A visit from Abraham

Stacie, Abraham, and I met up in Topeka this afternoon for some shopping and fun. After a lovely afternoon spent and lots money spent we headed to our house. I picked up Wyatt from daycare and he spent the late afternoon playing with Abraham.

Wyatt laughing at Stacie and Abraham laughing at Wyatt.

Playing with blocks

Abraham all smiles and Wyatt being so serious.

Who can resist this handsome face?

Boating

Lately it seems like Wyatt is very much into using his imagination. He will pretend almost anything and will use any props he can to aid in his imaginative play. Today he was using the laundry basket as his "boat". He was driving his boat and had to make sure that his new BFFs, Long Neck and Clifford, were with him for the cruise.

I actually got him to look at me. :)

Giving Clifford a kiss.

Visit from Friends!

On Sunday we had a real great treat, one of my best friends, Sammi and her girls came to visit us. Now I'm sure you are saying what's the big deal but when we haven't seen them in two years because they live in South Korea, it's a big deal.
We met at the mall and it was so surreal to see Jaelynn and then see Kiera walk in and talking up a storm. She walked right up to me and said, "Hi Sara.". I was in shock. They both had grown up so much. Last time Sammi saw Wyatt he was sitting in a bouncy chair only a couple of months old.

July 2009

After hanging out at the mall for a couple of hours we headed to my house and let the kids play and run around. It was great to catch-up in person and not just chatting on Facebook. We talked and played with the kids and had a good time. Here are some new pictures of the kids, big difference from two years ago. :)

They had a lot of fun playing Play-Doh together and cars. Unfortunately I couldn't get many pictures because they were moving so much that most of them were a blur of hands moving and heads turning and running.

Balancing Act

I got these fabulous new bowls from a shop in Gore when we were in Oklahoma for my family reunion. I saw them and had to have them. Apparently they are also very appealing to a dare-devil boy. He always gets my bowls and stuff out when I'm cooking supper but he usually pretends to be cooking while I cook. This time though he thought of something new to do with the bowls.

Getting his balance.

Look at me!

He kept trying to stand on the little one but it wasn't working for him.

Great Couponing Day

I have been waiting for a day like today. I scanned ads, clipped coupons, and today was a great day to finally cash in.

First Deal:
Store-Walgreen's
Loot: diapers, wipes, shampoo & conditioner, razors, make-up, and tampons.
I had $22.99 in coupons and with Walgreen's coupons and deals an additional $15.00 for a total of $37.99 of savings!! Heck ya :)

Second Deal:
Store-Dollar General
Loot: laundry detergent and cereal.
I had $7.00 in coupons there.

Third Deal:
Store-Target
Loot: Fiber One brownies.
I had $0.75 coupons for a new product that was already marked down. I got them for less than $2.00 a box. :)

Go ME :)

Vacation-Part 3: Fin and Feather

My family on my dad's side get together every year for a family reunion. We used to get together at Grand Lake and then as cousins got older and more kids were born we quickly out grew our spot at Grand Lake. We then decided to go to Fin and Feather Resort on Tenkiller Lake outside of Gore, OK. It is a fabulous resort and was perfect for our family. As everyone has gotten older and kids got bigger and responsibilities got larger we have gone from going every year to every other year. Being that we lived so far away for a couple of years and then the addition of Wyatt meant that we hadn't been to the lake in four years.

This year was the year and we were going. Everyone was going to get to meet Wyatt for the first time and see him in-person and not just pictures on Facebook. :) We got to the lake on Thursday afternoon and got checked into our cabin and started unloading all of Wyatt's our stuff. We ate at the restaurant that is at the resort that night and then headed back to our room so Wyatt could go to bed and then we sat outside our cabin in the evening until we were too tired to talk.

Air conditioner doubles as a chair for a little boy to look out the window.

Fin and Feather has two pools on-site; a big pool and a baby pool. I was super excited to take Wyatt to the baby pool because it is really shallow and knew that he would love being able to walk around it independently without me holding his hand. We even got a swim ring, beach ball, and float for him to use in the baby pool.

This is Wyatt sitting on the bottom of the pool. It's pretty shallow and that's what he like about it. More like a bathtub water height than swimming pool.

Splashing with dad on the side. He even would stand up and then jump off the side with your help. And yes we forgo the swimming suit for just a swim diaper because he can move so much better without the trunks. I'm thinking a Speedo for his future swimsuit. ;)

Wyatt and Poppa Flash sitting in the gazebo. I love this picture because Wyatt is showing my dad his "funny face".

Me, Wyatt, and my Dad. Wyatt of course doing another funny face. I just let him do it because I figured it looked better than a kid who was screaming and crying in the picture.

