The next day we headed to the Cherokee Heritage Center.

We learned so much on this little trip!

We learned about baskets and blow darts, the trail of tears, arrowheads, bows, stickball, and all sorts of other things!

We got to see all that even though it was 10 billion degrees outside! (I can't help but stipulate here that we have no right to complain about the weather given the weather where Daddy is right now. Even in spite of that, though, we were HOT!)

 Fortunately there was quite a bit to see inside where the air conditioning was working very effectively.

On the way home we found something Jeremiah was so excited about! He has asked a couple times recently to go see the Statue of Liberty. Our boys have inherited our love for travel. Both of them ask to go random places and see random things on a weekly basis. Last week it was Hawaii. This week it's Antarctica. We aren't able to take them to all the places they would like to see so when we spotted this little gem on the side of the road, it was a pleasure to be able to stop and let Jeremiah have his moment with his mini-Statue of Liberty. Maybe someday we'll be able to take him to see the real one.

Day 10: A Family Dinner

It had been almost 3 years since the last time we went to Oklahoma so it was fitting that at least one day we'd have everyone together in one place to enjoy each others company.

It was a fun night with all the family around. The boys had a good time challenging everyone to Connect Four and wrestling with Uncle Tyler. Great Grandma June's pies were a highlight too!

We did get to have some cake to celebrate my birthday as well. It was a good night.

Day 9: Ice Cream and Bass Pro

For the record: I'm still catching up from the trip. This happened on 7/29.

Feeling only slightly better, we headed out to our scheduled tour of the Blue Bell ice cream factory.

It was so neat! There aren't any cows there but they do have lots and lots of milk to make lots and lots of ice cream!

We couldn't take any pictures in the factory so you'll have to settle for one of us enjoying some of their ice cream afterward. Please notice Jeremiah's way of eating it.

We had some time afterward before it was time for lunch so we took the boys to Bass Pro on the way back to town. I'll save you all the pictures I took of the boys on all sorts of different outdoor equipment. I will show you this, though. They have a new thing for Buffalo. We read a book from the Magic Treehouse series about buffalo when we first got there, and then found lots of cool things about buffalo while we were there. This was probably the most memorable.

Day 8: Sick

The night of day 7 I was sick as a dog! I'm not even really sure what happened but it carried through into the next day and for several days to follow. Because of that we had to really take it easy. So this day we pretty much just hung out and waited for me to feel better. The boys seemed to enjoy it anyway. I think Auntie Verna did too.

Day 7: Peach Picking

Few days in my life have been more content than the ones I've spent picking peaches.

Growing up my Grandparents had a peach tree and a couple apple trees in their backyard. I loved going there to help lighten the branches. I don't know what it is about it that I find so enjoyable.

 

 Verna found a place we could go pick our own about an hour away and I've never such such beautiful juicy peaches! Jeremiah and Joshua both enjoyed squishing the overripe ones quite a lot!!

Gross, I know.

They did let me sit them in a tree and let me take their picture, which counts for something.

We did go out a do a few other things that day but the peach picking was definitely the highlight! And all that hard work picking peaches did produce another really nice side effect...

Day #6: Fishing

Today Verna and Randy decided to take the boys on their first little fishing trip.

We all had a great time!

We didn't catch anything worth taking home but the boys sure had a good time catching the ones they couldn't!

Both of the boys caught several fish. Our attempts to find the big ones were in vain, though.

We will go and try again.

 This was such a fun experience and such a good practice for them at learning patience.

Even the worms were fun!

Do 3 year olds need finishing licenses? Looks like I'll be finding that out in not too long.

It was a super hot day and the boys didn't last as long as any pro fisherman might, but it was a wonderful first experience for them.

They caught a lot of fish, learned how to stand (or sit) there with their poles and kinda got a first idea of what fishing is like.

When we came home, though, their first idea was to go to the pool to cool off. Then it started raining! After such a fun long day we all slept really well!

Day #5

Today the main event was lunch at Grandma's.

 Grandma made this cake. Caramel cake. It was so good. Jeremiah said, "It was delicious!"
Josh played Tic Tac Toe with Grandma.

The boys both played on everyone's phones.

We took pictures

And played outside.

It was a good day.