Meet the Family

To start today we went to the duck pond just south of the football stadium for a picnic lunch. It's hard to describe sausage and cheese sandwiches as a brunch, but that's about what it was. :) We found a little shade under a big tree next to the water. A small stone platform had been built there, so we sat on the edges and called it a picnic. Lots of bread was handed out to the feathered beggars and their catfish friends. Jason attempted to catch one of the latter with his hands before he was distracted by a large frog. lol! With the beautiful setting, we took some pictures.

(Those I'll have to post later, as I am in Yuma tonight [8/21/10] and the Internet is extremely precarious - I'm on Jason's machine because mine doesn't recognize the weak signal - and I hope I'll be able to chat a little at least. We'll see.)

Mike and I went back to his place to take care of the animals before we left and Meg and Jason went and did their own stuff. They wanted some time alone anyway since on Aug. 15 last year we had just gotten home from the last trip here and they had first talked about being interested in each other (newlyweds... :). On the way home we stopped at Homeland for some lettuce for Patty Pig and then shared some presents when we returned. Memory gets hazy for some of this time, but we did look through a bit of that High School annual from Elkhart I had gotten off eBay last year. Am I silly or what!

Mike and I left early enough so we could make it down to Texas on I-44 and see the Red River, as well as cross into Texas and say I'd been there. Drove by Sheppard AFB to the outskirts of Wichita Falls. When we told Mike's sister & brother in law this, they looked rather surprised. I don't think many people think much about sightseeing down here... :) On the way back up to Lawton, we saw a wondrous thunderstorm off to our left as well as a dramatic rain shaft. I almost forgot! On the way down to Texas (past Lawton, I think) there was a pond off to our right... maybe 50 yards long... and there was a jet ski pulling a water-skier behind them! They'd probably get about five seconds one way before they'd have to stop and go the other way. It was so narrow, it was ridiculous! We had such a great time just driving. Listened to 1930's music as we cruised and got a chocolate shake half-way down in Chickasha.

We got to Judy & Dickie's house right on time, but we got to sit and visit for a while before going to dinner because some people were running late. And it was great! Dickie had a lot to say about his Army days in Germany and they were both very interested in what I'm doing. Mike's niece Tracy soon came as well bringing her little dog to add to the two already there. As with Charlie back at Mike's, I was covered with kisses. :) We decided on Red Lobster, and soon headed out together. Connie and her friend met us there. Everything was so natural, I felt like I was immediately part of the family. On the way back to the house they talked about the old days in Lawton (which I enjoyed very much) and when we all got back to the house we talked a bunch more. So very fun!

And Mike and I enjoyed a long conversation all the way back to Norman. Because saying goodnight was not an option yet, we picked up Meg & Jason from the motel and went back to Mike's house. Watched Galaxy Quest for a bunch of laughs and then around 2am he took us back to the motel. It saved us from getting a little lost on the way back again. Too many one-way streets around here. :)

Even though every day was fun, this was by far my favorite.

Jp