I completely forgot it was time for another Thankful Thursday yesterday so I'm going to squeeze it in. Since starting this I have found things each day to be thankful about and I think to myself I need to put that on the list.
I'm thankful...
that Elle, Mops, and I have survived while Chris is gone.
that Chris made it to VA safely and the wonderful couple he's staying with.
for a sweet husband who makes time to talk to us via phone, skype, text, email, or postcard.
for baby belly kicks!
for friends and family who want to spend time with us so we won't be lonely.
for some rain and cooler temps for at least a couple of days.
for maintenance who will check out the stinky water situation.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
momma & me
Chris left on the 9th to drive to Charlottesville, VA and won't return until July 31st. So what do you do with a toddler for 3 solid weeks when you're the only parent? Pray... and keep her busy! So as soon as Chris pulled out of the parking lot we started our Momma & Me time. Before Chris left I researched and came up with a long list of things around the City that Elle and I could do that was toddler friendly and relatively cheap. Here's what I came up with:
zoo
science museum
unpluggits
mall playground
playdates
picking peaches and nectarines--harrah orchard
bouncin' craze (2 and up, M, T, W, F)
round barn and Pops!
sprayground
jasmin moran children's museum (Seminole, W or F, kids under 3 free)
martin park nature center
ok railway museum (free, saturday train rides-adults $10, under 3 free)
edmond historical society museum (T-F 10-5, free!)
redhawks game (25th-30th)
winnie-the-pooh movie (premiers july 15th) {not sure if we're ready, but put it on the list}
harn homestead (adults $5, 3 and under free)
red pin bowling (she has a coupon from the library)
horse show at fair grounds (July 20-31, 8am-10pm, free to public)
library
pelican bay waterpark (twilight hrs, M-W 5-8, TH-F 5-7, $5 adults)
stampin up workshop
children's theater producation of Dr. Doolittle (ticket from library)
We've kept our normal schedule as well so Elle still goes to school Tuesdays and Thursdays. She also started swim lessons at OCCC on Monday and we just completed our first week. I'll be posting more about our activities over the next several weeks.
zoo
science museum
unpluggits
mall playground
playdates
picking peaches and nectarines--harrah orchard
bouncin' craze (2 and up, M, T, W, F)
round barn and Pops!
sprayground
jasmin moran children's museum (Seminole, W or F, kids under 3 free)
martin park nature center
ok railway museum (free, saturday train rides-adults $10, under 3 free)
edmond historical society museum (T-F 10-5, free!)
redhawks game (25th-30th)
winnie-the-pooh movie (premiers july 15th) {not sure if we're ready, but put it on the list}
harn homestead (adults $5, 3 and under free)
red pin bowling (she has a coupon from the library)
horse show at fair grounds (July 20-31, 8am-10pm, free to public)
library
pelican bay waterpark (twilight hrs, M-W 5-8, TH-F 5-7, $5 adults)
stampin up workshop
children's theater producation of Dr. Doolittle (ticket from library)
We've kept our normal schedule as well so Elle still goes to school Tuesdays and Thursdays. She also started swim lessons at OCCC on Monday and we just completed our first week. I'll be posting more about our activities over the next several weeks.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
2011 trip to Shrockendo
In 1950 Chris' grandparents built a cabin in Platoro, CO. They lived there while Chris' granddad was working as an engineer on the reservoir. Chris' family has maintained it and he's has gone every summer of his life except two (thanks to grad school!). I was blessed to go with him the first summer we were dating. We like to refer to it as the place we fell in love. The cabin has no electricity, a pot belly stove to keep you warm, a kerosene stove to cook on and kerosene lanterns for lights. It's wonderful! The first few years I went you didn't shower unless you went over and paid for one and you used an outhouse. Since then a bathhouse has been added in back and the most recent development is the new cabin Chris' parents built next door.
This summer we were blessed to get to take Elle for her first time. We spent 4 days over the 4th of July holiday and had a blast. She wasn't really into hiking, but she did enjoy herself. Can't you tell from this face?
She didn't even seem bothered by the 40 degree weather at night. We tried to give Elle the full experience.
One of her favorite things was watching the horses who belong to the guy whose cabin is right behind us.
She saw a rescued baby chipmunk being fed. She didn't want to touch it even when Daddy was holding it.
Her bed, an original to the cabin, I think slept in by all Shrock kids now.
Chris taught her how to build a fire. (Not outside though because of the burn bans.)
When I say full experience, I mean full! A bath in the wash tub by the pot belly stove.
She saw snow on Conejos Peak, the highest point in the county. It's hazy because of smoke blown in from nearby wildfires.
A picnic by a little waterfall and some rock throwing in the Rockies.
She fed peanuts to chipmunks on the deck.
