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!

A Mother's Bragging

I know, I know... two blog updates in one week. What is the world coming to?? This one's quick. Just two short videos of Caleb and Harper G's newest accomplishments. Enjoy!


Harper has evidently been catching on to the phonics work we've been doing with Caleb. Pretty funny!

We've been studying Jonah church-wide this month. Here's Caleb's first memory verse.

The Beach and the end of summer!!

I will make this quick, since it is 1:45am and you all really just care about the photos anyway.

SUMMER WAS GREAT FOR THE WALTONS!! We had a blast mostly just hanging out around town. The big summer purchase was a Hasty Bake Grill. If you ask Aaron about it, be ready for a 30 minute diatribe about how it's so much more than a grill. All I know is that the food prepared on it is super tasty. We went to a prime steak house in Tulsa last night and, despite the price tag, came home agreeing that Aaron's steaks taste better! Here's Daddy's helper ready to go!

Most of the time, I take the photos around the house. So, imagine my surprise when I downloaded a set of photos and found this along with several similar ones. Yes, this is HG playing with my underwear. It was laundry day and I am hoping for everyone's sake that she found it in the clean pile.

Our dear friends Mike and Kristin came to visit recently. Mike has finished all his med school and they are now back in OK! We are glad they are just a short jaunt down the Turner Turnpike now.

The highlight of our summer was our big family trip to Destin, Florida. There were 17 of us from my dad's side of the family that occupied two great condos in a resort right across the street from the beach. We drove and the kids were great in the car. We borrowed a friend's portable DVD player and didn't have to use it at all on the way down and only watched one movie on the way back. Here's Caleb's reaction to our first walk down to the beach, which was right as we pulled into town.


We pretty much spent all day every day either at the beach or at the pool. At first Harper wasn't sure what to think about all the dirty sand and kept asking me to wipe off her hands and feet. She quickly acclimated and was all about "walking, walking" up and down the beach.


Lots of toys to keep them occupied.

Several times, Harper Grace spent at least 20 minutes just filling up the bucket, dumping it, and starting all over again.

Sandy booty!

G-Dad relaxing, probably after a long and tiresome walk with Caleb to look for shells. We were very fortunate to have NO OIL on the beach or in the water. There was lots of seaweed, but that's way better than oil.


Hanging out under the cabana. Not that she ever stayed still for very long. It was a great trip, but not near as relaxing as the ones we took before we had children!

3 of the 4 of us on the beach. Caleb was playing ladderball with the cousins. Aaron purchased this hat on the trip. I think he really thought it was cool. Hmmm.


Watching the waves.

Bathing Beauties - Aunt Deb, Mom, Me, and HG.


Harper took a nap in her pack-n-play each day, but often enjoyed extending it a bit more as she rested with her G-Dad.

We went to dinner one night and had to check out the temporary tattoo stand. Caleb chose a monster truck. SWEET! Now if only that's the only tattoo that ever graces his body.

Caleb telling some story, totally oblivious to the large heron (crane??) behind him.



Aaron takes his seafood (OK, all food) very seriously!

Photo time - looking precious and not at all ornery.

The Long/Walton/Beauchamp clan.

Silly silly.

Back home, our little mama loves to take care of her babies. We purchased this car seat and she carts it all over the place. Caleb likes to take out the baby and fill it with as many cars as possible. Guess how well that goes over with his sister?!?


Caleb has continued his swimming lessons this summer. Between lessons, a week in Florida, and time in our backyard and friend's pools, he is really improving in the water. Each week on the way to lessons, he chooses a different aquatic animal to swim like. Most times, it's common things like shark or dolphin. Last week it was a blue and yellow striped fish, to match the pajamas he wore the night before.

Earlier in the summer, a group of girlfriends went to a wine tasting class at a local restaurant called Calistoga. This particular lesson was on sparkling wines (do you know you're only supposed to call them champagne if they are from the Champagne region of France?). We had fun (as far as I can remember - ha!) and the culminating event was the sommelier "sabering" the cork off the bottle.

OK, I promise there's more to come - end of summer, first days of school, etc. - and I won't be delinquent about it. Just wanted to get this out there since I've gotten some complaints. Hope all is well with each of you!