It's just me, Mommyfried!

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 12

2010-08-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

We left Pensacola early in the morning. We were hoping to make it to our next stop by lunch. Can you tell where we had lunch? We made it to New Orleans! The last time we were here was before Hurricane Katrina did her damage. While we were looking for a place to park we drove around and around and around the historic French Quarter. While it is the same it is still very different. Maybe it is just my romantic notions of the French Quarter or the new sheet rock in the stores. Maybe it is that I liked the way the walls had that worn tea stain looks to them, I am just not sure. I think Katrina has taken something more away and I just can't put my finger on it. The French Quarter is still very much alive with its atmosphere.

That poor donkey. I think every time we stopped he was thinking our little red car was a juicy apple to try and take a bite out of. Several times he was all the way up by the back passenger window before he would stop. I think we may still have tongue prints on the window.

We had every intent on eating in the French Quarter but our appetite and the parking situation dictated otherwise. Finally after we had all had enough of the narrow streets and traffic we decided just to find a place to eat, any place. So since my dream of having the kids try real creole jambalaya were vanishing quickly we settled on a Popeye's. Hey, at least they had red beans and rice. I know not nearly quite the same but it just had to do because I think we may have turned into cannibals if we would have had to wait much longer.

Over lunch we all discussed our future vacation plans and wishes. I think we were all getting a little road weary. So the decision was made to make a push to just get home. So from that point on the only stops we made were basically gas and potty stops.

This was the view we saw just before we reached Shreveport. Isn't that gorgeous! So in one days time we crossed from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and home to Oklahoma. We pulled into home about 2am. What a long drive that was. It made some of us act a little sillier than normal but we made it.

We dragged in the necessities and called it a night. What a great trip. I hope my children have and keep as many cherished memories as I will.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 11

2010-07-26T17:14:00.001-07:00

This day was set to mostly a drive day. After all it is along way up the inside Gulf side of Florida. We started our morning in Spring Hill, Florida. While I was checking out I asked the concierge where the closest beach was to where we were staying. Given the oil spill I wanted just one last chance to see a clean beach. We either got the directions wrong or were just gifted and only found this little water side city park. This doesn't quite measure to a sandy beach. We were pleased with the view just not what we were expecting.

We headed north up I-98. Which is pretty much what we expected little bit of scenery and a whole lot of road. One eventful thing did happen. We were in some small town and the road came to a standstill. Next thing we know we police helicopters flying overhead as well as police going the wrong way on the other side of the median. Not sure what was going on I chose to start scanning for local radio stations and see if by chance we could learn anything. We got lucky on about the 3rd station. Turns out that at the next stop light in front of us (about 1/3 mile) there had been a shooting. Scary! We were just stuck there. The DJ said that he had been in his booth about 10 minutes when this all went down. Get this the radio station was at this intersection. Bless his heart he was so excited. About every 45 seconds he would mention that the north bound traffic was stopped but the south bound was still moving (yeah we kind of got that). I guess the angels were watching out for us because on the radio the local police stated live that this was a random shooting. Some guy just walked up to a car at the red light and shot. Did I point out that we were only about 1/3 a mile from this. That was a little to close for comfort. Anyway the police kept the north bound lanes at a stand still until they did their investigation. We sat there maybe 30 - 45 minutes before they let the traffic move. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful and long.

Finally we were able to start heading west. We made one of our stops at Panama City Beach. This did turn out to be our last chance to see clean Gulf waters. Look at that picture of hubs doesn't he look good. We took the opportunity to let the kids try and spend the last of their vacation money at Ron Jon's Surf shop. It was funny to watch them. They ended up getting nothing with their money. They were disappointed when mom and dad would not use our money for their stuff. The best part is less petty junk at home and they really haven't missed it.

Out side of Panama City Beach we saw many beach front properties. I thought these two little cuties encompass what I think of when I think beach front home.

This was a long driving day with a few well placed rest stops. I was sad to see the end was coming. I think we were all starting to feel like it was time to get back home.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 10

2010-07-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

This image. This is the image I want to remember the most from our vacation. We woke up early this morning so that we could arrive on Sanibel Island as the sun was rising. Walking on the beach and exploring what the Gulf waters have to offer. Sanibel is one of our nations national natural treasures. The deposits of shells seem to be never ending. Given that the heat always gets to my son I knew the only way we would all enjoy this was as the sun rose and I was not disappointed.

The kids each completely filled their buckets. One thing that my son was quick to point out is that the beach here isn't as soft as the others we had been to. He also realized that it is because there are so many more shells here than were on all of the other beaches we visited combined.

While walking along the water I spotted this. A horse shoe crab coming in, in the surf.

I don't think the kids had ever seen one and even if they had never where they could touch it. Unfortunately it was no longer living but what a neat thing for these Okies to get to experience.

Sanibel has a lighthouse as well. This was our second lighthouse on this road trip.

After finishing our morning beach walk we went to the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

This was the closest we have been able to get to the mangroves. I can not help but wonder how the early settlers must have struggled to navigate these. The root systems are so intense.

This Blue Huron (I think and very well could be wrong) really did let us get this close. My daughter was just inches away when it finally decided to take off.

Our next stop was for a snack. I never realized just how fun ice cream cones could be. The heat and humidity were high so the cones were melting at a time warped speed. Can you guess who made the biggest mess.

Dad, he had the ice cream all the way down his hands and arm. The laughter that was brought on by the melting ice cream will be unforgetable.

Next we headed back into Fort Meyers. I had also been really looking forward to taking the kids to the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford Winter Estates Museum. By this time in the day we were more than ready for an air conditioned experience. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures inside because we were to busy doing our self guided tour. While the kids did enjoy it I am not so sure they realized just how much these two gentlemen have contributed to our modern day comforts. Maybe we will get lucky and when they study about them in school they will remember seeing some of this stuff first hand.

I did manage to get a picture of the banyan tree that was outside the museum. The kids were amazed that this was just one tree. I didn't even get the whole thing in the picture it is quite large. I was not so impressed to learn that the local birds really enjoy the fruit from said banyan tree. I didn't even know the banyan tree produced a fig like fruit. The local feathered friends left us that lesson on our car.

This day was so worth the extra drive and time on the trip. I think all of us have the memories of a life time from it.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 9

2010-07-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

This was to be our last day in Jacksonville Beach. Our sweet little cutie and her momma rode their bike over to our hotel to say good bye. I sure do miss them. They stayed visiting for about an hour when we decided to have one last memory together. We chose to walk the pier and boardwalk together. I am so glad we did it was so hard to say good bye. These two people are such precious treasures in my life. I don't know if they will ever know just how much they mean to me. While I love E his girls have my heart. After a nice stroll and some excessive tourist shopping we said our final good byes.

Our goal was the long way to Fort Meyers for the night and see a few things along the way.

This chain link in St. Augustine got all of our attention. How unique is that. Hubby and I have decided that we will make this one of our future destination cities because so much there caught our eye that we would like to explore.

One of our goals was to get our son close enough to the launch pad so that he could see a space shuttle. There was not enough time to visit NASA on this trip so this was as close as he got. If you look just on the left at the distant shore line you can see two of the launch pads. Unfortunately I think it was impossible to tell if the shuttle was at or on either one of them.

We made it passed Coco Beach to land hear. I Dream Of Jeannie LN. Yes, this place really does exist and it is a public beach that is named for the show I Dream of Jeannie. A fun note was this was the same place I had stopped last time in Florida while heading to A and E's wedding. Strange how life pulls us in the same directions sometimes.

We took the kids on the nature boardwalk trail just to stretch a bit. I think this is the same picture that was taken last time I was hear although it isn't as green or maybe it us just the boards are a little more weathered.

The nature walked ended up being more of a reptile walk. We saw more lizards here than anywhere else on our adventure. This is just a few that stayed still long enough for me to snap a photo.

By the time we left it felt as though even the sea wheat was waving us a sad good bye. As it was the last time we were on an Atlantic beach on this trip.

Somewhere on our quest to see the space shuttle we came across this. We don't see these in Oklahoma. Can you guess?

No it is not a train crossing.

It is a draw bridge! We were the first in line! It was pretty exciting for us. I won't bore you with all the sequential pics I took but for us this was pretty entertaining and a nice distraction while driving.

Finally we were able to at least see a space shuttle even though it was not on the launch pad. We tried to find a place to park without any success. So this was the best we could get while we kept on making time.

