Weekend Getaway: Sightseeing

After leaving the family reunion Sunday morning we decided to spend a little bit of time together with just the four of us. Summer is such a busy time for Joel, so he needed a break and we needed some time with him! On the way out of Texas we stopped at Cabela's. I had never even heard of this store until we visited our friends in Arizona last year and Daniel took Joel to the one there. Joel told me it was better than Bass Pro Shop, so I was excited to get to visit one and so were the girls. They loved it. We didn't buy anything but we enjoyed seeing all of the different wildlife they had on display there.

Entrance

Huge Moose

Leopard (one of my favorites)

Rhino & Zebras

Lily, Daddy & Zora with the elephant!

Hyenas (these give me the creeps!)

Artic animals

I loved the forest room. The scenes were beautiful and peaceful and the animals looked so graceful.

After leaving Cabela's we drove to Norman and got a hotel for the night. We swam in the pool until it closed and then slept in a little the next morning and caught the complimentary breakfast just before it closed! Then we headed off to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History on the OU campus. It was our lucky day because it is FREE admission if you go on the first Monday of each month! We didn't know that going in, but we sure appreciated that!

There were many wonderful things to see there. We explored the dinosaur bones, the Chocolate display, the hall of Natural Wonders, the Oklahoma People room, and so much more! The only section we completely AVOIDED in the museum was Evolution. In all honesty, my only complaint about this museum is that all commentary in the museum was from the scientific view-point of evolution and there was NOTHING about Creation. While my kids thoroughly enjoyed all the sights and activities, I was very glad that they had no interest in stopping to read in depth about the things there. So, now off my soap box and on to a few fun pictures...

Look at the skull on this thing!!!

Two of the largest dinosaurs in the museum

This elephant statue was huge and the girls wanted to pretend like they were getting squished

An up-close getting-ready-to-be-squished pic

This section of the museum was very interesting. There were many Native American artifacts and the history there was abundant.

The girls sitting in a canoe

With the buffalo

The girls really enjoyed seeing - and TOUCHING - the skins of different animals and trying to guess what animal it once had been.
I think Zora and I enjoyed the Chocolate display the most because the history there was familiar to her from some of our history and geography lessons from last year. However, I couldn't take any pictures in that area of the museum because it was not allowed.

All in all I would recommend this museum - it is relatively cheap admission (and FREE on the first Monday of each month) - BUT if you believe in Creationism - as we do - then don't take the time to read all of the commentary.

Weekend Getaway: Family Reunion

Last weekend we enjoyed a nice little get-away to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for a family reunion. We gathered with my mom's side of the family for a day full of fun and lots of delicious food!

Pool time

Mike and Jamie having a man-to-man

My cousin Micah with his son baby Micah

Zora with cousin Erin

Daddy & Lily

Zora, Paige, Theresa & Fred doing drawings for door prizes

My brother and hubby :-)

Uncle Jack and my step-dad singing together

We're not sure who invited this guy, but he showed up ready to party. I'm not sure what kind of spider this is, but he looked like an octopus up-close and he was about 5 inches long. Too big and scary for me!

Joel & Lily playing Wahoo with cousins Cynthia, Greg and Jill

Beautiful sunset from the balcony of my cousin's home

Although the reunion was at my cousin Theresa's home, we slept at my cousin Cynthia's house. She is such a gracious and FUN hostess! She made us some yummy chocolate chip pancakes and she loved to spoil my girls just a little. On the morning we left she let the girls each take their favorite sea shell out of her collection as a little souvenir.

Thank you Mike and Cynthia having us in your home!!!

And I also want to say a big thank you to Fred & Theresa for hosting the family reunion at their beautiful home and for the wonderful food. We had a memorable and sweet time with family!

Together With Friends

This summer we've had so many great times with friends. We are truly blessed with many great friends. We have so many friends from church, playgroup and our homeschool T.I.E. group that we've really enjoyed playing with. I haven't been able to get pics at every playdate, but here are a few that I managed to get the kids still enough for a few seconds...

We truly miss the Voss family who now lives in Arizona, but we were excited that they got to visit us back in June.

Noah, Zora, Eva & Lily

Lily, Emma & Zora at the bowling alley

Lily, Mark & Zora at Mark's house. Thanks for the swimming playdate!

