Wild West Wyoming Road Trip

Clayton enjoying the garden at Lions Park in Cheyenne

 We kicked of September with a road trip....a rather long road trip...to Wyoming! Dennis's work had him in Casper for nearly three weeks and since we knew ahead that he was going to be there, we decided to make a trip to see him and do a little sight seeing, too.
 Nana & Poppy (my dad and stepmom) were up for the trip and we left out to pick up Nana in Colorado and we got to have lunch with some cousins in Monument, Colorado on the way. Then off the Wyoming. I was a little worried about the little one traveling so far, but he did great! We made lots of stops and I packed a picnic box which we found to be indispensable! We had a picnic lunch nearly every single day!

Fort Caspar Museum

 We spent a couple days in Casper with Dennis (hoping that he'd get to go to Yellowstone with us but that didn't work out). While in Casper, we visited the Fort Caspar Museum, drove to Independence Rock (a 27 acre granite rock in the middle of nowhere...it was pretty cool!), and looked around town.
  Then we headed to Cody to be closer to Yellowstone. On the way, we stopped at the Wyoming Dinosaur Museum in Thermopolis which was awesome! We went to Yellowstone two days in a row and probably could have easily spent a week there, it was so beautiful! The weather was great and we saw all kinds of animals. Nana and I helped Cooper do his activities and list to get his Junior Ranger patch, too! (:
   We spent one more night in Casper so we could see Dennis before coming home. We stopped in Cheyenne at Lions Park, which was a really neat place...a great garden and a children's garden that was amazing!

Cooper taking Nana for a ride on the stage coach...his first hat from our trip was this Union soldier hat

Nana, Poppy, me and the boys at Independence Rock outside Casper

My little ranger...another hat...he loves hats

At Old Faithful Geyser

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone...this was my favorite spot of all!

We saw lots and lots of buffalo!

Official Junior Ranger

Can you see the elk just hanging out at Fort Yellowstone??

The Post Office at Fort Yellowstone...I just loved the bear statues

Summertime 2012

Oh my goodness! The summer has been a whirlwind, but we've had lots of fun! The boys and I joined a Mommy & Me group and joined some fun outings every week. We went to Blue Hole, once with our group, and once when we camped over the July 4th. We went to the zoo, Bounce U, Gentry Drive thru zoo, and swimming.

Dennis started a new contract job in Tulsa so it's been great because he has normal hours!! That's a big deal if you know anything about his schedule and having your own business!

Coop helping me cook (:

 It's been a gazillion degrees most of the summer! Pretty sure we broke the record and hit something like 117! The garden didn't do as well as I'd have liked because of the heat, but fall will be here soon and we'll be cleaning out the old and getting ready for the next year.

I love this picture- garlic and carrots from my garden

purple hull peas from the garden

Clayton hanging out in the washtub reading nook

All these toys and he plays with a box!

First day of KDO for the boys

Clayton is full out walking and getting into everything and they are both growing like weeds! This is Cooper's last year in the preschool program/ Kid's Day out and Clayton's first year in KDO. Next year, Cooper will start Kindergarten at what I refer to as "Mommy School" (aka homeschool) so I am looking forward to that and getting myself prepared this year.

We are ready for fall and ready for some camping and our trip to Wyoming!

Summertime Bucket List- Zoo & More

The summer is in full swing! We've been having lots of fun adventures at home and out and about. Our garden is growing, our kids are growing, and we're enjoying the summer.

We found a nest of baby rabbits in one of our raised beds....they didn't stay long after we discovered them, but we had fun peeking in on them.

First sunflower of the summer along with orange poppies from the garden

This is the view from our yard looking out the front of our property across the road during wheat harvest....pretty cool to watch them.

Homemade popsicles

Mommy and the boys

Cooper at the Tulsa Zoo

Cooper Monkey!!

My little zoo rider...he did great riding around and taking it all in!