Now who can go to Florida and not see anything Disney. If you can do that you must just be blind and even then I think Mr. Walt has some way of letting you know they are there.

We did make it to Fort Meyers in the late evening so that we could get up early the next morning. Because it was one of the days I was so looking forward to showing and spending with my kids.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 8

2010-07-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

We started our morning off with the continental breakfast at our hotel The Palms Retro. I think I have mentioned how much I loved this place. Look at this room they have created for breakfasts. Notice the patriotic balloons. They even decorated the court yard for the holiday as well. It is those little personal touches that I adored about this place. They even provided one of the better continentals that we experienced on this trip. BTW don't you just love the girls expression she is always such a delight in the mornings. hehe

After breakfast hubby and I decided to take a morning walk. We let the kids watch what ever Nick toon or Disney what not they wanted while hubby and I went for the walk. It was only fair since we ditched cable a year ago the only time they get their fix is when they are somewhere else, and it is a vacation after all. Look at that beach sunrise, breath taking. One of the things that I noticed is how in the morning it is people fishing and then as the day gets going that is when the swimmers and surfers take over. What a beautiful 4th this was going to be.

We were walking along heading back to the hotel by all the beach front gift shops and eateries when this evil looking turtle enticed hubby to come and sit on its lap. Look out honey I think he is going to ninja slap you into his knee. Who needs the kids for goofy tourist pics when the hubs will do. (snicker, snicker)

After her afternoon nap we spent most of the evening with this little cutie and her momma and daddy. Has anyone ever noticed just how fast a toddler can move. Out of the 50 or so pics I took of her this is the only one that is somewhat in focus. She had a blast playing with that box. Her momma and daddy were nice enough to hold a small get together for the 4th. E did some grillin and A did the rest. She made one of the best dips I have had. I had to use a whole lot of restraint from grabbing the bowl and yelling "MINE, MINE it is all MINE." Her skills in the kitchen have come a long way since she the day she tried to burn my kitchen down by mistake.

As the evening progressed we watched a party just down the block get disbursed by the police. Now this was some party. It was a corner house with a swimming pool in the back. They had removed several fence panels to allow people access. They rented several of those blow up party things like a slide and obstacle course. I bet there were at least 100+ people there. I also bet that at least 70 arrived there via beach bike. While all the action was entertaining I guess the police thought it was to much.

As the evening got later our little cutie needed to crash for the night. It was still pretty early maybe 8ish.. We took the opportunity to head back to our hotel.

Seeing that our hotel was so close to the beach we had prime parking and walked to the beach for the fire works. Let me just say WOW! We entered the beach by life guard tower. The large two story house to the north was having a huge party. Their sound system was plenty loud enough that we were able to enjoy it a good distance along the beach. Once on the beach I have never seen so many people in one location setting of fire works in my life. We saw everything going off both directions. It came to a point that my daughter and I stood in the water about knee deep and just watched. Everything from sparklers to huge in the air displays. Ooooooo Aaaaahhh. We probably stayed a couple of hours watching the never ending sights. An interesting event was that the house with the party was shooting off HUGE air displays off of their balcony. A small miss fire and there was a fire. Do you think it stopped anything? No. They put out the fire and kept shooting off more. I couldn't believe it. I wish I had taken pictures but I just plain forgot. It was all so fascinating. Around 9ish the Jacksonville Beach Pier shot off the city fireworks. They were great and when that was over the private individuals didn't miss a beat and set off more. It was nothing but fireworks as far as the eye could see both directions. What an awesome way to spend the 4th.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 7

2010-07-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

We woke up to one of the most beautiful sunrises this morning. I wish I was a better photographer because this picture just doesn't do it justice.

We hit the road and finally crossed over into the sunny state of Florida!

We stayed at the cutest hotel on Jacksonville Beach The Palms Retro. If you are headed their way this is the place to stay. Their web site is www.palmsretro.com. I don't like to use this blog for publicity but I absolutely L-O-V-E-D this place. It is one of the old type beach hotels. One story tall and in a U shape with a court yard. I think they only have about 10 or 12 rooms. They were considerably more affordable than the large beach hotels. It is family owned and they have an on site manager. To say this place was cute just isn't enough. When we drove up this places screamed 50's beach party. From the turquoise and pink paint to the decorations in each room. Talk about finding a gem. Bonus is that since it is an older hotel our room actually had room. We weren't tripping on each other to walk to the bathroom or the door. The hospitality is wonderful. They had a small fridge with bottled cold water waiting for us and it wasn't for an additional charge! They had a nice coffee maker not like the ones in the pricey hotels (even though we don't drink coffee I noticed). We had a microwave as well as they provided microwave popcorn! Given that we are a family of four traveling it was really nice to have four large bath towels in the bathroom. I don't get why the other hotels think that four people only need two bath towels.

We stayed in the room called the "The Tube" and it was just adorable. If you notice they even had a retro alarm clock on the night stand. They had coffee table books about the 50's tv shows. They even provided two retro DVDs. I know one was I Love Lucy can not remember the other one. The murals on the walls were perfect. Did you notice the head boards. I loved this room. I did not get a picture but even the light switch in the bathroom had Lucille Ball on it. Such personality in every corner where you looked.

Another bonus is they are an easy walk to the beach. Even better the place you enter the beach is where the main life guard tower is for that stretch of beach.

One of the most important reasons for this road trip was this beautiful little girl. She is my cousin's daughter and a piece of my heart. This was the first time I was able to visit her since her birth a year ago. Thank God she has been able to come to Oklahoma for me to meet her. Just look at all those curls. She has as big of a personality as Lucille Ball herself. Maybe that is why her daddy is Puerto Rican. Love you E. I wish she were closer so I could watch her. What a joy she is.

While we were visiting we were let in on a secret. If my family is seeing this the following picture is the only hint you will get from me.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 6

2010-07-18T14:47:00.000-07:00

Images like these with moss covering the trees will always remind me of the south more specifically Georgia. This was one of only two stops where we stayed more than one night.

Our first adventure for the day was heading to St. Simons Lighthouse. It is on Simons Island which is one of the many barrier islands for Georgia. I believe this was a first time for all of our family to go in a light house.

Yes, kids that is 129 spiral steps up to the top and we are going! The other thing this picture shows is just how thick the base of the wall is to the lighthouse.

Every one of those steps were worth it. If you look closely you can see THREE dolphin dorsal fins in this picture. I have never seen so many dolphins in the wild in my life. What an experience.

After we made it back down to the ground the kids had started climbing and inspecting a cannon. Wait a cannon, boy get your head out of there. I am sure his sister would have shot it off if she could.

Next we found these stairs that lead strait into the Atlantic ocean. Why I am not sure but this was our first chance to get our toes wet in the ocean on our trip. We probably had a little too much fun on these stairs.

For our next stop we headed over to Jekyll Island which was pretty close to Simons. There we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Rescue. What a treat! The little turtle below was named Amy and she was just begging to be photographed. She was in the educational side of the building. This is also where they have a treatment room with a glass wall so you can watch as they give medical care to the rescued sea turtles.

Just so you don't think they only help the little ones this next picture is of Erika and she was huge! She was being kept in the medical side. The Rescue's main goal is to get these sea turtles healthy and then release them back in the wild.

Our next stop was still on Jekyll Island and it was mainly for the kids. We stopped at a water park called Summer Waves. It was your typical water park with kiddie area, slides, lazy river, wave pool and what not. The best part for mom and dad was that after 3pm it was only about $10 each to get in. The kids had a great time even though my daughter is now swearing off on ever getting on a water slide again. We will see about that.

Next, BEACH! Given that we were already on an island we didn't have to go far to find one. I just loved the board walk path here. So pretty.

This was the first time my kids had been to the ocean in 6 years. I know they have been in wave pools but that really doesn't compare.

Of course they played in the sand as well. My son couldn't wait to try and start building a sand castle. He is going into middle school and he still can play like a kid. That makes this momma happy.

After our long and stressful (not) day we headed back to our hotel. The kids got one last treat, Dip n Dots. I think that finished it for them they were in paradise!

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 5

2010-07-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

We started day 5 by heading into South Carolina. The main goal here was to grab a couple of caches so that I can say "Been there done that." Then we headed back to Savannah, Georgia.

Our next stop I could hardly contain myself. Does the saying "everything is better with butter" give you a hint. We went to Paula Deen's Lady and Son's restaurant. Hehe I felt like a kid in the candy store. We made it in time for their lunch seating. We were there by 11:15 and we were not able to be seated until 2:30! They don't take reservations until you show up to get your name on the list. That was a long wait but oh so worth it.

