A Dozen Yellow Roses

The "Real" BIG Wheels

Grandpa took us all in a ride in the bailer! Yipee. Hold on tight, it's a bumpy ride.
Grandma gave CJ a ride on the lawn mover...CJ kept calling it a tractor... close enough right?






CJ's love of the trip, was the four-wheelers. Every time he saw them he would point and say "ride,ride,ride" and run over to them and start climbing on. He would be content if we were riding through the fields all day long. There was never enough "ride". So, when Kathy, Laura's sister, visited Dietrich while CJ and Laura were there, she also got snagged to take some kids on a ride. Laura, Kathy, and Joslyn (Clay's oldest sister) all went for a long ride on the four wheeler with all the kids. We got splattered in mud, almost ran over by a bunch of cows, push started a four wheeler, and whew.. we made it back safely.. What an ADVENTURE!

Old Ward Farm

The Power Family, neighbors and friends of the Ward's, were nice enough to let us come over and meet their baby cows...or to be correct, calves (as Laura was corrected.) Laura just loves the feeling of those calves sucking on her fingers and having them all slimed up..(actually, I really do..it's a really neat feeling!) CJ tried for a second to feed the calves their bottle and hand them their food, but he mainly liked to play in their buckets of water and "Moo" at them. It was quite funny.



Along with the cows, CJ got intoduced to the horses. We have been working on all the animal sounds with him, so it was really fun to let CJ see them up close and have him recognize the animal and say their sound.


And of course, Nia, the dog. CJ loves Nia. That poor dog took a lot of abuse by the end of the week. CJ would wrestle her, pull her hair, step on her tail, poke her eyes, you name it...he did it. And she still loves him - what a champ.

COUSINS GALORE!!

After a week, it was time to take another airplane ride and head to Idaho. CJ enjoyed the short flight by looking out the window, climbing over the seats, eating airplane treats, and waving "bye-bye" to everyone as they deboarded.


From left to right, Rhein, Kastin, Laura, CJ, Maydin, and Kelly. All the cousins had a great time playing together. They all especially liked ring-around-the-rosy on the trampoline.


Left to right, CJ, Maydin, and Rhein. (in the back is Nia, the dog.) In the short week that we were in Dietrich, CJ learned all essential the tricks. He learned how to Throw rocks into the ditch, wrestle with the dog, eat Schwann's thin mints, and spit. Oh boy....

The Park and Berry Picking

CJ loved the blackberries that are behind Grandma and Grandpa's house. Luckily, he didn't discover the bushes until our last day, so he didn't get too sick. When he was done eating, his belly was full of all the berries that made it into his mouth, and his face was covered with all the berries that didn't.


Bryce, Laura's brother, took us to one of his favorite parks. CJ had fun looking at the ducks, trying to get into the water, and playing on the slides. Each of us "adults" took a turn going down the BIG slide. It was actually pretty big, I was surprised! We got some good speed.


Watch out Grandpa... CJ is a glasses stealer and breaker! If he gets close enough, he takes one look, and then he snatches them before you even know they are gone. He's a quick one!

Girls Will Be Girls

Crazy girls!! Late nights, teeny bopper movies, giggling in bed, and manicures...it felt like being a kid again. Isn't it great to be a girl...Girls just want to have fun!





Since neither of us had ever gotten a manicure or pedicure, Becky and Laura headed to the local beauty school and got them both! It was such a wonderful experience, I do believe it will happen again, and soon! The best part was the massage...heaven. So, Ladies... if you are looking for a fun and pretty inexpensive activity, the manicure/pedicure comes highly recommended.

The Portland Zoo

We have heard from more than one source that kids tend to get their horns at age two... it looks like CJ grew his a little early! At least these horns are detatchable and didn't come home with us.. thankfully, we left them at the zoo for all the other kids to try on!



Here is CJ in the petting zoo! After only being able to look at the other animals, CJ was excited to touch a goat and run along side it. However, it was time to go when CJ started pulling their hair and tails. Oops.



We found out that the zoo just isn't as thrilling for a bunch of adults, as it is for a bunch of kids. Especially when all the animals happen to be napping when you are there... How dare they sleep when we pay good money to look at them! WAKE UP ANIMALS!! Grandma Smith had a good time coming up with some ingenius ways for zoo visitors to wake up the animals to make it more exciting... you will have to give good ol' Grandma a call to hear about her ideas, they are now patented and confiscated by animals rights activists!



(From Left to right) Laura, Grandpa Smith, Becky, Grandma Smith, CJ, Shane, and Julie. CJ loved playing with his Grandparents, aunts, and uncles as long as one eye was always on Mom.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Since Clay will be starting his training on August 7th, we have been doing all the fun activities we can here in Enid for our "mini vacation at home." We found a little park that has a few rides for little kids that we thought CJ would enjoy, and he did!
We first took our chances with the train, which runs on little tracks that go all over the park. CJ had a lot of fun making 'choo choo' actions and pointing at the ducks as we chug-a-chugged by.





Next we hopped on the cars (which seemed to be CJ's favorite). He loved the cars so much that he couldn't stand being parted with them; which explains what happened after he got done riding the cars.....a few minutes after he got off and we went to another part of the park, we turned our backs for one second which was all that CJ needed to make his getaway. He bolted for the cars and before we could get to him, he made a grab for the moving cars and proceeded to get 'ran over' by them. Some crying and the dabbing of blood off an aching knee was the extent of the crisis, and a few minutes later CJ was wanting to get right back on the ride.....So Yes, this last Monday CJ was "Hit by a Car".





The airplanes were the next feat to be tackled. Surprisingly, CJ wasn't too happy to get into the planes (to the chagrin of Clay), but we learned that if you just strap the kid in, even if he's crying and screaming, and turn the ride on, they'll eventually warm up to it. By about the second lap CJ was having a great time in the planes and didn't want to get out by the end of the ride (Daddy was redeemed!).





After a few rounds on a horse carousel we headed to the pond to feed a few ducks and a large swan. CJ was having fun throwing bread to the ducks.... for about two seconds, then he spent the rest of the time either trying to get in the pond, or making a break for the playground equipment.



All in all, Meadowland Park in Enid, OK made for a good FHE activity.