A 4th Full of Friends

What started out as a weekend with no plans quickly turned into a jam packed weekend full of food, fun, family, friends and fireworks. Did I leave off any 'f's'? 

Oh yeah....fashion faux pas. That's what I was concerned about while out working on the morning of July 4th. Riley was in charge of getting Hallie's day started which meant clothing selection of course. Like a dummy I forgot to pick out one of her four 4th of July outfits that she'd somehow collected. Hubby managed to pick out a dress from last year that hardly fit so he added her new starry skirt underneath. This is the picture I got. Face. Palm.

After hearing from a few friends that he had actually tucked the dress into the skirt to make it appear that it was a top and skirt I was relieved and reminded just how much he likes to torture me so. ;) The two of them spent the morning at the park checking out all the goings on while I worked that morning and saw a few patients. They ran into quite a few friends and family while milling around the busy park. She spotted her bff cousin Carmen. Check out these cuties....

I've decided this year is my last to work on the holiday....it put a damper on last year and this year as well. Mostly a damper on my attitude. I made it home by 1:00 and we kicked off the afternoon with a trip to the waterpark. Hal had just the perfect outfit picked out for the occasion.....

After a little talk about the fact that those black boots were meant for cooler temps we traded them out for some water shoes and we were on our way to some water fun. Sis was already feeling sleepy as we made our way up to the waterpark....

A popsicle quickly pepped her up though....

But it wasn't long before she was cold, tired and ready to go home for a nap....

Oh wait. One more stop. Ice cream.....

"Oran ice ceam on cone" per request

After a nap for Hal, gym for Riley and a Walmart run for me we spent the rest of a very low-key evening just grilling out steaks and vegging out....

Oh, and coloring Hello Kitty pages with daddy....

Later that night Hal got dolled up to go see some fireworks. We kept away from the crowd that night and watched from a parking lot far away with Nanny and Papa. For the second year in a row Hal was less than impressed by the colorful display....

"You won't see me ooooing and ahhhhing"

The next day we finally got in some much needed waterpark time with our girls, Katie and Carmen.....

These crazy chicks spent most of the time running in opposite directions but it didn't keep us from having fun....

Stylin' in her sunnies

Friday night we spent some fantastic time at Matt and Heather's house where we covered most of the F's....fun, food, friends, Friday....and one big W....WATERMELON....

Slice #1

Slice #2

Slice #3

Slice #4

The array of food was delicious and the company was even better. "Uncle Matt" graciously hopped in the pool so that Hal could take a dip. Riley conveniently "forgot" his swim trunks. :0 Matt also helped Hal and Sam get their golf swing on. Brave job but somebody's gotta do it....

Jai and I caught a matinee on Saturday afternoon. I left with sore cheeks from laughing so hard. A good movie is just good for the soul if you ask me. Our sweet friends, Brian and Alexa, invited us over for a cookout that evening and we were more than happy to join them for a perfect evening. Hallie and Vivi played on the floor and looked oh so adorable in doing so.....

Hal got a little too lovey dovey and forgot that Miss V is a beginner at the sitting business. Poor Vivi ended up bonking her head after a tumble backwards....

Hug or strangle? We will keep working on this ;)

But it was all good after a few blueberry puffs and Hal's rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. All was well. We had a wonderful relaxing time with these new sweet friends that evening.

Sunday morning Hal and I were a couple of heathens who drove to Enid instead of going to church. But ya see, we had a very important reason for traveling east....we were on our way for the opening of Champion Park. My inspiring and oh so talented friend, Whitney, has been slaving away on this park and we were so excited to share in some of the excitement as she honored her brother that morning. We sang, laughed and danced (well, she danced, I drove) the whole way there. Oh and she ate....a LOT.

But you say "what's new? She's always eating." To that I say "but it usually stays in her belly." This particular morning she just wasn't feeling fab once we turned off the main highway to make the short one mile drive to the park. Sometime within that mile she started feeling yucky and by the time we made the turn to pull into the parking lot she let out a big wail following by an "I'm going to frow up mommy!" I handed her the only thing within reach which was a tiny 4x4 plate that I brought my breakfast on. It caught nothing. So there we were....watching Whitney get ready to cut the balloons to signify the opening of the park....Hallie covered in vomit and crying....me trying to console her but also wanting desperately to actually watch what we had driven all that way for. I sprinted over to hug Whitney and fill her in on why I was jetting off so quickly and then returned to the car to see how bad the "damage" was. Pretty yuck. So we called our trusty pals Lisa and David and of course they were waiting for us as soon as we pulled in ready to help. Lisa washed down a messy Hal while I worked on the car and washed her dress. It wasn't long before David had her all set with a juice drink as she checked out her special gifts from their trip to Florida. The new shirts came in handy while we waited for her dress to dry. I quickly discovered that she was feeling mighty fine and was eating up all of the attention.....

