Keeping Up with the Big Boys

Last Saturday some friends of Ben's from church came over for the day. They're 4 and almost 6 and have a lot of energy! Izzie spent the day running after all three of the boys. The scrape by her eye is from when she tripped pulling the wagon. Since she was holding onto the handle she didn't get her hands out in time to catch herself and her face took the brunt of her fall.
In the afternoon we headed over to a birthday party where there was more climbing and running and sliding down a fire pole... and it was really, really, hot. By the time we left Izzie and Ben were both exhausted, and unfortunately, so filthy I couldn't put them to bed without giving them a bath first. But boy did they sleep well!

A few more from Oklahoma

One evening we went out in the Jeeps to see the cows and see if we could spot some deer. Yellow flowers (buttercups?) were blooming all over the field and I "happened" to have my camera with me. I couldn't help but ask to stop and take some pictures with them. I tried to resist, I really did, but it was too pretty.

You can see that I got some good eye contact in this one.

If you've ever gotten too close to a gosling and had the mother hiss at you, then you might know the sound Izzie is making in this picture.

Well, that's a little better...

That's the one we were waiting for!

Poteau Bluegrass Festival

While we were in Oklahoma we spent a pleasant Saturday morning at the Poteau Bluegrass Festival. It was cold and rainy when we started out, but it turned out to be perfect weather. The day included a tour of an old hotel the historical society was restoring. There was also an old-fashioned shoot-out for which we had front-road seats.

Johnie entered his car in the show.

It was seriously so shiny I had to wait for the sun to go behind the clouds to take pictures - there was just too much reflection!

Ben, checking out the interior. (See what I mean by reflection?)

Half of the gang. Wade had thoughtfully brought some Hotwheels to give Ben and Ben was delighted. In this picture you also see the infamous stroller which earned the prestigious award of "best stroller." The award turned out to be a youth t-shirt from several festivals ago.

We all ate festival food. Ben and Izzie had gigantic corndogs... although I think I ate most of Izzie's for her. To give you an idea of the size of them, Ben had already eaten approximately one third of his by the time I took this picture. In addition to Izzie's surplus, I had my first "Indian Taco." This turns out to be a taco with Indian flatbread instead of... um, what is a taco actually supposed to be served in? A tortilla? A taco shell? You get the picture.

Some of us went on a short train ride. (Short meaning both the length of the ride and the length of the train.) Others, like Izzie, suddenly panicked and decided they didn't want to go after all.

Katie? Patsy? I know how I managed to not be in any of these pictures, but how did you?

More from Oklahoma

The nice thing about visiting Oklahoma is that there are so many relatives in one spot! We went to visit Johnie and Nancy and took a little walk to see the baby chicks. The bread was supposed to be for the chickens, but they weren't the only ones who liked it.

Then we got out bubbles and sidewalk chalk. You can't ask for more fun than that.

Although sweeping... now that's real fun! Izzie was seriously attached to this broom. She wanted to take it home with her even after Grandma Ann assured Izzie that she had a broom at her house Izzie could sweep with!