We spent our 3 hours of waiting walking around historic Savannah. Playing the role of tourist.

We walked along the boardwalk on the cobblestone road. Let me tell you I have a new respect for our earlier ancestors. I was in somewhat comfy shoes and I had difficulty. I can only imagine back in the day when this was a "good" road. I had to watch every step for fear of twisting my ankle.

Let me tell you for this girl the 3 hour wait was so worth it. When we were seated we were taken to the third floor of the restaurant. Oh my, I have never been to a restaurant that serves on three floors before. Each place setting had a large doily. How fun.

We were handed menus so that a decision could be made. It didn't take long to figure out that we couldn't decide on just one item each. Paula was already prepared for that. They also have a buffet. I really was wanting to order off the menu but when I looked at the buffet they had several of the things that we were wanting to try. So we all ended up with the buffet. I can now say that I have had the BEST mashed potatoes in this universe! They were to die for. Now normally I am not a big macaroni and cheese fan but let me tell you. I could live on her macaroni and cheese. The funny part about this is on my first time through the line I only got about one or two bites of each of these because I wanted to try some of everything. Then on my second plate it was all mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese, baby. I was in heaven looking at the pearly gates.

When you order the buffet it also comes with one dessert. We had three to choose from.

Three of us chose the Chocolate Gooey Butter Cakes and one chose the banana pudding. My thoughts how can you eat at Paula Deen's and not have something with the word gooey in it. Guess which one I had. They were both yummy. We even had a window that we could look out next to our table and this was the view.

Now normally I wouldn't include this and my family is making fun of me about the following picture. Just let me explain. I choose to believe that Paula must have had her hand even on the design of the bathrooms.

A couple of things to notice. One there is a rug by the toilet. Have you ever seen one in a public bathroom before. Two the toilet paper is on its own little stand. Do you hear the angels singing. I have personally come to the conclusion that men don't get it and that they are the ones that install those industrial monster size toilet paper dispensers. I am sorry but when one of those is installed at the same level as the toilet and you are in a cramped stall a lady just can not take care of business properly. So along with everything else that I adored about this restaurant the bathroom gets EXTRA star ratings from this gal. Thank you Paula.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 4

2010-07-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

Day 4 of our vacation started out extremely early. I think we all woke up about 4am and decided to just get the day going. We managed to find the worst hotel of our entire trip and I don't think any of us rested well. I guess when you travel that is the chance you take. Anyway the day started by us making our way to Georgia. As I said we started the day early so the sun was just starting to come out and this is the best we could get from the Welcome to Georgia Center. What says Georgia more than a big giant neon peach.

We visited "The World of Coke" at the Olympic Park in Atlanta. This was such a fun stop. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. They did this place right. If you can just imagine a Disney experience done by Coke you probably can imagine this. The staff are just as bubbly and friendly as at Disney but they are excited about Coke. This took a bit for me to get used to. We really did have a good time.

We were lucky enough to get in on one of the last few days of the FIFA World Cup display. I had no idea there was a FIFA mascot but of course there was and of course we were able to purchase the cheesy picture taken with said mascot. That is a picture that will stay in the sanctity of our home.

There was more Coke memorabilia than you could shake a stick at. I guess the hubby got a new girlfriend while we were there.

They had all of these large Coke bottles decorated. They were gorgeous! I guess they do these all the time for special occasions and what not. The amount of detailing in some of them was just breath taking.

They had more to offer and see. There was a movie room where you sit in what appear to be regular movie theater seats but these are like the ones that rival any theme park. They move and vibrate and mist you through out the ride/movie. There was another theater that was showing past Coke commercials as well as ones from other countries. They had an art gallery as well. There is also a small working botteling facility where you are guided through the entire process. I can honestly say that I have been schooled at The World of Coke.

The best and probably favorite part of the experience is the sampling room. They have I guess about 8 different stations with soda fountain dispensers containing Coke products from all around the world. Of course they offer our normal American Coke options but what fun is that when you can sample as many or as few as much or as little as you want of the foreign varieties.. Some were definitely not my thing but then there were these which were a few of my favorites.

I think I may have drank more soda that day than in the last six months combined. Several restroom stops later we made our way to another hotel for the night. Where we had some much needed rest in a nice clean, quiet and safer hotel.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 3

2010-07-15T02:33:00.000-07:00

This was a good day from the start. It started with our very own Elvis sighting. Yes, folks the worlds wonder can now be resolved Elvis is alive and well and he was delivering muffins and other yummies to our hotel that we had just checked out of. Some things in life are just to rich to not include on your vacation memories.

Next we were headed back to Tennessee. On this leg of the trip is where we noticed how the agriculture had changed. Back in Oklahoma it is the waving wheat but we noticed here it is the corn. We saw farm after farm after farm of corn fields. We also saw them spraying the fields from air planes. I was to busy watching and forgot to get a picture of that. Evidently these fields needed the spray too. I think this was about my 6th attempt at the above photo. In every one someone is slapping or jumping at or from a bug.

Our next stop was one of my favorites from our entire trip. We stopped at Falls Mill in Belvidere, TN. Let me just say if you are ever any where near here it is a must stop and see. This is a working grain mill and museum. The museum by no means done up fancy like the city ones but is more like a family has taken the time to preserve history and make it a learning experience for those who want to know. When we first arrived we were greeted by a really nice lady. We paid only $12 for admission and the tour. We were seated to watch a brief little video of history about the mill. Then we were briefly shown around the mill and left to our own devices. As you walk through the mill there are wheels and straps moving just about everywhere. I believe we were told that the wheel provides all of the electricity for the mill. Once again I was to busy watching to take enough pictures. I missed getting one of the grinding stones. On this day they were making corn meal and grits. They also grind wheat on other days. I was just as fascinated as the kids on this one. The operator took as much time as you wanted to explain and show you the process, incredible. Of course they sell there product in their small gift shop and of course we bought some. Once again it seemed very affordable for a souvenir. They use no preservatives at all and all of it is ground fresh there on site.

Obviously this is at the top of the wheel. We were amazed that the gate that was open to let the water run was only lifted an inch or two and it was enough water to make that huge wheel turn.

This to me was one of the most unique machines they had there. It was a butter churn but not just your normal one. One operated by the family dog! On the right is a treadmill for your canine to walk on. Then as your dog walked it the wheels and pulleys would shake the churning part (the part that makes the butter) of the machine. How ingenious is that! I think the guide said at the time this could even have been ordered from the Sears catalog.

As you can probably imagine while getting to the mill we traveled through a lot of back country roads to get there. This picture was taken at a building that nature is in the process of reclaiming. We just thought it was special.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 2

2010-07-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

We started off day two of our journey grabbing a special geocache in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. GC26ERF for my geocaching friends.

While wondering through this quaint town we found this pharmacy. I could not resist making a photo opp out of it. I loved the old sign and the name of the store was perfect for the subject.

While wondering through Arkansas we stumbled across this sign. Hubby and I were laughing so hard we just had to make a U turn for the pic. Wouldn't you just hate to have been Herman. Nothing like getting to explain adolescent humor to your kids.

Next we crossed our first state line for the day. We made it to Memphis, TN. That is hubby and I on the Memphis side of the Mississippi River with the bridge that shows the state line in the background.

I loved this mosaic egg in front of the visitor's center.

You can not mention Memphis and not think Elvis. This wasn't our last time to see Elvis on this trip. I know she is doing a disco move but hey it was before her time and she was having fun.

Next we crossed another state line. Can you guess where we went? It made this boy pretty happy.

We went to Kentucky! And the crowd roared! This was one of my son's wishes for his summer vacation. He wanted KFC in Kentucky. Given our planned route this was a pretty easy wish to grant. After all I can only hope that his future wishes are so easy to acquire.

Don't let that expression fool you. He was happy to be there.

We went ahead and spent the night there in Kentucky. This was a day where we spent a lot of time driving in the car. We wanted to make sure that the long days of driving were at the beginning of our trip so that we could really enjoy the rest.

I RAN!

