Cave of the Winds 2011

Today we took a tour of Cave of the Winds. The tour lasted around an hour, had over 200 steps and covered over a mile of terrain.

Cave entrance photo op. Cole was great the majority of the tour. He just hung around on my shoulders taking everything in which is a miracle because he has never rode in the harness before without major disagreement.


We saw all kinds of stalactites, stalagmites and interesting rock formations.

This stalactite is shiny because people have continually touched it over the years. The oils in our hands has eventually caused the rock to stop growing. There was a $2,500 fine for touching so we all kept our hands to ourselves.


Case was adamant that he bring his lantern to the cave. We even had to turn around in the car and go back to get his light. Good thing we did, because during the tour there was a “lights out” experience were all the lights were turned out so we could experience the true darkness of the cave. After the lights went out he just turned on his handy dandy lantern and said, ‘don’t worry, I have a flashlight.’ Case to the rescue. My hero.

This used to be the way people came and went into the cave. Fortunately we were able to walk.


Kristy, Brian, Cora and Emmie were on the tour as well.

Up the stairs, down the stairs, over and down steep ramps, Case trooped away the entire time. He was a little disappointed that we did not see any bats or dragons but overall I think he enjoyed the tour and would eagerly go again.

Case and Cole 1 & 3

The whole family traveled 12 hours to Oklahoma in order to have a birthday party for both of the boys at Chester’s Party Barn. We had a great turn out, the day was beautiful and all the kids who attended had a wonderful time. I feel so lucky to have such amazing friends and family who were willing to share the day with us. The first order of fun was checking out the petting zoo. Ponies, lama, goats, bunnies chickens and more were available for the kids to pet.

This super soft bunny drew quite a crowd.

Cole socalized with the other babies while the older kids played in the barn. Hello Tripp.

Clean up time! Those farm animals can be a bit dirty.

Next order of business was the highlight of the party. PONY RIDES! As you can see the pony rides drew quite a crowd. Scott, daddy, Uncle Quinton and Grandpa Bobby stood by waiting for the action to begin.

Uncle Jason, Whitney and Seth Alexander and Nana all lined up to see the kids ride.

Cole sat on the side lines while Case got saddled up.

Everyone had to wait their turn while the horses got ready. Case waited around with his cousins Hanna and Aaron.

Finally, a pony ride! Case had been waiting for this moment all day! He hopped on like a pro and rode a different horse every turn.

Everyone was able to ride a pony and most kids rode several times. Case never missed a turn.

Giddy up partner.

After the pony rides everyone moseyed over to the party center where the kids could have their faces pained and play on the karaoke machine while the adults socialized until the hay ride began. Can you believe Cole and Xavier are the same age?!

Case originally wanted a pair of shoes painted on his face but finally decided on a horse since he enjoyed the pony rides so much.

Load up and move em' out. It's time to for a tractor ride.

The kids called in the livestock and the horses and cows came up to the side of the tractor.

Did I mention that the horses and cows came right up to the side of the tractor?

After all the fun and excitement everyone was ready for cake and ice cream.

Cole tried a cup cake for the first time.

At first he was excited to grab at it without anyone taking it away.

Then he nibbled on the frosting.

But after a finger lick or two he was done with the cake. Maybe round 2 back in Colorado will be more messy and exciting.


With cake in everyones bellies we were ready for presents.


Presents, presents, and more presents.

Everyone was just too generous. We brought home an entire truck of presents!

The day at Cheste's Party Barn was wonderful and I hope the boys had a birthday they could remember as fun, exciting and special. However what truly made the day special was that we were surrounded by so many of our friends and family. Thank you everyone for making the day fantastic.

Carnie

Case had his first experience at the Great State Fair of Oklahoma. I have a special soft spot for the fair. I love the food. I love the exhibits. I love the stupid freak shows. I love the duck races, dog jumping, pig catching fun. I love that people live in cars for weeks at a time and I love musical monkeys and lumberjack chopping shows. I love the fair!

Needless to say I was thrilled that Case shared in my love for the fair as well. Case won his first fair animal playing darts. The man at the counter said, 'every kid wins no matter what,' but Case didn’t need his pity prize. He won a stuffed snake all on his own after popping a balloon with no assistance! Look at that form!

Cody bought some ride tickets and we headed over to the kiddy section. Thank goodness Case’s hair was extra spikey that night because he barely cleared the required 36’ to ride. I think Case rode every ride in the kids section and couldn’t wait for the next one. In fact he was using current rides to scope out future rides. Round and round, up and down, fast or slow, he liked them all. He rode cars, jeeps, planes, dinosaurs, trains, elephants, roller coasters and went down a h-u-g-e slide. We were all amazed and proud that he conquered the slide without even batting an eye. Poor little guy even cried when we finally had to put an end to the fun. We might have created a monster.

