Day trippers

In an attempt to get out and keep busy, I did a little research about what Oklahoma has to offer in the way of adventure. My research led to a little day trip to Enid and Jet, OK to go on a little treasure hunt. I think the rising summer temperatures scared off everyone who said they wanted to go with us, so it was just me and the kids and the open road. We followed my "treasure map" to the salt plains where we got muddy digging for selenite crystal treasures. After that we cleaned up a bit and headed back into town (Enid) to meet up with a friend of mine. E was in heaven when he found out he could get a sticker for locating the hidden treasure at Leonardo's Discovery Warehouse. After being in the sun all day we cooled down with some snow cones. Before leaving town we headed over to Meadowlake park where we played until the old amusement rides opened up. We rode the carousel, cars, and planes then headed back to OKC. It was a super fun day, and now I feel like we officially DID Enid, OK. Hot or not, everyone who backed out sure missed some good times.

Passing the time

This summer we've been working hard to not get BORED. Only bad things happen when my kids get BORED. We've gone to some movies, gone swimming, played with friends, taken a couple of field trips (those will have their own posts soon), played a lot of playdough (E insisted I take pictures),
made many wardrobe changes (E always manages to get me to take a picture of him when Miss A is showing off- take note that the pink shirt is size 3 mo. and the shoe is from over a year ago and the Mexican dress is later accessorized by the handcuffs in her hands).


had a couple visits from family-- I NEVER get to see my extended family so it was super exciting when my uncle stopped by with his family ON his birthday. They were driving across the entire country. Fortunately, my AC had been fixed a couple days before after being out for a couple weeks but unfortunately, I couldn't offer a shower since the hot water heater was out. So all I could offer was a meal slapped together thanks to Sam's club and a birthday cake slapped together a little too quickly. And just before my uncle's arrival, E and I had some friends over to have a little science camp. I taught the boys about colors, the visual light spectrum, Roy G. Biv, and shapes, and the boys taught me that I needed to explain exactly what it means to finger paint. Despite the mess, I think we'll have a few more classes -- minus paint of course.

First day of school

I know that this is a random time of year to post such a picture, but Miss A FINALLY (she's been begging all year to go) had her first day of school this month.

If you go out in the woods today...

You're sure of a big surprise...

because today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.
This year for Miss A's birthday we had a small (she still doesn't like huge parties like her mommy and brother) picnic to celebrate.

Although I'd been thinking about what to do for a while, I sort of put it off the actual planning until the last minute. The party would have been a mess and very slapped together if it hadn't been for my older sis J (who very spontaneously decided to drive out from ABQ) and my absolute favorite party designer and friend, Loralee Lewis who was kind enough to design me a whole line of party goods. She is uber-talented! No really. You should HAVE to check her out. Thanks to her little package of fun invites, stickers, ribbon, pennant straws, banner, thank yous, buffet signs, cupcake toppers, etc., and my sister for assembling it all, our little picnic was perfection! I'm not going to even imagine what it would have looked like if these ladies hadn't helped me out. Let's just say it wouldn't have gotten a post. I'm mean take a look at what they did... (I'm not taking any credit for how cute everything was. It was definitely not me).Our friends and their little stuffed friends sat down for a little summer lunch and good conversation. We took a little break to see if we could knock some candy and new fuzzy friends out of our big picnic basket. And of course, we had cupcakes and ice cream. As usual, I was planning on having an actual cake but didn't get around to it. I'm going to blame the sudden onset of an ear infection the night before, but let's be honest, I never pull off everything I plan on doing. One day my kids are actually going to get a cake for their birthday.
The most interesting thing as I was flipping through pictures was that Miss A was only smiling in the ones when she is hanging out with her new favorite friend (or holding a cupcake)Maybe next year I'll just scrap the whole party thing and just have J come over and eat cupcakes with us.
I can't say thank you enough to Loralee for her inspiration and creations. (really people, if you want a simply cute party, shop her collections) Thank you E for helping me plan. Thanks to Br for being supportive, and magically making a cute table and chairs appear on my back porch under a fabulous pergola that wasn't there when I went to bed the night/morning before. Thanks to my bro-in-law for helping make that magic happen and also keeping the guests entertained. Thanks to my mom for cleaning up the mess that was left in the wake of the party and then watching the kids so we could go out later that night. Thanks to my sister J for icing cookies, making bows, sticking stickers, wrapping bottles, assembling hats and making sandwiches, and so much more. Thanks to Miss A for turning 2 and (sort of) letting me throw her a party. And thank you to the people who were kind enough to join us in the celebration. Hmmmm, after all those thank yous I'm not sure what I actually did for the party.

When you're 2

it's amazing how quickly moments like this...can turn to this, and then back again.