2010-07-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

Here is the scene. I am sitting at home getting things back together after our previous vacation when the phone rings. It is my friend in and from a small town and she is telling me how her husband has been watching this tweet thing about droidlanding. She tells me how her husband has been watching this very closely and was disappointed that it was due to land while they were at an even farther away small town Dr. appointment. He said it would be great that if he couldn't win it if one of his friends could. Given that my husband is chomping at the bit to get a droid, since I got mine, made for a green light. I quickly loaded the kids up and off we went on the BEST scavenger hunt ever! The hint my friend told me she knew was that it was near the "Cowboy Hall of Fame." Well now it is called the Western Heritage Museum but we figured close enough. My kids and I sat in that parking lot from about 11:30 until 2:30 which is when I quickly dropped them off at home. I returned to wait some more for the tweet saying that the Droid X had landed in OKC. Finally around 4:30 or so the parking lot was emptying out and I was afraid I might be locked in so I went over and waited by the zoo. I had just given up on the tweet and was starting to pull out of the parking lot when it finally came. The tweet said "The Droid X landed in Bricktown and the coordinates would be posted in 30 minutes. Oh my goodness. I started to shake and thought this is it the race is on! I managed to get into bricktown and parked in 15 minutes during rush hour. I guess I can thank my momma's driving habits that I was able to do that. Well to me the most famous and biggest thing in Bricktown is the base ball stadium. So that is where I went. Now keep in mind the hint about the "history" and "cowboys". In front of the stadium is a row of all of these historical base ball people's busts. I thought it must be there so I was all over those busts looking, no phone. Then I was all over the Mickey Mantle statue still no phone. Then I proceeded to look all over any magazine stand, ashtray or anything else that was in the vicinity, drats no phone. Then the final tweet came with the coordinates. Because I am technologically challenged I chose to use my GPS as well as my phone to try and get to the final location. Once the coordinates were put into my GPS the final stage was only .59 miles away. Now I know that I am not in shape but come on a FREE Droid X phone was quite the motivation and we are talking traffic! I actually ran! Pretty unbelievable huh. I kept thinking they said it was in Bricktown so I decided to follow the river to see if I could make it there. Well once I made it to the back of the Bass Pro parking lot my ankles and legs were giving out. I kept saying to my self I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. It helped that at this point is when I saw two much more fit than me men literally running to the end. OH CRAP! They are going to beat me. That gave just enough motivation to keep going. Well I made it to the end of the canal and at this point I was in danger. I was not prepared for this. I was wearing flimsy sandals, hadn't really eaten, didn't have any water with me and who are we kidding here I had been running. I have no idea when the last time I ran was, I DON'T run. Lucky for me there were two security people at the end where the boats make their U turn they helped me talk the boat captain into giving me a ride back to where you pay for the ride (half a twisting mile away). I am so great full otherwise the OKCPD would have had my death on their hands. Once I got off the water taxi I made my way up to to ticket booth and gladly paid my $8.50 for the life saving ride. At this point I decided I was going to make it to the final location regardless. I made my way back to my car and drove to the final where I only had to walk about 150 feet. THANK GOD! I made it and sure enough it was one of the men I had been running against that won the Droid X. I did however make it in time for a consolation prize of a $20 gift card and BONUS I AM ALIVE! Besides now I can say I have held the Droid X before it has been released. While I am disappointed that I didn't win the Droid X it is still an adventure that I would never expected this girl to do.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 1

2010-07-13T06:37:00.000-07:00

Well it is summer time so we along with countless other American families hit the road to see what there is to see. I have been pondering how to share these memories and thanks to a friend's inspiration I have decided to share them one little nugget/day at a time.

Our first day of driving landed us in our neighboring state of Arkansas and one of our first "official" destinations. The Bill Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. Honestly the kids weren't to excited about this stop but I made the decision this could be to their future benefit (I love being a mom). I had never been to a presidential library before so I wasn't sure what to expect at first. It seems that these libraries are more museum than library. They specifically focus on the years that president was in office and the specific president's life and family.

The architecture of this library is artistically supposed to represent building a bridge to our future. While my picture doesn't do it justice I hope you can see how it looks to be an unfinished bridge.

This black looking slab here is really a fountain. When we first arrived I thought maybe it was a reflecting pool or something. While we were walking by it I told my kids that "Oh I wish I was about 4 years old right now." I would have taken off and climbed on top and proceeded to have a blast the water was only a few inches deep and looked to be so refreshing. The temperature that day felt like 100 and that water was soooo tempting. Notice my daughter is even running her hand through it.

Inside the largest hall were these dividers. Each one was dedicated to a specific years events. Under each divider were the binders like the ones you see the people holding. They contained the president's agenda for each day.

This is a closer look at 1995 do you see the Oklahoma connection.

China patterns almost always interest me and this is a formal setting I would have enjoyed if I had been invited to the white house.

I was surprised to see a display of Chihuly glass. Living in Oklahoma I had seen the large display at the Oklahoma City Art Museum.

They also had a display of various Christmas ornaments. These were a couple of my favorites. The first one is woven from wheat. The second is a ballet slipper that has been transformed into a Nutcracker scene.

Given that I have my own little ballerina I enjoyed this little case about Chelsea Clinton.

While visiting the Presidential library probably wasn't the most thrilling stop on our journey it was very informative. I hope the kids picked up on a little bit of the history it provided. Our next stop for the evening was the hotel with a pool so the kids quickly forgave me for the educational stop.

Time for Change

2010-03-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

That statement always reminds me of the Brady Bunch episode when Peter's voice begins to change.

For today that change is reminding me of our Oklahoma weather. I spent the last two days outside enjoying the weather even getting a light spring sunburn. Fast forward 24 hours to snow, snow, snow and more snow. I honestly have had enough of winter this year.

Changes are definitely happening in the mommyfried house. The preteen years are smacking us in the face. I know that the school will soon be sending home a note to give permission for my oldest to go to "your body is changing" class. I will reluctantly allow my kids to attend but I feel it is my duty to introduce them to this stuff myself. So today since we were snowed in became the perfect opportunity to introduce shaving. Now I know boys and girls shave differently but I thought to my self what better way to get out some of the winter dull drums than to put both kids in the tub with a soapy substance and sharp objects. At first the concentration was intense then well you know it was bound to happen. I will let the following pictures tell the tale themselves.

Thanksgiving 09

2009-12-21T19:10:00.001-08:00

I know it is almost Christmas and I am just getting around to Thanksgiving. During this time of year the days just seem to go by so fast. There has been a lot going on.

On Tuesday before Thanksgiving I started a new job. For me it is ideal. Only two five hour days a week and it is while my kids are in school. I will be off on all days my kids are out of school and when it is summer they said not to worry my job will be there for me in the fall. Now for the part that most people don't care for. I am working for a church in their mothers day out program. I know for many that is terrifying. I am blessed with the 2 year old room. For me this is my favorite age. Everything is still new to them and you can see them grow from babies to kids. I am also lucky because this job found me I was not looking for it. I really could not ask for a better. To top it off on the first day it turned out that one of the mom's that grew up with me across the street from me! I had not seen her since her wedding a few years ago. It gets better her daughter is the only girl in my little class. I also have 5 boys. So far I have enjoyed every day. I have learned who likes to eat what with their lunches, figured out how to keep track of who's diaper has been changed and can even call them each by the proper name instantly. I love every one of their personalities as well. So far this job has given us just enough pocket money to make our holidays run smooth. I never knew how little it would take to take away the worry.

Now back to Thanksgiving. What is so special to me about this Thanksgiving table is how it all came together. This was the first time that I have ever used so much of my Crystal from my wedding. The looks on my kids faces when they saw they were going to get to use stem ware was just priceless. This was the first time that I have used my grandmother's china since I inherited it. This brought such a warm feeling to me. I was so close to her. I surprised my self when I was washing them. I actually enjoyed it. For the first time in my life when I looked at my own hands washing the dishes I could see my grandmothers hands. She was so proud of these dishes. It may sound corny but to me it made me feel like she was there enjoying spending time with the family again. I miss her so much. I opted to leave the silver flat in its case and just used our daily flat ware when I realized there was not enough to put one at each place setting. Besides I still don't get it or like to polish silver. Another first for me this year was I provided wine with the dinner. I think this really helped some of the guests feel a little more comfortable. I also had sparkling grape juice for the kids. My daughter was almost appalled when I poured her glass. She was not going to drink any "Wine!" Have to give the schools credit on scaring her about alcohol, but that is probably a good thing. For my friend Steph if she is reading this I would like to point out that the bread basket is one that I made in her class and because I was thinking of her I made my rolls from scratch (OK I probably would have done that any way but it makes for a fun story). The actual table we used was the one my mother gave me that resembles the one she grew up with and she used it the last few years I lived at home. So you see this table setting has allot of meaning to me. It required family and friends to make it come into one.

