The Last Day of School

 We've decided to do summer school this year (more on that later) and we've really been in summer mode already with our recent trip, but I am a person who likes to have a start date and an end date, so I decided today would be our official last day of school, even if we will be carrying on.

 The kids had some surprises this morning that I'll share with you soon!

 Tradtional last day of school pictures!

We went to lunch--just like on our first day of school.

 

 This evening we had a picnic dinner and watched a movie and then the kids finished the day with a sleepover.  

We're about to kick things into high gear next week--I hope we're ready!  

Go West! (Part 2)

 Friday morning we started off at Boiling Springs State Park.

 This is a beautiful area!

 We walked some of the trails.  Alice spent most of the walk finding roly polies.

 Jack spotted a deer!

 There is a really neat teepee made of logs on the River Trail.

Alice also enjoyed finding snails in the creek.

 Playing on the park playground

 Our next stop was the Woodward Arts Theatre.

 Jack on the stage!

 On the way to lunch we found a cat sleeping in a store window.  Every time Alice put her hand up to the glass it would rub up against it.

 After lunch we went to the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum.  I got my own guided tour and learned a lot about the history of the area.

 This 25 needle sewing machine is in the museum!

 While I was in the museum, the kids got their own personal tour!

 The museum director showed them how to throw spears.

 Alice threw the spear and the spear holder!

 Our next stop was putt putt at Crystal Beach Park.  We also did the paddle boats, but I don't have a picture of that.

 

 Debbie Hickman is the wonderful tourism director in Woodward and she spent Thursday evening and all Friday showing us around.  She does a fabulous job!

 Also at the park there is a Kiwanis train that the kids enjoyed.

It started raining, but we stayed a while longer!

Saturday morning we went back to the park for a while before the pool opened.

 

 Have I mentioned how much my kids loved this park?

 

 The pool opened a little later than we thought it was going to, so we went and got some lunch for a picnic.

 When the pool did finally open, Jack went straight to touch the water so he could say he was the first customer of the season.

 The water was really cold!  Jack decided it would be best to just go down the slide and get in all at once.

 He was also brave enough to get by the giant bucket.

 Alice finally warmed up in the wading pool and swam some.

 On the way home we passed through the Gloss Mountains.  We didn't stop since Alice was asleep, but we could see people up on top.

It took us almost four hours to get home (including a stop in Enid) and our new total for the year is 2978.5 miles!

Go West!

 Thursday morning we hit the road around 6:15 on a trip out west.

 Our first stop was the Sod House Museum in Aline.  This soddy was built in 1894 and is the only remaining sod house in Oklahoma that was built by an original homesteader.  The museum was actually built around the sod house.

 The kids at the back door of the sod house.

 After the family built a frame house, the sod house was still used for other things.  This picture shows the sod house and a pile of buffalo chips, which was what they used for fuel.

 The cellar that was built later.

 This picture shows a man cutting sod for a house.  Much of what was on the ground was broken sod that couldn't be used, and then when he unloaded it, more pieces would break, so this was a lot of work!

 Our next stop was Little Sahara State Park, near Waynoka.  There are sand dunes there and people bring their ATVs out to ride.

 They just built a new observation deck, so we went up to check that out.

 After that, we went to Alabaster Caverns State Park, near Freedom.

 There are tours every hour at the top of the hour, and we arrived at 1:05, so we had some time to kill!

 At the entrance of the cave--it was so nice and cool down there!

 This is not a limestone cave, so you can touch the rocks.

 It's about 3/4 of a mile through the cave.

 We spotted one little bat!

 At the end of the cave tour we got a ride back to the top.

 The ride was nice, because it was a little warm out there!

 We reached Woodward in the late afternoon and the kids cooled off in the pool.

 We went to dinner and then to the park to play.  I think the park (Crystal Beach Park) was the kids' favorite thing!

On our way back to the hotel, we spotted this sign!

More on our trip is coming soon!