Last Blast 2011

Last Blast is my summer wrap-up celebration with my kiddos! Since we live in a small town (which I do love) I take them to OKC for several days in August and do all sorts of fun things, just for them. We go to the city often but it's usually for "mom and dad" type stuff, not centered around the kiddos like Last Blast and other occasional times. I'm going to admit that I went into to the planning of this year's Blast feeling a twinge of guilt because unlike last year's Last Blast, this year's would not include an out of state adventure like the Red Sox game. And also this year was extra special because Brandon isn't my only child starting school, Blaine is as well. Talk about bittersweet for this mama. It certainly was.
This year went to OKC for 3 days and I pretty much had a timeline for each day typed up for all of the activities. We left early Wednesday to make it to JumpZone when they opened. The boys had a blast. Gracelyn isn't really a fan of inflatables (which I knew before going) but they have playsets which she does like so she was entertained. She ventured on one inflatable, but only with Brandon by her side. He is the absolute best big bro. We left JumpZone in time to surprise Mimi at lunch in Norman and then spent the afternoon at the splashpad in Norman, which was very nice to try to beat the intense heat. That night was the kids favorite "Last Blast" dining experience at Cici's Pizza and bike-riding at Mimi and Pappy's til bedtime.
Thursday morning we awoke early to be at Chuck E. Cheese when they opened to play games before a day of swimming. All the boys did well in the pool. I forgot arm floaties at home, which is all the little boys needed so we borrowed a pair and the boys traded off throughout the day between those and our belt. The boys were absolutely beat when we got back to my mom's after 4:00. I did earn "cool points' when Blaine asked about naps and I told him it was a "no-nap day." The little boys were pumped about that (and have asked if every day since is a "no nap day") After supper we went to Mimi's local library. They have a program where every 2 weeks, kids have an opportunity to read to therapy dogs. She signed Brandon up and he was so excited about it. He read to a 4 year old Golden Retriever named Sadie and asked me afterward if we could come back in 2 weeks. Too bad it's on Thursday nights with school obviously the next day. The little ones played on the computer and worked puzzles and activities while Brandon read and none of them wanted to leave.
Friday morning we went to the zoo for Zoo Rise. With the hot Oklahoma temps, they open early so you can see the animals before they go into hiding to try to stay cool. We were there almost 3 hours and saw everything we wanted to see while still staying relatively cool, with many bottles of water, frequent shade stops and the boys enjoyed the misters stationed around the zoo. Following lunch I took Brandon to a movie and after supper with Mimi we headed home.
It was a super fun 3 days and we all had a great time. Thank you to my mom for letting us stay with you. I told Ryan I needed a week to sleep in order to recover!

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While at Chuck E. Cheese, the music played while videos played and the stage curtain opened to Chuck E. Blaine made a beeline over and began dancing and having all sorts of fun.