Broken Bow

Nate and I have recently become reformed semi-outdoorsy folk.  Camping and hiking and all that stuff wasn't really up our ally till we had kids.  Now we think it is a fun way to spend family time together.  We've been taking the kids on 'adventures' (as Kenna likes to call them) for a while now.  Mostly it involves hiking trails and parks but the kids get to explore, climb trees, play with sticks and rocks and get filthy.  They love it.

Last weekend we stepped it up a notch and went to Broken Bow, Oklahoma.  It is a state park on a lake that serves as a popular tourist attraction.  We headed up Friday afternoon and met our friends Mike and Cristina and their two kids for the weekend.  We thought about tents but then decided we would save our first overnight in a tent for a place a little closer to home in case it was a disaster.  We rented a nice, secluded cabin on a small pond and had a fabulous weekend!

There were tons of tadpoles and minnows in the pond and Kenna enjoyed watching those.  Callie couldn't throw enough rocks into the water.  She had to sample some before throwing them in.  We spent all of Friday throwing rocks which kept all the kids entertained for hours.  I think they'd have been happy if we'd done nothing else all weekend.
 

We also discovered a small overflow where some baby fish had gotten stuck.  Nate helped Kenna pick them up and put them into a Gatorade bottle.  Kenna wanted to take them home with her but unfortunately most of them started to die off pretty quickly so we threw them all back in the pond where the dead ones became tadpole food.

Since he lives in a house with all girls Nate was really looking forward to dinner so he could build a large, manly fire.  Mike was also happy to play with the fire and the kids got to eat hotdogs and smores for dinner.  The kids ended the night dirty, sticky, tired and oh so happy.
 

 The next day we did some exploring.  There is a little dam in the lake so we drove over there to try to catch some fish.  We had no luck but Callie got to eat half a bag of Doritos while we were helping the big kids so we will call it a success.

 

Near the dam was this little shop where you could rent canoe and paddle boats.  They had sand and a mini golf course to play on.  The kids had fun stacking rocks and playing.  We took them on a canoe ride.  Callie thought it was really cool for 5 minutes.  She dipped her hand over the side and rand it through the water saying “brrr!”.  It was pretty cute.  After that she got grumpy and had to sit on my lap the rest of the ride.  (Side note – she spend the entire trip crying for her koko which I wouldn’t let her take outside so we have gotten rid of it during the day.  Hallelujah!)  Kenna thought it was a fun little ride although we had to keep telling her to hold still so she didn’t tip the canoe.  We saw some turtles sunning themselves and Kenna swears she saw some fish.

 Callie crying for her koko

For lunch we ate at the General Store outside on the covered patio.  It was set against a pretty little mountain with a river flowing past.  It was a beautiful spot there in the woods. 

The highlight of the rest of the trip was a little net Cristina bought.  The kids spent the rest of the trip trying to catch minnows in the pond by our cabin.  They actually managed to catch some although Kenna did fall in.  She wasn’t happy about that.

 

 

 

After naps we went to the big attraction at the park…a horse farm with a train to ride.  It was a fun little train ride, especially when there was lemonade involved.

 

 

 

That night we had an even bigger fire, which the boys were happy about, and more smores.  Kenna and Ava wowed us with their marshmallow baton twirling skills.  Callie decided she wanted to ‘piese’ some more but it was bed time so we coaxed her out of it with marshmallows.

Sunday we had to leave pretty early but not before trying to catch more minnows in the net or letting Callie stick the fishing pole in the water again.  It was a wonderful relaxing trip and now Callie will walk around the house saying “I piese. I piese”.

 

 Callie has grown up a lot over the past couple weeks.  I've had a few 'wow' moments as a mom.  We have a fridge ABC magnet set that sings the ABCs and one day while she was sitting there she started filling in some of the letters.  I was shocked and then felt immediately guilty that I don't sing songs with her like I did with Kenna and that she has to learn that song from a fridge magnet.  I had a similar reaction several days later when something on the iPad was counting to 10 and she filled in the numbers 'six' and 'ten'.  Apparently I need to spend a little more one on one time with her.

 

 Callie loves to use the diapers to change her baby dolls

 Summer is here in Texas.  Callie knows what it sounds like to 'uh lawn mow' and 'uh wee wack'.  When she hears a lawn mower she will say, "uh lawn mow.  Daddy."  Yes, daddy mows the lawn.  Similarly when she see the vacuum she will say, "uh bakoom.  Daddy."  Yes, daddy also vacuums.

 Nate is proud of his garden.  The strawberries and tomatoes and looking good and we're excited to start getting lots of fruit.  The magnolias we planted 2 years ago have grown very well and look great.

 Callie wants to be a big girl and loves to wear other peoples shoes.  When she play dress up she wears just one dress up shoe.  I guess she finds it easier to walk that way?  Anyway, she and Kenna have that same pink pair of crocs and they are Callie's favorite.  If I try to put her in something else she will tell me, "No! uh cock.  Kenna."  Which I've interpreted to mean she wants to wear the same crocs that Kenna has.  I think I must be right because she is happy when I switch the shoes out.

 

Callie is still a huge help with the laundry and whenever she sees clothes she will tell me "uh dess" (dressed) and go and start trying to put them on.  It really doesn't matter what or whose they are.  Mine, Nate's, Kenna's.  Underwear, shirts, bathing suits.  Dirty or clean.  She just loves to get "uh dess".