Zora, Addie & Lily at the bowling alley

On our recent trip to Texas for a family reunion we also took time to visit some other friends who we miss very much, the Cutsinger family. I met Kendra and Joshua at a library storytime and they became regulars at our playgroup. Soon after little Micah was born. We got to be great friends and then they moved to Texas. It was such a blessing to go to their home.

Joshua, Zora, Micah & Lily listening to Kendra read a Miss Nelson book

We've had so many other great playdates and we don't want to leave anyone out... we had another special visit from some far-away friends who live in Georgia, Reed and Pierce (we'll see you again soon in a few weeks!); a splash pad playdate with cousin, Ty; a swimming playdate with Kylan and Kynlee; a fun playdate with Hollyn, Myli and Alexa; playdates with Aub and Levi, and several fun get-togethers with playdate and our T.I.E. group. Thanks to all of our wonderful friends for making our summer so memorable and fun!

Skiatook Lake

A couple of weeks ago we had a great little weekend getaway trip with the Fielden family. We took a trip with them to Skiatook Lake and had a day of fun we'll never forget!

Here are the girls all geared up and ready to go on the boat ride

Jennifer and Me

Daddy swimming in the lake with the girls

Daddy takes the girls for a ride... they LOVED that thing!

Isn't this precious? Three tiny hineys sunbathing on the intertube :-)

Each of the girls got their turn driving the boat when we were out in the middle of the lake with no one else around.

Lily driving - doesn't she look cool?

Addie driving

Zora driving

We also all took our turns tubing behind the boat (except for Jennifer because she is expecting!) We had so much fun - adults and kids alike.

Zora & Trev

Lily & Trev

Addie & Me

Lily with Daddy

Zora with Daddy

In the background you can barely see Trev & Addie taking their turn, but I couldn't resist this picture of my girls. It was nearing the end of the day and they were getting tired.

When we weren't driving around, tubing or riding on sea-dos we had a lot of fun just swimming in the water. The girls loved jumping off the side of the boat.

Lily jumps in!

Zora jumps in!

Jasmine Moran Museum

We recently took another visit to the much loved Jasmine Moran Museum, but this time we went with our friends from playgroup! Here are some pics of our visit...

Zora & Lily teaching
students: Emma, Hollyn & Myli

In the room learning about living with disabilities

Lily's favorite room... Car mechanics

Zora's favorite room... the baby unit at the "hospital"

Drawing in the sand

Here is something new they've added since last time we went. It was a tornado tunnel that allowed the children to experience winds up to 75 mph. I got in there with them once and it really takes your breath away!!!

Of course we had to visit the bubble room.

Driving the fire truck. Don't you love Lily's pig nose pressed against the glass?

Lily checks Zora out at the "grocery store"

Lily in the dentist chair. Open wide!

Junie B. Jones Tour

In case you don't know about Junie B. Jones, she is a character in a series of books written by Barbara Park. She has a hilarious personality and a very funny viewpoint in life. In the beginning of the series she is a kindergartner and as the series progresses it follows her through the elementary school years.

Zora absolutely LOVES reading Junie B. Jones books. The only thing I don't like about Junie B. is that she has a major attitude problem and sometimes says words we don't use - like stupid or dumb, etc. I allow Zora to read the books, anyhow, and we just have to talk about not doing the unkind things that Junie B. sometimes does.

Now to the point of this post... The Junie B. Jones Stupid Smelly Bus Tour only went to a few select cities in the nation and our city was one of them!!! It was at one of our Barnes & Noble Bookstores. They had the actual Stupid Smelly Bus parked outside the store and then a short little show featuring Junie B. and the bus driver inside the store.

Zora and Lily in front of the Stupid Smelly Bus

Making bracelets waiting for the show to start

The girls in a sea of little people waiting for the show to start

Whoever plays the actual character in these little shows is absolutely hilarious. I honestly think she was funnier than some of the books. The girls got a seat close enough that they could see really well. I think all the kids enjoyed it. Just look at their faces. Can you find Zora & Lily???
When the show was over Junie B. was available to sign her books, but the line was VERY long and when I asked them if they wanted to wait they said NO. We settled instead for a picture with the backdrop. :-)