reason, he fought it, and he fought it hard. It didn't help that he could easily climb out of the pack n' play, that may as well have been like a trampoline the second we put him in, he'd bounce right back out. We tried laying him down with his milk, rolling over like we were sleeping, and seconds later he would be laying on top of me with his face so close to touching mine to see if I'd wake up. He would bop my nose, and say, "bop. beep. bop"...he would say, "n-n-n-no no no YOU man" (the phrase that Uncle Mitch has been responsible for teaching all the boys), he would sing loudly, "a DINK of WAAAter" (a drink of water) even though he had had more than plenty to drink. Ben took him out and walked downstairs to warm up his milk, and after each SOLID attempt, he would get out of bed and restart the whole thing. It was completely hilarious...until it wasn't. It was a bit exhausting, and he got louder and louder. He finallllly caved, but it was late!

They had a large breakfast that was included in the stay. And afterwards, the boys wanted to swim again...before heading home. We had the pool to ourselves!

We headed home in the afternoon. It was a short, but fun getaway. I'd definitely do this one again. The science museum has more than a day's worth of checking out, and this hotel was a BIG hit. 

Science Museum [Spring Break part 2]

Sunday morning, before taking off for the days adventure I had told the boys we could go swimming at the hotel. Afterall, that was the MAIN thing Jonah was excited for...getting to swim in a hotel. 

Unfortunately, the pool was not technically "closed" but it may as well have been. It was in a room that was not heated, so it was maybe 60 something degrees in there...and the water hadn't been cleaned and it certainly wasn't heated. Jonah and Christian got in anyway, but they were chattering their teeth and got out in a matter of a few minutes (never mind that there weren't any towels in there anyway...so we had to wait on Ben who was with the other 2 boys at the breakfast and coming right after). Needless to say, we called to get a different hotel for the night.

The boys actually weren't overly disappointed about the start of the day. And we soon left for the Science Museum of Oklahoma. It was a VERY large museum!

Noah wanted a picture by himself with the fighter jet.

It's hard to grasp how big this train set is.

A bed of NAILS!!! You laid down on the surface, and then pushed the button to make the nails raise up! It didn't hurt at all, but if you touched the nails separately it wasn't as if they were dull.

So much stimulation....SO much, in every section.

Christian and Ben both got their Segway license.

 A display that you crawled inside of that had a bunch of angles with mirrors, so you could see yourself a WHOLE LOT of times!

There was an under 5 area (Noah played too) that Ben and Isaac hung out in while the other boys and I looked around. We all went in there for a short bit before the planetarium show.

The planetarium show was pretty amazing. The lady invited the kids to come to the center and lay on the carpet to watch. Jonah and Noah wanted to go, but with me. Isaac went back and forth between Ben and I. I had one of three boys laying on me at different points in the show. Christian would answer the lady's questions without hesitation, whether he was right or wrong...I had to giggle. She loved it, she said she wanted it to be interactive. I learned more about black holes than I ever knew before, and also about Jupiter and Venus. 

There was an entire section called "Curiocity". It could've easily been its own children's museum. A really big "playground" that was made of us so many clever designs, there was no way to take pictures of the whole area. It was more than a little overwhelming to keep track of all the boys, as we were not alone in this large place!

The final area before we left. I had walked through the space section that I had told Noah we could for sure go through earlier...with the older three boys. Ben stayed out with Isaac in this open area that had different building/creating things. 

This poor little boy was SO tuckered out. He fell asleep almost instantly on the way to the hotel. Too bad for him, his nap only lasted about 15 minutes. But he held strong until bedtime...and then some! (to be continued)

OK Bound [Spring Break part 1]

We knew we wanted to do a little getaway for the boys' spring break from school. We were deciding between Kansas City and Oklahoma City...the night before we decided OK. 

We didn't leave first thing in the morning, first things first Grandpa brought over donuts :)

But first thing we did, was stopped at an indoor playground where we all played for a couple hours.

It was very hard to get a picture of the entire place...but I think it was about 3 levels high...lots of netting, these little ball shooter things (Christian loved those!), slides, a foam block pit, and lots of climbing!! 

The boys were pretty well wiped out after that, so we headed to the hotel briefly to unload our things...and chill on the beds for a minute, while we decided where we were going to eat.

We went just down the road to Hideaway Pizza (which was realllly good). And afterwards, we made an out of the way pit stop to pick up a to-go order of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Everyone but myself crashed REAL soon after getting back to the hotel...so I savored every bite of the cheesecake, actually I ate half mine (turtle) and half of Ben's (key lime)..which was better than mine. He's lucky I saved any for him since he didn't stay awake to eat it with me!! 

