Woolaroc

I promise this is the last post about the trip. I just had too many good pictures to wind all of this into one post. We drove to Bartlesville Oklahoma Saturday evening and stayed in a beautiful hotel that had only been open for five months. I felt like I was the first person to stay in our room, it was quite nice. Wesley actually slept that night from 10 pm until 9 the next morning. Poor kid was bushed from the previous days activities. He really enjoyed staying in the hotels. He thought running around and opening drawers was the bomb.



Sunday morning we headed outside of Bartlesville to see Woolaroc. Woolaroc consists of a museum and wildlife preserve. You drive through the wildlife preserve to get to the museum and other buildings. The museum consists of Native American artifacts and western art. It's a fascinating place if you are ever in northern Oklahoma. In the drive thru wildlife preserve there is a collection of native and exotic species of animals. I was hoping Wesley would find the animals of interest since I held out little hope for the museum. This is what he did as we drove looking at the animals.



I tried my hardest to get him to look out the window but he was more smitten with that book. Obviously two years old is too young for this sort of thing, especially when he's got a zoo at home. There were tons of buffalo, water bison and deer up by the road.



It was pretty neat. They had a nice little petting zoo with the most adorable baby donkey I've ever seen.



Next was the museum. Bringing a toddler into a Native American museum with all sorts of pottery and sculpture wasn't ranking real high on my fun meter but the heat drove us inside. The museum was very interesting and I wish I had more time to look around without all my attention being paid to the youingin. He did all right. Pretty much what to be expected out of a bored-out-of-his-mind toddler. He spent the entire time on the floor on his back pushing himself around with his feet.



It was somewhat embarrassing and I felt like standing 20 feet away and pretending he wasn't my kid. But he wasn't running around being destructive and he wasn't yelling so we let him be. You've gotta pick your battles sometimes and this wasn't worth making a scene over. He didn't "find his voice" until we were leaving and then he discovered the wonderful acoustics of a museum. The security guard was eying us pretty good as we were leaving. Note to self, toddlers + museums = not fun.

My Dad being a goof with Wesley (love this picture)


Woolaroc Museum


Sean taking Wesley up to the lookout tower


Cute kid on a bench


The gang cooling down in the shade

USS Batfish

After visiting the Aquarium Saturday morning we drove to Muskogee Oklahoma to visit the USS Batfish submarine. This is a submarine that was used in World War 2 along with the Korean War and then post war used as a training ship. In 1969 she was retired and was floated up river from New Orleans to Muskogee where she is on display as a permanent war memorial.



I have to admit that I didn't know what to expect when my father mentioned we should all go see this. It didn't sound too appealing, a large metal submarine that you can wander through in late June with it being 98 degrees out. I was thinking we were going to cook inside this big metal oven but was relieved to find that a good majority of the sub was air conditioned. It sure made the difference of quickly running through it versus taking our time and actually looking around. It was also nice for Wesley since it was all decommissioned and he was able to turn knobs and push buttons without negative consequences.

Walking with Papa


Exploring the depths with Dad


Pushing buttons with Aunt Betsy


Running down the corridor of the bunk room


Buttons and knobs.....such fun for a toddler


Around the memorial they also had other various war memorabilia, tanks and missiles along with a random train caboose out front. Wesley, being the train nut he is, thought this was pretty cool.



One of my favorite pictures of the little tyke: typical Wesley...chubby red cheeks and hands full of walnuts

The Aquarium

What a nice weekend we had. First and foremost, Happy Father's Day to all you special Dads out there! Especially my wonderful husband, my Father and my Father-in-law. You guys enrich our lives so much and we are so lucky to have you in them.





We got back this evening from out mini vacation to Oklahoma. It was a weekend packed full of events and we really had a nice time. Saturday we woke up and went to the Oklahoma Aquarium, followed a trip the USS Batfish Submarine. Sunday was a trip to see Woolaroc Ranch. Since I got so many good pictures I'm going to break the weekend up into a few different blog posts over the next few days.

