Jolly Joplin in July

GG has been asking when Clare could come play at her house, so this past week we packed our bags with our coolest clothes, dropped Kai off at the Spa, and boarded an airplane headed for Tulsa.  GG and Pawpaw were pretty excited to see Clare, Clare was also excited, so excited that she ran straight for them as we walked past security.

Boarding the plane in Denver was a bit of an adventure, we had to go downstairs and out onto the runway to board, I wasn’t too fond of the wobbly ramp up to the plan was but thankfully it held our weight.  Once we wiggled our way back to row 18 (there were only 19 rows) we discovered people in our seats, the grandmother in the row in front of them insisted they were in the right seat, at which point the flight attendant instructed us to ‘just sit down, the plane is full anyway, just sit down!’  Needless to say I wasn’t fond of this idea, I insisted that I needed to sit with my child and this grandmother of two teenage girls was going to need to find another seat, she finally moved but not without a bit of drama.  I’m not sure where Jeff ended up sitting; he must have found a seat because he was there when the plan landed in Tulsa. 

Clare did a great job on the plane, her first flight with a seat of her own.  I’m sure it didn’t hurt that I had the iPad loaded with new apps and some new books, Bitty also enjoyed the flight but kept one eye open while napping on my lap the entire time.

After arriving in Tulsa and gathering our bags we loaded up the car and headed for Joplin.  One can fly into Joplin, but it involves a layover in Dallas and a small, old, scary propeller plane that makes me beyond nervous; so I opt for the direct flight to Tulsa and 1.5hr drive to Joplin in Pawpaw’s big truck.  If you’re lucky Pawpaw will stop at Arby’s on the way, it’s good mood food!

Bitty decided to take the wheel for a while and happily took us across the Missouri state line.

Another benefit to flying to Missouri is that it doesn’t take 12 hours; the fun can begin the very same day!  GG was ready to play, and so was Clare.  I’m not sure which new toy came out first, maybe it was the green pack-pack, or maybe the baby in her carrier, or maybe it was the Minnie Mouse Birthday play set.  GG and Clare had a wonderful afternoon playing together. 

One of the best parts of visiting GG is that Clare wakes up in the morning and wants GG, meaning Jeff and I can sleep in!  The first morning I woke up to Clare standing at the side of the bed saying ‘hi mama!’ she startled me out of my skin!  I suppose she just wanted us to know that she was awake because she quickly ran out of the room and we didn’t hear from her again until I got up at 9:30 and went upstairs.   Each morning this week she’s called for GG, it’s been absolutely wonderful to sleep in a bit.  Thank you GG!!!

Among the new babies, clothes, and toys that GG and Pawpaw got in preparation for Clare’s visit was a pool!  Clare was so excited to go swimming; she was in that pool no less than twice a day each day.  The water warms up much more quickly here than it does in Evergreen; it actually feels pretty good and almost makes you forget about the incredible heat and humidity in the afternoon. 

Clare enjoyed pretending to make mac-n-cheese in the microwave.  Something tells me it wasn't nearly as good as Dillion's Mac-n-Cheese.

There were plenty of rest periods spent swinging on the swing.  Pawpaw is a good at keeping the swing going, so much so that a certain someone may have fallen asleep.

GG let Clare play with her doll house, she asked repeatedly for a few days and finally got to play with it on the last day. 

Another fun addition to Pawpaw’s house is his new golf cart!!  Greg rescued the golf cart from his parent’s house after the tornado, it took some TLC to get it up and running again but now it’s good as new and ready to give a certain someone rides around the neighborhood.   Everyone got multiple rides; GG even drove a few times.

On Sunday everyone went down to Nana and Daddy Merrell’s house on Grand Lake, OK to enjoy some fishing and food.  Clare was looking forward to having Tommy help her catch a fish; she was a lucky girl in that both Tommy and Logan caught some fish.  Clare enjoyed watching them fish and looking at the fish but was having nothing to do with actually touching the fish.  For the record I did touch a fish, Jeff didn’t think I would. 

She wasn't much interested in actually touching the fish, not even the tiny minnow Logan was using as bait.

Logan caught a catfish, after Tommy got the hook out, she still didn't want to touch it.

While the men were sleeping on the other side of the room Clare was the center of the ladies attention.

It wouldn’t be a trip to Missouri in July without a trip to Branson.  Fortunately the weather was a degree or two cooler on Tuesday, so we headed down to Silver Dollar City, unfortunately we weren’t the only ones with this bright idea.  Clare loved riding the frog and butterfly rides; she rode both nearly a half dozen times each.  The carousal was another huge hit with about dozen turns between all of us.  Maybe the most exciting ride was on the Frisco steam train, thankfully we had our very own certified Freight Conductor on board with us just in case.  After a few more turns on the frog and butterfly we decided to head back to the car, which was parked in the last spot in the last row, Clare was getting tired and we were all hot and sweaty, except for July who didn’t think it was all that hot.  It was at this point that we divided up; GG, Pawpaw, Julie and Clare all headed back for Joplin in Pawpaw’s big truck while Jeff and I took GG’s car to Ozark for dinner with one of his High School friends, it was a date night for us!

Patiently waiting for the Conductor to say 'all abroad!'

There was a little skit halfway thru the train ride, I have to admit I didn't really watch so I can't say what it was about.   Look how curly her hair is from the sweat and humidity!

Hold onto your hat Pawpaw, these frogs jump really high!

Julie was happy to ride the Butterfly more than once.

Our last ride on the carousal with Dada and Mama!

One evening the Sweet’s came over for dinner, it was nice to see them and catch up.  Clare was very taken by Grandpa Sweet; he even played cars with her.  Cinda instantly became a new best friend, Clare excitedly announced that she wanted her to sit next to her at the dinner table, Cinda of course was happy to have the seat of honor.  Unfortunately Satina and her boys weren’t able to join us, I’m sure it would have been a lot of fun to see them but Satina had to work and Hayden and Nik were with their dad. 

Talking with Grandpa Sweet about another favorite toy of Clare's, trains!!

The final hurrah of the week was having dinner at Steve and Sally’s, not only because Clare enjoyed finding and counting all the bunnies Sally has but because Sally had a baby doll stroller and pack-n-play to play with!  Clare had so much fun pushing the dolls around on Steve’s new hardwood floors, that stroller got a real workout.  Clare also had the chance to perfect her Junkin’s family who’s who that evening, and she got everyone right. 

Logan was happy to answer the phone when Clare called.  I believe the conversation involved him asking her if her refrigerator was running; all part of being the youngest cousin.  

Outside of our trips to Branson and Grand Lake we spent the week relaxing at GG and Pawpaw’s playing with babies, GG’s dollhouse, coloring, riding in Pawpaw’s cart, swimming in the pool and swinging on the swing outside.  It was a very relaxing week for us, however I’m sure GG is exhausted.  I’m grateful for their cool AC and seemingly endless amount of energy when playing with Clare, Jeff and I tossed around the idea of going to Columbia for a day or two, we were pretty sure Clare wouldn’t even notice we were gone.