Oklahoma Parks

With children, it seems you (and they) are always on the lookout for parks. Grandma had a couple good ones in mind so one day we went to Grandma Ann and Patsy's school and tried out the equipment there. Another day we went to this park near Johnie and Nancy's.

Izzie with her shoes off. If she changes clothes as much as a teenager as she does now we are never going to get anywhere on time. Around the house these days she is constantly taking clothes off and putting new ones on. On the plus side she can almost dress herself - she always gets her Crocs on the proper feet, and 90% of the time she can get her underwear on and off without assistance. (At first she kept putting both her feet into one hole and getting very frustrated when she couldn't pull them up!)

Izzie in the plastic bubble.

Ben conquering the monkey bars. Why is it that these things are so scary now? They weren't that scary when I was the one climbing all over them!

After some hard playing Izzie enjoys a snuggle with Grandma.

Chickens and Cows

One of the highlights of the Oklahoma trip was going to Johnie and Nancy's and feeding Buckethead and the chickens. Buckethead, if you are wondering, is a cow.
Both the kids fed the chickens, and Ben very carefully gathered some eggs.

Buckethead was pretty frisky - he certainly had more energy than any of us in the heat!

Nancy had snacks and sidewalk chalk for the kids to play with. She always has some little surprise that the kids just love. Unforunately I'm still trying to wean Izzie off her habit of eating markers, crayons and chalk.

Later on in the evening Izzie, who will try on anyone's shoes, discovered a pair of boots in the garage - and that provided the rest of the fun for the evening!


Who knew a pair of rubber boots could be so much fun?

And here's our little Cinderella getting her own shoes put back on when the fun had to come to an end.

Oklahoma!

Not long after Julee's visit we left for Oklahoma. We, being Nat and the kids. And yes, I did feel a little guilty going off to have fun with Colin's family while he stayed behind and worked...

The day after we arrived we had a cookout at Patsy and Wingo's. Ben was quite taken with both Shadow and Josie. This one is Shadow, I believe.

Izzie liked the dogs too.

And the porch swing.


Even if she has to share it with Grandpa and Ben.

After dinner we went for a ride in the jeeps though the back pasture to see the cows. A few pesky horseflies kept getting in and we realized Izzie knew how to say bug! Here's Grandma Ann, halfway through the ride indicating that we should be using the radio to communicate. Duh...

On the way back up to the house we saw some people stopped on the side of the road and went to investigate. It turns out there was a turtle stuck in the tar on the road and they were trying to get it out. It took considerable effort but Wingo managed to finally free it. Then I convinced Izzie and Ben to go into the field of flowers (it was so pretty!) so I could take a picture - even though they were hot and tired.


So this is what I got...


Then Ben perked up for about a minute. And both he and Izzie slept well that night!

Word Game

What good is a blog if we can't show off how brilliant our children are, right?

Covered Bridge Festival Part Two

After the funnel cakes were devoured it was time for the ice cream social! One of the local grocery stores provided free ice cream in little plastic cups.

Then we took in some gospel music and danced in the street. Maybe Julee will post a video of Ben and Sam dancing... hint, hint.

It must have been during Julee's visit that Izzie's stroller obsession began.

The kids had fun in a ball pit, but the hit of the day was this little obstacle course. I'm not sure if they were supposed to go through it multiple times. The guy running it didn't specify and since there weren't any other kids waiting in line we just kept sending them through!


Ben had so much fun I took the kids back by myself after Julee and family left and when Colin was working.

I think Jonathan had just as much fun getting rides and kisses from his daddy!