OKLAHOMA!

A couple of months, I noticed that Payton going to have a long weekend break from school in October. I thought it might be prime time for leaves (well almost) and I wanted to see some Fall, somewhere close by. So I hunted up a place for us all to go for a couple of days away.

What I found was Beavers Bend State Park, close to Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Beavers Bend is in the southeast part of Oklahoma and has Broken Bow Lake and Mountain Fork River. When Scott heard there was a lake, he decided that we would take the kids fishing:) - I smile at this because Scott and I don't know much about fishing. In fact, when I told my good friend Melissa about our 'fishing trip' she couldn't stop laughing. How hard could it be? Right?

We went to an outdoor sports store to buy fishing poles for the kids. We figured that since we didn't know what to do, at least we could probably find someone at the store that did. We did. Gary got us all set up with all the dingy-ma-bobbers to put on the kids' rod and reels. Payton picked out a pink princess one and Ian got the Star Wars pole. Gary told me how to set them all up with the weights, bobbers, and hooks, Scott didn't trust my memory as to which order they go in. He ended up looking it up on his phone :)

 So anyway, we stayed at a private cabin, just outside the park. It's name was 'Dale's Little Piece of Heaven'. The cabin was perfect - a little 2 bedroom, with a wrap around porch/deck, and a hot tub. The first night we were there, we got settled and then ate at a quaint place called Grateful Head Pizza Oven and Tap Room. The pizza was great and the beer was cold :) Then back at the cabin the kids practiced their casting technique before ending the night with a splash around in the hot tub.

There were some leaves changing, so I had to zoom in to get pictures of them.

Dress up

I love Saturday mornings. Usually, we don't have to be anywhere before 10 am, so we get to lounge around in our PJs for a while - just hanging out.

Payton and Ian get to play.

This particular Saturday morning Payton decided that she was going to be a princess and Ian was a pirate.

Pumpkin...ahem...Patch

Saturday afternoon, I decided I better take the kids to a pumpkin patch before all the pumpkins disappear. (Due to the drought, I've read from several sources, that you better get your pumpkins early this year or they'll be gone.) So I looked up several patches close to us and Payton helped me choose this one because of the wagon ride through an old Ghost town.

I pulled into the parking lot and immediately wished I'd gone to the pumpkin patch where they actually grew the pumpkins on site. Oh well. There was no turning back once the kids saw the bouncy houses.

So I got a couple of pics. The kids got their pony rides, ran through a maze (that took all of 60 seconds), bounced, and took a ride through a Ghost Town. At least, we were on a wagon.....um...pulled by a Hummer :)

FC Dallas Game

This weekend Opa and Oma came up because we got a great deal on some FC Dallas tickets. For those that don't follow soccer, FC Dallas is the local MLS (Major League Soccer) team. Don't feel bad, I had no idea who they were until I got a deal alert on Mamasource for half off tickets.

It just so happened that FC Dallas was playing the Houston team....excuse me for a second while I look up the name....the Houston Dynamo.

Opa, Scott, and the kids went to game. It was at 3pm Saturday afternoon.

I think they had a good time. They all received free blow horns, called vuvuzelas. (I never knew what these were called. They are very loud and annoying - especially when blown in the house.) The kids each got a number one finger, a bottle of gatorade, and a big pretzel. After the pretzel, things settled down a little bit and Ian fell asleep. Ian played a soccer game in the morning and the week was catching up with him.

I think they got a little hot. So, after the first half, they moved to the shady side of the stadium which was much better.

Ian woke up for the second half. The kids had a hard time following the game, but the outing was fun because they were with Daddy and Opa :)

Pumpkin Crayons

This past weekend Payton was looking for something to do. She said her art teacher told her how to use old crayons to make new crayon shapes.

Payton likes to tell you how things work and give you instructions on how to do something.

She's actually pretty good at it, too. She almost sounds like an instruction manuel :)

So, Payton told me what we needed, how to use the oven and prepare the crayons, etc.

We used some jack 'o' lantern cupcake pans, old crayons, warmed up the oven, 

 She wanted to watch the crayons melt....with her fan in hand because the oven is hot :)

and....voila....

pumpkin faced crayons.

First Soccer Game of the Season

Ian's soccer team is the Pirates this fall (yellow shirts). Today he played the Stars. He was excited about the game, but several things happened that then put him in a not-so-excited-about-playing-soccer-today mood.

Our games are all scheduled to be played in Russell Creek Park, which is literally across the street from our house. It's a big park, but I thought we could just walk to the game because Field E wasn't too far. Well the Field E that I saw and the Field E that Plano Sports Authority meant were two completely different fields. The Field E that Ian was on was on the opposite side of the park. We wandered for almost a half hour before we found it. So, Ian was already tired and hot before the game even started - sorry Ian :(

He just never really attacked the ball. From the get-go he had decided that everyone else was faster. So, Ian ended up standing around watching the action.

Of course, I tried to be positive, but I couldn't say, 'Great job, Ian!' because he knew he wasn't doing a great job. His heart wasn't in it today. He said that next game will be better.

We're Sick

Both kids are on day 2 of antibiotics.

Both kids are on day 2 of being home from school with Mommy.

It all started with me....way back when we were in North Carolina. With about 2 days left in our trip, I started having a sore throat. (This was August 8!) I am just now finishing up my 10 day stint of antibiotics for a sinus infection.

I thought that everyone else was safe, but then Payton started sniffling on Sunday. After a couple of days, it seemed to get worse. Thursday, she woke up with a fever. So we went to the Dr. yesterday. While Payton was being examined, Ian had a huge sneeze and shot a big ball of yellow goo onto his hand.

The Dr. says, 'Maybe, I should look at him too....'

Thus, I have two kids home taking antibiotics - twice a day :)

Is today September 2nd?



So yesterday, we watched Tangled to pass the time in the afternoon. After the movie was over Payton decided to set up the scene of Rapunzel  and Flynn in the boat watching the lanterns. She has a picture in her room of the scene and she wanted to recreate it. She even took pictures to show Daddy.

Ian helped make the lanterns out of Legos :)

Original picture in her room.