And of course watching the annual 4th of July parade and attending the potluck!
You can see more of our trip on our shutterfly website.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
getting caught up: redhawks game
A combination of the Disney trip, a visit from RV, a trip to the cabin (with no electricity), and Chris leaving for 3 weeks has put me behind on blogging. I'm going to try and get caught up on some things so here goes.
In June some of the OSSM students came back for 3 weeks to start a mentorship program. They would work with mentors around town during the day and in the evening they had activities planned to keep them busy. We volunteered to go with them to the Redhawks game. After living in Memphis for 3 years we had a lot of slip ups and kept saying Redbirds. Elle loved going to the game! It took a year, but she finally warmed up to some of the girls. She didn't want to be near Cooper and Ruby (the mascots), but she liked watching them from afar and has even said she wants to go back and see them. She even got to ride a bus for the first time. This was a little scary at first, but she liked it in the end. I'm planning on taking her one night while Chris is gone. Here's some pics from the game:
In June some of the OSSM students came back for 3 weeks to start a mentorship program. They would work with mentors around town during the day and in the evening they had activities planned to keep them busy. We volunteered to go with them to the Redhawks game. After living in Memphis for 3 years we had a lot of slip ups and kept saying Redbirds. Elle loved going to the game! It took a year, but she finally warmed up to some of the girls. She didn't want to be near Cooper and Ruby (the mascots), but she liked watching them from afar and has even said she wants to go back and see them. She even got to ride a bus for the first time. This was a little scary at first, but she liked it in the end. I'm planning on taking her one night while Chris is gone. Here's some pics from the game:
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
a weekend with rv
RV spent the weekend with us and it was a wonderful visit! Here's a recap of what we did:
Our first time to eat Jimmy Johns. Found out what everyone is raving about! YUM!
a visit to Braum's...Elle wanted the blue ice cream :)
playing at Mesta Park
some card playing
free music at Myriad Gardens with church friends
Plus... great conversations, RV's fantastic chicken salad, laughs, playing with cars and legos, and enjoying each other's company!
Our first time to eat Jimmy Johns. Found out what everyone is raving about! YUM!
a visit to Braum's...Elle wanted the blue ice cream :)
playing at Mesta Park
some card playing
free music at Myriad Gardens with church friends
Plus... great conversations, RV's fantastic chicken salad, laughs, playing with cars and legos, and enjoying each other's company!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
thankful thursday: a great daddy
I'm dedicating this Thankful Thursday to Chris since we were not with him for Father's Day. I'm so thankful that Elle and #2 has a Daddy that loves them so much. He works so hard for them and wants to make this world a better place for them. He is the best person ever! His heart belongs to God and is such a wonderful example of a Christian man, father, and husband. He loves to cuddle and play with Elle. He constantly tells me and her how much he loves her. And he's so loving even when she's tired and grumpy.
He's willing to carry her in the really long Little Mermaid line and then the ride while she sleeps
He'll take her to swim in the freezing pool
He'll ride the carousel again and again because she loves it
He'll finally go on the Dumbo ride just for her
He loves her momma
And he spent a whole day in an airport to get us a free trip. Not to mention the fact that he didn't eat anything, but plane food to save money.
For Father's Day we got Chris some new running shoes, and I had seen this idea in a magazine, so the card and the gift went together perfectly! (I turned my back for 2 seconds and she went crazy with the marker! He still loved it though.)
He's willing to carry her in the really long Little Mermaid line and then the ride while she sleeps
He'll take her to swim in the freezing pool
He'll ride the carousel again and again because she loves it
He'll finally go on the Dumbo ride just for her
He loves her momma
And he spent a whole day in an airport to get us a free trip. Not to mention the fact that he didn't eat anything, but plane food to save money.
For Father's Day we got Chris some new running shoes, and I had seen this idea in a magazine, so the card and the gift went together perfectly! (I turned my back for 2 seconds and she went crazy with the marker! He still loved it though.)
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
disneyland: part 2
Do you know this book?
It's what I kept thinking about the last day as we were trying to get home. We'd learned some lessons on this trip, but weren't too happy about the ones we learned Saturday. First of all, never underestimate LA traffic. We tried to go to Hollywood since we had several hours before we had to be at the airport. But we ended up being stuck in traffic most of the time and ended up with only time to eat lunch in Mahattan Beatch at Cozymel's, which serves "coastal mex". There's not very many around so I guess we got an out-of-the-ordinary experience. It was good and had a different flavor than tex-mex. Then we drove by the ocean on our way to airport.
