Tulsa ~ Sequoyah State Park ~ Camp Wannasew

We had a delightful morning in Tulsa with JD, Janel, and Blizzard before Janel and I left the boys to travel to Camp Wannasew. We visited the Tulsa Zoo, which is a great little zoo! Blizzard was enthralled with the animals. And we got the best front row view of Tigers that I've ever had in my life. They are just magnificent.

By the way... we also found Nemo there!

After the zoo, Janel and I departed for Wagner Oklahoma to antique shop before heading to the lake for the stitching retreat. Unfortunately, this is the sight that greeted us when we arrived:

One side of Main Street had burned down last year. It was sad to see such beautiful buildings in such a state of ruin. We went through the one small shop we could find and then headed to the lake.

The lake was huge. It's been 40 years since I've lived in the mid-west and I've gotten used to lakes that are really ponds or man-made. I made the comment to someone that I can guarantee you that two of my children have never seen a body of water like this except the ocean! It went on for miles and miles. It was quite windy while we were there so the water was usually choppy.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon, threw our bags into our room and started stitching. Most of the campers arrived on Thursday and by that evening the room was pretty lively!

On Friday we took a mid-morning break and drove to the nearby town of Tahlequah to antique shop and eat lunch. Tahlequah has been the capitol of the Cherokee Nation since 1839. It was a very pretty little town with a bustling downtown area. After one more stop at an Antique store in Hulburt we headed back to stitching.

JD, Dan, and Blizzard drove down Friday afternoon and stayed at one of the "cabins". They had a great deck facing the lake. I told Dan if I was staying there I would just spend my entire day on the deck looking at the water! 

As part of the retreat, Lindy "brings" The Silver Needle to us. There was a wide variety of patterns, kits, accessories, fabrics, and notions to "shop". 

 

Me and Janel - I can't tell you how thrilled I am that she invited me to join her at this retreat. We had a great time and I would definitely do it again!

Thank you, Janel!!

Our table

Me, Lindy (The Silver Needle owner), Janel

Donna, Virginia, Lynn

I was apprehensive about several elements of attending a stitching retreat. Could I really sit and stitch for three days? Community showers ~ are you kidding me? Just being in a new place with new people and a new experience?

It was wonderful. I can sit and stitch for long periods of time AND as an added bonus, I'm completely motivated to tackle my stitching with renewed energy. I enjoyed the flow of conversation at our table and around the room in general. It was such fun to walk the room and see what each lady was working on. It was fascinating to see what products they used, what lighting system worked for them, and to hear how many years they'd been attending the retreat.

The bunk beds and community shower? Um, not so much. But, I survived! hahaha

All in all it was an awesome experience. I'm looking forward to our next opportunity for a stitching retreat!

Disneyland!

This post will be filled with photos - you've been warned!

We had an awesome time in Disneyland. It was truly a dream come true for Dan and I to be able to take this trip with most of our kids/grandkids.

We stayed at the Disneyland Resort Hotel and it was fantastic. The rooms were spacious and comfortable. The cast members at the hotel were friendly and helpful. The swimming pools were lovely with plenty of towels, lounges, and umbrellas.

We booked our trip through AAA and it was a wonderful experience thanks to our travel agent Annette M. We received some great freebies from AAA and from Disney as part of our booking.

I'll let the (tons of) photos tell the rest of the story...

Thunder and Sunny

Katie and Thunder

Grammy and Sunny

Katie, Gramps, Grammy, Sunny, Gabe

Thunder, Storm, Sunny - "what's next?!"

Storm, Thunder, Sunny fast asleep by 7:15 pm in our room while their parents get a night in the park to themselves

My favorite photo!

Janel and JD at the entrance to our hotel

Jessica, Snow, Storm, Adam with Goofy

JD, Janel, Gabe, Dan

You couldn't pay me to ride this ride.

JD and Janel

Jessica, Adam and kids

having a tea party with Alice and the Mad Hatter

Sunny and I were matching one day

This was Storm's favorite ride!

This is the headboard in our room. 

At night you can turn them on and they play a song while the "fireworks" light up. It was really pretty.

All of us!

San Diego

We arrived in San Diego in time for lunch on Friday. We headed straight for Ocean Beach and Hodad's. Hodad's has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and Dan has been wanting to eat there ever since.

We got there shortly after opening and did not have to wait in line. The atmosphere is awesome and the food was very good. The interior walls are covered with license plates from all over the world. The owner told me that if you bring in a license plate you receive a free meal. Depending on where you live that could be a pretty expensive free meal! But it sure makes for a colorful decor. There's also the front end of a VW bus that serves as a table. It's covered with bumper stickers and just looks fun!

Our next stop was Petco Park for the San Diego Padres vs Colorado Rockies game. Thanks to Gabe's friend, we were able to go on the field for batting practice. We saw our favorite players up close and even managed to get Wil Myers autograph. It was so much fun for Dan. He's been a Padres fan from the beginning. 

Down on the field

Wil Myers - what a thrill!

Sunny and Grammy

Thunder

On Saturday the kids went to Sea World and Dan and I hung out at Ocean Beach. The beach was filled with little baby lobsters that had washed up on shore. Several people were trying to get them back into the surf, but there were hundreds of them that had died. 

Dan discovered that you can't read a Nook at the beach 

We headed to Seaport Village for dinner and saw this guy walking around with his pig. It was just so unusual I had to take a picture!