Gathering Place [Tulsa]

We made a very short, get away over the boys' fall break from school. We left Sunday morning, and since the weather looked like it was going to be beautiful...we headed to Tulsa (the indoor alternative was going to a science museum, also in OK, that can happen another time.). I had heard via social media of this "park" called The Gathering Place. I only saw a few pictures, but it was explained as such a neat place that was unlike any other normal park. So it seemed like something we should check out!

We got there early afternoon, and a FEW (hundreds) other people had the same idea. It took a bit to find a place to park. But there was still plenty of time to play and explore. It didn't take long to figure out, we would want to come back again the next day to really take full advantage of being here. 

I cannot even begin to explain how crazy amazing this place is. It is a free "park", but its like an amusement park, except in playground form. The way they built it was so artistic and unique. I loved how adults and kids alike can totally play on it, and its equally enjoyable for both!! 

There were different areas especially designated for smaller children. It was hard to get pictures of Isaac there in general...if he was out of the stroller (which the 2nd day, with FAR less people, was almost the entire time) he was on the move. But this area with this giant snake-thing/maze that you could climb on top of AND inside was a hit for all of them. 

We spent quite a bit of time in the elevated roped/net-like pathway area. I went up with Jonah, while Noah and Christian were acting like teenagers just roaming the place like they had full confidence in figuring it all out. It was fairly high up, with different options of coming down: slide, or a rope maze/climbing thingy that was a bit intimidating. There were large holes within the ropes that a small child could most certainly fall through. I was very glad I went up and was there when Noah and Jonah were climbing down. They all LOVED it. Just loved it. 

Jonah and I walked like normal people , somewhat cautiously through the pathway.

Noah and Christian on the other hand were like monkeys...climbing on the sides, etc.

Another reminder, that Christian is no longer a little boy. He handled these obstacles like a grown boy, so proud and happy to have skills to do so quickly....as I was commenting on how far down it was! :)

I maybe laughed the whole way down that slide...it went fast and I didn't want to scream :)

They had an area of these hanging pods, so crazy how they all climbed up there, and then had plenty of room to sit inside! It looked so bizarre to see them "dangling" from up high all in a ball. There were various heights that the other pods were hanging from. 

 One of Christian's favorite areas was this log/beam climbing section. There were definitely grown men challenging themselves on their agility. Noah was way more cautious of this area. He wanted to hold my hand if he was going to walk, so much of it, he scooted on the logs.

Before we left Sunday late afternoon, we stopped at the slide area...oooooh man. So fun. So fun. Those slides can move a person! Everyone tried them out, and everyone was a fan. We made sure to make time for this again the next day. Christian was like a machine...slide down, climb up, repeat.

Noah would get off the slide, and just leap with excitement...doing his giddy laugh. You just can't replicate it. Pure JOY.

We had some hungry customers after we made it back to the car. We ate at Texas Roadhouse...and discovered that that will likely be happening more when we get back home as well. Everyone enjoyed it QUITE well, and its so loud in there, it doesn't matter if they would be noise. Win-win!

For Jonah, the highlight of going on a trip, is the fact that we get to stay in a hotel...which he says with the emphasis on the 'ho' part, "ho-tewl". He loves himself a hotel swimming pool. Doesn't matter the size, doesn't matter the temperature. He is there for it. He has even requested that we stay the night in the hotel a mile from our house...which is just hilarious to me. 

So my man was super pumped about some swimming time. So were Noah and Christian...and Isaac is just a mess about it, he just wants to run around the outside of the pool...which is not exactly easy to manage with the other boys.

After a night in the hotel, we were dressed and ready for another go at it. There were way less people, as it was a Monday morning. So we didn't have to be on such high alert as to keep close track of everyone. There were many times we were the only ones in a given area. 

There was this really neat sensory garden area. This mirror maze was kinda crazy.

Isaac and Ben stayed down below while Jonah and I explored the playground area. Noah and Christian had gone waaaay ahead and it took us a bit to figure out where they were. Lots of climbing, bending, running, walking on ropes. Just a very, very cool place to play.

We got back Monday late afternoon. So glad for the beautiful weather, and the fact that we have healthy bodies that allow us to play like this. Thankful for the really awesome place that the Gathering Place offers. It is almost 100 acres, so we no way covered it all. But what we did, we really enjoyed...and hope to return back again!