Friday, August 27, 2010

4th of July, Other Summer Things, Back to School (out of order, sorry)

So, here's the rest of summer. A little out of order, I know. Sorry.
We traveled to Tulsa's new ONEOK stadium to watch the Drillers play. It rained, we got there late, the kids didn't sit still, but oh well.


We had friends over for our annual 4th of July cookout on the 3rd. Unfortunately, it rained all day and our favorite fireworks in Kiefer, OK were postponed. Everyone still came over and we ate WAAYY too much. Harper G and Ellison in their matching dresses. It's hard to believe there's only 6 months between them. But even crazier that even in two years, it won't matter at all.

The kiddos outfitted for church on 7/4.


We hung out at my parents' house for fireworks. They have a neighbor that spends a small fortune on fireworks and the parking's not nearly as crazy as some of the big shows all over town.

Harper and her "mee-maw". She can say grandma and has done it for a long time but recently switched to "mee-maw" despite our best efforts.


Caleb was cautiously excited about helping Dad with fireworks. At least he's not ready for Roman Candle wars quite yet.


Self-serve frozen yogurt stores are popping up all over town and we are not immune. Our favorite is Peach Wave in West Tulsa. I won't say it's a bribe but we do use it as a reward after three good days of school, for example. It's also an easy dinner, because Caleb fills his bowl to the brim despite my best efforts to control the situation.

Caleb with his Deer Class teachers. He had a FABULOUS YEAR in the 2s and is excited to be moving with one of his teachers to the 3s-5s Wing.


Caleb and Aaron headed to Red River and Eagle Nest, NM and Boise City (Aaron's home town) to see his parents at the end of summer. They took a long weekend and had a blast. We girls stayed home because I was singing a duet at church that Sunday. I told Aaron he was welcome to take both children with him as he drove 20+ hours in a 4 day span but he declined. Wonder why??
The four Waltons (A, C, and A's parents) had a blast. And, quite frankly, they wouldn't have been able to do as much if we were there. They went hiking...


playing...


fishing...


...and tubing down the bunny slope of Red River. They also got to hang out with Aaron's sister and her children, who were there for part of the time.
While the boys were away, Harper Grace spent quite a bit of time with Grandma and G-Dad but had one momentous occasion with mom: her first haircut. While it was really just a trim, Miss Tara still packed up the first lock for Harper's memory box.


The following video is something I will probably look back and laugh at next week, next year, in five years, and in twenty five years. It totally summarized the morning of getting ready for the first day of school. TYPICAL!!


They pulled it together enough to pose on the front porch.


Hugs!


Not sure if either of my children knows how to WALK anywhere.



Caleb and his best buddy Anthony playing in the Purple Class, which will be their home for the next two years. Riverfield begins multi-age classrooms at this age, giving children a chance to follow then lead as they become very comfortable in their environment and with their teachers and classmates. At first, Caleb wasn't sure about being Purple. His preference was green or orange, but they don't have those classes. We are excited to be with his wonderful friends and teachers!


She started out the day quite pretty. And ended up like this: Harper G is a Frog this year, which is what Caleb was for his toddler year too. She has one of the same teachers too. Ellison is also in the class as well as several of Harper's Butterfly friends from last year. The class spent a majority of the summer in the unoccupied Frog class, so this transition was no big deal for Miss Priss.


What you can't really see in this picture is that his forehead and tummy are covered in orange marker. And it was so sweaty outside that his underwear soaked up the running orange color. The heat was also the reason Caleb took off his cute button down and was sporting this undershirt that's a size to small (it hits about 2 inches above his navel). Imagine my joy (horror!) as I jog with my friends past his playground after school and see him with about 5 inches of skin hanging out (his new shorts were a bit too big), yelling "Mom, I colored myself!"


Not to be outdone by her brother, Harper came home from school two days later looking like this. But she's awfully cute with her singing.

Grandma had a coupon for the zoo and we had a free day, so off we went, despite the 100 degree temps. I am not sure what we were thinking but we did have the zoo pretty much to ourselves. Even Caleb, who is usually totally oblivious to the heat, was asking if we we could "take a break in the shade for a little minute." We definitely enjoyed the cool of the covered train.


You can't see it here, but the elephant was super close.

Which brings us to today. The weather has turned cooler (still not at all cold, but much better) and we stopped off at a park in Jenks for awhile this morning.

Hopefully the cooler temps are here to stay. It's hard to train for a run when it's miserably hot outside (our next half is in KC in mid-October, then the Tulsa Run 15k, the the Route 66 1/2 in late November). My group of friends ran a 1/4 marathon a few weeks ago. We had not been training like we should and the heat and humidity were oppressive. Needless to say, we did not set any PRs but it was fun.

So I am now officially caught up. But tonight we're headed to the first Riverfield football game of the season and tomorrow night is a practice cookout for OU tailgating (we have season tix this year!!) so I'm sure more pics will need to be shared soon. But for now - hooray, I'm caught up.

PS= Congrats to my cousin Tiffany and her family, who welcomed baby Jude a few weeks ago. Can't wait to see you all soon!

0 comments: