Angelina's visit and trip to the zoo

Last week my niece Angelina came to spend a few days with us. She and Sarah were missing each other, so my sister flew her out for some quality cousin time. 

Adam came with me to the airport to pick her up.
The boys were just as excited to see her as Sarah.

The girls displayed their talent for climbing up the walls.

On Saturday we had to drive Angelina to the airport, so we decided to make a family day out of it. We left early so we could go to the Oklahoma City Zoo before and after we took her to the airport.

In front of the cool ant eater

Carousels are always a favorite when we go to the zoo. Sarah was disappointed they didn't have a kangaroo, but she made due. :)

So spooky! ;)

Sarah came with me to drop Angelina off while the boys
stayed at the zoo. 

The zoo had a really neat kid section with Lorikeets. I think it was the kids favorite part. They sold little cups of nectar that the birds will lick out of your hands. You have to be careful though, because right after we got in there a bird grabbed our cup and dumped it out.

Mike took this picture from above.
I love Sarah's face.

Arrr, I be a pirate!

What would a zoo trip be without a few poses on the many statues.

This was the only time we were able to visit the zoo while we've lived here, and it was nice. We didn't get to see a lot of it, due to time constrictions, but they had a lot to see. The elephant habitat was impressive and we all had fun.

Wichita Mountains Wildlife refuge and Adam going potty

So...did you click on this post to see our day trip, or are you wondering about why I'd post about Adam using the potty? Both posts are noteworthy. (Kind of)

Last Saturday we took a drive to the Wichitah Mountain Wildlife refuge near Lawton. We went for a two mile nature walk along a trail. The kids did great as long as they didn't think of their walking as work. We saw a snake and other critters and pointed out all the cacti.

On our way out we stopped off at Prairie Dog Village. They were prairie dogs all over, but they were behind a fence. We had to read the explanation to the kids of why they weren't allowed to feed them. (they get their water from the plant they eat and if we feed them salty foods they can die)

On Monday Mike cleaned his car with Adam's help. They were enjoy their male bonding time when Adam said he needed to go potty and took off. Mike assumed that meant he was going inside to use the bathroom until he heard the familiar song of the kids training toilet that had been left unused in the garage. Adam thought he was pretty funny and of course Mike enjoyed cleaning up the mess. :)

Farewell Mississippi!

*It's been a while since I started this post. I keep putting off posting it so I can add more stuff, but I'll just post it as is. Bottom line, we loved our time in Mississippi and I miss it.

Although it's been two months since we moved, (It's now been even longer) there are things I've wanted to remember and document about our time there and the move. Here are some of the highlights.

Steven attended preschool at the Child Development Center on base and loved it. He had two great teachers, Miss Diedra and Miss Trina and five or six of his play group friends, including his BFF Caden Muscalla were in his class. His teacher, Miss Diedra, loved to tell me all of the funny things her would randomly say. For example, one day he'd helped her out a lot and after she thanked him he said, "No worries ma'am, I'm just a regular guy in a ninja suit." She got a kick out of him. Diedra was leaving at the same time as us so they threw her a farewell party. She also had the class make Steven a farewell book with notes from all the kids. It was very thoughtful.

There is A LOT I am going to miss about Mississippi. I heard some negative things when I arrived, but we really enjoyed our time there. The main thing I am going to miss are the people. We made some great friends.

A group of ladies I am really going to miss is my running group. I love these ladies! I saw them almost every morning as we ran 4-5 miles. These ladies became my close friends and I'm thankful for their help and friendship. I wasn't much of a runner before, but these gals whipped me into shape. When my stroller was heavy to push they would take turns pushing for me. Before the moved we had a final luncheon and they gave a few of us that were leaving gifts and framed pictures.

I'm also going to miss our playgroup. I've never been a part of a playgroup, because we've always been surrounded by lots of neighbor kids, but the play group at the base was wonderful. We would trade off hosting and it was a great way to let the kids blow off steam and be creative and also allowed the moms some much needed adult interaction. The baby showers these ladies threw were straight from pinterest and there was a lot of love shared.