Just before our flight they announced that it was too full and they were looking for volunteers to take $ and a voucher to take a later flight. After discussing it for a bit we decided it wouldn't be a bad idea if Chris wanted to do it. We had options about how to get back to OKC once we got to Dallas. So he volunteered. It wasn't until we were getting ready to take off that they then told him it was just a voucher. (At this point I refer back to the book.) It was pretty big, but still we felt misled. Then we found out Chris wouldn't fly in until the next morning. Thankfully my cousin took Elle and I in again for the night. The next morning Chris got his early flight to Kansas City, but when he got there his plane to Dallas had been used for another flight. Apparently there was a hail storm Saturday night and two planes were damaged. A lot of people were stranded and Chris wasn't going to get to Dallas until that evening. So he convinced them to send him to Oklahoma City, which they actually agreed to do because I guess it helped Southwest out. Elle and I drove back to OKC by ourselves, but as the day went on his arrival time kept getting pushed back. He finally arrived at 9 pm. So much for Father's Day!
other lessons learned:
*Disneyland is much more manageable than Disney World for little ones. You only have two parks instead of 6. It's also right in the middle of the city so we didn't have to stay at the resorts and was within walking distance (money saver!), found a grocery store to get food so we didn't have to eat all meals in the park (money saver!), and there were several restaurants or fast food places right there if we did want something else.
*The only bad thing about it being right in the middle of the city is there were more locals than at Disney World so there were a lot of unsupervised kids and teens around and it didn't seem as exotic.
*We packed breakfast foods, snacks, and to-go peanut butter and jelly packets in one of the suitcases so we didn't have to spend so much on food in the park.
*California Adventure was almost deserted in the morning when it first opens. Chris and Casey got on most of the big rides right away. However, it did get busy in the afternoon and there's not as many ways to travel around the park so you have to walk more.
*Elle can fit her head through the bars at the Dumbo ride, she just can't get it back through. Very scary moment!
*I'm the worst stalker ever! You know the guy who was on American Idol a few seasons ago who was blind? I recognized Scott MacIntyre as he got on the Dumbo ride ahead of us. Look at the shots I got and you'll see why I will never be a part of the paparrazi! It was him! I promise!
It's what I kept thinking about the last day as we were trying to get home. We'd learned some lessons on this trip, but weren't too happy about the ones we learned Saturday. First of all, never underestimate LA traffic. We tried to go to Hollywood since we had several hours before we had to be at the airport. But we ended up being stuck in traffic most of the time and ended up with only time to eat lunch in Mahattan Beatch at Cozymel's, which serves "coastal mex". There's not very many around so I guess we got an out-of-the-ordinary experience. It was good and had a different flavor than tex-mex. Then we drove by the ocean on our way to airport.
Just before our flight they announced that it was too full and they were looking for volunteers to take $ and a voucher to take a later flight. After discussing it for a bit we decided it wouldn't be a bad idea if Chris wanted to do it. We had options about how to get back to OKC once we got to Dallas. So he volunteered. It wasn't until we were getting ready to take off that they then told him it was just a voucher. (At this point I refer back to the book.) It was pretty big, but still we felt misled. Then we found out Chris wouldn't fly in until the next morning. Thankfully my cousin took Elle and I in again for the night. The next morning Chris got his early flight to Kansas City, but when he got there his plane to Dallas had been used for another flight. Apparently there was a hail storm Saturday night and two planes were damaged. A lot of people were stranded and Chris wasn't going to get to Dallas until that evening. So he convinced them to send him to Oklahoma City, which they actually agreed to do because I guess it helped Southwest out. Elle and I drove back to OKC by ourselves, but as the day went on his arrival time kept getting pushed back. He finally arrived at 9 pm. So much for Father's Day!
other lessons learned:
*Disneyland is much more manageable than Disney World for little ones. You only have two parks instead of 6. It's also right in the middle of the city so we didn't have to stay at the resorts and was within walking distance (money saver!), found a grocery store to get food so we didn't have to eat all meals in the park (money saver!), and there were several restaurants or fast food places right there if we did want something else.
*The only bad thing about it being right in the middle of the city is there were more locals than at Disney World so there were a lot of unsupervised kids and teens around and it didn't seem as exotic.
*We packed breakfast foods, snacks, and to-go peanut butter and jelly packets in one of the suitcases so we didn't have to spend so much on food in the park.
*California Adventure was almost deserted in the morning when it first opens. Chris and Casey got on most of the big rides right away. However, it did get busy in the afternoon and there's not as many ways to travel around the park so you have to walk more.
*Elle can fit her head through the bars at the Dumbo ride, she just can't get it back through. Very scary moment!
*I'm the worst stalker ever! You know the guy who was on American Idol a few seasons ago who was blind? I recognized Scott MacIntyre as he got on the Dumbo ride ahead of us. Look at the shots I got and you'll see why I will never be a part of the paparrazi! It was him! I promise!
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