momma & me: adventure 8

Pelican Bay

Elle and I checked out Pelican Bay in Edmond during their twilight hours. Twilight hours are 5-8 Monday through Wednesday, and 5-7 Thursday and Friday, so we chose Monday to maximize our time. If you go during these times you get in at a reduced rate. Elle had a blast even though she didn't even experience most of what they had. She chose to play in the pool staying right around 1 ft, but absolutely loved it. She did eventually venture over to one of the steering wheels on the little island with the slide, but not until almost closing. I thought it was a fairly nice place to cool off and let Elle play. My only complaints were that they've added "safety breaks" once an hour for 10 minutes, which means you have to get out of the pool. Their reasoning behind it is to get people to reapply sunscreen, get a drink, etc., but that means we lost 30 minutes of our time. I didn't think it was necessary in the evening or for that long. I also don't like that you can't bring in food. They did let me bring in a cup for Elle and my water bottle, but I didn't like that you couldn't even bring fruit or something healthy that they do not offer at the snack bar. We probably won't be going here again in the near future, mostly because their are free spraygrounds everywhere in the city, but it was fun to try it out.

thankful thursday + adventure 7

This past week I've been so thankful for friends and family and the time Elle and I have spent with them. I'm also more and more thankful to have a husband who is so loving, thoughtful, and who is actively present in our lives. I have new appreciation for single and/or military parents. They are my heros and I do not know how they do it all the time. Elle and I have missed Chris so much while he's been gone and really 3 weeks doesn't even compare to how long some families are apart. I am so blessed that he takes time out of his day to talk on the phone, send a postcard, or skype.

I'm also thankful we got to go to Tulsa last weekend and spend some time with family celebrating my mom's birthday. My sister's and I wanted to do some special so we threw her a "Ruby Red Rendezvous". Red is her favorite color and ruby is her birthstone! I'm so appreciative to all who came and supported my mom and Elle's Nana. I'm especially thankful for Michelle and Casey's hard work on the party!

Also thankful for a little swimming at Aunt Lynessa's house!








Grandma's 7 great-grandkids (r to l: Camryn and Evan (in Grandma's lap); Ruby and Derek; Esther and Hope; Elle)

and with the great-grandkids to be! Randy and I are few weeks apart, of course she still looks beautiful!

reach out and touch someone

We've been keeping up with Chris through phone calls, emails, texts, skype, and postcards. He's been so wonderful to send Elle tons of mail. She loves getting her postcards! She's also figured out the phone and she really loves to skype.

We usually talk to Chris before bed and Elle will even hug and kiss the phone. She is so sweet!


This is generally how most of our skypes go. She's running off or playing with the computer.


*Please ignore the messy home! It was pretty difficult to stay on top of the mess while doing swim lessons and running around so much.

momma & me: adventure 6

Science Museum Oklahoma

We had taken my sister, nephew, and niece to the Science museum, but got there with only 45 minutes left until they closed. Elle wanted to go back all weekend so we headed there last Monday. We had gotten a groupon for a membership and it has been well worth it. You would have to spend all day there to do everything. One of my favorite things about this place is that you can bring in your own food. They have a cafe, which is good, but since you could stay all day you don't have to spend more money. Elle has so much fun when we go. We had some friends join us this time and Elle played until she crashed.

momma & me: adventure 5.5

Going Gluten Free

My sister and her family have been trying a gluten free diet, so while they were visiting Elle and I tried it too. Before they arrived I didn't realize how much work it is to not eat gluten. I quickly became overwhelmed trying to find recipes. Gluten is in so much that we eat! After looking at several blogs and websites I found some easy, kid friendly dishes that didn't require me to overhaul my pantry. After talking with my sister and going through foods I realized it's not as overwhelming as I thought, but does require some thought. Here's our gluten free menu:

breakfast:
gluten free rice krispies (Walmart)
eggs

lunch and dinner:
nachos (corn chips, fresh ground beef, cheese, salsa)
chicken, rice, and peas
cheese quesadillas on corn tortillas
baked beans

snacks:
Annie's organic oat granola bars
popcorn
fruit

momma & me: adventure 5

Taylor visit!

Thursday afternoon my sister Michelle brought her kids, Derek and Ruby to the city for a visit. We met up at my cousin Emily's house for some visiting, playing, and ice cream. Then we headed to swim lessons and finally made it back to our house that evening. This was their first time spending the night with us so it was very exciting to have them over. Friday morning we braved the heat and went back to the zoo so they could see the baby elephant, but we didn't really see much else because we headed straight for the waterway. I think Ruby enjoyed it the most! The afternoon consisted of lunch and naps.



That evening we took them to the science museum, but got there with only 45 minutes left. We still had a good time, but they'll have to come back. Then we headed to Coit's, a root beer stand, for some yummy food and root beer in frosted mugs.

An aside: We also had to go to Target and exchange the air mattress I had just bought because it had a hole in it, which unfortunately Michelle and the kids didn't discover until the middle of the night. This coincided with a phone call from Chris, but while I was talking to him Elle decided she needed to look at the bras and kept saying "oh how so cute!". I think Chris may have had a slight coronary, but I couldn't stop laughing. But I digress...



Friday night the kids enjoyed baths, popcorn, and a movie, and phone calls to Daddies before bed.

Saturday my mom and Casey drove over for a Stampin Up! workshop. A couple of friends joined us and we made some really cute cards.

momma & me: adventure 4

swim lessons

Elle started swim lessons last Monday. We are doing a parent/tot class at OCCC Monday-Thursday evenings for two weeks. So far she's been pretty timid about putting her face in, but she's working on it. I have to say it's kind of a let down from last summer's swim lessons at Miller Swim School. Do you remember her tv debut? Can you believe how much she's changed? We haven't done really anything new since the first night and we don't get much instruction. I guess you get what you pay for. It has been nice to have something to do in the evenings and she has been enjoying herself even if she's not learning much. She likes watching the other kids in her class and especially watching the "frog kids" (a.k.a. scuba dive students, I don't know why she's calling them that).



Thanks Michelle for braving the traffic to go with us and for taking the pictures!