To finish out summer, we took a trip with our Friend Crew to Broken Bow, OK. 10 adults and 11 kids [ages 4-16]; we've traveled with these friends in some array since 2008 and have always had a great time!
From this in 2008...
Before Riley and Susie were even dating, and there was only 1 kid!
{Although Baby Trent snuck on this trip, ha}
To this...
ALLLLL the friends in Ruidoso!
It was about a 5.5 hour drive from our house, so we left about 7:30 Friday morning {August 2}. We brought all the car activities and screens! And the kids did great in the car.
2 Buc-ee's stops later, and we were in Oklahoma!
The house was SO neat and created for groups - had 6 primary rooms and a bunk room with 8 triple bunks! The kids loved it! And the adults did too. {grin} I will say the first night was pretty bad with trying to get the kids to go to sleep, which isn't surprising, but the bunk room was a great feature with so many kids.
We were really secluded, and it was beautiful!
August 3:Our first full day was Moms Day and Desiree's birthday, so the moms hung out at the house in the pool for a bit and then went into town to a local winery called Girls Gone Wine. And the dads took the kids fishing.The dads grilled burgers and several of the girls surprised Dez and me with baking us cakes for our birthdays.
Awesome porch!
So we finished the night with birthday singing and celebrating and watching the Olympics...and maybe lots of alcohol. {grin}
I don't have a picture of both cakes, boo,
but it was very sweet of the girls to bake cakes for us!
The game room!
August 4: Today was dads day, so the moms took most of the kids horseback riding. We had to split into 2 groups, so I took my girls with Rhonda and her 3 daughters.
Enjoying the family dogs
Back in the saddle!
Gorgeous view on our trail ride - we were in such a pretty area of Oklahoma!
All the kid riders when the 2nd group arrived
Mom friends <3
After horseback riding, we went back to the house. Trent really wanted to go thrifting, so a small group of us headed into town...where all the thrift stores were closed, boo. We stopped at a few shops and felt most of the stuff was very kitschy. HOWEVER, Dez and I did buy matching skirts for when we take our girls to see Kacey Musgraves in November, SO EXCITED! The guys went to a local casino, and when they returned we continued our day with pool time, Olympics, food, alcohol, and lots of fun!
The dads had a great time {grin}
August 5: Our last full day in Oklahoma was also my birthday, yay! There was a Starbucks in the casino, so when Brent came back from dads day, he had not 1 but 2 chai lattes for me!
Happy birthday to me! {And Dez!}
Our activity for this day was a lake day! Kayaking, paddleboarding, and swimming.
On the bus to the kayak drop spot
Ready to go and WHAT A VIEW!
Brent, Paige, and Trent in a canoe.
Drew and I were kayaking together.
We took a little break at the halfway point to splash around.
And to rest our shoulders, ha!
I hadn't paddleboarded in years and just did it for a little bit.
The kids really enjoyed it though.
We played lots of games and Banangrams was a big hit!
Loved Drew and Brinley taking the time to spell this!
We got up on August 6 and headed home! We had a great time and can't wait to travel with our framily again.
