Alice's First Dance Class

 Alice's first dance class was today, so last week we went to the dance store and got shoes and tights and leotards.  When she was trying on her shoes, she told me, "This is the most excited I have ever been in my whole wide life!"  She also said she would try to stay calm until class started.

 She also picked out this bag, which she is very excited to carry.  She starts class in her tap shoes and then halfway through she changes to her ballet shoes.

 Ready to start!

 Hanging up her bag--these look kind of stalkerish and some were taken through the window, but I don't feel too crazy since most of the other moms were doing the same thing.

She told me her favorite part of class was the dancing, so I guess that means it was a success!  She has three programs and a big recital at the end and she is already looking forward to dancing on the big stage!

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art

 Last week we took a little road trip to Shawnee.

 We visited the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, which is located on the campus of St. Gregory's University.  They have free admission through the end of August!

 The museum was founded by Father Gregory Gerrer, who collected many of the art in the museum so that the people of Indian Territory who didn't have a chance to travel could still see art from all over the world.

 He was also an artist himself and painted this portrait of Pope Pius X (I think--I could be wrong on that name) and there is a copy that he did that hangs in the Vatican.

 The museum is small, but it has a wide variety of items from different cultures and time periods.  Alice especially liked the mummies!

 A cat mummy!

 June Morning was Alice's favorite painting.

 Trying to look like one of the statues!

 The cabinet of curiosities!  This contains items from all over the world, including shrunken heads!

 The kids worked on making their own landscapes.  You can also download a museum treasure hunt on their website.

 Outside the museum they have a nice little area that the kids enjoyed, too.

 We had lunch at a nearby park (where I didn't take any pictures), and on the way home, we stopped in Jacktown.

Jacktown seems to consist of the convenience store and the fire department, so I guess we hit all the sights to see!

Last Day at the Pool

 Yesterday was the last weekday of the pool season here since public school starts next week.  It's going to get pretty hot next week, so I'm glad we have a membership at the indoor pool!

Last summer Jack spent one of our pool days going down the slide 100 times.  This was his 101st slide of the day--he finally stopped at 115!

Wrapping Up

 Since we've been doing math and geography all summer, we're not starting our regular school year until after Labor Day.  All of the public school start soon, though, so things are starting to close down.  Yesterday we started at the pool, which will only be open one more week.

 After going back and forth about whether or not we should risk possible storms, we decided to head to the Kiddie Park one more time.  I'm so glad we did, because the weather was absolutely perfect!

 The company was good, too!

 And there may have been a lot of sugar involved...

 Jack thought the tiny cars were funny!

Last train ride of the summer!

Camp Week, Part 2

 Thursday started out rainy, too, and what was normally a 15-20 minute drive to the zoo turned into over an hour!

 After class, we went next door to the science museum.  (Obligatory space capsule pic.)

 They have a Lego area!

 Alice was very excited to get back on the spinner.

 After the science museum, we headed to the art museum.

 We went specifically to see the Chihuly exhibit, which was temporarily gone the last time we visited.

 I'm pretty sure we need a ceiling like this in the next house.

 They also have a few other hands on pieces on the third floor.

 We had dinner at Zio's, of course.

 Since the weather cleared up, we took a boat ride!

 (Seen from the boat.)

 We stopped in at the Bricktown Candy Co. and Jack found something he loves!

 Giant lollipops!

 Friday was our last day.  I'm not sure I could do an entire year in the pick up line!

 We went by the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum on our way home.

 We used to go quite a bit when Jack was little, but we haven't been there since Alice was 1!

We had a great time, but it was good to get home!