Last Saturday (June 18) we took OWC youth group to Pops in Arcadia, Oklahoma. It's by far the coolest gas station you'll ever visit. They sell any kind of soda you could possibly imagine. A rainbow display of the sodas lines the windowed walls of the entire store. There is also a greasy but delicious diner with some of the yummiest whole-fried okra and buffalo burgers.
Here is Ava J with two of our sweet youth girlies, Abbie and Jordan. I am so excited to have the chance to get to know them better this summer!
A family shot. Ava and I visited Pops with some friends during Josh's first year of law school, but this was his first trip.
More of our crew, note the fabulous JJ who came along.
Another grouping of us, Brother Pastor came along because we are just too much fun not to join...obviously. {Just an aside: Brother Pastor actually does have a name. It is Dr. Mitch Randall. Most everyone calls him Mitch, except for Cole and Tanner who call him Dad, and Missy who calls him "Hey you, come take out the trash," and Josh and I who call him Brother Pastor, also sometimes Josh calls him Mitchard because it's funny. I know it sounds ridiculous. Have you met us?}
Cole found a soda to match his shirt.
My favorite soda is Christmas-themed, of course. It tastes like a cherry 7-Up with trace amounts of cinnamon and other spices. Delicious and refreshing in the triple digit temperatures.
Ava was also wearing a soda-themed shirt.
I just adore this lady, and feel humbled that she chose to spend some of her very rare free time with us.
Slurping with Cole and Tanner
Ordering their lunch at the counter
Posing with their menus
On our first visit to OWC, Ava immediately clicked with JJ. Visiting a new church with a small child is always tricky. We had just moved to a new state, a new home, and were basically starting a brand new life. That is a lot of change for a 2-year-old. Ava was so instantly comfortable around JJ and the rest of the childrens department that I think we would have stayed at NorthHaven even if they'd made us eat a live chicken. We love how our friendships with the fabulous folks at OWC have continued to strengthen and develop.
The youth with the iconic Pops soda bottle statue out front
A zoomed-in view
On Monday Cam and Michelle came to see us for a few days. Ava was flower girl in their wedding back in October. This was our first chance to hang out with the two of them as a married couple. We kicked things off right, by making pasta. First I showed them how to roll our dough through the press.
Michelle was a natural.
Of course Cam was too, but who is surprised? The only thing I'll ever be able to do better than Cam is give birth, and even that's debatable.
Next, Ava talked him through the pasta cutting process.
The next day we took them to Sara Sara Cupcakes. Yes, we're creatures of habit. If you come see us we WILL end up eating cupcakes in Oklahoma City.
And we WILL take a shot just like this.
Please note the way Ava is constantly draped all over Cam.
She's been like this since birth.
Choosing from the wall of cupcakes
Under Ava's careful tutelage, they were sure to pick something delicious.
I cannot get over how huge the Bave is getting. She now sits with her legs crossed in her carseat, such a big girl.
How all the cool kids are wearing their shades this season:
We always wondered if Cam would find someone as adorable, sincere, gifted, and fun as he is. Thankfully he did! We love Michelle too.
Two of the cutest opossums I know
The only thing missing is their fake snores.
Kinda' melts your heart, doesn't it?
Pleased to report that the cupcakes were 100% Cam approved.
Toasted marshmallow as big as her face.
How could it be anything but a mess?
I know I'm super biased, but I think this shot is beautiful. Thanks for capturing this moment Michelle.
Later, we retired to the back porch for some chalk art.
Everyone drew flowers.
HLS takes his chalking very seriously.
Ava has been begging for a pet, but we are house-sitting and heading abroad for the fall semester. Pets are not an option. As a compromise we decided to put up some bird feeders in the backyard.
At first she filled the feeder using a spoon.
When that was taking forever, she tried a funnel.
Finally, she decided on a Pyrex cup to fill the feeder.
I love watching her try new things.
With the birdseed feeder full, it was time to fill the hummingbird feeder.
Carefully measuring out the mix
Then mixing it with water
Stirring
Holding the bottle still so Mommy can pour in the liquid
So careful
Feeders all ready to go up
Daddy used some removable 3M hooks to hang the feeders on the back porch.
After hanging the feeders we watched for birds, but it was too late in the day. We told Ava to check back in the morning.
As soon as she woke up she headed to the window to peek,
and sure enough we had some new 'pets'.
We have enjoyed watching the birds at the feeder all weekend. There have been as many as four birds on this one feeder at once. We're still waiting on the hummingbirds.
This Saturday (June 25) our youth activity took us to the Oklahoma Regional Food Bank.
We took massive boxes of frozen sliced carrots and put them into 2 pound bags. Over the course of three hours we bagged 5,472 pounds of carrots. That is enough to serve as a portion of 4,209 meals.
In other outrageous news, HLS washed dishes. I was as shocked as you are.
So proud of our kiddos, who served with Sparkly smiles.
We treated them to sno cones after their hard work.
After I finished uploading all of the pictures for this post, I realized that most of them have to do with food. We're either cooking, eating, feeding birds, or working at the food bank. What can I say? We're a family of foodies.