The Oklahoma Aquarium was something I've been wanting to see for about a year and a half now and am thrilled to finally have seen it. Wesley has an Elmo's World where part of the DVD is about fish. In this segment they take a trip to an aquarium and it looked so neat I immediately got online and Googled the closest aquarium to us which happened to be in Oklahoma.

I can say that the experience was sort of lost on Wesley at this age. I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep from the night before (a whopping 6 hours) or lack of food, or just being a two year old but he wasn't very into it. I, on the other hand, thought it was quite interesting. I've always thought fish and sea life was fascinating so this was right up my alley. They had a spectacular shark exhibit as well as an awesome otter habitat that made it worth it. Here are some pictures from the Aquarium.

Sharks!


A big tank of stingrays


Mom and Wesley checking out the fishes


He was so short he couldn't see anything so Wesley was carried through it all


All smiles when he's around Grandma


Grandma and Grandpa


We were thrilled that my sister and her husband came with us as we don't have the opportunity to see them very many times a year. I've mentioned it before but my sister is pregnant as well and due to have a little boy the very end of October. We had to get the "bellies" together for a shot since this will be the only occasion we'll both be preggers at the same time.



Uncle Blake was a big hit with Wesley on this trip. He was always around to make the kid smile or giggle and it sure helped out when Sean and I were running low on energy. Thanks "Blake-not-Bob".

STB (Strange Toddler Behavior)

Wesley and I stayed inside yesterday for a change because of the almost 100 degree weather. I forgot how much it sucks to stay inside all day with a restless toddler. I decided to let him "help" me with the laundry again since I know how much he enjoys it. His new thing is to take all the washcloths out of a load of laundry and pile them up. He then will take all of Dads underwear and pile them on top of the washcloths. Then he picks up this pile and carries it around with him all day. I mean he didn't let this pile of clothes out of his sight. I tried to take some of it away (ie dads underwear) and he had a complete melt down. So this pile of laundry made it with him to the end of the day. He added all of his four pairs of footed summer jammies to it as well and proceeded to throw it all into his crib before he went to bed last night. I went in to check on him before I went to bed and he was curled up sleeping on this rather large pile of clothes. Strange but rather cute.

Fun with the hose

Since I've been on a roll with posting pictures I thought I'd add some more. I was filling up the stock tank for the horses the other evening and Wesley found the running hose as I went to turn it off. Needless to say he was totally fascinated with the concept of running water. By the end of it all he was soaking wet with a giant smile on his face. It's truly the simple things in life that can bring the greatest joy to a child (and in turn, that child's parents).

Heart Walk

My dad emailed me some pictures from the Heart Walk we participated in this past Saturday. I thought I'd share them. There was quite a turn out. Poor Wesley wasn't used to getting up at 7 am so he kept passing out in the wagon the whole morning. They were giving away all sorts of stuff and of course his favorite was the balloons.

Grandpa and Wesley (who is enamored with a balloon)

Wesley didn't know what to think about the clown making balloon animals.

My Mother, Wesley and I getting ready for the walk

Weekend

Wesley has had a pretty busy weekend for a change. Yesterday he and I woke up early to go participate in a Heart Walk. The company my father works for is one of the sponsors so he asked if we wanted to join them, we said sure! It was enjoyable. We loaded Wesley up in his wagon and walked three miles around the local college campus. It was a nice walk and the campus was really beautiful. I, unfortunately, forgot my camera so don't have any picture to post but we did have a nice time and were lucky that the weather cooperated.

Sean has been out chipping more of the piles of walnut limbs every weekend and is making progress slowly but surely. The chipper is working like a champ and chewing up those limbs. I'm so glad we just bought one instead of renting as this would have taken far longer than we had originally thought (doesn't everything?). The pile of mulch is growing rapidly and has become a fun play spot for the youngins. Friday when Alex and Abby were over I got a picture of them playing king of the hill.



