we'll never believe ourselves...

so, here's how it went down.

this was Jake, Nora, Sophie and me (not pictured!) sitting at the table, on Friday morning, waiting for Lydia and Samantha to wake up....we are all in total ignorance of the weekend that lay ahead of us:
30 minutes later Jake was on the phone with his sister....in Chickasha, OK....clearing whether or not it would be ok if we came down to join the celebration at her house? Jake's parent's and grandmother were going, Chickasha was within the 8 hr radius Jake was given and apparently I took some drugs that morning because I was the one who gave the final kick to get it rolling (what!?).....everything lined up perfect.

and hour and a half later we were packed, loaded, buckled (but not for long) and now not only were we (6) coming but so were Seth (1)- one of his brothers - and Luke's family (6) - one of his other brothers - for a total of 13 extra people and only 9 hours warning......
KELLY AND JAROD YOU WERE AWESOME!!!!!!!!

recap....8 kids 7 and under - 10 adults who acted 7 and under and 9 hours warning.

Happy 4th of July.

We managed to keep the whole thing a secret from the 3 grandparents despite the fact that the grandparents passed one of the families on the highway!!!! hee hee.

The kids....all 18 of us....did awesome.
We are talking missed naps, super late nights, early mornings, long drives and MINIMAL meltdowns.
It was almost surreal!

We stayed one night and drove back the 9 hours the next afternoon.

The best parts of the trip?
1. Knowing that it's possible and we did it!
2. Seeing all those cousins instantly bond all over again and play/love/play/love together.
3. Seeing the looks on the grandparents faces
4. Watching Kelly and Jarod handle the entire circus with ease and excitement....

this may become a 4th of July tradition!

(as soon as I throw my computer out the window I'll post more pictures...until then, I'll be busy throwing it out the window!!!!!!!! aaaahhhh!!!!!)