Fun with Grammy and Poppa

Grammy and Katie duke it out on the bumper cars at Mr. Gatti's.

My sweet, dear Momma. She is always up for fun with the grandkids. And she has deep pockets filled with tokens! Tokens she shared with Katie and Jackson today. Collin and Matt spent the day playing golf.

Kate likes to sit in the front seat of this roller coaster (she doesn't like me to call it the "little" roller coaster because it's big and fast).

Jackson enjoyed another ride on the train.

Jackson and Katie show off their dance moves which I'm certain they have inherited from their father.

And I so sad to say that I did not get a photo of my parents and the kiddos. :( Until next time Grammy and Poppa...

West Texas Outfitters

Well - I honestly don't know what I've done to create the layout of pictures but I cannot fix it it seems. I thought I would have Matt blog about the WTO but after the last post...but I'm too scared.

The WTO started out with 7 young couple friends in the ate 1970s in Post, TX. They had young children or were having their children. The husbands liked to hunt together. The families took vacations together (hunting, hiking, fishing vacations).

And what I believe started out as a practical joke, helped form and define the group's name. Matt's dad, AKA Charles AKA Pops (to our kids), printed out some business cards for the West Texas Outfitters and put another dad's name on the card along with his business telephone number (he was the president of the bank in Post) advertising their services as hunting guides...The West Texas Outfitters. Well, this other dad Ronald really did get calls to set up trips to go hunting but he was really confused about why people were calling the bank and asking for him. And the name stuck. Well, over the years couples have moved away, had more babies, had highs and lows as most families and friends do but they always kept in touch. And this year, 2011, they decided to get all their kids and their kids kids together for a reunion. We met at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas. There were 86 people at this reunion and not everyone could make it!! Apparently this group is pretty fertile.

Above - Katie tries to figure out if this cowboy is really a statue in the lobby of the Texan.

The view of the lobby from our room. Jackson napped...I read. Everyone else enjoyed the "water park" AKA the pool with a slide and lazy river.

The Help is an excellent book! I highly recommend!

Our worship service on location at the Texan.

I love this girl for many, many reasons and one of this is that she stops to smell the "roses", something I should always make time to do.

Jackson's 2nd momma pushing him around the lobby.

After we had said our goodbyes and were an hour+ down the road to my parents house in near Abilene, TX, we discovered that I must have left Jackson's special blankie in the parking lot of the hotel (where I changed his diaper before we left). This is a irreplacable special blankie!! Quilted by my Mom, but he always sleeps with it! So we called friends still at the reunion asking them to look for special blankie but I just decided we needed to drive back and look for it.

Right where I left it. Whew!! We had a great time visiting with all the friends and families at the reunion. More Texas pictures to come...

Do Turtles Play Leapfrog?

Since I (Matt) had charge of the children for most of the day, I thought I might take over the blog as well. Alyssa has been asking me to be a guest blogger for some time, but she probably didn't want this as my debut post. I know it looks like your average family trip to the OKC Zoo, but it was much more educational...and hotter than usual.

Even these Red Pandas would have turned another shade of red if they could see what was happening at "Island Life."

I knew what was happening even before my eyes beheld this scene. I take the kids to the zoo a lot (lack of creativity) so I've seen and heard this before. As we rounded the corner outside I heard the familiar "Urgh" in a deep tone only a 500 lbs tortoise could make. Alyssa and I actually have experienced this before. That is, we've seen turtles teach about the birds and bees in another zoo, but those turtles were small, nothing like the shell shock of these giants.

The first time I witnessed the tortoise tango so many questions came to mind:

How often does this happen? Do they wonder if this is a normal amount? Was this already planned or spontaneous? Had the male done something especially sweet, like complementing her shell, or had she just run out of excuses and was guilted into it? And how long was this to last? Although I violated their privacy as a wildlife papparazzi for a few minutes, I don't know when it started or how much longer it went on. I'm inclined to be impressed by their endurance, but I guess since they're turtles time is relative. For all I know this was a quickie. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to witness two sloths in the throws of passion to get a better comparison.

Since they were along the rail I got a close up view from where the boy in the picture above was standing. From here we could encourage or shame the couple as needed. Of course, one has to be careful with this kind of photography, not only because there are several signs warning that "We May Bite," but because kids are sure to ask their own questions. I could only distract them so long with, "Kids, look at the beautiful flamingos! Did you know they are pink because of the shrimp they eat. Oh look, here's a peacock. He must have eaten a rainbow." Eventually you have to answer some tough questions. This time I got by with the explanation that "turtles aren't very good at leap frog."

In summary, I recommend taking the kids to the zoo even if it's 108 degrees. There are some dangers, but warnings are everywhere. "We May Bite" should probably be expanded to include "We May Give You a Show You'll Never Forget and Force You To Have Conversations You're Not Ready To Have With Your Children." Despite this, when you're heading for the zoo, don't think "Uhhh," think "Argh."

