Saturday, October 22, 2011
Our Little Pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch
A trip to the pumpkin patch every October has become a tradition for our family and some great friends. We love to get the kids together and let them enjoy the hay ride, pony ride, petting zoo, and hay maze, and pick out some pumpkins to carve as well. For the past few years, we have gone to the same patch, called Parkhurst, but this year we decided to try a new one, Chester's. We had lots of fun, but I think we prefer Parkhurst and will probably go back in the future. I missed the tire swings, big bails of hay to climb on, and better photo ops that Parkhurst offers. However, the kiddos had a blast and we loved watching them play together and have fun. It is sweet to see our little group grow as new siblings are added each year. We've gone from three kids the first year, to four the second, and now six! How many will there be next year???
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Going Wild
We really did go wild this morning with a trip to the zoo! Jack's school and Graham's MDO were having fall break so we wanted to enjoy our special day together and have fun. We met up with Jack's "goodest friend," Austin and his sweet little girlfriend, Lydia, along with all the younger siblings. We were quite a crew and I really think you could have called the place a zoo just by having 10 of us in there!
Jack and Austin most enjoyed "the cave," which is the part of the children's zoo that looks like, well, a cave. It has a big slide and places to climb up and down so they burned lots of energy there.
Graham's favorite part was "DONKEYS!!!!" which were actually goats, but no matter how many times I reminded him of that, he still insisted that they were donkeys. And he squealed with delight as he ran amongst them, petting them and attempting to feed them hay.
Steven and Michael seemed to enjoy the playground the most, and it seemed that the most fun activity of all was to simply run back and forth the big play toy!
Lydia really liked seeing the baby tiger cubs, which I also thought were super cute. She kept wondering why the mommy tiger was hiding.
I think Sophia's favorite part of the day was riding in my car on the way to lunch. Jack wanted to ride with Austin so we switched and she was fascinated with his sunglasses and Sally.
All in all, such a fun day! Beautiful weather and good friends; can't beat that!
Jack and Austin most enjoyed "the cave," which is the part of the children's zoo that looks like, well, a cave. It has a big slide and places to climb up and down so they burned lots of energy there.
Graham's favorite part was "DONKEYS!!!!" which were actually goats, but no matter how many times I reminded him of that, he still insisted that they were donkeys. And he squealed with delight as he ran amongst them, petting them and attempting to feed them hay.
Steven and Michael seemed to enjoy the playground the most, and it seemed that the most fun activity of all was to simply run back and forth the big play toy!
Lydia really liked seeing the baby tiger cubs, which I also thought were super cute. She kept wondering why the mommy tiger was hiding.
I think Sophia's favorite part of the day was riding in my car on the way to lunch. Jack wanted to ride with Austin so we switched and she was fascinated with his sunglasses and Sally.
All in all, such a fun day! Beautiful weather and good friends; can't beat that!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
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.
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!
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