Oklahoma-It’s not all waving wheat and wind

We are coming up on nearly a year in Oklahoma, which seems so strange.  I literally feel like the moving truck just left our driveway (so do those boxes still in my garage! Yak, yak!).   In one year, we have survived being struck by lightning (both our house and our bodies), earthquakes, a few whirly twirlies (look how I talk like the natives now), a few or ten trips to the ER with our little man, a nasty car accident and broken shoulder, AND countless other adventures.  Now I am excused for absentee blogging, right?   It has been quite an exciting whirlwind (no tornado pun intended) of a year.  

Something that always strikes me as funny, is how surprised people who come to visit us are by how pretty and green Oklahoma looks.    Granted, there are some ugly and flat parts to this state, but our little pocket in Edmond is actually very lovely.   We live out in the rolling hills which is very similar to hill country in Texas……except less mesquite trees and much greener, and less scorpions!   We do actually get a small taste of all seasons, which I LOVE!   I am really digging going out and exploring some of the cool places around us.   Most times, I am also shocked at all Oklahoma has to offer.   Take this, for instance:

This little pocket of wonderful is called Arbuckle Mountains.   We stumbled upon this area while traveling home from Dallas.   We decided to veer off the interstate and explore a pretty area for future outdoor expeditions. Our initial plan was to stay in  car and just scout some places, but once we saw some of the falls, we had to get out and look around.    We can’t wait to go back and actually go hiking up in that area.   It doesn’t hurt that the absolute best (and worst for the arteries) fried pies are just down the road from this place.   My plan is to just fill a a camelbak  with pies and water and head off into those woods like Survivor Man. 

Here was another VERY happy find for me here in Oklahoma:

Bluebonnets!!!!

My heart just fluttered at the sight of these.    We were actually planning a trip to Austin just so I could get my yearly bluebonnet pictures of the kids, but once I spotted this  patch, I was set!   And stoked!

There are more pictures and stories of our Oklahoma adventures to come.  Promise! We have experienced so much in this first year, but we have only touched the tip of iceberg on all there is to offer.  

Happy One Year of McBrayer  Residing  Awesomeness, Oklahoma!

Picture Distraction

Listen.   I will address the whole lack of blogging thing later.   For now, I am just going to pull a little number I use often around here when the questions get a kind of hairy.   Distraction.

Mommy, I understand the baby grows in the mom’s belly, but how did it get in there?

Is that the ice cream truck I hear?   Distraction.

Mom, my friend Lila told me she has two dads, but no moms.   Who grew the baby in their belly?

I recorded your favorite show, wanna watch it now?   Distraction.

Mommy, can I wear this brawl (bra)?   That one came from Seth, by the way.

I am going to water the plants outside.  I know you love to soak yourself.  Let’s go.  Distraction.

So, why have I been absent from blogging???

Oh, look!   Pretty pictures from a trip to Dallas!   Look at those adorable kids!

Dallas World Aquarium

We love going to this place anytime we are in the Dallas area.   It is not just your usual aquarium setting, it also houses several exotic animals, and the rainforest trail is super cool.  

 

 

This shark dive bombing Kaelan was all fun and games until he really started banging the glass.    I really think he wanted to taste my child.   You can see the game was over for Kaelan after a few hard whacks.   We pretty much cleared the shark tunnel by freaking out all the other visitors.  We also chose to get going and not test that reinforced glass.

Like I said, all fun and games until someone gets eaten by a shark in a freak tank shattering incident.

I am guessing word of my savory child passed quickly through the aquarium, because this jaguar woke from his nap and made his way over to the glass to stalk Kaelan.  

Seth got to visit his favorite tall pink birds, the flamingos.

We hit the Rainforest Café (duh) for lunch, where coincidently, my boy who tried many times to hurl himself into the alligator pit  and piranha tank at the aquarium, was deathly afraid of the robotic animals in the restaurant.  Go figure.

 

Rangers Game

If we are in a town during ball season that has a pro team, chances are we will be attending a game.   Doug is well on his way to meeting  his goal of seeing  ALL the parks in ten years, so we plan to hit the east coast parks next year.  Yes, we have seen Rangers Ballpark a bazillion times, and yes, we are NOT big Ranger fans, but when in Ft. Worth……

Pregame, I decided to let the kids run their wiggles and jiggles out on the front lawn of the stadium.   They had a blast, but I found they still snuck some wiggles and  jiggles into the game in their pockets.  

 

 

 

 

This is a sweet moment.   They were telling each other endearing little secrets behind Seth’s hat.

Actually,  I think they were plotting who was going to beg for what treat in the park.

Seth you cry for funnel cake and snow cones, and I will whine for frozen lemonade and cotton candy. 

Got it?

 

 

We never make it through a full 9 innings in our seats, so long about the 3rd inning, we ventured out to hit the kid area. The kids and I spent most of the remainder of the game in there (minus our trips our for cotton candy, funnel cakes and snow cones….they won) while dad went out to catch some of the game. Couldn’t tell you what the score was. Can’t even remember who the Rangers played, but we had fun and dad got baseball fix, so it was all good.

The Easter Bunny Cometh

I can give you a million reasons why I am so far behind on posting Easter pictures, but instead I am going to give you a million pictures.

We hit a few egg hunts around town the week of Easter.   I really didn’t take many pictures at them, but I did find these from one at a local church on my phone. 

I will say, this is one of the least creepy looking Easter Bunnies we encountered that week.

We woke the kids up pretty early on Easter morning so we could have a little hunt and eat some grub, and head out for church.  They did not seem to mind. Their hair was still in bed asleep, but their little bodies made it out to look for eggs.  

Kaelan got some special hummingbird feeder for her deck and lots of summer fun gear (flip flops, swim toys, outdoor art supplies).

Seth got some of his own warmer weather gear (Frisbees, boats) and some cars to leave on the floor for mom and dad to step on.  Oh, that Easter Bunny!   He thinks of all of us! 

 

 

Though I distinctly remember them acting like little boogers and eating way too much Easter candy that day, they sure did look cute! 

Safety Camp

 

Just a few miles from our house, there is a fire station with a huge safety city set up surrounding it.   This place is just the neatest.

We have gone on fire station tours with friends here, and on a recent visit, one of the fireman told us about a safety camp offered for kids in  Kaelan’s age range.

She loved every aspect of the four day camp.   They really covered a lot of safety components.  Everything from tornado and weather safety (very wise in this neck of the woods) to cooking safety (very wise if I am your mother).  

The kids actually go out into a miniature “city” to rescue people, put out fires, and learn about safety signals and how to ride a bike and adhere to laws put in place to protect them.   I am fairly sure she now has her driver’s license and can legally operate a crane in four states.   They seriously covered all bases. 

On the last day, the children had to run a full training course through the city to showcase all they had learned and to  pass the class.

The gear, which was custom made for little kids,  was out and ready for the kids to put on.  The course started with the kids pretending to be asleep in their barracks and waking to an alarm.   They had to jump up, get their gear on, and respond to various calls for help.  

Kaelan responded to a fire rescue.   

   

Kaelan maneuvered through the city at lightening speed, faced whatever obstacles she had to along the way with the strength of a lion, sprayed out numerous fires,  and saved the lives of helpless victims everywhere.

She also dragged those 100lb dummies around like a true super hero.

She practices a lot on this little sack o’ taters.

Seth took notes on the course and will be back in a few years to complete his training.   Hopefully, we can keep him out of the city jail they have built next to the miniature city hall until then.   Hopefully.