On Sunday morning Daddy had every intention of taking Kaiser to LifeChurch.tv-Edmond. (I was uncertain about braving a service with Porter, who would have to miss his morning nap in order to go.) Unfortunately, though, an bizarre incident at breakfast involving a bowl of Cheerios, the kitchen floor, and a defiant little boy threw a nasty wrench in our plans; at that point, any potential fun to be had at LifeKIDS was taken off the table.
"Uh-oh."
Brett had to be back at work on Monday morning, so he was catching a flight back early that afternoon. Uncle Justin came to pick him up around noon, and after stopping for a bite to eat, they headed on to the airport. Meanwhile, the boys and I stuck around Pops's house; our friends the Cartmills were stopping by after church to visit for a while. Michelle and JJ have raised such sweet kiddos in Madison and John David, and my boys had fun playing with them for about an hour and a half while the adults caught up on life lately.
There were plenty of trucks to go around.
Motherly Madison.
Lollipop break!
Tapping out a little tune.
I think Madison can tell he hasn't taken lessons like her.
Such a fun time with my dear friend!
I'd blocked off that evening for Kaiser, Porter, and I to just stay home, relax, and go to bed early. We had plans to leave early the next morning and drive to Dallas to meet my best friend, Laura, and her girls, Emma and Harper, who were driving from Austin. We had had a similar rendezvous during our Oklahoma trip two years ago and were so looking forward to seeing one another and introducing our second-borns! Sadly, I got a text from Laura that afternoon letting me know that she needed to back out of our trip; between returning from a week-and-a-half long vacation in Hawaii late the night before and getting settled into a new house they'd moved into just the previous week, it was just going to be too stressful. We chatted on the phone, and I was brokenhearted, but completely understood her position. If I were in her shoes, I'm not sure I could have been able to pull it off, either! We'll just have to make it work next time...
"So, what do we do now?"
I decided to feed the kiddos their dinner early so that we'd have some time to take a nice walk around the neighborhood. On more than one previous occasion, I had spotted a playground not too far from Pops's place, and I thought it was worth checking out. Our time there was perfect! The equipment was totally appropriate for Kaiser, and Porter enjoyed exploring on the ground and navigating some of the higher spots with Mommy's help.
Pulling up on the tire swing.
Climbing the incline.
That looks like a comfortable pose!
"Comin' right up!"
We couldn't pass up a chance to swing.
Collecting rocks at the bottom of the slide.
He spent quite some time as captain of the ship. Love his growing imagination!
Before we knew it, the sun was well on its way down, and the clock my phone showed it was bedtime (or a little past). We still had a ways to walk, so I plopped Porter in the stroller and we set off for home.
Sufficiently worn out.
Poor Kaiser had to trot along with me to keep up. By the time we made it back, it was dark outside. (Still haven't gotten used to the fact that that's happening so early now!) It was straight to the tub to scrub the dirt of the boys, followed by sweet snuggles before bedtime.
Got a kick out of being wrapped in the towel this way!
It was a quiet rest of the night for me, until Pops got home from Eureka around 10:00. We chatted about his time with my aunts and uncles, and then I turned in.
Monday we had to come up with alternate plans, since I'd anticipated us being in Dallas the entire day. Emerson had been asking earlier in the week if her cousins and I could come up to her school to visit; I had told her I didn't know when we'd have a chance, but now it looked like the perfect opportunity had arisen! I made plans with Aunt Cami to meet up after Porter's nap, around 11:00. We were excited!
Cleaning up after spending some guy time in the garage with Pops.
Ready to go to school!
Kaiser found a golf cart right outside the entrance.
Porter loved the fish tank in the front lobby.
First up was Ellis's second grade classroom. The students were just about to have lunch, and her teacher said we could come in and eat with them. I'd packed food for Kaiser and Porter, so they enjoyed lunch with their cousin and then a few minutes of playtime afterward before she had to get back to learning.
"I come in peeeeace." (It's their thing.)
Watching Ellis play a math card game.
Next we went upstairs to the fourth grade. They were in the midst of lunchtime, too, but Emerson had finished eating and was all about showing off Kaiser and Porter to her friends. The girls in her class were so sweet and nurturing and completely took Kaiser under their wing. I barely saw any of him, as he was being shuttled around the room from one attraction to another.
Porter hung back and checked out some state report displays.
Ladies man.
I think he was feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the big kids.
Emerson's class had recess next, so we followed them out to the playground to check it out.
Kaiser shooting the basketball through their arm "hoops".
The school playground proved to be a tad too full of running kids for the boys to play comfortably, so we said goodbye to Emerson and walked over to the church playground, instead.
Crawling through the much quieter tunnel!
Teeter-tottering with Aunt Cami.
More fun than he thought it would be!
Gotta keep an eye on this kid.
