Oklahoma! Oh! What a Beautiful Mornin'

Here are pictures from Brandon's first little vacation (along with some other random photos of things we've been doing in the past few weeks). Krzysztof had a the opportunity to be a beer judge for a competition in Tulsa, OK in mid September, so we decided to make a vacation out of it in order to check Oklahoma off our list of states to visit (living in Kansas is really going to help knock out all those square states in the middle). Brandon did pretty well during the 4 hour drive...only one or two screaming episodes. :-) Poor baby just doesn't understand why we can't pick him up and hold him since he usually gets that reaction when screaming at home.

All snug in his bed away from home. This folds up to fit in a suitcase.

We got in Friday night and BB (Before Brandon) we usually would have gone out for a late dinner, but we decided to order pizza instead. We aren't usually "take out" or "delivery" kinds of eaters, but I see a lot more of that in our future...

Snuggling with Daddy.

Hanging out with Mommy in the hotel while Daddy did his judging. It was great being in a hotel because we could really spend some quality time together without feeling like something needed to be cleaned or cooked.

We stayed in downtown Tulsa, which doesn't really have too much going on most of the time. This is the view from our room. There was a Rib festival within walking distance of the hotel, so we checked that out after Krzysztof got back and found that we'd rather have ribs in Kansas. Our hotel had a pool and hot tub, which we were able enjoy once Brandon fell asleep. We just put him in the stroller and parked it right by us!

On Sunday we went to the Tulsa zoo. It was a pretty good zoo, but not the best by any means. Brandon really enjoyed it as you can see.

Being this close to the rhinos was definitely one of the coolest parts of the zoo.

Holding on to his cute burp cloth in his stroller.

I don't even know what to label this picture. All I know is that it makes me laugh every time I see it!

That's a little more like it! Almost a good picture of a smile. He looks like such a little boy in his jeans!

Krzysztof's mom's cousin (does that make it his 2nd cousin?) Fred and his girlfriend Gail from Victoria, BC came over for dinner during their visit to KC. Unfortunately they didn't get to see Brandon awake! We had a great dinner, though. I should have taken a picture. We had baked pecan chicken with creamy mushroom artichoke sauce. It is a Southern Living recipe I've made a few times, and we love it! It is great for company. Here are the links for the chicken and the sauce if you need a good recipe.

This is at the Art Fair at the Plaza in KC.

Yes it was this crowded! And so hot too! We saw some cool art and had some great food, but didn't stay too long.

And here is a random picture for the finale. This is Krzysztof's homemade mash paddle! He made it from a piece of wood with a jig saw and some other kinds of saws (I know nothing about power tools). I'm proud of him for making it rather than buying an expensive one that wouldn't be nearly as cool, so I thought I'd post it! He got to use it while brewing a Baltic Porter last weekend. Mmmmm! We keep telling Brandon he better be good or he'll get the Mash paddle! (just kidding of course)