Ok, this was just funny....first of all the lion is usually not out when it's hot, but we were early enough to see him, second, he was out and playing, then look to right and notice the keg....think he might've had a crazy night!? (:

Summer 2012 Bucket List--Woolaroc Adventure

  

We headed out to take a trip to Woolaroc with some friends yesterday. I have some great memories of that place as a kid. My grandparents would take us there all the time and we would roam and explore the acres and acres of stuff there!  We took our picnic lunch and away we went. Of course with four kids under five, we opted to not go through the large museum part, but they loved the petting zoo and running around the playground and park areas and seeing all the animals. We were all exhausted, but we all had fun! It will be fun to go back as my boys get older and appreciate different aspects of the place, especially when they will want to walk the amazing trails! I'm sure we have many  more memories to be made there.

Checking out the teepee at Mt. Man Camp

Clayton and his srunchy face

Curious Cooper...I love it!

Cooper and his buddy, Zander had to pose with the cowboy statue

Clayton and his friend, Azalee hanging out at lunchtime

Clayton's First Birthday!!!

I can't believe my baby is ONE!!! Clayton had his first birthday party last Saturday and I think he actually enjoyed  it! I was a little worried he would be tired, but thankfully, he decided to take his morning nap before his guests arrived and it made him a happy party boy!

Clayton and his friend, Azalee playing farm

Look, Mom DOES exist!

This is what Cooper and the bigger kids did during the party...it was too nice to be inside all day!

Southwest Oklahoma Road Trip with the Boys

  Dennis had to work two weeks in Lawton and didn't get to come home the weekend, so the boys and I made a road trip there to visit. It turned out that an area of Oklahoma that I'd only passed through a time or two was actually pretty amazing! We stayed at the camper with Dennis (who was very happy to see us) and went to the Chisolm Trail Heritage Museum in Duncan, had a picnic lunch with Dennis near his job in Lawton, then made a scenic drive through the Wichita Mts. Wildlife Refuge and to the visitor center there. We hated to come home so soon, but it;s time to get ready for Clayton's first birthday party!

Chisolm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, Ok- "End of the Trail" marker for the "trail" in the concrete...way cool

View in the Wildlife Refuge

Longhorn cattle, buffalo, and prairie dogs were all spotted on our drive

Visitors Center at Wichita Mts. Wildlife Refuge

A cool wall sculpture/ mural in the visitor center

Springing Up

Coop and Daddy hanging out

 I haven't posted in a while...something about being busy with boys! Spring seems to be here extra early this year...like a month early! The boys are growing like weeds, of course. In a month, Clayton will be one year old!!
Cooper is getting tall and he has discovered fishing with Daddy. They don't get much fishing done, but he thinks it's the best thing ever. He managed to get a hook in his hand (barely) and nearly gave it up, but after he got home and did his dramatic cry and took a bath, the little spot he hooked was nowhere to be found. He has decided he would like to go again.

One of my peach trees blooming (mid-March)

Cruising!

Silly Cooper

Wagon ride

I took this April 6th about 8pm...the moon is orange and it was way cool

My roses blooming in April--they usually don't bloom til right before Mother's Day

Clayton is getting a mouth full of teeth! He has two on top and four on bottom right now and working on a couple more. He is also cruising around quite quickly and it won't be long before he figures out how to walk....them heaven help me, I'm in trouble!

We've been enjoying the mild weather and we are ready to go camping anytime now, especially before it gets to be scorching hot!!

I have our garden nearly planted. We got a lot of rain over spring break and I wasn't able to plant corn and okra and my flowers around the garden, just the raised beds.The boys are all sorts of help out there, as you can imagine...Clayton hangs out in the wagon or I wait til he is napping and Cooper actually does help a little with watering and he helped plant some seeds. He loves to check things out with me to see what's coming up. It's lots of fun to watch our garden (and our babies) grow!

My raised beds are all planted with potatoes and peas going crazy

Clayton is on the move!