Me, Wyatt, and Mike- Fin and Feather 2011

Vacation-Part 2: Oklahoma Aquarium

After spending a night at the Marriott in Tulsa we woke up bright and early to head to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. The hotel we stayed in was very nice, the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. And I'm pretty sure it's the nicest hotel Wyatt's stayed in since it was his first one.

Enjoying the view from the fourth floor.

He loved the big windows and that he could stand so close to them.

That morning we headed to the Oklahoma Aquarium. I was super excited since I had no idea that there was even an aquarium in Oklahoma.

Sitting with the Bull Sharks statue and actually smiling. :)

 The beginning of the aquarium was very cool because it was all hands on. They had large shrimp, horseshoe crabs, and star fish that you could pick up and handle. They had helpers around that would assist you and they also had great signs that told you about each animal and how to handle them.

Dad picking up large shrimp. They kept swimming around and Mike said they felt so weird going through his hand.

Horseshoe Crabs

Mike touched them but Wyatt wouldn't. He just wanted to look at them.

He liked standing there and watching them swim around.

This was a giant water box of turtles. There were several dozen of them in the box and they swam around constantly waiting to be fed by someone.

Now he sees them and has to wave "hi".

Then we went into this section of the aquarium that was about river animals; otters and beavers. They had a beaver that was sitting and eating and then there was a camera inside the beaver den to see the ones in there.

Here he is matching the fish that are swimming around the tank.

Stingray pond

With Momma in a replica of a shark cage that divers use to view sharks. As you can see from this picture this is pretty much the end of aquarium tour and he is ready to GO.

Vacation:Part 1 - Tulsa Zoo

Last week we were MIA because we were on V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N. This was our first family vacation and I have to say it was great.

We headed to Tulsa last Wednesday and our first stop was the Tulsa Zoo. I have went to this zoo for years and was super excited to have Wyatt and Mike experience it as well. We went during the afternoon and it was hot, it's Oklahoma in the middle of a heat wave. We had dressed accordingly and had plenty of fluids so we braved it anyway.

Our first stop were the elephants and we got to see them while they were outside enjoying the sun.

After that we went to the monkey house and it was crazy!! I have never seen monkeys so active as these were. They were jumping, running, and swinging in their indoor area. They were literally moving the entire time we saw them. At one point one of the monkeys started running around and using the plexiglass as a launching pad to jump off of. He was definitely playing up the crowd. I couldn't get a picture because there were two day camps at the zoo the same time we were and it was crazy kids run-a-muck!! I really had to stop myself from saying something to them or their counselors.

In the bird atrium we saw this bird fly out of one area and right over Wyatt and he had no idea. It took Mike showing him that the bird was there before he saw it. Then of course he wanted to touch it.

Starting to meltdown.

Our final stop were the giraffes and zebras. Wyatt loved the giraffes so much that we had to get him a stuffed giraffe at the gift shop.

Our last picture of the zoo before we left!

After the zoo we headed to our hotel for the night and enjoyed a much cooler evening of swimming and jumping on the king-sized bed in our room. More of our vacation to come later.

Busy Week

Hey! I'm back!! Wyatt and I have been in Chanute on a little hiatus seeing friends and family. We got to Chanute Wednesday night and after visiting with my mom and Stacie we called it a night.
Thursday was the big day; we would be seeing Lindsay, Zach, Layken, and Hadley for the first time in 3 years. I have only seen Layken once a couple of weeks after he was born and that was during fourth of July in 2008. Lindsay had never met Wyatt and I had never met Hadley. This was the day and it was fabulous. :) Lindsay and the kids came over followed by Stacie and Abraham and then Tara, Landon, and Logan. We had a great afternoon with a house full of kids ranging in age from 2 months to almost 5 years old. The boys played and the girls chatted. All in all it was one of the best afternoons I've spent with friends in quite sometime. After a quick lunch and nap for both momma and Wyatt we headed over to Great-Gram's house for the rest of the afternoon.
Friday was another fun first for Wyatt because we went to the Safari Museum. Those of you not from Chanute need to know that some famous Kansans named Osa and Martin Johnson were from Chanute and traveled around Africa shooting film and taking pictures of wildlife and native tribes for people to see. Wyatt thought is was pretty cool especially since they have instruments that he could play throughout the museum that kept his interest. Of course no museum trip would be complete without a stop by the gift shop and it was a disappointment. Wyatt ended up getting a little cow toy for 95-cents and that was the best thing for kids there. :( We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting my dad, Stacie and Abraham, and then going to visit Zach and Lindsay and the kids one last time.
Saturday was pack and pick up day and we were home by 2:30pm. I'm exhausted and have piles of laundry to do but right now I'm just enjoying a few days of nothing before we head out for the lake. Busy summer!!