She dipped her toes in the pool, did a bit of playing up in the treehouse, downed a few Dora fruit snacks and soaked up all the love she could in the hour that we were there. Once everything was cleaned up and dried we decided to try the park thing again. Unfortunately Whitney was at lunch while we went to play and Hallie was getting a bright red face and looked sort of squeamish so we cooled off in the car on the way to lunch. We shared some pizza and made a spontaneous decision to go see Despicable Me 2. Awesome movie. Awesome movie partner. Well, that it until she got her foot stuck in the movie seat. We shamefully exited the theater as soon as I pried her leg loose. Off to Woodward we went to spend the rest of our Sunday relaxing. Here are a few pictures I snapped of Hallie having a blast at the beautiful new Champion Park.....

Oh yeah, and I can't forget the one of her reenacting getting her foot stuck....

About halfway home we made another spontaneous decision to have Nanny, Papa, Luke and Carmen over for a cookout that night. My shopping partner helped me pick up all of the food we needed for dinner...

Riley grilled out some steaks and we watched a couple of naked babies run around the backyard sliding in the sprinkler. By the end of the night we were all fully fatigued from a fun-filled four day weekend full of festivities with friends, fireworks, food. Did I forget any 'f's? ;)

Family Picture Day

Need I say more? I think the words "Family Picture Day" just speaks for themselves. 

I'm not sure there are many things in life that keep me awake at night quite like family picture day with Hallie. It's always been interesting...right from the get go. The day she pooped on Mandy's newborn posing blanket I knew we were in for some interesting years of family photo days. We had scheduled an outdoor session with our beloved Mandy in mid May. Lord bless Mandy's sweet soul....Hallie showed up with a 'tude and some serious tears for our session a couple months ago in OKC. I sometimes sit and wonder why I'm the only one in the family who looks forward to picture day. And then it happens and I remember. Oh yeah....now it's clear...my child turns into a creature from the black lagoon and my husband decides that the only face he's able to make is an annoyed, forced half smile. Fantastic. 

But before I recount the events of our less than wonderful morning let me share the parts that I did enjoy with you.........

 I thought I'd found a way to decrease the stress that is family picture day. We drove down to OKC the evening prior. Naturally we practiced our big smiles on our way there.....

so. ready.

After grabbing some din din we made ourselves comfy once we got to the hotel that night. Hal munched on her leftovers while we settled in to watch Identity Thief....

We had one last chat about getting plenty of rest and being ready to go in the morning before my zombie fell asleep....

She was so excited to have her own big bed right next to us....

The night flew by. I did my best to cover up the dark circles under my eyes that morning while Hallie took a record long bath to wake up. I had to literally drag her out of the bed. I did so quite loudly to wake up Riley who looked like he had no intention of waking anytime soon. I figured another bath that morning wouldn't hurt. Her hair would look shiny and fresh and it would surely give her that zip she needed to get the day started on the right foot. Ummmm.....not so much. She didn't want to get out. Ever. 

I waited until the last possible second to put my mommy foot down and force her out of the tub and Riley out of the bed. Once we were finally dressed, ready and packed up we headed downstairs to find that it was drizzling rain. Fabulous. Stupendous. Awesome. Did I mention that the humidity was 1000%? I was pretty close to fashioning a voodoo doll of the local meteorologist. I could go on. But I won't. You get it. We drove in that lovely rain stuff as I prayed for it to go away. But it didn't. We started shooting down in the Paseo district which was an amazing location to shoot at. We started out pretty strong. Hal smiled. And looked at the camera. For three minutes. My excitement was trampled on by the moisture that was making my baby grumpy, my husband perturbed and my hair a hot mess. It was also difficult to shoot outdoors at that point because of water getting on the lens of the camera. After trying out hardest for about twenty minutes we retreated back to Mandy's studio down the street. I may or may not have cried at that point. Hallie was ticked off and I could tell that the sobs coming from the backseat were not even close to stopping. She wanted back in that comfy hotel room in that warm bathtub. As did I. When we arrived at the studio there was another family waiting for their session that morning. I almost immediately decided that we weren't in any way, shape or form ready to keep taking pictures. My hair was in shambles, Hallie had tear-stained eyes and a runny nose, Riley was just super thrilled. Fun times. I suppose this is a good time to mention that my daughter chose a new family. She wanted to be a part of the family waiting at the studio. I kid you not. Here's pictoral proof of my daughter's love for her new red-headed mother. She can be seen relaxing on her new mommy's lap on the couch in the background....