Busy, Busy, Busy

That is how life has been.  We have crammed a lot in to the last month and it has been a ton of fun!  After a quick turn around from our trip to Missouri we headed up to Lawton, Oklahoma  the next weekend to see Cyle and Athena.  Cyle's parents were kind enough to let us crash there and share their visit.  I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by Lawton.  My only previous experience with Oklahoma has been driving through it on my way between Kentucky and Nevada...and it was all flat farm land.  But Lawton has a mountain range!  They're no Rocky Mountains but they are gorgeous!  Both Cyle and his dad served in the military so we were very close to Fort Sill, which is nestled right in the mountains, and got to spend some time on base.  We were in a very lush area and the breaks in landscape were a welcome change from our flat, treeless Texas life.  I especially enjoyed the visit because it reminded me of growing up in Kentucky.  The area was less populated, the yards had more space and everything was just a bit more country.  I felt right at home.  The girls had a great time running around the Adair's huge yard and got to make some friends too.
We spend Saturday touring.  Cyle and his dad took us on base and showed us around.  It was very interesting and fun for the adults.  The highlight of the base tour for the kids was the small wildlife refuge where they got to see various native pheasants and rodents as well as a fox, a bobcat that tried to pee on Kingston, and a coyote that howled back and forth to Kenna.  Unfortunately, this most awesome attraction was our first stop so the kids began to lose interest after that.  I mean, how do you top a coyote that talks to you?  They hung in there and were great sports though.  We got to see the mountain where Geronimo is supposed to have jumped from while being chased by soldiers, Cyle and Tyler's old houses, a little old church that was the first thing seen by people traveling to the base, the jail where Geronimo was kept, and learn various fun facts about the base.  It was a very nice day and the weather was perfect.

 

 

 

 

 After lunch we headed to the wildlife refuge where we got to see some buffalo from a distance.  Kenna thought they were cows.  We played around at the museum where the highlight for the kids was pressing the buttons and listening to the sounds each native animal made and playing with various bones/skulls from said native animals.  Then we took a drive up Mount...Something.  I can't remember what it was called but it was the highest peak in the Wichita Mountains.  It was very windy up top and Kenna thought it was really funny that she was going to blow away.

 

 

We wrapped up our tour by going to the river walk where you can literally walk right down to the river and swim in it.  Both the girls really wanted to get in but we settled for dipping toes.

That night some friends, Justin and Lisa, came to dinner with their little girls who are just a little older and younger than Kenna.  Kenna was in heaven and now will tell you that she has two best friends named Jenna but only one is her cousin.

We also got to see Mike and Cristina and their family on Sunday where we celebrated Cyle's birthday for the third time that weekend.  I was okay with all the celebrating.  We got ice cream every time.

I always hate leaving.  It's so fun to step out of reality with good friends for a few day.  Callie was so exhausted that she fell asleep within 5 minutes of leaving.  Oh, I should also mention that she also really connected with Cyle's dad for some reason.  She called him 'grandpa' the entire weekend.  I've heard her say that word before but ever since that trip she will find men who resemble him and start yelling "ga-pa" to them.  It's pretty cute.

 Well we had another few day off then we got the Hollands in town for the weekend.  Kenna was so excited to see the girls I thought her head might explode.  Their visit did not disappoint.  The girls kept themselves busy for two days straight.

We'd talked about blowing up the pool and letting them play so at 9:30 on Monday morning they were ready to play in the pool!  While we do live on the surface of the sun it is not full blown summer yet so the morning breezes are still a little chilly.  The girls froze themselves till lunch time when they came inside and changed.

 

 At lunch they decided that they wanted to have a lemonade stand, something Kenna has been begging to do for weeks.  So, Erica and I went to the store and bought supplies.  We set up on the busiest street in our neighborhood where the girls promptly started drinking the lemonade and eating the cookies.  It took us a while to get our first customer and I have now resolved to stop anytime I see a lemonade stand.  The girls didn't seem to mind the slow business.  They waved and danced at every car that went by.  When customers did show up the girls didn't know what to do so the moms poured the lemonade.  They had a great time and I'm glad we could check that off the list.

After more swimming we headed for some delicious BBQ that night.  Callie's favorite was the corn on the cob on a stick which she carried around, walking all over and looking at all the people and decor.  Needless to say she was quite entertaining.  Apparently she was also really tired because when the corn fell off the stick onto the floor she just laid down on her belly and began licking the corn where it had landed.  I put a quick stop to that. 

 

On Tuesday the four oldest girls took their scooters and rode up to the park.  They were so adorable.  They'd get a good quarter of a mile ahead of us then stop, sit on their scooters and wait for us to catch up.  They had fun playing at the park together.  Kenna was devastated when they had to leave that afternoon.  She was also more than a little tired which is a bad combination.  There were a few tears but I'm sure we will see them again soon.  It is wonderful to have so many good friends that you can just pick back up with whenever you see each other.


Nate and the girls managed to pull off a great Mother's Day.  I got breakfast and dinner and even managed to get a decent picture with the girls.  It was great.

 

This weekend we head to Broken Bow, Oklahoma for a weekend of cabin camping.  Kenna is already very worried about whether the wolves will be able to get into our house so you can expect some good pictures and funny stories in the next week or so...

 Inaugural swim in the neighborhood pool.  I put Callie's float on, set her on the steps, turned around for 10 seconds and turned back around to see Callie doggie paddling 2 feet out into the pool, giggling hysterically.  That child has no fear and was a natural in the water.  She just swam right out there.  She thought it was amazing and now she has a new word in her vocabulary...'simmin'

 

 Callie knows when we go running she gets 'narshow' (marshmallow)

 drinking a 'peepee' at target

 Callie's new favorite past time.  Using real diapers and wipes to 'wipe' her babies.