Camping... For Real This Time!

A few weekends ago, Jack and I decided to head down to Lake Murray to enjoy some camping and to take advantage of the 4-hour guided fishing tour Kristin got me for Father’s Day. We headed out at lunchtime and got some Sonic (so Jack was already excited) then we picked out our little spot and set up our little (and I mean little) tent. Jack helped to put in the stakes, and he was awfully proud. Jack “made smoke” (kicked up clouds of dirt) while I set up for our fire-free day of camping then we spent the rest of our afternoon hanging out in the lake, going on hikes, and just enjoying a mild Oklahoma day in the great outdoors. That evening, we grilled some hot dogs (the burn ban did allow us to grill with charcoal) and made s’mores. Jack loved watching the marshmallows catch fire, and we both loved the s’mores. We did make a campfire, despite the burn ban… but we had to make it in the grill. Jack still thought it was pretty cool to toss some sticks on the flames and watch them catch fire.

Jack and I slept in his 6’ x 6’ tent. He seemed to do fine, but I had to sleep diagonally to fit in. An hour or so after I managed to get to sleep, I awoke to the sounds of raccoons trying to climb the pole I had hung our trash from; after all, no camping trip would be complete without raccoons. I woke again to our neighbors’ car alarm then again to the same car alarm. I was a little worried that neither Jack nor I would have the energy for early morning fishing.

At 6:00, I woke Jack so that we could meet our fishing guide at 6:30. He bolted up, asking “is it 6 o’clock?!” I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so excited! We made it to the marina at 6:30 on the dot… then came 6:35… then 6:40… then 7:00… then 7:30. I must have called our guide 100 times before finally giving up and telling Jack that there would be no fishing (after all, I hadn’t brought a pole or gear or any fishing supplies since they were all to be provided). I was sure Jack would be devastated, and he was certainly disappointed, but he took the news a lot better than I anticipated. It helped, I’m sure, that I told him we could visit the wild animal park instead.

We stopped off at the Lake Murray public beach to play for a bit then we made our way to the wild animal park. It was a pretty neat place… the temperature had just dropped by about 25 degrees, so all of the animals were in great spirits, playing and running and jumping. It made for a great experience. As part of our package, we had a guide who showed us all around the park and let us get up close and personal with the animals. We saw lions and tigers and bears… and ligers (a lion breeded with a tiger). Oh, my! Jack loved learning all of the big cats’ names; since each cat is named by a different person, we would see a “JT” followed by “Mufasa” followed by “Larry”. His favorite was Symba.

We capped off our visit by petting a baby tiger. Jack was absolutely fearless, getting in very (very!) close to “see the tiger’s teeth”.

Jack is convinced that our fishing tour guide died (and I’m inclined to think the same thing since it’s been over a month with no returned call and he didn’t dispute our refund request). We prayed for him… we figured that if he wasn’t dead, he must be in the hospital or something. Jack simply could not fathom any other reason “the man wouldn’t call back.” Whatever the reason, we had a ton of fun despite our setback. I am trying to convince Kristin to come next time, but she only wants to go camping if we upgrade our tent to a cabin. It might just have to be a guys-only thing.

A Day Out with Thomas

A few weeks ago, Randy and I took the boys to see Thomas the Train at the Oklahoma Railway Museum. Unfortunately, the day didn't go exactly as planned. Graham woke up not feeling well, so he was a little cranky. We got a flat tire on the way out of the neighborhood and had to switch cars. That made us late so we almost missed our train. Which meant that Jack didn't get a drink of water (he had been desperately wanting one the whole way there), etc. etc. Needless to say, it wasn't the best experience ever. However, we did manage to have some fun. The boys thought it was fun to be on a train and they really loved bouncing in the moon bounce. The Spurgeons met us there and Parker had a wonderful time!! He really loves Thomas and was so excited to be there. I was glad to see someone enjoying the experience!

Graham Counting

I'm very proud that Graham can count to 10! Here is my attempt to get it on video:

Jack: Thoughts on BB

He's Only 20 Months Old?

I remember when Jack turned two and it felt so incredibly strange. It was like I was used to having a baby and now I had a big kid and I didn't really know what to do with him. Graham is a different story. I feel like he's been on the fast track developmentally his whole life so I have kind of thought of him as an aaaaalmost two year old ever since he hit the 18 month mark. The fact that he has grown up so fast has made me appreciate his "baby qualities" even more and I am really trying to savor these last few months of him really being a baby.

The biggest development this month has been in Graham's language/musical abilities. He has added so many new words and even a few phrases to his vocabulary (e.g. "I don't want to.") He is also counting to 10 and can sing numerous songs- ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, God is so Good, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Veggie Tales song, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, He's got the Whole World in His Hands, This Little Light of Mine, the list goes on. A friend heard him singing ABC's and asked me if I had been working on it with him. I'm not sure I would call it that. We do a ton of singing around here and I try to always encourage him to join in, so yes, he's been exposed to these songs over and over again. But, I had no expectation that he would actually be able to sing clearly at this age so I wasn't trying to train him in that way. He just truly loves to sing. That's something he and Jack have in common.

Some other milestones and memories from this month:

- He still loves books and he can "read" books that he has heard over and over again by flipping the pages and reciting the words. He loves books with Elmo the most.

- Speaking of Elmo, Graham is fascinated by Sesame Street and loves all the characters. He likes to do Cookie Monster's voice and he loves saying hi to Elmo. But it seems he has a special place in his heart for Ernie. We were at Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago and Graham saw an Ernie doll and latched onto it immediately. I tried to show him the Bert, Big Bird, Cookie dolls but he was not interested in them. He cried when we had to leave Ernie there. I'm not sure why he loves Ernie so much but it was very sweet! Ernie may have to come home with us at some point, probably at Christmas.

- Jack started back at school this month so Graham and I have more one on one time and we are really enjoying it! One of his favorite things is our play group that meets every other Wednesday. It consists of six of my friends and their kiddos who are all around Graham's age. Such a fun time for him to do what he enjoys and not what Jack enjoys!

- Graham is obsessed with light. He wakes up in the morning and says, "Light!!" and then urges me to take him to the switch so he can turn it on. Everywhere we go, he likes to point out the lights. There happen to be lots of lights in the world, so this can be a never ending thing. "Light! Light! Light, light, light! ...... LIGHT!!"

- Lately when I ask Graham, "Who's boy are you?!!" he likes to tease me by naming off everyone else but me... "BB's! Grandad's! Daddy's! Brubbers!" One time he even said, "Light's!" And then he finally says, "Mommy's!" and gives me a big hug. He really cracks himself up sometimes.

Graham continues to make us laugh with his silliness, and bring joy to us with his sweetness. As Jack would say, "He's our cuuuuute, sweeeet baby!"

Go Go, Go, Go Go Go!

Sweet Boys