Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween!

 This year the kids decided to be a vending machine and a candy bag.

 We headed out around 6:30 while it was still light.

 We didn't stop for a group shot until it was dark, though!


 This blurry picture is of the lady who stopped and offered Jack some money for the M&Ms on his costume.  She gave him $2!

 We covered the entire neighborhood and then had some cupcakes.

 After that we went by Jay's sister's house and trick or treated at a few more houses.  Some teenagers stopped Jack and want to buy some things from his costume.  They gave him $5 for two packs of gum!

 The final haul: 215 pieces--more than his bucket would hold, but he thought ahead and brought a pillowcase for extras.

Alice ended up with 163 pieces!

They're already planning what they'll be next year!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Out West (Day 2)

 We started the second day of our trip early.  Jack made himself waffles at the hotel.

 Our first stop was the Heartland of America Museum in Weatherford.

 They have all kinds of neat things there!


 There are lots of displays like you would find at most historical museums, but they did a really good job of providing lots of information on the different items.

 Outside the main building they have several other smaller buildings.

 Elvis stopped at this Porterhouse Diner three different times.

 Jack sat in every seat so he could make sure he sat in the same spot as Elvis!

 They also had a one room schoolhouse.


 Jailbreak!

 After that, we went to the Stafford Air & Space Museum.

 We saw a model of one of Louis Bleriot's planes, which we read about in The Glorious Flight.

 The kids with a big rocket thing--I have its name in my notes somewhere!

 Working at a real control center from the Johnson Space Center.


 It always cracks me up when she sticks her hands out the face hole!


 We stopped at Lucille's for lunch.

 The decor is fun to look at and there are games to play while you wait.

 This was so crazy good!

 On our way home, we stopped by Pumpkinville.

 They had some of the same things the kids enjoyed last year...

 ...and they had some new things, too!


There were all kinds of cool spaces all over the garden!

We ended up getting home at dinner time, 494.7 miles later.  We had a good time, but we were exhausted!

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Weekly Wrap Up (10/25)

 After we got back from camping Sunday, the kids started picking mushrooms.  This is still a favorite thing to do.

 Now Alice is big enough to join in!

 In addition to Alice's dance performance, Monday we went to the children's museum with friends who were out for fall break.

 They had some cool new things!

 After our trip, we hit the ground running Friday with a play of Harold and the Purple Crayon.  It was interesting, to say the least.  When the lights came on, Jack turned and said, "Well, that was questionable."  Yes.  Yes, it was.

 After our co-op Friday afternoon we went to pick up a new to us light table!  I have been pinning all kinds of cool things for us to do with this, so I am excited.  A BIG thank you to my cousin's wife for passing this along to us!!

 Tonight was the Pumpkin Hunt.  Alice was a bag of candy--I have a few adjustments to make to her costume before Halloween, but overall, it worked well.

 It was much more crowded than it was last year!  (Jack followed behind Alice to make sure we got anything that fell off her costume.)

 Cutie patooties!

Afterward we went to dinner!

This has been a crazy busy week and to top it off, I have had no voice since Tuesday afternoon.  I am hoping next week is a bit calmer and that I will be able to speak soon!

Friday, October 24, 2014

Out West (Day 1)

 Wednesday morning we left around 6:30 for a big drive out west.

 We hit I-40 and went to Elk City.

 We visited the National Route 66 Museum.

 Tracing the big Route 66 map...

 ...and there we were!

 In addition to Route 66 stuff, there is also an Old Town Museum.  My kids could probably become tour guides at a place like this after visiting so many!

 One thing that was unique was the rodeo area.  After seeing this, Jack said he finally understood why some people were so scared of clowns!


 A rare quiet moment!

 Driving practice!

 Look out!

 The kids enjoyed watching some trailers at the little drive in.




 We got lunch and went to a nice park across the street from the museum.



 I have no idea why they both still gravitate toward the baby swings.  Alice likes to stand up and try to run and Jack likes to perch on top.

 Next we started back east to Clinton to visit the Route 66 Museum.


 This museum has lots of cool interactive features like this Oregon Trail-type game.


 We met Laurel when we visited Afton Station a couple of years ago and we saw her picture in the museum!  (You can see her post about when we visited here.)


 For dinner we stopped at The Brick on Sixty-Six after a friend recommended it.  (If you visit, it is not in the same building pictured on the link.  I don't have a picture of the outside because it was raining like crazy!)


It was delicious!

More to come on Day 2 of our trip soon!