Of course a trip to the fair would not be complete without some proper fair food. The family shared corn dogs, chicken on a stick, fried green beans, cheddar bacon mashed potatoes fried on a stick, fries, ice cream and crepes. We finished the night off with a bacon cinnamon roll. Yumm-O! Successful evening, I think so.

I'm A Big Kid Now

Cole is becoming a big boy right before our very eyes. Cole needs just a little bit of help getting up off of all fours but once he gets a boost Cole is up and at em.


Hello Cutie. He has finally mastered the 'up on all 4's' crawl.


Night time tickle fests are a daily occurrences in our house. Now that Cole is almost 1 year old and a big boy, he participates in the wrestling matches whenever he can.

Preschool!

Case survived and thrived his first day of preschool. I was so proud. Below is a pic of him waiting with excitement to leave for school in order to see if the playground was open. During open house last week, much to his dismay, the playground was closed. He has been talking about the playground ever since.



I had no idea I would have to tote so much stuff for both kids to stay somewhere 4 hours. For Cole I had a diaper bag and lunch box with 2 bottles, snacks, crackers, jarred baby food lunch (he has never eaten jarred baby food in his life, but I felt like I couldn’t just send him off with crackers alone and not look like a neglectful parent, even though all he eats are crackers), changes of clothes, baby, paci, diapers, wipes, medicines and 100 other things for his room. Case had a back pack and lunch box filled with things I knew he wouldn’t eat but since I couldn’t send him with eggrolls and broccoli I had to once again pretend he eats a balanced meal of carrots, cheese, meat, pretzels and watermelon. He also had a change of clothes, school folder, water, his baby and a huge sack of play dough for the classroom. Whew! I need a buggy just to get everything in the building. Case opted to carry the least heavy item into the classroom, his lunch box.



Case knew exactly where his class room was and marched right in. I wanted him to make a good first impression on his first day therefore we practiced saying good morning to his teachers Mrs Frankie and Mrs Bell in the car.



After we dropped off his back pack and delivered the play dough to his teachers, Case dove right in to free play time. I had been up late into the night making homemade play dough for the classroom as the signup sheet requested. And even thought I was tired I smiled the entire time thinking about how this was a "first" in a totally new and different phase of parenting. This was the beginning of school age parenting. I was making play dough for his class room. Soon it will be cupcakes, school projects and play costumes. Ahhh, the sweet memories that go along with school and being a parent to a child in school.



As you can see below the daily schedule is full of fun. In fact, he had such a good time today that he didn't want to leave when I came to get him. How about that for a knife in the heart? He said, "mommy I want you to leave and I will stay here at school." But then again, he has never had a problem with separation anxiety. Overall the day was a super success. Mama got a much needed break and I was surprised at how much more attentive and focused on the boys I was after that break. Case played well with others, didn’t have any accidents and now can’t wait to go back to school. I hope this is the beginning of a lifelong love for education and learning. Yea for successful days!

What We Talked About Today

Mama: Case you need to eat your dinner.
Case: I don’t want to eat my dinner. I want cookies.
Mama: You can have some cookies after dinner.
Case: Yelling and screaming. Mama, your being naughty because you won’t give me cookies and that hurts my feelings and makes me cry!

Mama: What’s that noise? Kerplunk. I walk into the bathroom where Cole is playing with and in Cases training potty and water. Ummmmm. Gross.

After bathtime I handed Case a peppermint. Apparently the hand off was a bit shaky and the candy fell to the floor and broke into several pieces. This was of course very upsetting to Case. He said, “Oh no! Oh no!” I bent down to his level and looked him in the eye and said, “I’m sorry Case. Mommy didn’t mean to break your candy.” His prompt reply was to give me a lingering hug and he said, “That’s okay mommy. I understand. It was an accident.”

How can you not love this child?!

Next To The Bottle

Did Cole sneak out late last night only to crawl back to the crib and pass out next to the bottle?


Not quite. Our little man has been sick, sick, sick the past month. We are struggling with ear infections, sinus infections, strep throat, diaper rashes and teething. Every trip to the doctor they diagnose him with something new and every time I hope and pray he will get better soon. Please, get better soon! Mama hates to see you so miserable. Poor baby.

More Birthday

Case received a package in the mail from Nana the other day which was full of birthday goodies. He loves mail so getting a package was a special treat. A package with packages in it was even MORE exciting!



Everything unwrapped was special and fun. Books, water animals, DVD's and more. Oh my!

And the big grand finale was a remote control car. Acutally it was the coolest remote control car ever made. Case loves it so much we have had to charge up the batteries twice. How does Nana know exactly what little boys like? I guess Nana's know best!

Thank you so much! Hugs and kisses from Colorado!