Monday, November 14, 2016

where the wind comes sweeping down the plain

holy lord.
it's half way through november and
i've posted once.
we've been a little busy around here
with reid being sick, working extra hours
and going on a quick getaway to oklahoma.
that's right.
we packed up our things, picked up the
turnbow's and headed out west.
kind of.
we headed to pawhuska to see the pioneer woman's
new store, the mercantile.
it was so fun to get out of town, even if it's just for a night.
we decided to all ride together, because we decided 
the amount of fun you have
on a road trip directly correlates with 
the number of people you have in a car.
(we learned quickly this is not true when almost
half the people in the car are children.)
not that i could say one bad word about willa, linsday and
turnbow's little girl,
she's only 8 months old and goes back and forth between 
sleeping or cooing in her car seat.

meanwhile, my two hooligans in the back are screaming
like a bunch of banshees.
begging for food, drinks, movies and acting
like they've never ridden in a car before.
we arrived in bartlesville at 9:45, not a moment too soon.
 thankfully even reid had given in by then.

brette however, was still partying in the backseat.
she whined or watched youtube clips of 
the Troll movie the whole way there.
sweet. 
thankfully, both my girls passed out pretty much as soon as they
hit the pillow and we made it until about 5:30 the next
morning before they started stirring again.
a whole TWO HOURS earlier than i anticipated.
those mother effers.
we started our day early and were showered, dressed,
ready and repacked before 8am.
turnbow's had a rough night.
they didn't have a pack-n-play for willa and she
was not happy sleeping in a big girl bed.
they spent most of the night walking her around
the room and getting her settled.
we made for a cheery bunch.
breakfast helped.
we found a little diner on our way to pawhuska and
after biscuits and gravy, pancakes, eggs and coffee,
everyone felt better.
the sun was out, it was a brisk fall morning and we had arrived!
we knew there would be a line to get in, so the boys dropped
us off and went to find parking while linds and i got our spot on the sidewalk.
i think the waiting went really fast.
i was busy chasing reid and taking pictures.
oh and i won a free plate because i answered 
a pioneer woman trivia question correctly.
(a little something they do to keep guests happy while waiting outside.)
i. am. awesome.

i know we were in the door in under an hour.
of course, this line just accessed the bakery and general store.
if you wanted in the restaurant, that was another line and
it was over a three hour wait.
i just couldn't do that to my girls.
they would have had meltdowns.
i couldn't BELIEVE we were visiting the pioneer woman's store
and not eating.
it seems sacrilegious. 
(linds and i have decided a second trip is in order: girls only and no children.
we'll have all the time in the world to stand in line, because if you're going to go
visit the pioneer woman, your should at least let her feed you.)


but the general store was cool.
filled with stuff that i would love to have, but didn't buy.
i did pick up her book, a tshirt and a bassett hound puppy for reid.
if you're familiar with ree, then you know her love for bassett hounds.

while we were shopping we saw her daughter, paige, walk through the store.
it was like linds and i had seen a celebrity.
we get excited easily.
after shopping we went upstairs to let the girls run free for a bit.
we scored seats on some amazing leather furniture and i spotted
another pioneer friend, hyacinth - - which a creepily took a picture of from afar.



i was feeling pretty good about seeing TWO of them,
when out walked her oldest son, bryce.
i guess this is a small town where they all just hang out with 
each other and 300 admirers.
AND THEN REE WALKED OUT.
there is no guarantee that you'll get to see anyone.
let alone, the actual pioneer woman.
since we were literally right there by her, i hopped up and
joined the line that was forming to say hello.
she signed my book, met my little redhead, took a picture and 
my trip to pawhuska was complete.
(ps- i did not tell her my daughter's name was reid. all of sudden i realized introducing my redheaded baby named reid, to a celebrity redhead named ree made me look like a crazy stalker.)
oh and her youngest son came out to say hello while i was waiting to see her.
so now i pretty much know the whole family.
bff's for sure.


we decided to head out to get some lunch and start making our way
back to kansas city.
our gps said we would arrive around 5:00.
oh god, i prayed these girls would sleep.
but no, we never got all three down at one time and
by the time we hit olathe, reid had enough.
four hours in a car seat after doing it the day before was too much.
my poor baby barely made it back to lee's summit.
i felt horrible for her and i felt bad for everyone in the car that
had to live through that.
i was happy to be home and learned a valuable 
lesson about traveling with one year olds:
never do it.
they're not babies anymore where they can just go to sleep and
they're not old enough to color or play games or watch a movie.
all they want to do it get up.
so miserable. 

but honestly, besides a few tense moments in the car,
we had a lovely time and i'd do it again in a heartbeat.




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