Happy Birthday, Jack!

 This picture pretty much sums up how I feel about the fact that Jack is 10 today.  It seriously seems like he should still be that size.

 Somehow, though, it's been 10 whole years since he was born.  10 years full of laughter and smiles and hugs and cuddles and absolute joy.  I cannot imagine life without this sweet boy that I love so much.

 It only seemed fitting to celebrate a decade of motherhood by being awoken at 4:30 this morning.  Jack had been up since 2:09 reading the third Harry Potter book.  I finally got up at 5:00 and convinced him to try to sleep a little more since he had had less than four hours and he still had a full day ahead of him.

 When he got back up, we surprised him with his gift.

 One happy boy!

 4:30:  He's officially 10!

 The bulk of his day was spent at VBS and playing with cousins, but when he got home, he got to work on his new set.

This evening he worked on his birthday cake for his party tomorrow.

Happy birthday, Jackabooter!  I am so glad you are ours!

Summer Kick Off

 We started our summer break this week with a quick trip up to Bartlesville.

 We spent a little time at the splash pad before dinner.

 Then it was on to the Kiddie Park!  They were the first ones on the roller coaster for the night.

 They rode this thing over and over and over.

 

The kids had played with this little girl at McDonald's earlier and she and her grandma walked around with us at the Kiddie Park.

 Alice liked having someone her size to ride with!

Jack loved the ball toss.  He usually knocked them down on the first ball!

 

 

 You have to get cotton candy!

 And you have to ride the train!  We closed the place down and made it home by 11:00. 

Happy Birthday, Alice!

 How on earth is it that this tiny baby is five years old?!

 I absolutely love this child.  Her opera singing, her creative messes, her love for GodandJesus (you have to say it that way), her (usually) outlandish guesses at every.single.question. her brother is asked for school, her knack for sleepwalking to the weirdest places, her ideas.  All of it.

 She wanted an American Girl doll and was saving her money for one, so she was very excited to get one for her birthday.

 "Did you use my money to buy this?!"

 For her birthday party she requested a pinata.

 And pin the tail on the donkey.

 She also wanted her favorite neighbor to come to the party.

 For her cake, she wanted Angelina Ballerina and she frosted it and decorated it herself!

 3:31 picture:  Hanging out in her (completely wrecked) room with her brother and cousin.

 For dinner, we went to Coney I-lander for cheesy hot dogs and games.

We wrapped it up with The Wizard of Oz in the park!

Happy birthday, sweet girl!  We love you!

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!