Graduating Dylan
Trevor, Dylan and Haley are my youngest cousins. Unlike the
rest, I distinctly remember them as babies. I remember wanting to take care of
them and play with them during my preteen and teenage years. The boys tired of
all this attention and decided they no longer wanted to hang out with me. That
didn’t stop me from trying in the least, so we had a friendly love-hate
relationship going. When I graduated from high school, I sent a senior picture
just for Dylan. He promptly replaced the flag on his pirate ship with my photo.
So could someone please explain to me how on earth this once
little boy is old enough to graduate high school and head to college? Surely
time did not go by so quickly. But apparently it did, and because of the way
things fell at work, I was able to take some time off and head to Kansas to see
the family and go to Dylan’s party.
In total, I spent nearly 13 hours in the car between Friday
and Sunday that weekend. That’s no big deal for an adult, but we had a
5-year-old and a 1-year-old in the car with us. It could have been terrible,
but thanks to modern technology and strategically planned naps, it was actually
quite pleasant. Dylan’s graduation was in the evening on Saturday, so we were
able to squeeze in a trip to the Garden City Zoo that afternoon. It was my
first time there, and I was pretty impressed. It was a small zoo, but very nice
and it had free admission! Plus, we got to ride around in some pretty cool
little carts. There was severe weather that night, though, so we had to have them
back by 4 p.m. on-the-dot.
Markers. Check. Coloring book. Check. Headphones. Check. DVD player. Check. And one iPad for back-up in case he gets bored. This boy is ready for the road!
What a mess!
We made a pit stop at McDonald's on the way and Quinn decided to model my glasses.
We made it!
Quinn was mesmerized with Grandma and Grandpa Donahue's TV. I think that's because she could actually reach it. She wanted to sit this close to it the whole time, especially when Elmo was on. She and Asher don't have ANY problems watching the same thing over and over again. For her, it was Elmo's favorite songs and for Asher it was Alvin and the Chipmunks. ALL WEEKEND LONG!
If you're happy and you know it...
But we didn't spend all of our time inside. Quinn found a rabbit and a sick cow that couldn't run away from her when she screamed, "Moo, moo!"
And Asher had a lot of fun playing with Uncle Gary and Dad on the hay bails.
It was very slippery on the way to Garden because of the rain they'd gotten. Kyle told me he would divorce me if I ever took one of his cars down a road like this. SMH.
Playing at the Victors
The bigger boys scared poor Levi to death, but they sure did love the trampoline.
Ready for some sight seeing at the zoo!
Those things are much heavier than they look. Talk about a leg workout!
Quinnie got to ride in a covered wagon.
They were herding some of the animals up due to the approaching storm. They definitely take their storm precautions seriously around these parts!
At the park, Quinn wanted my wristlet to use as her little purse. It was so girly and adorable.
The cats were very active that day.
Dylan’s graduation was broadcast on a local TV station. With
a big class, each graduate only had a certain number of tickets. Because it’s
hard to get around with kids and older folks, we opted to watch graduation at
the Victor house. We watched the whole thing and cheered for Dylan every time
they said his name. He had a 4.0, so he was recognized multiple times during the
ceremony.
On Sunday, we said our goodbyes and headed home. We had
enough time to stop for ice cream in Woodward before getting out at the Gloss
Mountains to stretch our legs and do a little exploring. That night, we ate out
in Enid and celebrated Mother’s Day with a little cookie cake out on the deck.
It was a pretty great trip, and it was so good to see ALMOST
everyone again.
Stacy got to sleep in a little on Sunday, so that meant Quinn got to go outside in her footed pajamas. It was hard to squeeze her feet into those shoes, but we made it work!
The cows were still afraid of us.
Asher and Grandpa had been playing alone for a while, so Quinn and I came by to see what they were up to. They were telling dragon stories and had found a little egg on the ground, which Quinn crushed in about 2.5 seconds.
Just the fuel we needed during a long drive.
Stacy was Asher's artist assistant on the way home.
That is until we stopped to do some exploring.
Stacy, Mom and Quinn only made it halfway up, but the rest of us adventurers kept climbing.
"Grandpa, I can see the whole word from this high!"
Every good explorer needs his stick.
Oh the wonders of God's creation!
Asher kept reminding us that we were a pack of wolves looking for some big horn sheep to eat.
We didn't see any hiding in there.
The girls were ready to go, but Dad kept pushing us onward to the end of the line. When we reached the fence we found this valley.
Asher was slightly concerned about the birds circling overhead...
Back at the bottom, we found ourselves a lizard. We saw one on the way up, too, and Asher wanted me to pick it up. I said I would right after he did but his response was, "No way!"
One thing I won't forget about this trip is this cutie. She is so obsessed with Aunt Abby these days. Every time the car would stop, she'd want me to scoop her up and take her outside. When I was sitting behind her, she'd lift up her hands and say, "Aunt Abba," and I would hold them from the back seat. Mom text me a few days later, saying she was doing the same thing in the pick-up line for Asher at school. Too bad I couldn't have been there for that, too.
We deserved some cookie cake after a long day of travel. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
The next day, before heading home, I wanted to see Cheryl's kitchen remodel so we walked over. We decided just to dip our feet in the pool and wound up with two soaking children before it was all said and done.
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