Drive-in movie

in Guthrie, OK. I'd like to say this is "Let's Explore Oklahoma, Part 2" but since Matt wasn't with us...it just doesn't count.

Jackson enjoying his cushy seat and RED tummy yummy and corn Chex.

And here are the kiddos ready to watch "Rio" at their first drive-in movie. I LOVE this place. I give it 4 stars! It's relaxed. Jackson can be as loud as he wants and no one cares. Katie and Collin loved it. We bring our own popcorn, M&M's and Coke, we sit in lawn chairs and watch the stars come out in the Oklahoma sky. Two thumbs up, 4 stars, a must do!! Side note: we did manage to get into bed a smidge before 11pm, but it was a small consequence to pay for a night of fun in the summer.

A bunch of sweetness not always seen in the daytime

Camp Sing-a-lot

The ONLY good picture I got of Collin's concert and it isn't a good picture! Eeek! But the video is fantastic. Apparently I am not a good photographer and videographer at one time! Collin loved going to Camp for the 2nd year in a row. The kids sing in 4 part harmony!! Make up silly songs!! Learn beautifully sung religious songs and have lots of fun together.

Dynamo Gymnastics Playzone

Have you been? It is so much fun and exhausting! Although, if your kids are older...you have 2 hours to visit with other moms and occasionally take your child out for a drink of water.
I followed this guy up the stairs 50+ times. (This was after an hour at Jazzercise, mind you.)

And then down the slide we went. Jackson isn't looking particularly happy here, but believe me, he was!! He loved the slide.

Over and over and over we went.

Then he took a turn in the ball pit.

Couldn't drag the boy out of here. And if I was able too, it was only to go down the slide 10 more times...then back to the ball pit.

Sister, well sister here thought since we were headed to Dynamo GYMNASTICS that she would get to "play" on the gymnastics equipment like they let you do at Metro Gymnastics.

Here she is whining.

And whining.

And finally putting out her "Koosh lips" to let me know she really unhappy. Goal #29 for the summer: help Katie stop the whining. Overall she had so much fun but every now and then she would glance at the grass on the other side of the fence and it looked greener. Actually if she really did that in our own backyard...she would find that it really is greener because there is actually grass over there but I digress...

And we are back to weekly trips to the Science Museum

Every time. Every time. Every time we go to the science museum she has GOT to have her picture taken here. I think I already have about 15 of these.
Jackson discovered the water table this trip. And he was wet for the rest of the day.

We went with our friends Mrs. Marilyn and Wesley and Natalie but my camera battery died so I did not get any cute group photos. :(

A little time in Texas = many pictures

I am trying something new....writing about the picture ABOVE it instead of BELOW it...I'm not sure I like it. Here are Colt and Kristen on their last day at the Church of Christ in Snyder, TX. They have recently moved to Alexandria, VA where Colt will begin work on a PhD and Kristen will begin work on her Masters degree. And then we will go visit them in summer 2013, right Colt and Kristen??
We then headed from Snyder on out to my parents house. Here the kiddos had much fun playing with a recent purchase of Grammy and Poppas - the slip and slide.

Even Matt got in on the action.

Then Katie and Collin and cousin Chandler went out to the pool in the front yard to cool off some more. Chandler decided he needed to go to the bathroom and respectfully stood and aimed at the grass near the pool. I did snap a perfect picture of the incident, but I'll guess I'll wait until his wedding video to publicize it.

Grammy always has a big pocket full of tokens for the kiddos to spend at Mr. Gatti's - a pizza place in Abilene. And now that Katie and Collin are bigger, they like to ride all the rides instead of earning tickets for prizes.

Um...these 2 scare me with their crazy driving...especially Katie.

Our little Chubba Chubba Choo Choo rode his first train ride here!

And here are all 3 on the carousel, Katie doing a modified "bunny run" pose.

Jackson just had to touch and try everything. He had lots of fun, even if he only rode 2 rides.

Grammy and Jackson during story time.

And here is our cutie pa-tootie before swim time in a real pool. Don't you like this 1920s swimsuit? I bought this for Collin at a little boutique in Edmond WAY back in 2004. I wish I had a scanner and I would scan the photo in of Collin in this suit...twins I tell you!