Macklenburg Splashground

I'd like to call this post "Let's Explore Oklahoma, Part 3" but again...Matt was not with us and it doesn't count. Collin, Katie and Jackson loved this place and so did I.

You know what's about to happen don't you??

Jackson finally warmed up to getting into the water on purpose.

To my local readers: Come to Memorial Road Playgroup. It's a great way to meet new people and break out of your "holy huddle" (phrase borrowed from a friend). The kids love playing, the moms love talking. It's very fun.

Note to self for scrapbooking purposes: Matt came here with Collin and Katie in summer 2010. Jackson and I were supposed to meet up with them after his doctor's appointment. I remember calling Matt about 10 and saying I was going to be late...that the Dr. wanted to check on "one more thing". Well, the one more thing I was not aware of was that Jackson only had 88% oxygen in his lungs and that people need 98-99%. When they finally let me in on the big secret, they then told me there was nothing else they could do for Jackson and to take him straight to the ER. The DR. office would call ahead to tell them we were on our way. To say I was stunned is an understatement. Our only guess to what had happened was that Jackson had eaten some cheerios during Bible class. Probably a lot of cheerios (which at this point in his life was totally normal). And that during the night it affected his breathing. I was taking him to the After Hours dr that Thursday morning (my pediatrician is off on Thursdays) to have him check this strange cough that Jackson had had since Bible class Wednesday night. Looking back - he was breathing hard. But in my mind on that day, I thought Jackson would get checked up and I would meet Matt and the kids at the splashground later. Several hours in the ER, 4 breathing treatments, a chest x-ray, a shot of steroids and many tears later (for both of us), we were sent home with a "something is really bothering his system" diagnosis. One month later we would learn that Jackson had food allergies.

Let's Explore Oklahoma, Part 2

Here we are at the Sam Noble Museum of Natual History. We met our good friends out here for a day of fun and discovery.

Collin and friends listening intently to the museum intern.

Jackson loved digging around for dinosaur bones.

Here he is dressed up for bone digging. A stranger at the museum asked me where I got my "Indiana Jones infant wear." That made me laugh.

Indiana and Miss Indiana

Four starts to the museum! A must see! Small factoid that you might want to know: This museum houses the largest dinosaur skeleton skull found intact and this is recorded in the Guiness Book of World Records. The University of Oklahoma actually had this giant skull in storage for over 50 years when I guess they decided to unpack and found the treasure!! I believe it was located right next to the Ark of the Covenant :).

"Ka-prise! We are headed to the circus!"

When Katie was 3 years old she said surprise "kaprise". Well, Matt "kaprised" us with tickets to Opening Night at the circus!

Not just ANY old circus...but the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus - the greatest show on Earth!

Matt dropped me off at the curb to go pick up the tickets while he went to park and some picketers were on the corner. They called me a bad name... and then said I was an elephant murderer and told me to go get myself a coloring book. I'm not really sure what the 3 things they said to me have in common - but I kept thinking that maybe I didn't hear them correctly. Maybe they said, "Don't fall in that hole! You'll love the elephants! Buy your kids coloring books." Yes...I'm sure that is what they meant to say. Really - I don't know what the story is with the coloring books. But we enjoyed our first circus as a family.

When I was 9 and my sister was 6 we went to the circus in Abilene. If you paid $2 extra you got to RIDE the elephants. I rode one. My sister was too scared. I was actually VERY scared when I got on one. They had a bucket-type seat where 4 people could sit. I held on so tightly. I probably had not thought about this event from my childhood for almost 20 years. But it was fun and funny to tell my kids. I've ridden an elephant.

Never a dull moment when my sister is around

My sister and her kiddos came to stay with us the week of VBS. Any time a friend comes over, Collin and Katie love to make "mouse cookies" - a little snack Collin learned how to make at Sonshine School in the Jungle Animals class.

Chubba got to snack on some yummy Rice Chex cereal! At least he doesn't know what he's missing, right?

This is the first year in 8 years that I did not volunteer to work at VBS. I must admit...it was kinda thrilling to drop my older 2 off and then walk out of the church building. My sister and I had our whole 2 1/2 hours planned out each day. Day 1: Mall; Day 2: Different Mall; Day 3: Target. Someone at Mall #1 asked me if I had TWINS!! Do these 2 look like twins?? Jackson is 19 months and Greyson is 5 months!

So after Wednesday night church my sister's van wouldn't start. We had a whole crew of people working on whatever the issues were. And then our wonderful 2nd cousin took my sister to purchase a new battery and even installed it for her! Thank you cousin Kevin! :)

Matt got to participate in the skit one morning. He was old Eli the high priest. And our dear friend's youngest boy was young Samuel. A teary moment for me was seeing Matt lead young Samuel off away from his mom.

Collin, Katie and cousin Chandler

All of the Bowden cousins - Collin, Jackson, Katie, Chandler and Greyson. We always have lots of fun when my sister and I get together. It really is never a dull moment. And considering how much my sister and I used to fight with each other when we were small, I am so glad that now as adults we really do like each other and like being together. Until next time...