This was my desert buffet. We had pumpkin pie, pecan pie, chocolate pie and key lime pie. In the baskets were no bake cookies and mini spice muffins.

After dinner I gave the kids the wish bone to make a wish!

The girl won. I hope her wish comes true!

I know that this picture is difficult to see but it represents how all feasts end. Triptopan overload! He went out like a light waiting for some web page to load.

I am truly Thankful this year. I have my family, my friends and my health. This year I really felt blessed and it seems like the blessings just keep coming.

I am such a Dork!

2009-10-29T20:37:00.001-07:00

Can you tell who I met tonight? You would think I would remember my camera but no I had to rely on just my cell phone. So the pics are what they are.

I am getting a little closer can you tell yet?

I was lucky enough to get to meet Ree Drummond the Pioneer Woman tonight. I have been following her blog for several months. She is such a neat person. Even though she had a line of probably a 1000 or more people she was taking the time to have a nice conversation with each person. WOW! You would think I would remember half of the things I wanted to share with her but did I, no I was a bumbeling idiot. I was more than amazed that she remembered the fact that she had seen my name on her new site Tasty Kitchen. Don't think I can say enough nice things about her. I have enjoyed getting to know her through her blog. She is such an interesting person and talented writer. She has a multifaceted blog that has sparked my creative side in new ways. She must have the patience of Job because she is homeschooling 4 beautiful children. She is also an extremely talented photographer. Her cooking skills come across as nothing less than AWESOME! Hence my little escapade into the bookstore tonight. She has released her long awaited cook book and I can not wait to dive in. When I told my son he was excited for me to dive in as well saying something to the effect that he hopes it improves my cooking. Boys you just got to love em. My daughter was so excited saying "Isn't she the one you read on the computer?" I am so proud to see a fellow GenXr succeeding.

Thanks REE! This evening was so worth it!

My September Distraction

2009-10-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is my cousins BEAUTIFUL little girl. Unfortunately for me she lives on one of the coasts which is nowhere near Oklahoma. I am so green with envy of the different family members that have been able to meet her already. It looks like it will be next summer before I can get to meet her. That is OK because by then she will probably be walking/running and giving her mommy some of her paybacks for her raisin. When her mom told me she was pregnant it made my heart sing. Her mommy needed her in her life more than she ever knew. I think she did her daddy some good as well. While they were visiting Oklahoma while my cousin was pregnant he was so attentive. Aren't new daddies to be so cute.

Anyway in September there were two different family members going to meet this little beauty at different times. I had been working on this needle point project since March and was near completed so I used this as crunch time trying to finish. I really did not want to trust the postal system with something that I had worked so hard on. So the next best thing was for someone to hand carry it with them (not check it in with their luggage at the airport). I missed sending it with the first person by just a few hours of work. So I was lucky enough to send it with our beauty's grandma on her visit.

This is the three generation pic. Sorry I was not able to rotate the picture. Chalk it up to my techno tardness.

This is one of my favorite Grandma pics.

These are just because she is just so dag gum CUTE!

Something New!

2009-10-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

Back on August 17th our family grew. This is the first of its kind in our family and something that my DH and I have never experienced.

We bought our first brand new car! I know for many that is not a big deal but for us it was HUGE! This is the first time for either one of us to be first time owners of a new vehicle.

I know it is not the top of the line or anything but for us it might as well be a Mercedes, BMW or Rolls. We are completely enjoying it.

It took me a while to figure out why I liked this car so much then it finally dawned on me. It reminds me of my old Pontiac Phoenix that I had back in college. I loved having a hatchback back then. Often I would have time to kill between classes and not enough time to go back home. I would pop up the trunk lay down the seats in the back and study or do homework with the radio going in the great outdoors. That was the car that I think I finally experienced the freedom of independence of being an adult, looking at the world with such optimism and hope. It was not my first car but it was the first car that I bought all on my own. It wasn't a hand me down or a family member that made a deal so good that I couldn't refuse. Now this is the first car that my husband and I have bought all on our own. It is almost as if a lot of those old feelings are being rekindled.

This is the first time for me that my car has even had a CD player. I know that is a little funny especially now that everything is going to ipod and mp3's but I'll take it.

You know you are excited about something when you go through the pictures for the day. We took nearly 100 pictures of the car (See I did not bore you with all of them.) and only about 5 of the kids. This is what the kids do while they are waiting on mom and dad to quite being silly over a new car!

Oklahoma History

2009-10-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Back before school started we took time as a family to visit the Oklahoma History Museum. What a treat this turned into. Earlier in the spring I had visited for a brief few minutes with my son on a school field trip. It seemed the school was more interested in the state capital than the museum and what a loss it was to these kids. I decided this was going to be something we did as a family before the school year started back. I am actually disappointed in myself as a mom for not bringing the kids here sooner.

We spent several hours goofing around and learning more about our Oklahoma heritage. It seemed so strange to see things from my childhood, teen and young adult years in a museum.

Given that my daughter has her heart set on being a "rock star" it was very fitting that the temporary display was featuring Oklahoma musicians.

I loved this next picture it looks like they are gazing into each others eyes. Look out Hanson my little girl could be your opening act one day!

It seems the Rock n Roll bug was contagious in the family.

It lead to this performance. Maybe it was a good thing it was not too busy.

Now for the warnings. When the daddy is eyeing this ...

Things like this can and often do happen.

What a wonderful time we had. I would have never guessed that we would have enjoyed ourselves so much.

Seeing that I am behind on blogging the last couple of months I am sure there will be a few more of these "catch up" blogs.

Fall Fun in Oklahoma

2009-10-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

I found this to be just beautiful. What surprises me more is that it is in Oklahoma. We spent this last weekend with almost 200 of our Geocaching friends. We were at Robbers Cave in south eastern Oklahoma. The air was crisp and the friendships warm. It has been 5 years since I last visited this state park and I don't remember it being as beautiful as it is now. We went exploring the cave area and found several of these.

One of the things that I noticed is that they were always and I mean ALWAYS pointing up. Maybe it is that the kids are finally old enough to climb themselves so that is the direction we kept going. Before I probably would have turned back at the first or second one. The only thing I think I kept repeating was "keep away from the ledge!"

They got along so well and were truly taking in the nature that surrounded us. The girl noticed several types of fungi and the boy was looking at all the different rock formations. Lucky for (me) us the only wild critter found was a small frog.

This last weekend has rejuvenated my spirit. Bringing together family and friends in nature brings its own peace. Life is Good!

To my Surprise!

2009-07-30T10:20:00.001-07:00

After a long day of doing family stuff together we were all famished. We headed to one of the local chain pizza buffets for an easy quick dinner. Then the inevitable happened, again. "Do you have a quarter? Please! Just one, Paaaleeeaasssseeeee?" So I finally caved. Normally this is where I would inject that they should be using their own money. But we had been out for so long I figured fine. At least this will stop the whining and you know there would have been a lot more. So my darling daughter went strait to the candy crane machine. You know the one where you are guaranteed you will win. When there is candy available you can bet your sunshine my daughter will be one of the first in line. My son on the other hand. He is becoming quite the oportunist. He decided that he was going to go for one of those toy crane games that nobody ever wins. When he first went to the machine it wasn't posted how much it was. So he decided he was going to give it a shot anyway. Surprise, surprise, surprise! It wasn't a quarter and then to add salt to the wound. It wouldn't give him his quarter back. Normally I would have just said well lesson learned and been done with it. He kept saying "I know I can get one." Once again I caved and decided to let him learn his lesson giving him the second quarter he needed. Saying, "No one wins those things." Then much to my and my husbands amazement the claw actually grabbed the toy. Then it actually pulled it up. Then wonder of all wonders it actually fell into the retrieval box. Holly macanoli! He actually did it. I think you could have picked mine and my husbands jaws off the floor. That little turkey came back to the table with a smile as big as the ocean. "I told you I could do it!" Then he followed it by saying "Aren't you going to put it on the Internet where you tell stories about us?" Of course I am.

Dad's Re tard

2009-07-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

This last week my dad is officially retired. His announcement is that he is re tard. So what better way than to take a couple of his grand kids down memory lane. My dad's first retirement was from the 45th infantry. Lucky for us we have a whole museum here dedicated to them. Honestly I wanted to make sure my kids had a way to put history into reality. It was fun listening to my dad tell them some stories about the different pieces of memorabilia that was on display and how it was used or wasn't used according to regulation specifications. It was interesting how he was (not so much) complaining about how the equipment outside was being painted black. It is supposed to be army green. Without him saying this I remember many times visiting my daddy at work and climbing on all the green trucks. Of course back then I was probably as tall as some of the tires. I remember trying to use the treads for steps. I think the young men that were doing the painting were actually listening to my dad tell some of his stories. Even if they weren't I have to give them credit for being respectful and kind. The following are pics of the kids and him at different things that he actually worked on while they were in service.

