It's Tulsa time!

What a glorious, wonderful month we have had in Tulsa! It is with a satisfied and heavy heart that we leave this morning. We have had an action-packed, fun month filled with friends and family and wouldn't trade it for the world. We had the luxuary of staying in the "Norwegian suite" at my parents new house. Space, space, space .... bliss, bliss, bliss. It was great to feel like we weren't living on top of each other... especially since we were here nearly a month. Lexi and Lillian had a blast with the warmer weather...we all loved airing our toes out. They also loved playing with Cousin Mark and meeting sweet Cousin Kate. So many "firsts". The month just flew by!

Well, this is short (kind-of) as we are soon headed to the airport. As for the pictures... well, what can I say? Er, um, we take lots of pictures in this family? That is the understatement of the century, of course.... We literally have hundreds of pictures from three different cameras from our month in Tulsa. Needless to say, it was impossible to narrow down the pictures for this blog posting. So, enjoy...

Easter Sunday - Pops, Grammy, Lexi and Lillian
Lexi and Maggie
Lillian LOVED the excer-saucer we borrowed from Aunt Kristy (don't mind the huge outbreak on her chin - it festered to a huge spot before it finally healed)

Looking cool - Mark, Lillian and Lexi
It was definitely a smart move to buy TWO bouncy balls!
I lost count of exactly how many times she went on the merry-go-round!
Lexi's first spa pedicure and manicure - she loved it!

Lillian also loved the johnny jumper... Quality time with pops in their gigantic, enormous new closet :) John, Kris and Mark welcomed beautiful baby Kate Elise on Monday, April 4th!

Kris and Kate at Easter

Lexi and a one week old baby Kate
Hmmmm...Lillian is 5 months old and Kate is 3 days old! Sweet cousins :)

The proud big sister and her happy little sister

Lillian and I before we left the house to go to Woodward Park for the Allen family pictures

Grammy and Lillian

Pops with Mark and Lexi - they sure kept him busy

Here are Great Grandma and Grandpa Allen (my grandparents) with me, my sister and our 4 cousins and all of our kiddos. When my Grandpa turned 80 in 2008, we took a similar photo and there were 7 great grandkids. Today, there are 12!

Great Granny Bitting with Lexi and LillianGreat Grandpa Allen with Lexi - someone saw this picture recently and commented that they had the same smiles.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Allen with Lillian (the 11th great grandchild)

Yes, we took loads of pics (both informal and formal) this trip. Here are the cousins... Isn't Kate precious?

Mark and Lexi LOVE to hold their sisters

I got to attend a "sip and see" for Kris and Baby Kate. Here we are that Saturday morning

Great Granny Bitting with Lillian and Kate (She has 8 great grandchildren)

When Pappa Tim came to town, we went to the Oklahoma Aquarium - super fun. Lillian squealed with delight.

Lexi got to feed the turtles - carrot strips

Lexi and I

We also went to the Tulsa zoo - more turtles!

The penguins are a hit where ever we go...

The wagon was NOT a good idea. They fought over who sat where, who was sitting on each other's body parts, who pulled the wagon, etc.

One night, we were in the path of a tornado. So, we took shelter in "the clubhouse". It is the area under the stairwell in my parent's new house. Ordinarily, Lexi and Mark use it as a play area. But, on this night, we all got in the clubhouse with our shoes, jackets, diaper bag, flashlight, water bottles, snacks, pillows, etc. Lexi thought it was THE BEST that we were all in the clubhouse with her. She wanted to do it again the next night. Luckily, the tornado wasn't near us - just some fierce weather.

Mark's church hosted a really cool Easter event for the preschoolers. Here are Lexi and Mark at the Easter egg hunt. (Mark is a bit concerned with how many eggs Lexi has in her basket versus how many are in his...)

Of course, we also dyed Easter eggs and then painted them :)

Here are Lexi and Lillian on Easter Sunday morning in their new Easter dresses and sweaters (thanks Grammy and Pops!)

We all gathered at Mom and Dad's for Easter lunch after church. Here are Grammy and Pops with their four grandkids.

Cousin Jennifer got to come to town Easter weekend and was VERY popular!

Here is a pic of Lillian and her Godparent Cousin Jen

Here is Great Granny Bitting with her two daughters (Mom and Aunt Brenda) and three of her granddaughters (me, Kristy and Cousin Jen) and four of her great grandchildren (Lexi, Mark, Lillian and Kate).

Aunt Kristy found the biggest Easter eggs ever and they were a huge hit!

We took Mark, Lexi and Lillian to BounceU a couple of days before we flew home. Lexi and Mark could not get enough of the giant slide. I bet they went down it a hundred+ times.

Lillian loves to hop too. She has really started putting loads of weight on her legs during our time in Tulsa. With the excer-saucer, johnny jumper and everyone holding her in the standing position, her legs are getting super strong.

After BounceU, we went to McDonalds - Lexi and Mark devoured their Happy Meals!