Keystone State Park

This summer we have been out of town a lot.  Summer is a great time for Will to do work for family who live elsewhere.  Its nice because the girls and I are able to tag along and visit with family.  Because of this though, we hadn't done anything with just the four of us.  So I planned a spur of the moment trip to Keystone Lake in Oklahoma.  I mean very spur of the moment.  I planned it on a Wednesday and we arrived at the Lake on Sunday.  So spur of the moment, in fact, that I didn't look at a calendar and forgot about the girls having swimming lessons.  We (or maybe just me) really needed a break.

We booked a cabin because being pregnant, I didn't have any desire to sleep on the ground in a tent.  Its unfortunate, too, because the weather was perfect for tent camping.  I have really enjoyed our mild-weather summer.  Below is the view from the back porch on our cabin.  We had a huge open area where the kids could play and we were able to just sit and watch.  It was heavenly.  To make things even better, the cabin next door had a seven year old boy who played with girls the whole time.  It was almost like Will and I had the weekend off from parenting.

We took the girls to a special children's fishing pond.  I'm not actually certain there were any fish in there, but the girls still had a good time.

We made up for the missing swim lessons by swimming in the lake.  Yes, I know its muddy, but that made for very soft ground under our feet.

There wasn't a ton to do at this state park, but the lack of activity was just the uneventfulness we were looking for.

Robber's Cave State Park

 A couple weeks ago we went with my family (minus a few) to Robber's Cave State Park.  It is located in Wilburton, Oklahoma.  I remember going there as a child and was excited to return.

 I think this place is so cool.  There is so much to explore!

Notice Will - he blends in with the tree.

 The kids had a great time.  Its important to keep a close eye on them, though.  They were all natural mountain climbers.

 I highly suggest this park to anyone who likes to camp or stay in a cabin.

My mom was always on the lookout for firewood.

Who Done It?

My home is quiet, the girls are at school.  I'm listening to Bluegrass Hymns.  It is well with my soul.

The girls were sick from last Tuesday, to this past Tuesday.  One full week.  That's a long time.  It wasn't much - cough, fever, laryngitis - but just enough to keep us cooped up in the house.  I hate those times.  The first few days they're just cuddly and tired.  As the time goes on though, they get fussy, irritable, and no fun at all.  I also get fussy, irritable, and no fun at all.

I did get one short break though, thanks to my parents.  I had purchased a Groupon last December for a mystery dinner at a bed and breakfast in Stafford, Kansas.  We scheduled it in September, so there was no getting out of it.  We went with some good friends, and some new friends.  We had a great time.  There wasn't a whole lot of sleeping because of late-night game playing and hunters that were staying in our house.  They got up early, but strangely didn't ever leave for hunting.

Don't worry, it was just root beer and grape juice.

This is our group.  We really did have fun.  I won't tell you who the murderer was, just in case you play the game sometime.  Stafford was such a tiny, quiet town.  It's nice to visit new places.  Don't plan on a getting a late night snack though, the gas station closes at 11:00.

I was a movie star and Will was an old man from Italy.  He looked more like he was from Mexico.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for keeping our sick kids!

Branson

I'm having a hard time keeping up with everything I want to blog about!  This summer is super busy - way busier than the school year, which doesn't make sense because my kids aren't even in school yet!  Anyway...a few weeks ago we took a trip to Branson, Missouri with our nephew Sam, and Grandma and Grandpa H. We all had a great time.  Here are the highlights from our trip.

This is the first time the girls were old enough to ride any rides at Silver Dollar City.  They started out cautiously by riding with Will and me.

They got brave later and tried it themselves.  They were very proud.  Emma waved to anyone with a camera, whether she knew them or not.

Creative Mermaids

Today is already Thursday, so I wanted to write about the rest of our Kansas City trip while it was still fresh in my mind.

Saturday morning we went to Kaleidoscope. Hallmark donates all their leftover materials to this fun place of creativity. Everything about it is free. The girls loved it. They painted picture frames, made puzzles, and created random treasures that could be used as jewelry.

I drew both mermaids, but they did the hair, faces, and belly buttons. And I don't want you to miss the poor mermaid with the cast on her arm.

After that we went to a free exhibit in Crown Center titled, "Under the Sea". This was nothing but a giant room to play in. It had tunnels to crawl through, sunken ships to explore, underwater creatures to climb, and most importantly, a mermaid's bedroom. The kids could have played there all day.





We finished the day by swimming at our hotel.

Our own little mermaids.

Sunday we had lunch with one of Will's college friends and then traveled to Topeka to meet the baby of one of my high school friends. We enjoyed spending time with everyone!

I am concluding with some random pictures that didn't make it into the stories, just because I like them. Hope you do to!

Fun on the Farmstead

This past weekend we went on a mini-vacation with some very good friends of ours. I have always wanted to do that, and I am so glad we did! We had four adults, and five children under the age of 6! We filled the whole conference room at breakfast!

We spent the first day at The Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park. This place was great. We saw every farm animal imaginable, and even some that you wouldn't!

There was fishing.

There were pony rides.

There were baby goats.

Emma LOVED the baby goats.

We had a great time. It was super cheap and even though the kids were tired, they enjoyed themselves too. I would definitely be there all the time if we lived closer.
I'll write about day number two some other time. I have to go catch up on all laundry we dirtied while we were away.