Now dad never did any work on the planes but these pics were just for fun.

As you may have read in my previous post that we have started kayaking. My son was complaining that his arm was hurting to much so you can see the posts all to well. I think the picture is deserving if for no other reason than the complaining.

This is one I really liked. My dad has always had a fascination with weapons. What better way to show that then him explaining the displays to my son. Aren't Grandpa's the best.

These next two pics are for those of you military types that understand it because I don't. They are the flags from two of the units my dad was in.

By the time we made it to the patches display dad was getting a little silly with me taking so many pictures. But just as any good grandpa would do he obliged (another) for the picture.

Now this is the bonus picture for this blog. My dad likes to skip the highways when possible and so on the way back to my house we stopped here. This is the house that my mom and dad brought me home from the hospital to. The other nice thing about this house is that MY Grandpa built it. After getting home I realized that it was close to 40 years to the day that this picture was taken for the first time. What a hoot. I love you Daddy and Happy Re tard ment!

First ALL Family Kayak

2009-07-19T21:58:00.001-07:00

I was beginning to think this day would never come. We finally received the required state paperwork to get the titles and registration on our 3rd and 4th kayaks. After a few trips to the store for stickers and city lake permits we were finally ready. We now have something that is both fun and healthy for our family to do together. DH and I wondered just how much the kids could handle and they did pretty good. The sun was shining and the wind was mild so we headed out to lake Hefner. We were lucky to meet up with some other kayakers. I thought I grabbed a picture with them but after the down load I found that I did not. I think we were out for about an hour and a half. The kids were pretty excited and while we were on the lake they started to come up with different funny names for their boats. We have already decided that they are going to be allowed to personalize them (almost) however they want.

It seems that our daughter took to kayaking like a duck to water. She was paddling circles around the rest of us most of the time. She is pretty excited about it and can not wait until we can go out again.

Look at her go. Is that a wake she is creating behind that boat?

I hope that I get more secure in my skills soon so that there will be more pictures coming in the future. Every time I would attempt to get my camera out I kept envisioning getting dumped. So I would scare myself into keeping it in the dry box. We all know that electronics and water don't mix well.

July 4th Success

2009-07-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

This July 4th seemed to go over pretty good this year. Our first activity was our local parade where we ran into a sweet friend/teacher. We enjoyed the parade together where we saw several of our friends including this guy. Whom shall remain nameless in order to protect his wife's children.
Dh and son decided to stay home this year and while that was disappointing we my daughter and I still had a great time.

When we came home it was time to enjoy all the food I had been preparing the last couple of days. Don't you just love my little patriotic jello with the flag made of stars. This one I was a little worried that it would not turn out right since I placed the stars on before I poured the the jello in the pan. It was also fun because I had not seen that type of marshmallow's in the store before so I just HAD to do something with them.

Then for the perfect dessert! Oh yea, you guessed it baby. Home made ice cream!

You can all ways determine the feast was a success when this occurs. I promise I did not use any triptopan or medical aid to induce this behavior.

In the evening we headed over to a friends house for swimming and fireworks. This turned out to be the best decision since the local display ended up being canceled due to a storm. We just waited out the thunder and lightening then went for it.

Those are fire works on the other side of the pool this picture just did not turn out as well on this post as I had hoped.

I'm not sure where my daughter gets this from but she insists on picking up and touch any and everything. Tonight's example was one of the toads that were every where. This pic was taken while she was attempting to kiss it! She reminds me of the that little girl from the cartoons. "I want to hug it, and squeeze it, and love it, and play with it, and, and, and..." In the mean time I am looking for the sanitizer, bleach, soap and what ever else I can find to clean her.

The final proof that the day was a success is what I found in my sink by about 10:30 in the morning today. All those empty little dishes mean they were going back for leftovers already this morning. (They did like it, they really did!)

Luck of 3

2009-06-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon = not so good.

The day started out as a typical summer day. Kids woke up on their own time. Played video games. Did a little reading. I have a Monday routine of taking the kids to the library to get a fresh book selection for them to read over the next week. When we were leaving the library my van hesitated to start. I'm thinking no it will make it, there won't be a problem. We proceeded on to my aunt's house for my kids to have their first ever piano lesson. (Thanks again Cindy.) Lesson was over and kids loaded into van. ERRrr ERrr Errr. This isn't good. Luckily my uncle was able to jump start the van and I made it home. By now I am think it was about 2:30 (notice the time). I left the van running and figured I would move the RV so that DH would have access to the garage or tools while he checked it out. Next problem I wasn't able to start the RV. I am a little ashamed of this but I was little relieved because I wasn' t looking forward to backing that behemoth out of the drive using just the mirrors. So maybe just maybe it saved me from wrecking our future travel plans. Yep, that's it. That is why the RV didn't start. So instead I squeezed the van next to the RV so that DH could now check out both vehicles. UGH! Then about 3:15 I received a text. DH is getting furloughed. After consistently working over time he is now going to be limited to 32 hours a week! YIKES! Thank God I recently worked to reduce our monthly bills. Maybe that will get us through this. We were just beginning to catch our breath and looking forward to have a little to spend on other necessities like clothes and hair cuts (those just got bumped down again). So if you were keeping track that was three blows in less than an hour!

BTW the truck that you can barely see behind the RV it has needed a new radiator for the last year. That is another project back on hold. Does it ever end?

Something new?

2009-06-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

Today we went with my FIL to a Chinese buffet type restaurant. My dear dear darling little girl was feeling a brave. She decided that she would try these two not so normal everyday dishes for our little corner of the world. In her right hand she is holding a crawdad and in her left an octopus. Just getting her to hold these was quite the entertainment value. She had poked at the crawdad a bit and had gotten past its wierdness but the octopus. She couldn't get past the fact that the head was still attached. She dropped it almost as fast as I placed it in her hand.

I think she began to think the crawdad just might be a friend. I showed her how to get the tail out after she had been poking at it for awhile. I was suprised she actually ate it. First it was a little nibble then she went for it. She didn't think it was bad but for some reason she didn't want another one. Hmmmmm

Next was the octopus. She wasn't about to eat the head. I ended up breaking off one of the legs for her to try. The expressions that went across her face were priceless. I wish I had videoed that. Then she suprised me again and ate a second leg. After that she was done and wanted dessert. I'm really impressed with her. While I have had crawdads a long long time ago I don't think I could eat octopus in that form. Maybe battered and fried and disguised but definately not that way.

Ghosts, Giggles and a 9th B-day

2009-06-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we celebrated my little girls 9th Birthday by visiting Fort Reno. I was looking through one of the state tourism books and found out that they offered ghost tours occasionally and it just so happened that there was one on my daughters b-day. She got really excited. So the plans were made that we would go on the ghost tour from 8pm-11pm and spend the night in the RV at Lake El Reno. My daughter ended up with two friends attending as well as her 15 year old cousin (whom walks on water I will have you to know).

We registered at the visitors center it started to rain. First they took us through the visitors center and we heard our first ghost story. The rain subsided then we were waiting out side for the other groups. We were treated to one of the most beautiful sun sets I have seen in a while. The picture above does not do it enough justice. Then we were divided into groups of about 30 for the tour of the different buildings of the Fort. Wouldn't you know we were teamed up with a couple of teen boys. I suddenly was not so worried about the younger kids as I was about my niece. They teased and flirted with her the entire time. It was so cute when her and I were talking. It was really obvious that the dark haired boy liked her. So I took the opportunity to point out to her that his friend liked her as well. She told me that she thought so but wasn't sure. I explained that he was following the "man code" of not making it obvious because his friend was. I am so glad I'm not her parent they are going to have their hands full. She is so cute. Anyway, the kids had a great time listening to the different tales. At the end of touring the Fort all the groups met up together so that those who wanted to could go to the "CEMETERY!" (Insert creapy music.) What is a night of ghosts without a cemetery? So of course we followed. We listened to the guide tell a few more stories. At the very end she challenged the under 10 year old kids. They had to go into the POW part of the cemetery and touch the headstone of the man whose grave had been robbed and his head is missing. Isn't that a great way to end a ghost tour. After a lot of persuading the girls finally touched the stone. They all ran back over the stone wall as fast as their little legs would carry them. What a hoot.