This morning I had to get Sean to give Chance a flea bath as he's been quite itchy lately. I'm a firm believer in topical flea treatments and I've treated them several times this season already. The problem is our vet stopped carrying the stuff we like so we tried some new stuff called Vectra and it doesn't work at all. In fact poor Sophie has had some sort of allergic reaction to it and itches and bites the spots where I treated her back. So I'm forced to use flea shampoo until I can treat them again next month with my old stuff. Here is Wesley watching Dad shampoo up Chance. This is the first dog bath Sean has ever given. I normally do it but didn't have any gloves and didn't want the anti-flea chemicals on me.



Wesley has learned how to open and shut the gates on the fence outside. This is proving to not be a good thing since one of the gates he likes to open and shut is the gate to the dog area. If he lets Sophie out when we're not watching her she's likely to take off. We've added some latches to the gates to prevent this but not before he went into the dog area and threw her dog bowl and water dish down on the concrete breaking both last night. Little turkey.



That's about all that's happening around here. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

25 Weeks

All I have to say is that this pregnancy is flying by so fast! I can't believe I only have 15 more weeks until "D Day". Scary! Even though I've gone through labor and delivery once already I have to admit I'm not looking forward to that whole experience again. Luckily it goes fairly fast and there is an end, can't go on forever.....right?

My wedding rings are officially removed and replaced with a large silver band that I used during pregnancy #1. The rings were getting tight from swelling and I thought it was time to bite the bullet and get them off while I still can. The swelling hasn't been too noticeable yet, only right before I go to bed do I feel like there might be some in my feet and occasionally fingers.

I call this stage the "freaky dancing belly stage". It's that time when you sit on the couch and watch the belly move and jive. If you place a cup or remote control on the belly it will move up and down and all around. It's cool. She's a mover and shaker! As I move into the third trimester I find the fatigue returning. It's getting harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning. Some of this is due to being sleepy and some is due to the fact that it's physically difficult to get out of bed. That's about all. I have my gestational diabetes test the visit after next and then I move into every 2 week visits to the doctor. Fun stuff!

Kids say the darndest things

This morning I hauled Wesley to the post office along with a big black trash bag full of sculptures to ship out. We finally get up to the desk and I'm unloading the boxes onto the counter when Wesley tugs on my shorts and quietly says "Mommy I pooping". I look down at him and say "That's great hon, thanks for sharing". He then turns to the line of people behind us and yells "I pooping!!". Greeeeeat. The people in line smiled and a few giggled. He's such a ham.

We are going to see the Oklahoma Aquarium the weekend after next and I've been trying to get Wesley excited about the road trip since it's the only one we'll be taking this summer. So everyday when we're eating lunch I talk to him about how we're going to go see fishies of all sizes and shapes and even see sharks! Then I tell him that we are going to see the fishies with Noni and Papa and Aunt Betsy and Uncle Blake. Throughout the day he'll come up to me and tell me we're going to go see fishies. I ask him who we're going to go see them with and he lists off Noni and Papa and Betsy and Bob. He can't seem to get uncle Blake correct so he calls him "Bob". Sorry Blake, you are now known as Bob.

ABC song

We were goofing around in his room this morning and I video taped him kinda singing his ABC song with me. He wasn't very into it today but he did manage to get about half the letters. He was more interested in being a goof ball.

Conquering slides and scary easter baskets

We had a day with a few "firsts" today. Wesley and I were over at Jessica's house letting the kids play outside and I look over to see Wesley climbing the ladder to the big slide all by himself. This is a first for him, he's a pretty cautious child and doesn't attempt to do much on his own. He didn't seem to need any help so I let him climb it and then he went down the slide by himself. It was great. He had the biggest smile on his face and immediately went over and did it over again about 10 times. The kid sure is growing up. We'll have to buy ourselves a swing set with a slide sometime.

Then we get home and I prepare to put him down in his crib for his nap. He always goes in the crib awake and happy and eventually goes to sleep after about 10-15 minutes. He's got a few toys in there that he plays with until he goes to sleep. Today he just wouldn't stop crying. I sometimes just let him cry it out for awhile and then he calms down and goes to sleep. Today there was just "something" to the way he was sobbing so I went in his room to find that he had put his head through the handle on his Elmo easter basket and it was stuck around his neck. The sucker was wedged so tight I could hardly get it back over his head. I finally did get it off and all was well again. He fills up this easter basket with his big lego toys and takes it everywhere, including his crib. Well, not anymore. Note to self, no more easter baskets in bed.

