Labor Day Vacation-2015

 We loaded up and headed to Oklahoma City for our Labor Day trip.  We have a goal to visit every state as a family, so we were excited to mark off another state.  Thank goodness for a larger vehicle this time, because I do not think the Camry would have been able to hold all the strollers!

Wyatt grinning and ready to pick up his sister from school

 We left the school car line and rushed with excitement to pick up Daddy from work.  We stopped in Conway at Market Place for a quick dinner and a game of checkers.  Caroline has gotten pretty good at checkers...she puts up a pretty good competition.

 We stayed at Clarksville Thursday night.  The luggage rack has been one of Caroline's favorites from day one; she always wants to push or ride.  Looking at the picture below I am reminded of when just the two of us would go to visit Matt in Alabama almost every weekend.  It would be just the two of us so I would load Caroline and the luggage on the rack and she would ride to our room each weekend and we would wait on Daddy to arrive.

Our first stop in the morning was in Tahlequah, Oklahoma to visit the Cherokee Heritage Center.  This particular weekend was National Cherokee Weekend, so we had extra fun with all the sale tables and vendor trucks.  The Cherokee Heritage Center is a non-profit historical society and museum campus that seeks to preserve the historical and cultural artifacts, language, and traditional crafts of the Cherokee.

Wyatt had to take a snooze at the end of the morning

This next picture is a little out of order...but a huge deal for me!  I do not enjoy rides, they make my stomach turn just standing in line, and that is why I stand behind the camera....but guess what?!?! I rode the Steel Lasso with Caroline!  Yes, we waited in line double to have the front row seats!  Thanks Daddy for getting a picture of this special moment!  More about Frontier City in a moment.

Caroline had the entire playground to herself at Muskogee!  We stopped to stretch our legs, eat a snack, and play.  I guess most kids were still in school...rebels that we were!

Caroline, Wyatt, and Mommy feeding the ducks

MY FAVORITE PICTURE

We then hit the road again to check out the famous Blue Whale on Route 66.  The Blue Whale is a restored, historic roadside attraction that is a former water park.  It is now closed to swimming, but open for visiting.  Caroline enjoyed pretending to be Jonah.

We also stopped to visit Pops, which is a modern convenience store and gas station.  It has a signature sign with a 66 foot tall LED soda bottle out front.  It showcases more than 8,000 glass soda pop bottles from all over the world.  We each chose two different drinks to sample, and enjoyed sipping of each choice.

not what she thought it would be...

Next up on our list in Arcadia was the Round Barn.  It is another Route 66 icon, which was restored in 1898. It is the only round wooden barn in Oklahoma.  A must stop and see if you are in Oklahoma!

Before restoration

Inside ceiling-beautiful!

Next up was my top pick to visit if you are anywhere near Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City Memorial.  The Memorial is a place to remember those who were killed, those who survived, and those whose lives were changed forever from the bombing.  We did not hide anything from Caroline, we wanted her to realize the impact of violence.  The Memorial Museum is chronological tour through the story of April 19, 1995. If you are ANYWHERE in Oklahoma this is a MUST!

Chairs for those that lost their life

We left downtown and headed to see the Oklahoma Stockyards and see the original Cattleman's Steakhouse.

Now for the rest of Frontier City (Caroline's favorite part of the trip). We had a blast at the amusement park!  We always try to have one down day of nothing but junk food and play, splashing, and straight up amusement fun! Caroline and Daddy usually ride all the rides, but this time I tried to jump in on a few myself.

Caroline and Daddy on the Log Ride

They made it:)

Wyatt fell asleep while waiting

Look closely for Caroline and Matt (hint: Matt is holding on tight)

We had a little extra time one evening so we decided to visit a few more Route 66 stops. First up on the list was the Golden Driller which is a 76 foot tall, 43,500 pound statue of an oil worker in Tulsa.  It is the fifth tallest free standing statue in the United States.

Next we went to the Blue Dome District on Route 66 for dinner.

We had loads of laughs and fun on our trip.  I always enjoy seeing new things on vacations, and if you know me then you know I do not like to go to the same place twice, but there is usually one memory that will stand out to me for each trip that was not expected. This trip was the 90s music on the xm radio.  We had a blast cranking up music from the 90s!  It was so much fun to sing and laugh to music from our childhood. Caroline even learned a few songs that stuck with her...whoomp there it is:)

Time to start planning the next trip...

Fun Times

 School has started back, the sun is shining, and we are loving life.  We have so much fun! Loads of laughs! Lots of love to give!  School is going good for Caroline, but she cannot wait to get her hands on her little brother each day after school!  She loves all over him as soon as she can each afternoon. She loves to take him for a stroll in the Barbie Mustang, while he hangs his arm out the side and catches the rays.

Christian invited Caroline to Chuck-e-Cheese last weekend and they had a blast!  Back to school weekend fun!

 And then this past Thursday we had brunch with Brittany, Jack Mason, and Patton.  Always good to play catch-up with friends.  We did great to have three little boys with us for a brunch date!