We arrived at the RV about midnight and proceeded to do the traditional cake and presents thing. The girls had the front half of the RV while I tried to stay in my own little world in the back. They all watched Ghostbusters but then only two of them made it through The Princess Bride. By then it was about 5am. When I finally got up at about 9:30ish this is what I saw.

Notice anything here. There are only the three younger girls. Because this is where the 15 year old was.

That is MY bed! It is only a twin size and I would say almost to small for just myself much less both of us. So after she had fallen a sleep. I snuck into the cab over for a little rest. The morning sun came sooner than I was ready for but then when doesn't it for a sleep over. We headed back to the city and returned everyone home.

I think over all this was one of my better birthday party ideas yet!

The New Money Pit!

2009-05-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

This is our not so new but new to us 1982 Travelcraft GMC class C RV. We inherited this from my FIL. His wife passed away on Christmas Eve. He has decided that he was not going to use this any more so he passed it on down to us. Which is a good thing he is 86 and I don't think anyone wants him out in the sticks driving something this behemoth. While I am grateful for receiving this I am beginning to wonder if it is going to be a gift or a nightmare. From the outside it looks to be in real good condition especially when you consider it is 27 years old. When we first received it we found out that it has been black tagged for about the last 8 years. In other words it has been sitting in my FIL backyard doing nothing for that long. We were really shocked when the thing started up. Never mind that it sputtered and complained. It was like waking up an ole giant. We topped the tires off with air. They were a little low after 8 years. Then DH drove the thing home (very slowly just encase there was a major malfunction). After telling our insurance about it they figured up what our cost would be. I went there to give them the deposit and once again I was amazed. I was expecting to write a check for $100-$200. When they told me it was only going to be $29 I was completely shocked (then our monthly amount is about $16). This was going to turn out to be a great adventure. Why hadn't we done this before. When I went to get the tag/title I was amazed the thing is so old that the tag was only $22.50. When we got home we started exploring our new friend.

These lights are probably one of the main features I told my DH that we needed to save if at all possible. Cann't you just see a disco ball and John Travolta doing there thing!

Once we were inside we knew we had our work cut out for us. Our aging dinosaur had been sealed up for about eight years and this was like a time capsule. We had a LOT of purging to do before we could even start making any repairs. It was a little entertaining. We even found an old rotary phone inside one of the cabinets. It was funny teaching my kiddos how that worked. Then you have to stop and think. Why on earth would there be a rotary phone in an RV. It's not like it could receive cell service. In fact if my memory serves me correctly. Back in the early 80's it was a big deal just to have a pager. Even the old suit case type mobile phones weren't about yet. Touch tone phones were just becoming popular. In the following pic you can see just the top of the piles of junk we had to remove. Sorry it is so dark but is was the best we could do at the time.

Then we started with some of the repairs. This before pic is one of my favorites. I call it the fish bowl head light. The cool thing was we were able to replace both headlights for about $20. I hope the rest of the repairs go this well.

Now our luck is changing. Remember I said it has some leaks. Well in this first pick that is mold so now we will be having to do some big repairs. At least it is just wood and insulation. Not to costly just time consuming. The others are pretty much just water damage but since we are already in the area these will get repaired as well.

This is going to be an adventure. I hope we will be able to get it going before to long. So that we can get some use out of it before school starts.

Well there it is in all of its glory.

First River Kayak

2009-05-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm a little behind. I don't want to let this memory get away with out its significance. On the 17th I went on my first river kayak. I had not realized the significance of this until I was on the water. While I have been on the kayak several times in lakes I just did not realize the difference. A river would be. It all started the day before when hubby mentioned a group wanted to go through Stinchcomb on Sunday. I have been wanting to do that for some time but with kids, school, and life in general it just never worked out. This time though I knew I would be ready after the previous two days of dance rehearsals and recital. We made arrangements for the kids to stay with someone and off we went. (Currently we only have two kayaks so taking kids really isn't much of an option yet.) We met up with the group at the Route 66 bridge at Lake Overholser. Left a couple of cars there and then went to the drop in point. Now remember I have never done this before. The closest has been maybe canoeing on the Illinois River in NE Oklahoma with one of those "professional" places. Most recently about 10 years ago. To just drop at any place in a river was quite different. There wasn't a nice sandy beach with a gradual drop off. OMG when they showed me just where this "drop" in place was I just about turned around and went back home. We put in where Garth Brooks Blvd. crosses the North Canadian river in Yukon. Where's the sandy beach? Where's the gentle slope? Where's my freakin brain? I looked down to what might as well have been the ledge of the Grand Freakin Canyon! Let me get this. I am not only going to climb down this boulder wall to my death but I am going to carry a kayak while I do it! Never mind the paddle, life jacket, sun screen, and beverage. I will give hubby some credit here. He stepped up and did all the carrying. In reality it probably was only 20 or 30 feet down. Although it was still jagged boulders the size of watermelons. He managed to get both of the kayaks to the bottom in the amount of time that it took me to just climb down by my self. Now mind you by this time the entire group knew this was my first time in a river. Do you think they would have warned me about the current. Heck no! Hubby nicely holds the kayak in place while I climb in. Now if you haven't been in a kayak you should probably know there is absolutely no way on God's green earth a graceful way of getting in or out of one. Lucky for me I remembered to hold on to the paddle. What I hadn't realized is that I was the first one in my boat. At first my thought no big deal, then followed by "Thank God I didn't dump over getting into the boat. Geesh I wouldn't want to look like a dork in front of this group that I would like to be friends with." Now comes the fun part. Once I finally and I do mean finally figure/remember how to maneuver this thing I look back and there isn't ANYONE! Then I proceed to yell at the top of my lungs. "How did the most green person end up in the front of the pack!" From around the bend I heard chuckling. "You were the first one in!" You would think that someone one anyone would get the hint and get their sorry @#% up to my rescue. Finally after what seemed like an eternity hubby caught up. He kept pointing out these "places" I might be able to bank the kayak and wait. He never did get it. "Don't you see I am on this class 4 rapid and I don't know what the h-e-double hockey sticks I am doing!" After about another 20-30 minutes the rest of the group managed to catch up and I was starting to calm down. Really this was only a class 1 river and I have discovered I am a big CHICKEN! During this same trip several in the group were trying to convince us to go with them this weekend on a river that has a few 3 foot drop offs. DO YOU THINK I AM FREAKING INSANE! Give me a few fallen trees in the river and that is enough. Maybe once I have a bit (A LOT) more experience we will give it a try. As the picture above shows I eventually did relax and enjoy myself. We did 7 1/2 miles. I was a little worried that I would lose the use of my arms for the next week. To my surprise it wasn't bad the next day. On a scale of 1 -10 I would guess a 2. I even managed to finish the trip on a good note. I pulled directly into the unloading point perfectly. Then got out of the boat without falling back into the river. See I wasn't too much of a dork! I stayed dry.

The Last Dance - Maybe

2009-05-23T18:24:00.000-07:00

This is my beautiful little girl and her friend just moments before what will probably be her last dance recital last Saturday. I wish I was a better mom about taking pictures but I tend to get so wrapped up in the moment that I don't get enough snap shots for the scrap book. This is probably my favorite dance costume she has worn to date. I was so proud watching her. She has really grown as a dancer and shows a lot of maturity in her dance. I can not believe it has been six years since her first recital. The time is going so fast.

Here she is in her last ballet dress. While I think she is beautiful I think that this neck line may be just a little older than I want to admit that she is. I think I am going to have a little trouble letting her grow up.

Remember how I said I get to caught up in the moment. I did not get one picture of her in her tap costume. Some of that has to go with the fact that it was pretty simple. A blue sequined vest with hot pink neckline, black pants, tan shoes and then this hot pink boa feather thing on top of her bun. While I was not to impressed with the costume the dance was terrific. The girls did such a good job at keeping in step. I do believe it was probably her most difficult number this year.

There she is in her last Hip Hop out fit. The group was so cute. They were all in black, yellow, or white and it was all mixed up. No one was wearing the same thing as any one else. My daughter complained about the music it was "Together Forever" from "High School Musical." They still did a great job.

