Our Trip to Tulsa

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We traveled by van to Tulsa, taking two and a half days to get there.  On our way there, we stopped for the night near Evansville, IN.  The second day of the trip, we toured the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and stopped in Meramec Caverns in Missouri.  The third day of the trip, we arrived in Tulsa at about 10:45 am, giving lots of time for visiting lots of relatives. 

Both David's and Jenny's families live in and around Tulsa, so we had lots of people to see.  There are Grandpa Jim and Grandma Donna, David's parents, who live just north of Tulsa in Owasso, OK.  (We stayed at their house through the duration of the visit, using them as a base camp!)  David's brother Steve and Steve's wife and daughters (Jackie, Karla, and Katey) live in Tulsa.  Jenny's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Bird live there.  Also, two of Jenny's three sisters:  Kathy, and Suzie and her two sons Joey and Tyler.  A bit further away, in Perkins, OK, is Jenny's third sister Vicky.  So, we were not lacking people to visit on our trip! 

The first few days we sort of made the rounds to see everyone. We swam in Aunt Suzie's pool, walked around the small lake near Grandpa Jim's house, and played lots of Nintendo, Legos and basketball at Grandma Bird's house.  Mike and Kim had lots of fun just getting to know their four cousins again after a long time between visits. 

On Friday June 26th, we went to Perkins to visit Aunt Vicky's house, which we'd never seen.  While we were there, we saw the fabric store of which she is the manager.  We also visited David's childhood home in Perkins (well, drove by it anyway).  It's a funny coincidence that Aunt Vicky lives about 8 blocks from where David lived between the ages of (roughly) 1 and 8!  We also drove by the house in Stillwater, OK which he lived in when he was born, though we weren't exactly sure at the time which house it was!  But we were definitely on the right street.  In Perkins we also visited a friend of Grandpa Jim's.  There was a big bull named L.C. (for Large Cow), and we got really close to him.  Luckily there was an electric fence between us! 

On Saturday June 27th, it was David's birthday, and we celebrated with an ice-cream cake at Grandpa and Grandma Bird's house.  HINT:  Never light 33 candles on an ice cream cake in Tulsa in June!  We had ice cream puddles everywhere.  Later that night, we had MORE cake at Grandma Donna's and Grandpa Jim's house.  So much for the diet. 

Sunday we went with all of David's family (at least those who were in town at the time) to the Harmon Science Center, then to the Tulsa Drillers baseball game.  That was lots of fun for everyone.  Grandpa Jim was especially happy because we arrived early enough to be given 6 free passes for rounds of golf at his favorite (and expensive) golf course!  The Drillers beat the Arkansas Travelers 7-6.  Mike was a little disappointed, though, because he wanted the game to go into extra innings so he could see more baseball.  He was rooting for the opposing team in the last inning! 

Monday the 29th we split up - Jenny spent the day shopping, alone and with Grandma Bird, while David and the kids went bowling with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Donna.  Everyone had a good time where they were.  Later in the afternoon, the four of us met back up, and went to a mini golf place to meet an old friend from high school and her son.  That was lots of fun too!  We all went back to  Grandpa Jim's house for home-made pizza with the whole big gang. 

Tuesday the 30th was a big day - the four of us went with Grandpa Bird, Joey and Tyler to Woolaroc in Bartlesville, OK.  That was the former home of Frank Phillips, of Phillips Oil fame.  It is now a wildlife refuge and museum, with an eclectic collection of artifacts ranging from Native American and cowboy-related items, to South American shrunken heads, to a large collection of Colt .45 revolvers, and more.  The kids all had a great time, but maybe Grandpa Bird had the best time of all - he rarely gets to spend much time with all four of his grandchildren all at the same time. 

Wednesday and Thursday we did more family visiting, with a big combined birthday dinner at the Bird's celebrating all the June birthdays in the family.  David got a chance to have lunch with a bunch of old buddies from high school, while Jenny and the kids spent the day with Grandma Bird. 

Friday we had lunch at Aunt Kathy's house, where she lives with her friend Dawn.  They recently purchased it and have been doing lots of renovations, and it looks great!  Aunt Kathy's dogs were a little overwhelming for Kim at first, but after a while, we all had fun playing in the backyard throwing tennis balls and watching the dogs try to hide them in the cool shade of the flower gardens.  Friday Night, David and Jenny were lucky enough to get tickets to the Amy Grant concert.  It was a great show!  Mike and Kim had a movie-night with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Donna, with a picnic on the living room floor, watching 101 Dalmations.

Saturday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Bird's house one last time, then went to Aunt Suzie's house where she was hosting a barbecue cookout.  The pool water was not cooperating, so we couldn't swim, but that was ok.  We still had fun.  Later we met up with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Donna for the big fireworks display down at the Tulsa riverparks.  Unfortunately, we never did link up with Uncle Steve and Aunt Jackie, who we had planned to meet.  But we did have fun watching the fireworks. 

We hopped in the van directly after the fireworks were over and started driving back to home.  David and Jenny did the old tag team driving thing, and we made it all the way until 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time before stopping for the night.  We swam in the hotel pool, then crashed for the night.  We drove the rest of the way home the next day, arriving at about 4:30 p.m. 

All in all, we had a really great vacation.  Many thanks to all our family who so generously hosted us for the duration.  We are happy to know that it won't be so long between visits with each of them from this point on - we have lots of tentative plans to see many of them before the end of this year!