Soon it was time to head home for yet another naptime, so we said adios and that we'd catch up with the Rowes one more time before we left town. That night, Pops was gone at BSF for a few hours, but Justin and Amanda brought over a Hot-n-Ready pizza and played with the boys/hung out with me for a while.
Lookin' cocky in his carseat (which had been pulled out for cleaning).
Kaiser taking a picture with Miss Amanda's phone.
Cute couple, crazy baby.
"Gimme all yo change!"
Pops and I decided that Tuesday we'd drive to Norman to return Jefe's car (which, thanks to his generosity, had been at our disposal during our entire visit). I texted him to say that we would stop by his office around lunchtime, and though we didn't expect him to have a lot of time, we at least wanted to give him hugs and say one last goodbye!
More carseat climbing.
Pops's Sonicare toothbrush = magical.
"Is it time to leave yet?"
Kaiser, Porter, and I pulled up to Norman Surgical Arts around 11:45. Jefe and Aunt Katy had just walked into a room with a patient, so we beelined back to the break room, where I could feed the boys lunch.
I'd like to say that Porter already throws away his own trash. He does not.
Aunt Katy brought out some glittery pumpkins for the boys to play with.
When Jefe had a few free minutes between cases to say hi and bye to his grandsons, one of the girls and I attempted to get a photo of them together. It came as no surprise that Kaiser didn't feel like making our lives any easier by sitting still and smiling.
"Posing for pictures is soooo boring."
His painful "CHEEEESE!" face.
Watching a video of Nana riding a tractor before we left.
Pops picked us up from the office around 1:00, and we went back home so K & P could rest and I could try to start gathering up our belongings to pack. That night at 6:00 we arranged to meet up with Cami, Carl, Emerson, Ellis, Justin, and Amanda for dinner at Jason's Deli. It was a crazy final time together, but of course so much fun!
Porter showing off his fake cough (which the whole table was egging on).
They can't get enough of each other.
Emerson makes a mean monkey face.
"Eating that cupcake has opened up a whole new world for me!"
Serious talks with Uncle J and Miss A.
The good news is, we get to see this guy again in just a few weeks!
Love seeing my daddy love on my kiddos.
One last squeeze in the parking lot from Ellis...
...and one from Emerson.
I didn't get it on camera, but Porter was totally gazing into Uncle Carl's eyes right before this.
Always hate seeing these two part ways!
Once the boys were home and in bed, you can probably guess what the rest of my night looked like: Packing. Pouting about having to leave. Wondering how on earth our bags always manage to expand, even when we aren't bringing back extra stuff. Praying that the next day's travels would go smoothly (and sanely). Thanking God for the week and a half we had, but wishing it was just 2014 already. And looking forward to seeing my hubby after a couple of days apart!
Wednesday I was glad to not have to wake up quite as early as our trip down there, since our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 10:15 and Pops was driving us to the airport. Just in case we ran into traffic, we made it our goal to leave at 8:00, and we stuck to it fairly well.
Another painful smile. :)
Sad to say goodbye.
My hood rat.
We got our bags checked, through security, and to the gate with plenty of time to spare...only to find out our flight was delayed an hour. Sweet. Luckily, the boys were in good spirits and content to hang at the gate and play while we waited.
This kid could look at the planes and trucks below for hours!
Entertaining fellow travelers with his dance moves.
All went well on our first flight, which took us to Denver (I know, it makes so much sense!). Things got tricky when we landed, though, with only twenty-five minutes before our next plane was supposed to take off. It may not sound that complicated, but I had two children, four carry-ons, and no stroller! (The lady at the counter in OKC had suggested that I check it straight through to Pitt because I may not have enough time to wait for it.) We barely made it to our gate to check on our flight status, rushed to the bathroom quickly (well, as quick as you can be with a 2-year-old), and then booked it back to the gate, where they were already boarding our group. We made it on the plane, got seats next to a sweet former preschool teacher, and breathed a sigh of relief. The next three hours in the air were not easy -- Porter fought rest terribly and had some crying spells that made me want to apologize to the people around us, and a tired Kaiser kept his cool mainly because our neighbor let him look at her watch, listen to her iPod (FYI, we discovered he loves the Eagles!), and lean on her. Porter held his ground and didn't succumb to sleep, but about fifteen minutes before we landed, I looked over and saw this:
"I. Give. Up."
I was a little nervous that I'd be walking my son off the plane in a drunken stupor, but he came to and was relatively coherent as we made our way down to Brett in the baggage claim area. It was so sweet watching Kaiser catch sight of him when the elevator doors opened up, pause, and then bolt across the hallway to give Daddy a big hug. This was followed by big hugs from Porter and Mommy. We all missed him!
All in all, another fantastic trip to the Homeland for the Bralys. If you're reading this now and we got to see you, know that the time spent with you was an absolute blessing to us. If you're reading and we did not, I trust you understand our limitations. Please know that we wish we could see everyone (and will hope to connect with you next trip!) Until we're ready to settle back in the Sooner State, there will just really never be enough time...
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