The one funny moment of the morning came when Riley said "Mandy! Quick! Get some shots of Hallie smiling with her new family!" In the end we decided to shoot for another day (no pun intended) three weeks later. Hal's new family shared a vegan cupcake with her. It was covered in sprinkles and huge! Even the treat couldn't cheer her up when we told her we were leaving the studio. Mortified isn't quite the word. Emotionally drained isn't it either. We won't call it anything. K? We'll just let this picture do the talking.....

Here she is riding naked on the way home. This made the screaming stop. Don't judge. ;0

Well looky here follks. Why it's none other than my precious little darling all dolled up "ready for pictures" before her nap that afternoon when we returned home. My my, what impeccable timing.....

Maybe she didn't like her outfit this morning??? Perhaps I should've packed this number for her???

If at first you don't succeed, go home and try again in three weeks. That's the saying, right? That's what we did. Mandy was planning on meeting us to finish what we'd started...but in Enid this time. Instead of sticking with the same outfits we had picked out for our first go round, I chose to obsess over changing combos and colors the night before. This is what things looked like.....

I thought Riley was going to burn this pile if I came in one more time with a new outfit on. Our favorite guy had one job to do....put on his one outfit. And smile. Ok, that makes two jobs but his gig was pretty simple. She had her job down great once we pulled up to meet Mandy that Sunday morning....

We did some bug searching while we waited for our sesh to start....

Look who came to help us that hot morning.....

Had we not had Aunt B willing to chase Hal around so that we could avoid the whole sweaty hot mess look I am afraid things would've turned bad fairly quickly. Hal was on a goofy streak for the first hour and did a lot of running and squealing....and SOME smiling too. Bailey took some "behind the scenes" shots while she waited to take off sprinting after the little runt....

We went to three different locations to shoot and by the third we had a tired munchkin on our hands. Luckily Mandy had already got plenty of great shots to choose from so we finally threw in the towel once the tears started to fall. Mandy was going to try to the bitter end until I finally decided to put everyone out of their hot, sweaty misery. The minute I let her run free she was a new child again. Happy and free. I was so relieved to have gotten PLENTY of awesome shots for Hallie's three year photos AND some family shots that I'm just about dying to see! I'm not sure any other photographer would've put as much effort into getting the perfect shots for us. She always does!!! We love that Mandy girl!

Note to self: with our next child just skip the three year photos. Just skip it. For the love of everything that is good and right in this world....JUST SKIP IT. ;)

The Days of our Lives...at the Waterpark

There are four constants/facts about our trips to the waterpark. 

#1: We always run into a fun friend to play with.

Jaidynce and Jocelyn splashed around with her one day

Wedding video material for Hallie and Austin ;)

Carmen Jo & Hallie G

Two Hallies in their matching suits

#2: We buy a popsicle within the first five minutes of our arrival. 

"Well are ya comin' with me or not?"

#3: We make a mess with said popsicle.

"Here ya go!" (she always offers me a bite of the blue part....ONLY the blue part)

Life's grand

#4: She always finds a way to get me into the water.....

.....even if she has to bring the water to me.

It's so much fun to watch her become braver when it comes to sliding and swimming. Belly slides are the new thing....

It's evident that we love the waterpark. But what's my favorite reason to love it?????

this.

Right in our own backyard....

I find myself constantly saying the phrase "we live in a zoo!" 

But really. I think we do. 

If you follow my Facebook then you are probably becoming quite tired of my latest animals pictures. 

But I just can't help it. I'm tickled everytime I spot a new creature around here. 

My favorite by far (so far) was this baby and momma in our driveway....

The baby got lost and curled up at the neighbor's house for a day or so until momma returned for her....

Hallie was mesmerized by what she was seeing up close...

The sweet thing didn't move a muscle as Hallie inched closer. We told her not to touch the baby for fear that if she got her scent on her the momma wouldn't get her....

So she stood up top instead of right beside her....

Hal whispered and said "it be okay baby deer."

We've recently discovered a den of foxes that have made their home in a metal buidling beyond our backyard. They can be spotted every evening just sitting on top of the roof looking into our backyard. Creepy? Yeah. Cool? TOTALLY!!!!

Can you spot the momma fox?

I think this is big poppa

We have turtles galore!!!! Except for when we're actually looking for one for 4th of July races. Go figure!

We spotted a cute little horny toad running around the driveway one night. He was fast but we trapped him to get a closer look at him. Hal called him "Mister Wizard." I was unaware that these creatures are nearly extinct. Double cool.

The other day Hallie started naming all of the animals she's seen running around....."deer, bird, wizard, turkey, fox, turtle, roly poly (ha), ants, frogs, baby deer, elephant....." Wait, what!?!?!?