As anyone who knows me knows how I liked to complain when it came to recital time each year. Secretly though I actually really enjoyed it. Planning out how we were going to get to where we needed to be. Figuring out just how I was going to get something nutritious for her to eat when all she wanted was the abundant junk food while we were on the mad run from place A to place B. Arguing with her while we were putting her make up on. She wanted more and I wanted less (don't figure). Even when she was little and they insisted that all little girls hair MUST be in curls. My daughter's hair is as strait as a board. I don't think there was a single recital that I did not end up teary eyed and full of pride. I have sincerely enjoyed seeing the accomplishment in my daughters eyes as she would come off stage. The true beauty she exudes. She is such an amazing girl. I am going to miss this.

While it breaks my heart that we are closing this chapter can still be the beginning of another. She has a true desire and interest in music so we will start exploring that journey soon.

A Day that was 12 Years in the making!

2009-05-10T16:20:00.001-07:00

Can you tell what is going on in this picture? That is my DH finally for the first time EVER cooking breakfast for me. To his credit he has done many things for me in all our years together. Breakfast just hasn't been one of them. I'm not sure what FINALLY gave him the idea but I'm not complaining. This really was sweet of him and I only gave my 2 cents once. (I told him which pan to use so the eggs would not stick to bad.) Never mind the fact that I closed my eyes and blocked the view from myself. He even had the munchkins clear the table and do the dishes! I got breakfast as well no mess (well for the most part).

Two for Two by 2

2009-05-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

The first half of this "Two for Two" deal relates to lunch. This year I made a deal with my kids you reach this certain goal at school each nine weeks and then I will take you out to lunch. Bless their hearts they are achieving this goal now. First it was my daughter whom I took to lunch yesterday. I picked her up and we headed to her favorite fast food place. We place our order and then to my horror my bank card was denied. "What!" I just made a deposit the day before. No way was this possible. Then to make me stress more my kids only get 20 minutes for lunch and then 20 minutes for recess. So time was of the essence. Luckily said fast food joint was across the street from a branch of my bank. So we went through the bank drive through for a quick cash withdraw and then back the the fast food drive through. This really stunk because I believe part of the reward is the one on one time my kid gets with me during said lunch. I apologized to my daughter over and over as she was now left to cram her lunch down while I drove back to school. Some reward she got to sit in the car and listen to her mom go insane. Turns out that there had been some sort of security breech at my bank. While they had reissued me a new card I had not had time to activate it. This was explained to me after I had dropped my daughter back off at school by another branch of my bank. To make it worse for me I still had a few errands to run and I needed my card but since it was just activated by the branch it meant that it would be another 24 hours until I could use it. Which meant I had to go back to using checks at the stores. UGH! Now for the second child's reward lunch we went to his favorite fast food place. This time I was prepared with cash in hand in case the new card didn't work. We get there and I could barely find a parking spot. Went inside and had to wait in a pretty short line to place our order. Then we sat down to wait for our number to be called 4182. That is all I wanted to hear was 4182. We sat drinking our soda's and making small talk. Then we kept waiting and waiting and waiting. This was supposed to be FAST FOOD! I kid you not 20 minutes later and they were only at 4179! OMG! My son kept saying he was hungry and bless his heart I wasn't going to let this be a waist. Remember he only gets 20 minutes for lunch followed by 20 minutes of recess. Finally we get our food and he has less than 10 minutes to eat and get back to the school and about 7 minutes of that needs to be driving time. He agrees to eat just the chicken strips and one serving of his favorite mashed potatoes and agreed to save the rest for his after school snack. So now I am two for two on reward meals that turned into chaos for my kiddo's. Maybe I should rethink this reward.

Now for the "by 2." Recently I had loaned a close friend Beth (not her real name) one of my husbands rather pricey tools. When it was returned it had been damaged. What really stunk is that it would not have been a big deal if Beth had just said something when she returned it. After all she is a friend and friends forgive friends because accidents happen. But when we did not know about it until we went to use said tool for ourselves and made the discovery. The part that really stunk both figuratively and literally was that by this time it was after normal working hours and now we were left in a stinky situation for about 48 hours until our problem could be taken care of. This could have been avoided if Beth had just said something. Now for the other half. I had asked friend Tom (not his real name) loan me something to help Beth out in a pinch. I put my name on the line so to speak. I recievd the items in question back 2 days ago to return to Tom when I realized that 2 major pieces of what I had loaned Beth were missing. I am so disappointed. While Tom knew what I was doing I still feel guilty that Beth has let me down again. Now I am off to Tom's to return what I can and tell him the rest. I just hope he doesn't get too disappointed with me. Because I think that Tom is a good friend who has been there for me several times.

So some things in life just suck 2 for 2 by 2!

Chocolate Milk

2009-05-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

Nesquik chocolate milk.

Store bought premade chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk made with chocolate syrup.

Here's the set up. We are sitting at the table eating breakfast when I make some chocolate milk. You know we've all done it milk, chocolate syrup, stir. That is when it dawned on me. The bubbles on top are white. That got me thinking. Why are the bubbles white? Now comes the experiment. I headed to the store and bought premixed chocolate milk and the good old fashioned Nesquik. When I got home I poured the ready made chocolate milk. The bubbles were brown. I know in the picture there is only a few left but they popped faster than I could click my camera. Now for the next one. One of my childhood favorites Nestquik. Once again this one suprised me the bubbles were brown. I expected them to be white but they were brown. Now I'm no expert scientist or anything but this is a good question to ponder.

What makes the bubbles white or brown? Hmmmmm

Now on to my personal side notes. Since I had these three glasses of chocolate milk I got the chance to taste test them side by side. I even surprised my self again. My favorite is the Nesquik chocolate milk. Just when you think you've grown up. The other benefit to the Nesquik is I can sneak a quick spoon full when no one is looking. YUMMMMMM! Second is the store bought chocolate milk and all its creamy goodness. Third place was the milk with chocolate syrup. This surprised me as well because I thought I was living it up using the syrup but it was a little blandish compared to the others. So I guess today is a good day. I learned something new.

Some of the best things in life are free.

2009-05-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

Free Ice Cream with Omi, YUMMM!!!

Free Onion Fried Burgers, YUMMM!!!

The day started off rainy and dull. The perfect day for curling up in a cozy blanket and sleeping the day away.

Then there was this urge. I've been reading to many blogs I suppose so I've decided we just haven't done enough of the "fun stuff" as a family. I made the decision to try and do something/anything that may be Oklahomanie (like that word mom) at least once a month with the whole family. Now this is where last nights 10pm news comes in. They ran a short story about how this is the weekend for El Reno's Onion Fried Burger Festival. It was a small town event, about 15 or so miles away, and since it was rainy and drab I figured the crowd wouldn't be to bad, as well as the best part it is free. This just fit the bill. So after much persuasion on my part I managed to convince my entire family to go.

This was perfect for us from begining to end. We were able to park about a block away. Lucky us the closest point of entry just happened to be at the carnival rides. Oh, but look they had a 100lb wieght limit. Darn, our kiddo's just recently passed that mark. I didn't have to be the bad parent and say no. Just explained that they were simply to big. Then we were close to where they were cooking the bohemeth size burger I think I heard someone say that it was going to weigh 750lbs when it was done. As a crowd pleaser/teaser they were hosting an eating contest and just as we walked up it was the 10 and under catagory. They had four contestants 2 girls and 2 boys. This is what I really enjoyed. The girls were only able to eat 1 1/2 burger each in the aloted time. Don't remember what one of the boys ate but the winner ate 4 1/2 burgers. That was the bun, onions, pickles, mustard and beef. When they announced how much he consumed I was thinking to my self man I'm glad I'm not his mom. I can just imagine his after school hunger mood. After this we watched them working on the big burger a bit and then started wondering around. Ofcourse our kiddos talked us into a funnel cake. We managed to make it over to the big burger just intime for them to start cutting it up and passing it out to the crowd. For a free burger it was just quiet tasty. Before we left we looked at some displayed cars. It was fun to learn that my son likes the old muscle cars. I never knew that about him. Then to much of his suprise two of them were cars that I have previously owned (back before kids). My daughter really like suprise of all suprises (NOT) the Corvet's. Overall this little festival was just right. Took just enough time to fill an afternoon and didn't cost an arm and leg to attend as a family.

I don't think we had been home but about an hour when I recieved a call from my mother in law. She told us that Braum's was giving way single dip cones to kids for "Free" until 6pm. By this time hubby had laid down for a nap. I told the kids and I think they ran to the van. We had a great time visiting with thier Omi and eating ice cream.

This turned out to be one of the best gloomy dull days ever and the memories are Free!