Since the car ride is an exhausting 8 hrs. (9 with all the kid stops) we decided to break up the trek by staying a few nights in OKC. I like to call this part of the trip, The Hell Ride of Andy and Bella. She did fine the first hour of the 2 1/2 hr. trip. However, it was around Ardmore when Bella decided that she was just about done looking for the occasional choo-choo train or spotting any Braum's billboards only to beg for "ice squeem" for the next 10 minutes. Of course being the Momma I was doing my best to keep her entertained. Yet Andy was quickly reaching his limit. Since he slightly tends to expect Bella to hold the same understanding of life as he himself does, the 2 of them can definitely go a few rounds with each other. After Andy had finally had enough of Bella shouting from the back seat "Stop talking Daddy!" or "Hang up da phone Daddy!!" or "No more mookiss (music)Daddy!!". They had both reached their limits. In our vast knowledge of child rearing, the decision Andy made was to turn up the stereo in my new cute little car as loud as possible and let her have it out with herself in the back seat. About the last 10 minutes of the trip, 1 1/2 hours later, she finally gave up after nearly vomiting on herself from screaming so hard. What a crappy beginning to our trip.
But even though it started rough, she ended on a good note a few days later hardly making a peep for the rest of the 5 hr. journey. However, Andy was not present for her good behavior as he had opted to ride with my Dad in another car. Easy way out...easy way out.
Big Cedar was gorgeous. My brother Caleb and his wife Robbie showed up a few days later with Channing (3) and Asher (5 months). I will say that they are much braver than I am. A week away from home with 2 kids...8-9 hours in the car at a time. I am the first to say that they are better parents and probably just better people overall than I am. Of course Bella and Channing were 2 peas in a pod. We had the occasional argument between them. My favorite was the 2 of them yelling at each other about "who's bossy it was" after I had finished telling them both to quit being so bossy. But overall they did great. The 2 of them are so different. Not to mention the fact that they look absolutely nothing alike. You would never know that the Einstein looking blonde haired, bright blue eyed Channing is related at all to my black eyed little crazy woman who still at age 2 1/2 shows no signs of ever being in need of a hair cut of any sort.
I will end with my favorite part of the whole trip. It was the afternoon on the boat. We have not really been big Pontoon people, in fact Andy in the past has found it necessary to label some of the people who rent them as the "doosh bags of the lake world". But my Dad knew better this trip and Andy had absolutely no complaints about the one we got this time around. It was honestly one of the nicest Pontoon boats I have ever been on. I am so glad we decided to do it because it gave me one of my best memories of Bella to date.
With Papa (my dad) behind the wheel we set out to try to find a few fishing spots. The lake was up 15 feet so we could actually get the huge freakin boat in some pretty good spots. But the best part was watching my absolutely fearless little girl enjoy the exhilaration of her very first boat ride. She had on a life jacket that made it nearly impossible for her to sit down since she is not really a "child of size". After running from one end of the boat to the other countless times I finally told Andy to get a hold of her as the images of her shooting off the front straight into the water as we continued traveling 45 miles an hour kept flodding into my mind. Being that I am not the most cautious of parents (I have more than enough "Crap, I am so glad no one was here to see that or CPS would be at my door" moments), I didn't want to see her quit having fun either. So of course the normal way of holding into her was not going to happen. In the end, Bella spent the majority of the boat ride suspended in mid-air, hanging by only the loop on the back of her life jacket wrapped tightly around her Daddy's hand while also cutting off the circulation to his fingers. Arms straight out in front of her, hair (or lack thereof) attempting to blow in the wind, pointed off the front of the boat, mouth wide open, drool running across her cheek and all the while screaming at the top of her lungs "I lova da boat! I lova da little ocean! I lova da flyin!!" It was a great memory. I have got to get some pictures up of it soon. It was priceless.
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