Next up...vacation pics...

August Fun

 Here a few of our August highlights:

1) Caroline and Wyatt at church

2) Caroline and Wyatt before church on a different Sunday.

 3) Papaw Waylon had a knee replacement

 4) Sweet boy always smiling

 5) Morning snuggles are the best

 6) Caroline wanted a picture with Wyatt in their Mickey/Minnie shirts while brushing their teeth.

 7) Guess who can climb the steps...

 8) We had Parent's Night at gymnastics and Caroline got to show me how to do a round-off.

 9) I got a stamp at the end of gymnastics for doing so good:)

 10) Backpack Blessings before the new school year at church.

 11) Love that grin!

Kindergarten Diva

 Kindergarten Diva...yes, my child did choose to wear her Kindergarten Diva shirt to school on the first day.  We asked her if she even knew what diva meant. Ha! Caroline had a wonderful first week of school.  We were so excited each day to pick her up and ask her about her exciting day.

We had a Mommy/Daughter Day a few weeks before school started. They do assessments before school starts now, so we started our Mommy/Daughter day off at school, then a trip to Children's Place, and finished up at Panera Bread.  We are so much alike sometimes it is crazy!

Sharing a sweet tea from McDonalds

My Panera loving child

 Monday morning my stomach was in knots!  You would have thought I was the one starting Kindergarten.  I did not let me internal feelings show though.  Caroline was so excited to see her teacher, Mrs.Williamson.  It was a quick drop-off.  We now go through school rules, supplies, etc. at Open House.  We took a few pics and then off went Caroline to play with her new friends.  She has told stories that are hilarious, enjoyed trying new foods in the cafeteria, branched out and tried new extracurricular activities, and already made a few new best friends.  We are so excited to see her each afternoon and hear all her fun stories about her day!  Mrs. Williamson has already shown us that she is a wonderful teacher, and she is instilling in Caroline a love for learning.

Caroline and Mrs. Williamson

Walking down the Kindergarten Hall

Family pic on the first day

There are a few funny moments of her first week that I do not want to forget:

-she had to test out the water fountain first thing the night of open house
-she told her teacher she was going to be awesome because she lets them eat snacks
-she has new "best friends" and if you do not talk to her she cannot be your friend because she does not know your name
- she fell off the swing the second day of school and had to go to the nurse's office
-she told on a little boy because he was taking his scissors and trying to cut his tongue...I told her not to tattle on people and she told me the next time she would just let him continue to cut his nose or tongue
-she likes to walk other kids to the nurse's room, office, cafeteria, etc.   (she is mother hen and I think her teacher already knows it)
-she wants to ride the school bus so badly
- you can tell she is already enjoying music and library
-the sprinklers went off on the first week of school while she was waiting to be picked up from school
- her teacher commented on her daily she that she was such a sweet child

She is hilarious when she comes home to tell us her daily stories!  We can tell she is having a wonderful time, being challenged, making friends, and enjoying school.  We are so proud of her and love her dearly!

Happy 8 Years-Hot Springs

 We celebrated our eight year anniversary this past weekend in Hot Springs.  We celebrate every year by doing something, even if it is dinner just the two of us, but this year was a nice weekend getaway.  We decided on Hot Springs, and we are so glad we did!  Thank you Karen and Hannah for loving on our babies while we were gone!  Pictured above is the Hot Springs Lookout Tower, which is the same location Matt asked me to be his girlfriend many moons ago.

At first we found a hotel in the newer part of Hot Springs, and then at the last minute decided to switch to the Arlington Hotel.  We are so glad we did!  We were able to walk everywhere we wanted to go, experience the history of Hot Springs, and the history of the hotel. I recommended to stay at the Arlington if you visit Hot Springs, but you must remember the history of the hotel.  Below you will see a few pictures of our stay.  It is rich in heritage and culture and not much has changed.  They run specials on Groupon quite often.  The bathrooms and bedrooms have not changed and are untouched, the room key is a true key and lock, the pool and lobby will make you feel like you have stepped back in time, and the rooms have a feeling of their own.

 our hotel

Kilman's Chocolates

our room 

our overlook

lobby

lobby

lobby

Matt just had to check to make sure the spring water was hot:)

Evening stroll

Bath house row

Trail behind bath house row

public spring water 

overview of Hot Springs

 We rode a 4D simulator, which is not like me at all!  I am the person that does not step foot on a roller coaster, but we had a blast!

The next morning we did a couple of trail hikes and then went back to complete a little Christmas shopping and stopped to see Fordyce Bath House. It is hard to think that bath houses were luxuries.  I understand the healing of warm spring water, but these people went through it all.  

and just for grins and giggles, can you image sitting in this contraption with your head peaking out for air?  and if you have every wondered about which knob to twist for cold/hot water, check out the options below...

Happy Anniversary Matt!  Thank you for being a wonderful husband, father, and best friend!  So thankful that God chose us to be a couple.  I love you.