Beaver's Bend, Oklahoma

This past weekend we traveled up to Beaver's Bend, Oklahoma with the Turner's for a fly-fishing weekend. David & Will fished about 4 times (catching no fish) but having a great time. Stephanie and I watched the kids, napped, visited, laughed, and had a fabulous time! The guys also had a great time fishing & visiting, too. We planned out meals taking almost all of it with us. I think the only things we bought were charcoal & lighter fluid. Oh, I forgot to mention coffee, too! (Read on.)

Friday's lunch took almost 2 hours due to shortage of menus at the local joint. The food was good and the kids couldn't have been any better! John David also had his first hamburger! He prefers chicken & hot dogs rather than a burger. We all shared lots of laugh and thankfulness for reaching our destination safely.

The kids had fun exploring the woods near us and were great to stay near-by. Nobody wanted to go to sleep. It didn't help there were 6 twin beds were my boys slept & a Fooze ball table (sp?). Stephanie & I slept while the dads' fished with John David.

We also enjoyed a fire outside that night with pizza & smores! Yummy! Drew just wanted to eat the whole bag of marshmallows and when he couldn't reach them out of our hands, he wanted graham crackers. The kiddos also enjoyed the fire, too. After putting the kids to bed, we stayed outside until almost 11pm visiting!

On Saturday, the guys went fishing early early! We expected a coffee pot & brought 2 different kinds of filters but it leaked from the inside! Stephanie and I decided to make coffee about 8 am Saturday morning and as I was talking to Leah about Animal Control at our house, the pot started leaking all over the cabinet! I saw that I didn't have the handle in the correct place so I thought I would make a small pot of 2 cups rather than 10 cups but it still leaked! We texted the guys several times to bring home coffee and they did! Stephanie went out Sunday so we could have coffee a second day.

After a short ride through the park, we headed back for lunch. The guys grilled burgers & dogs while the kiddos explored. Jack longed to be with the older kiddos. Drew played with Jack and the older ones. John David and Natalee couldn't have had any more fun! They played and played and never wanted to rest. It was cute to watch & John David had to learn that we don't change clothes in front of girls! :) The guys went fishing again after a short rest while the rest of us rested longer.

While playing the kiddos ending up taking down the cord/rope that holds the screens in place on the back porch. John David and Natalee had the bright idea to make their own fishing poles with the rope. It was quiet funny & adorable. Here they are "fishing" while the dads are fishing.

We picked up the guys a little later so we could prove they were actually fishing. That night due to the coldness, we enjoyed an inside fire. David and I also learned how to play the domino game of 42. We have never played it before & did pretty good although it was way after midnight before we headed to bed!

On Sunday morning the dads got up super early again to fish. Stephanie and I and all the kids slept in a little later. I still found Drew in Natalee's bed talking to her. Thank goodness she was awake! After packing up when the guys got back, we headed out of town. We decided on a different local joint for lunch which brought us more laughter. We could have been dilerious from lack of sleep, too!

Thank you, Lord, for such good friends that we can travel with and get along. Our kids get along great even though none of them are the same age. Here are some great pictures...