Home Again, Home Again

We arrived back in Iowa Monday evening after a weekend in Oklahoma with my parents. It was a great trip!

Josh and I decided we’d get an early start…which meant getting up at 3am on Friday morning and getting on the road by 4:00. It worked! Zack never did go back to sleep, but he did really well in the car (mostly thanks to the portable DVD player…)

Austin also traveled really well. He slept most the trip, which was great. When he was awake, he was pretty well entertained by Zack. That was handy. :)

The big secret for this trip was that we had planned a surprise birthday party for my dad’s 60th birthday. My brother, Jake, did most the leg work (and did a great job!) and somehow we managed to keep Dad COMPLETELY in the dark about the whole thing!

Our job was to keep Dad busy on Saturday morning while Jake and the guests got to the house and set up for the party. So, we all took off for the Oklahoma City Zoo. It was interesting trying to not let anything slip while we were out – especially when Dad wanted to have Jake meet us at the zoo! But it worked out.

Zack kept Grandpa busy on the train…

And Mimi had to get in on the fun, too, of course. :)

Austin was sporting his new hat to keep the sun off, but since it’s a little big, the crazy Oklahoma winds kept blowing it away!

Once we got the ‘ok’ from Jake, we headed back to the house.

Friends and family from several different states made the trip to Oklahoma to celebrate Dad, and it was so much fun! Dad didn’t have a clue when we pulled up to the house. Jake and company managed to “hide” the extra cars and they were all set up inside the garage. Dad opened the garage door and everyone was standing inside waiting…but Dad didn’t look! He didn’t look up until Zack said, “Grandpa, who are all those people?”

All those “people” yelled “Surprise!” as soon as Dad looked up, and he was shocked – to say the least!

We had a great cake, sporting all the names Dad goes by…

Austin enjoyed meeting everyone… and was especially fascinated with “Uncle” Gerald’s beard…

Here’s a little group family shot… Zack is missing because he was down for his nap (and I wasn’t about to wake him up!) From L-R: Me, Josh, Bobbie (my cousin), Jake (holding Austin), Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Norman, Dad, Ashley (Bobbie’s daughter), Mom, Jackie (my cousin), and Asia (Jackie’s daughter).

Then of course we had the “old” Coast Guard guys. It was a mini-reunion for them, as well, so we decided to get some group shots. But being the difficult guys they are, they were reluctant to have their photo taken at first…

Then we got them out of the tree, but still no faces (but truth be told, I really like this one!)

Ah, there they are… The old Coasties :) From L-R: Joe, Dad (Charlie/Spence), Gerald, and Bob.

The party was a great success. After that, we enjoyed a quiet Sunday with Mom, Dad and Jake at the house. Grandpa and Zack had to get outside and ride the “tractor” of course, and run through the pasture, and run races, and any number of other things Zack could think up. Grandpa had him outfitted for the Oklahoma outdoors…

While they were outside, Mimi enjoyed some time with Austin (who was a VERY happy boy for the whole trip!)

Uncle Jake also enjoyed his time with boys…He’s always up to something…

We had such a great time with Mom, Dad and Jake (and all the other friends and family we got to see!) and the time went by way too quickly. We can’t wait to see them all again.

Happy birthday, Daddy. You’re absolutely the best, and I love you so much!