you're doin' fine, oklahoma

Woo family vacation! My uncle moved to Oklahoma a few years ago ad we finally went to visit him at his new place this weekend. It was so fun! It was a long drive but not too bad. My uncle has a great house and a great pool and a great view. It was the perfect weekend. I have to take back all of the bad things I've said about Oklahoma. It isn't a wasteland after all, at least not the Tulsa area.

Oh, another great thing - my aunt and uncle have been together for about 20 years but never got married. I think they were both married before (there's an alarming divorce rate in my family) so I guess maybe they just didn't want to. About 2 years ago they randomly decided to tie the knot. Just the two of them, no big deal, just to do it. I was excited that they decided to do that but didn't expect any change. I was totally wrong. They're super affectionate and loving now, not only to eachother but to us as well. It's so cool! My uncle has always been really quiet and closed-off but now he's open and excited to talk and hear about our lives and stuff. It was seriously an emotional breakthrough! You don't witness that every day from a hunting, fishing, nascar-loving Iowa man. It was a really cool thing to witness.

Another cool thing is that as I get older, I see my family differently. My mom has 2 sisters and 2 brothers and they're all so different. Since my grandma died they have all put a lot of effort into staying close and in touch. It's a big priority for them and it was something my grandma talked about a lot as she was approaching death. Seeing them together more often has been fun because you see their similarities and differences more. There are so many things that 2 or 3 of them have in common or ways that they look or act like eachother (or their parents) that all five of them don't share. It's so fun. One of the most important ones is that 3 of them have pools. Speaking of family, we really put some thought into figuring out what my heritage is. Oklahoma is all about Native Americans and my aunt kept asking where the Native American was in my lineage. This isn't an uncommon question, especially after spending so much time outside in the summer and looking increasingly (and alarmingly) like George Hamilton...and because I braid my hair sometimes. We still couldn't come to any conclusions. My mom still thinks she heard something about Eastern Europe at some point. Who knows. It's still a mystery. I'll keep you posted.

And finally, the BEST part about this weekend. FIREWORKS ARE LEGAL IN OKLAHOMA!! Every night we sat and looked down into the valley and watched fireworks going off all over. It was amazing. My uncle got some good ones and set them off for us too. Amazing.

I only have a few pictures because most of the time I was in the pool, where my camera is not allowed, but here's what I have.

my aunt really likes to find wildlife in her (35 acre) yard
she taught us all about how to spot birds and such
we even had a contest to see who could identify the most wildlife
mom was trying really hard
i was holding out for the pileated woodpecker (dryocopus pileatus) because it's HUGE! 15 inches high! That's a big effing woodpecker. No luck.

this is my cousin, oscar
my uncle saved him from a burning barn when he was a tiny baby potbelly piglet
they meant to get rid of him after he was old enough to leave but then my aunt fell in love with him
he snores and thinks he's a dog
(domesticated wildlife didn't count toward the contest)
sunrise!
this was from out the front door
you can't tell in this picture how beautiful the view was
huge fireworks warehouse in missouri
luke was pretty excited
we stocked up, don't worry

Oh PS- we looked ALL OVER for the DVD of the musical and didn't find it anywhere. OUTRAGE! And I forgot to buy lots of OU stuff to send to Bryan. And I couldn't even find the right postcard for Jess. I suck at tourism.

Okay one more story and then I'm done, I promise. As we were driving through Kansas City, my mom said, "Oh look, there's Worlds of Fun." Luke replied, "Word up." My mom then said "No, Luke. WORLDS OF FUN." It was hilarious. It took us quite a while to explain what "word up" means but we're pretty sure she understands now because she's been saying "word up" in response to everything.
"Goodnight, Mom"
"Word up, Ange"