Here we are swimming at my parent's friend's pool.

Katie had just gotten some flippers and she was determined to try to swim in them. She hasn't worn them since.

Beautiful view...I can smell the dry heat now.

We plan to head back to Texas in July when it's really hot and love on our families some more. We hardly got to see Pops and Jarre on this trip to Texas so another trip is in order and that will mean more pictures!

White River Youth Camp - my old stomping grounds

- located in West Texas, near Spur, near Post, near White River Lake. White River Youth Camp had a 40 year reunion and we were invited to attend! This is where I was a camper from 5th-10th grade, where Matt and I were both counselors in college for 2 years each, and where Matt was the director for 2 years.
Pulled out of the archives...my old 1996 sweatshirt. This was not pulled out of my archives mind you, I tend to not wear clothing with dates on them. My old sweatshirt was found in a fellow staff members closet.

The wall of camp t-shirts. Now this camp is 5 weeks long. During the month of July. In West Texas. It's blazing hot. 1996 was the first year we got to wear shorts during the day time. After 5:00 it was jeans only. I forgot to ask someone if that was still the rule.

This one....a classic. Matt designed it for his first year as director. Later we learned that many schools in the surrounding areas had BANNED these shirts from schools saying they were "suggestive".

Jarita Moses and Matt. Jarita inspired one of Matt's silly songs, "Spunky Cold Jarita" off of the Tone Loc song "Funky Cold Medina". You all remember Tone Loc, right?

So for the past 15 years WRYC has been selling some spunky cold Jarita's at the trading post. We thought they just did it that one year. Apparently they are a big hit!

Here are the wonderful accomodations at WRYC. And I DID sleep in these tents for 5 years as a camper and 2 years as a counselor. When Matt was a director, we got to sleep in the air-conditioned Bank!

So here is Western Street at camp. Each building was donated by a church in the West Texas area and is used by camp for different activities. Opry House - stage for talent show, Doc Bozeman - nurse's office and her house; Acuff Hotel - house for teachers; ??? another building I don't remember the name - house for cooks; Bank - house for directors; and the Jail - just for funsies!

So this camp is where Matt first started writing his silly songs. Every Monday night around the campfire each tent would perform a song. So as a counselor and a director he came up with some famous ones. For the reunion they asked if Matt could sing some of his songs. And he has managed to incorporate his talent for silly song writing every place we've been. WRYC - check; Houston - check; Tallahassee - check; and even Edmond - check!

This night they honored the past directors from 1971 until 2011. We were so happy to have played a small part in the camp. Such fun, fun times and such wonderful memories!

Katie's PreK Graduation from Mrs. McBride's class

Mrs. McBride is an institution. She has taught PreK at our church for 40 something years. I don't really know how long but a long time!
During graduation, Mrs. McBride lead the children through all their songs, their memory work (13 verses this quarter for a grand total of 52 memory verses), says the books of the Bible, and says the 23rd Psalm. I know I didn't know all that at age 4 and 5!!

She also goes into great detail during the lessons! Wow! I learned something new every week that Matt and I helped do crowd control in her class. Because she teaches EVERY PreK child. She doesn't have a room full of 15 little people, NO, there are 65 kids on her roll sheet. Now of course, not everyone comes but still! She teaches them all! She has a desk, an attendance chart, folders, crayons, etc, etc, etc for each child!

Here is our Kate listening intently and looking back at me for a thumbs up if she answered a question correctly!

Katie and Mrs. McBride! And now...she is officially off to Kindergarten!

Inside Out Beginner's Camp

Tuesday I dropped my oldest boy off at church camp. He was super excited! And even more excited that his friend rode with us down to camp and that they were in the same cabin. This camp is run by friends from church, the counselors in the cabins are friends from church, the cooks in the kitchen are friends from church, the nurse is a friend from church...you get the picture. I know every adult out there. I know most of the kids out there.
But still...I'm having some Mommy pains. I dropped him off and drove away. I have not talked to him since Tuesday at 1:30. I know he is having a wonderful time and learning and loving all the fun activities. But still...Mommy pains. I can't wait for Friday at 4:30!! I get to pick him up and hear all about it!