Whirlwind

 I've always thought of May as our busy month, but this year June has been non-stop!

(Picture from one of the movies in the park our town does each June.)

 Of course we started with birthdays.

 We had cookouts.

 We went blueberry picking.

 We went to a picnic for our high school reunion.

 Jack in a giant inflatable ball my dad got for Father's Day.

 Alice got her summer reading medal--and that awesome free coupon for the aquarium!

 We went to the movies.

 We went to our town's first Summer Solstice street festival.

 Trying to decide on a dessert...

 Jack went with the sno cone!

 And we've been in the yard a lot--working and playing.

 This sweet message made from minifigures was left on the table.

We've spent the last couple of days babysitting and are hitting the road for a few days, so June is going out with a bang, too!

The Paley Collection

 Monday morning we went to see the Paley Collection at Crystal Bridges.  We got to see works by several artists we have studied!

 Cezanne

 Degas

 Matisse

 Renoir

 Picasso

 Jack found this one that he really liked--Alice said she thought it was because it kind of looked like some of his tie-dyed shirts.

 I thought this one was really pretty.

 For a Monday morning I thought there was a pretty good crowd at the museum.  The collection is there through July 7 and is definitely worth the drive!

 Some of the things in the permanent collection had been changed out and we spotted a new Warhol.  (Or I guess that should be another Warhol since I don't think Andy has made anything new in the last 27 years.)

 We also noticed a different Calder mobile than the one they had on display before.

 We also spent quite a while in the children's room.

 The girls built for a long time.

 While they were building, Jack was writing a story.

FYI:  It's not a trip to Crystal Bridges without a ride in the humongous elevator.

Pauls Valley

 Yesterday morning we left the house around 6:30.  It's amazing how much easier it is to do that when it's light outside!

 We headed back to Pauls Valley, which we visited earlier this year with Jay.

 The old depot has been made into a museum.

 They also have this huge train.

 After I took this picture we walked around to the other side and saw the sign telling you not to climb on the train.  Oops.

 Inside there is all kinds of stuff from the area--not just train memorabilia.  The lady working there told the kids to climb in the buggy and then rolled them back and forth, which they thought was great.

 For lunch we went to the Boomerang Diner, which is next door to the Toy and Action Figure Museum.  I don't think this is what Jack was picturing when he ordered, but he made a fairly good dent in it.

 Alice's meal came in a car!

 Our next stop was Wacker Park.

 I love old parks that have all kinds of equipment!

We wrapped up at the Pauls Valley Water Park.  You can't actually take pictures there, but I did get permission.  It is a fun place to spend the afternoon if you're in the area.  Jack loved the slides and Alice loved the Lazy River.

We got back a little after 7:30--and 362.9 miles.  Our yearly total is up to 3341.1 miles!

Fourteen Years (And More)

 Fourteen years ago today we got married!  We didn't do anything special tonight because we spent the weekend walking down memory lane at our 20 year high school reunion.

 One of the biggest highlights for me was seeing this room.

 

 This is where we first met almost 22 years ago--first hour Honors Chemistry, which I had no business being in and actually cried to the guidance counselor to get out of after a semester.  That's really probably a whole blog post itself, because sometimes when I hear Jay talking over chemistry with Jack I think I still have some unresolved issues about that whole awful time.

 At the end of our senior year (a year in which I took exactly ZERO science classes), we began dating.  Someone recently posted this picture from the graduation after party which I had never seen before.

20 years later we look pretty much nothing like that anymore, but I wouldn't change a thing.  Happy anniversary!

Bug Out (And More!)

 Thursday we took the day off from VBS and headed to Oklahoma City for the Bug Out.

 In the past it has always been held in May, but they moved it to June this year.  Since school kids could come now, it was MUCH more crowded than usual.

 We still had a good time, though!

 I love her expression in this one!

 

 They had some different creepy crawlies you could touch, too.  Neither one of the kids was too sure about this container full of dead tarantulas!

 Climbing the walls!

 

 

 The kids love the Children's Garden, so we spent some time there, too.

 I love this one!

 Cooling off!

 We had lunch at our usual Bricktown spot and fed the ducks afterward.

 We spent a little time at the zoo, too--mostly in the Children's Zoo because we were hot and tired.  The kids love the lorikeets and Jack can always get them to climb on him.

 Alice was very patient and finally got this one to hop on her arm for a bit!

We wrapped up the day with a movie at the park!  It was a long day, but a lot of fun!