Here are some cute pictures taken over the past two days of Sean reading to Wesley. The kid is in heaven with the new Sesame Street board books I found at garage sales this past weekend. Note the bike helmet, he'll just wear it around the house. I was telling Sean that he reminds me of the character "Dark Helmet" in the movie Spaceballs.

Rootin Tootin Cowboy

Wesley's second birthday is in about a month and I've been brainstorming lately concerning it. I can already tell that the second birthday is going to be much more enjoyable for the kid than the first. We've already been talking about it and hyping it to try and get him excited. This past week I ordered his birthday present online. I should probably give you some background information so it doesn't seem weird. Wesley's new obsession is the wild wild west. We have an Elmo's World that centers around the wild west and cowboys and the kid loves it. No, that's an understatement. He's crazy about it. He sings the Wild Wild West song all the time. We all sing the Wild Wild West song at the dinner table. In fact I sing it in the shower. You get the idea. So when he watches this particular DVD he sits on the couch with his cowboy hat on (excuse me, his wild wild west hat). I figured the kid needed some cowboy boots to complete the ensemble. So I ordered these precious little gems.

They are tiny little leather size 8 toddler boots. Of course I went on eBay first to try and find some used ones since he'll grow out of them in 2.4 seconds but even the used ones were going for $15 plus shipping. I figured ten more bucks and I can get new ones. The kid is going to freak out. I can't wait for him to open them up on his birthday.
This naturally lead me to start thinking about what theme I want to do his birthday in and, duh, it's gotta be a cowboy theme! Who knew there were all sorts of wild west themed birthday stuff for kids? Well, there are. I know he's young and this will probably be lost on him but it sure gives me something fun to plan. The only other kids that will be there are Jessica's two (which are his best buds anyways) so I thought I'd make some cute cowboy vests with bandanas and straw cowboy hats for them to run around in. I'll do a cowboy cake and get some cute plates and we'll have a yee haw good time.

Hat Man Jack

I went out and did the garage sale thing again this morning. This is definitely the last time this season. I'm officially burnt out on garage sales. Actually I'm burnt out on filling my already full house any fuller with other people's junk. I did make out like a bandit in the book department. I found at least 20+ new books that he's gonna love. That alone would have made the trip worth it but I also found other junk stuff. Wesley has this strange love of hats. Any hat, or even things that aren't hats but can be worn on the head, become near and dear to him. He had quite the hat collection before today but now he's got a massive collection. I asked him to model his hats for me today and I thought I'd share. We didn't get them all because he got timed of the trying on hat game pretty quick.

His new bike helmet

Fireman Wesley

His sun hat, won't leave the house without it

Wild wild west hat

Construction worker hat

Safari hat

Don't you just love his "smile for the camera" look?

In this last picture you can see his battle wounds from the other day. We had our first big "ouchie". He was trying to step out of his sandbox and tripped and face planted on the cement. He didn't put his little hands out in front of him so his face took the full brunt. His nose was bleeding all over, his chin was bleeding with sand embedded in the cuts and above his mouth was all scraped. It was pretty bad. He looks a lot better now but his face is still healing. Luckily he didn't knock out any teeth! Sean says "chicks dig scars" so he'll be ok. :)

Friday Fun

I like Fridays. I'm sure I'm one of many. Fridays always make me happy because my husband will be home for the weekend and we do enjoy hanging out as a family. Today Wesley and I have been going through this large cedar chest in our bedroom that is stuffed full of baby boy clothes. It is so stuffed full that the outgrown 18 month clothing has started piling up next to it since I haven't a clue what to do with it all. Last week I got on eBay and purchased some Space Bags in hopes that I can stuff all these tiny clothes into them and store them away. If you aren't familiar with Space Bags they are big sealed bags that you place garments and/or bedding into and then use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air, leaving you with a squished bag about a third (or less) of the original size. I got three X-large bags, each bag can hold a queen size comforter and two pillows. We'll see if three of them can take care of this (and the chest is still about a third full):