I will also really miss our ward. (church congregation. Don't you love how I pretend ppl read blogs so I have to clarify things?) ;) We had a wonderful ward. It would take half an hour to drive from one end of the boundary to another yet they had wonderful participation at all of the activities. Everyone wanted to socialize. We had ladies nights together and I learned how to crochet better for a service project. I loved our ward family.

Here are some more things I'm going to miss about Mississippi:
1. The humidity- Yes, you read that right. I'm going to miss it. I have really dry skin and it was nice not having it hurt from being dry.
2. Living on base- Everything was walkable. The kids and I would walk or ride our bikes everywhere we needed to go. I loved it.
3. The friends- I know I mentioned some above, but there were a lot more. Mike's class members and their significant others are some of the coolest people I've met. A few of us were neighbors and they became like second family.
4. Being so close to the beach- We had a lot of fun going on mini vacations to the beach every chance we got.
5. Altitude- I loved living at sea level for running purposes.

Some things I won't miss:
1. The humidity- Yes, it was great for my skin, but in the summer it forced me to wake up way too early to exercise. ;)
2. Walmart- Oh man! I never like going to Walmart, but it was bad in Columbus, MS. There were more employees than needed yet they were never available to help. I shouldn't be critical, but it was a frustration.
3. Lots of bugs

I'm grateful our family had the opportunity to have our southern experience.

Isgett's!

Last Wednesday we drove to Wichita Falls, TX to see our friends, the Isgett's, that were there house shopping. They were our friends and neighbors in Mississippi. They have three kids, so we would swap babysitting with them a couple times a month. We love the Isgett's are are glad we got to see them and spend some time with them. (now if we can just get all our favorite people to move to Utah we'd be set) We went to dinner and then stopped at a local park to let the kids run wild.

I sent Mike to take a picture of Steven up in the tree...

and next thing I know Mike is encouraging him to climb towards the top. 

I have really missed Lindsey. We're planning our future rendezvous so it isn't too long before we get to see each other again. Ragnar 2015 anyone?

After a few hours at the park we decided to load the kids up on sugar at Braum's.

 When they got into an ice fight, we figured that was our cue to say good night. These six always have so much fun together. (loud, energetic fun) 

Our kids didn't get to bed until 11PM on a school night, but it was worth it. 

Hike to cave

Last Saturday we took up "hike" up Quartz "Mountain" to a small cave. There are a few hiking trails there and we've wanted to check them out. We tried to go up a few weeks ago but there was a wild fire on the mountain.

Sarah and Steven has Camelbacks so Adam instead on using one as well. Doesn't he look cute wearing Mikes?!

Here is the cave. It isn't very deep, but the kids loved it. Steven was hoping to see some bats or other wildlife that call the cave home, but the only found rocks. :)

Sarah and Steven inched around the outside and started hiking off trail. 

Adam was content to stay and slide in the cave 

Adam had a stick that he was using to knock the weeds out of our way on the descent. Once the weeds were gone he insisted on hitting every...single...rock. Mike and the older kids ditched us and went up ahead.

The resort had an amphitheater so the kids put on an impromptu play for us

They kids found a good climbing tree and Sarah wasn't posing at all for this picture. ;)

Labor Day in Lawton

For Labor Day we decided to drive to Lawton, OK (about an hour away) and visit the Army Post at Fort Sill. (they are backwards and call their bases posts. ;) ) We had heard that they have a large base with a lake and water slides. Large is a bit of an understatement. This post (base) is HUGE. We got lost multiple times trying to find our way in and around the base. Once there though we had a lot of fun and got to spend a few hours at the lake. 

Mike, Sarah and Steven spent a lot of time on the water slides

Adam was too small for the slides so he and I hung out on the beach

Goofy Adam laying in the water

There was a big hole already dug so Adam jumped in and begged us to bury him. 

The post is next to a wildlife preserve, so we saw some longhorns and a buffalo on the way out. Since we spent so much time lost we didn't have much time for sight seeing. 

On the way home we stopped ate at the Meers Restaurant that is famous for their hamburgers. They are the original "Happy cow" burger joint since they are the only one in the nation that has their own herd of longhorn the breed and slaughter for their patties. It wasn't the best burger I'd ever tasted, but it was really good considering that they don't use ANY seasoning on the beef. They are also 93% lean which is a plus. Multiple ppl had mentioned this restaurant and it's a must while living here.