Wichita Mountain Refuge

People often wonder why in the world we love Oklahoma, well this is one of the many reasons! The Wichita Mountain Refuge is less than 20 minutes outside of Lawton but it feels like a thousand. It is absolutely breathtaking! Sean, Nate and I decided to pack a picnic and go exploring this afternoon. The first stop we made was to one of the lakes. Nate loved it!

Nate really wanted to slide down the waterfall!

The lake had a very rocky terrain and Nate was in heaven!

Climbing all those rocks worked up an appetite. We found a wonderful picnic area (complete with bugs)! Next time I will remember to bring the Off!

After lunch we headed to what we call "prairie dog town". It is a spot off the road that has hundreds of hungry prairie dogs. We timed our arrival perfectly, buffalo were walking across the road to prairie dog town!



They were literally right outside our truck! Amazing!

After admiring the buffalo for awhile, we finally made it to the prairie dogs. Feeding the dogs is by far Nate's favorite thing to do. We brought two bags of their favorite treats, Nutter Butter cookies and they went wild!


I highly recommend this place! It was wonderful to get away and have family bonding time!

Watter Puddles Rock!

One word..........RAIN..........and lots of it. It started raining early this morning and didn't really stop until around noon today. Chicken Little informed the good people of Lawton this evening that we had received over 2 inches of the wet stuff in the last 24 hours. Since thunder and lighting made an appearance with this storm, Nate was forced inside. Spending two hours cooped up inside with a stubborn three-year-old was about all I could handle. So, what’s a mom to do? Call up her mommy friends! We met everyone at Nations of Fun this afternoon and had a fabulous time. Nate and I LOVE spending time with our friends! When it was time to leave, Nate and Aubree had the best idea………puddle jumping! It first started with Nate and Aubree………..
Then morphed into three......

Then three became four....

Of course, four became five...

And finally, five became six...


The kids were soaking wet by the end of it but left extremely happy!

Dallas Trip Part 4 - Jump House

Today was our last day in Dallas. It was a fabulous vacation, but I am so glad to be home! On our way out of town, we decided to take little man to an inflatable jump house. As always, he had a blast!

Poor kid was so exhausted, he didn't even wake up when the officer pulled daddy over for speeding!

Dallas Trip Part 3 - The Dallas Aquarium

On Monday we headed to the Dallas Aquarium. This place is absolutely amazing!

We were in the shark tube during feeding time, Unbelievable!

Just looking at all the amazing animals.

Nate trying to get closer to the flamingos.

LOL!

It was a bit of sensory overload for little man. We only stayed for about two hours (much longer than I thought we would last). We will definitely take him back!

Dallas Trip Part 2 - The Hotel

My wonderful internet surfing husband found us a great deal in downtown Dallas at the Sheridan Suites hotel. Our room was amazing. We had a living room with a pull out bed for Nate, a bedroom for us and a balcony on the 8th floor of the hotel. The hotel also had an indoor heated pool (I think the heater was broken because it was freezing)! As soon as we arrived on Sunday night, Nate was begging to go swimming.

Swimming with dad

Giving daddy kisses

Passed out after an amazing day

Dallas Trip Part 1 - The Circus

On Sunday Sean, Nate and I headed out on our 3 day fun filled vacation to Dallas. Our first stop was in Wichita Falls, Texas to see the Greatest Show on Earth! Since Nate has a problem with loud noises, we were a not quite sure how it was going to go. The night before, I went to Walmart and invested in a $2.00 pack of earplugs. These little suckers are my new best friend! Nate did amazing. He wore the earplugs and a hat (I think it's more of a security blanket for him) and had no problems. Here are some highlights of our time at the circus............

Nate and his earplugs.

Nate's favorite part was the elephants. We had amazing center floor seats (we were in the 2nd row)! When the elephants came out Sean and I were thinking about that episode of When Animals Attack featuring elephants! We were way too close!

Sean and I loved the tigers (so glad they put up the net)! Nate was not too impressed.

Nate was in hog heaven with his loot of junk food!

What a great family outing!

March of Dimes Walk!

On Saturday, Connect the Tots walked as a team in the 2009 March of Dimes, March for Babies. What a wonderful experience for Nate and I. Our team raised over $1300.00 for March of Dimes! Thank you to everyone that contributed to this amazing organization! Here are some pictures of our day............

Joanne and I decided to make shirts and visors for the walk.

A special thanks to Rikki for organizing the walk! She did an amazing job. Our group won the Love Award for the team with the most walkers. Go Connect the Tots!

Joanne, Gavin, Nate and I with our decorated bicycles.

Lindsey and Lily

Nate and I during the walk.

Thanks again to Rikki, our Connect the Tots friends and all of you that donated! FYI, save your pennies, we will be walking again next year!

June Bugs Attack

Every year in Oklahoma we get an onslaught of June bugs. They are nasty flying insects so of course Nate loves them! They have been dive bombing our house regularly but had not made it inside until yesterday. Thankfully Nate scooped it up and took it back outside! These little critters get so bad at times, the storefront walkways are literally covered in a sea of black bugs! Disgusting.

The culprit

Here buggy buggy buggy

Got it!

Look dad I caught it!

Just Between Friends Babysitting

On Thursday night our mommy group had the opportunity to go to a Just Between Friends (JBF) presale event. Sean and I were not interested in going so we decided to host a babysitting service for the evening. Our wonderful friends Diana, her husband Eric and their daughter Aubree came over to help for the evening (and brought yummy pizza too)! We decided too allow up to 15 children to attend, thankfully only 3 showed up. We had a fabulous evening! The kids played outside for awhile, ate pizza and popcorn and watched Finding Nemo. Once again, thanks to the Griggs family for your help!


From the left: Winston, Nate, Jack and Aubree

Nate VS Soccer

Nate loves his soccer team. Unfortunately, he tends to get frustrated because he doesn't play as well as some of the older kids. Practices and game days were becoming a nightmare. Nate would complain that his legs hurt, he was tired or he was hungry, pretty much anything he could think of so he wouldn’t have to participate. Too date, he has not played an entire quarter; usually giving up after the first minute or two (the quarters only last 5 minutes) of the game. Our friends Diana and Eric had the same problem with their daughter (and Nate’s future wife) Aubree. They purchased a soccer net and had her practice with it. Ingenious! We had been working with Nate but only by kicking the ball around the yard. We borrowed my mom’s soccer net and had Nate practice with it. Wow, what a difference! Last night was his first soccer practice since the new “training” began and he did amazing. He actually participated the entire time and is looking forward to tonight’s game! Go Nathan!!!!!!! Thanks to the Griggs family for the wonderful advise!

Lid Rocks!

Today we went to our friend Lid's house for a playdate. We had an amazing time. Nate loved her trampoline, playhouse, swing set and roller coaster. She brought out silly string for the kids but Nate was having none of that!

He cheered right up when she brought out the popsicles!

Here he is patiently standing in line

Grape is now his new favorite flavor!

Lid, thank you so much for having us over today! You are a great hostess and we loved hanging out with you.