Tonight we are taking my Mother out to our favorite rib joint to celebrate her belated birthday. They were in Colorado for her actual Birthday and this is the first chance to take them out. Happy belated Birthday Mom! I even made the delicious Cookie Cake Pie that I mentioned here for her birthday cake (or pie or whatever it is). I changed up the recipe by using an Oreo graham cracker crust, with chocolate chip cookie dough and then a double chocolate cake mix for the cake. It is frosted with chocolate lovers frosting. Let's just say it looks pretty tasty sitting there in my fridge, I hope it makes it to tonight.
Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Just Random Stuff

Since I'm having such an uneventful week I thought I'd just share some random things that are happening around here.


• Yes, my week is so slow that I'm going to talk about the cat for a moment. She has been an exclusively outdoor cat for about 6 months now and seems to enjoy it. Her new favorite game is to play in the sprinkler. I have a sprinkler set up on the new baby grass where the pool used to be and I go out there and turn on the water once a day for a thorough watering. The second that water goes on she runs over there and chases the water around. She gets pretty wet in the process. Silly cat.
  
  
  


• I was outside cleaning the koi pond water pump that supplies the waterfall when to my surprise I see baby goldfish in the filter box. The adult fish haven't been in the pond for even a month and there are already baby fish. They are still little brown fish, they won't get their colors for awhile but soon there will be tiny little darting orange fishies everywhere. Very cool.



• In my time off I sculpt and sell the sculptures on eBay. Before Wesley was born it was a fairly lucrative business and it allowed me to work from home which has worked out well with the transition to being an at home Mom. Since Wesley was born I've only been able to sculpt during his two hour nap and after he goes to bed at 9:30 pm. Naturally it has taken my income down quite a bit but I've been really working hard over the past year to get it back up to where I want it to be and I'm happy to report that as of last month I've become an eBay Power Seller again. This might not mean much to anyone but it means that I'm consistently selling a certain amount of sculptures a month and bringing in a steady amount of money. It feels good to be contributing to our household again. I know once Skittle"ette" comes this September it will go back down but it brings me hope that I'll be back here again someday.



• Wesley has been saying his ABC's pretty good lately. He'll sing the ABC song and get about 75% of them and he's doing a good job of identifying about 12 of the letters on sight. It's funny because we'll be sitting around the dinner table and he'll just burst into song. He still counts everything in sight as well and he's taken to stacking as well. Today in the grocery cart he sat in the front seat and stacked my can goods all around him. He'd get about 5 cans high before they'd fall everywhere.



• My little garden is really exploding. I didn't want to plant a big garden this year since I have no desire to be outside watering and weeding this August while being 30 weeks pregnant. No thank you. So I compromised and planted a few already started seedlings around the koi pond. I just planted three tomato plants, a watermelon plant, some cucumbers, a zucchini plant and some random herbs (Mmmm cilantro). It seems early but I've already got four little green tomatoes growing.
  
  
  Watermelon
  
  Zucchini
  
  
  
• I know I wrote awhile back that we think we finalized a baby name, yeah that's not the case. I swear I change my mind every two weeks now. I think the kid will be named whatever I have decided on in the two week span that she's born. I did find this rather fascinating website about baby names that I like to just play around with. You just type in the name you are interested in and it does the rest. Try it out.

Seriously.

I'm trying to decide if I want to dedicate a few pounds of "baby" fat to this delicious looking treat. Oh drool.....Check out the recipe.

The Cookie Cake Pie

Dancing Fools

There really isn't much happening around here lately. Certainly nothing important to blog about. We spend our days either outside in the sandbox, going for wagon rides, play dates with Jessica and her youngins or inside playing.

Here is a cute video of Wesley, Alex and Abby dancing. They sure do enjoy getting together and some days I feel I'd go insane without play dates to keep the kid happy. Thank you Jessica.