Favorite weekend

One of my favorite weekends each year is the one spent camping out with my oldest girl scout and her troop.  I love everything about it.  The camping, the great group of girls, the fantastic moms, the food, the activities, all of it!  The one on one time with Kate is a gift.  And I do adore this group of girls.  They have been together as a troop since Kindergarten at Monte Cassino and led by my friend and girl scout leader extraordinaire, Laura Darden!  I don't know how long these girls will continue with girl scouts.  I think by 5th or 6th grade I had given it up for other, more time consuming, activities.  My hope is for at least ONE more year together.  And when these girls go their separate ways with soccer, cheerleading, dance, etc. taking precedence, I think I will organize a campout for the moms.  We have as much fun as the girls!  Until next year, Camp Tallchief!

The girls of Troop #596



Cannot believe she almost looks me in the eye!

Beautiful Zink Ranch

Katniss, who?   

More fall beauty

Trail ride

   

Halloween!

Only a few weeks behind.  Not bad!  Here are a few pictures from the pumpkin patch, Monte Cassino trunk or treat, Halloween night with cousins and a few in between.  We were not lacking in the Halloween activities department.  And no, your eyes do not deceive you.  Will was both a pirate and an iguana this Halloween.  The novelty of the $9 pirate costume seemed to wear off before Halloween night.  What can I say?  He needed some options.  Yes, he's #3 and yes, I am more lenient.  Will this come back to haunt me?  Perhaps.  But we sure did have fun with our pirate/iguana! 

Claire has announced year after year that Halloween is, indeed, her favorite holiday.  Holiday?  Is it really a holiday?  I guess.  Are you sure, Claire?  Not even Christmas?  No - it's Halloween.  It is second only to her birthday, which, as you know, trumps all other days.  Will is not in disagreement.  He is following in her footsteps.  Absolutely loves it.  My favorite memory from this year is that Will really wanted his cow blankie (his little cow blanket he sleeps with every night) to have a costume.  Thankfully, he asked for cow blankie to be a ghost.  If you look carefully in the picture where he is sporting his "iguana" look...you can see cow blankie in his ghost costume.  I had to work on the fly this year to pull off all of the wardrobe changes, so I was grateful he didn't want cow blankie to be a spider or a camel or something.  I can do ghost. 

Next year.  Next year, he will have to follow the same rule as the girls.  Once you decide and that "confirm your order"  button has been clicked, there's no turning back.  One costume, my friend.  Choose wisely.  But you sure were cute in BOTH.



 

      

It's an excavator, Mom.

When we moved out to Skiatook, we chose this spot for it's close proximity to downtown Tulsa, affordable land, and the fact that there were several ponds on the property.  My favorite pond, a little small one in front of our house, always looked so pretty to me.  Yeah, there was lots of old brush around it that needed to be cleared, but the lily pads in the spring/summer always made it look nice and when it snowed or iced over, I thought it looked so pretty.  I could imagine the kids fishing around it and kept thinking how nice that would be if we ever got around to actually clearing the banks. 

Then, one day, I was looking out of my window at my "pond" and I saw a little bird with long legs right at the edge.  That little bird proceeded to walk out away from the edge, toward the middle, past the middle, and to the other side.  Oh my.  That is a huge mud puddle.  That is not a picturesque pond at all.   

So, we are making the most of the drought that has caused our once beautiful mud puddle to dry up and become a large, unsightly mud hole.  We are having it cleared of the brush, dug out, new dam, new banks, the whole nine yards.  With any luck and lots of grass seed to repair the area around it, maybe it will be the pretty little pond I kind of thought we were getting in the first place seven years ago!

Will could not be happier these past few days.  There have been dump trucks, excavators, bulldozers, etc. out here....all day!  He has been standing at the edge of our driveway, staring in amazement as he watched this whole process.  He could not believe all of these trucks were at HIS HOUSE!  He must be the luckiest kid on the planet.  I kept saying...."look at that bulldozer, Will".  "Can you believe how much dirt it is moving?"  To which he replied, "Mom, that's an excavator." 

Pardon me.  It certainly is.  I stand corrected.  What do I know about these things...I'm just a girl. 

Now, if we can just have a little rain, please.  Need to fill my mud hole. 

 

 

 





Oh, I get it now. This is cool!

A few weeks back, the girls were involved in a parade here in Skiatook.  We have been to this same parade a couple of times.  It's part of the annual Pioneer days celebration.  It's a typical small town parade....the high school band, cheerleaders, local businesses, little cars, homecoming court and lots of candy throwing.  This year, the girls were asked by our neighbor/riding instructor if they would be interested in doing some vaulting in the parade as a way to drum up business and also just for fun.  "YES!"  was their answer.  Of course.  Who wouldn't want to do flips on the back of a horse while clip clopping down Main street?  Vaulting, for those who are unsure, is basically gymnastics performed on horseback.  They have been taking lessons with our cute neighbor for a while now.  It's convenient (did I mention she's our neighbor?!) and a mix of two things they really enjoy.  Their job in the parade was to help pass out fliers and take turns doing some vaulting on Belle, a big beautiful vaulting horse.  So, on parade morning, we got ready, loaded up and went down to the high school to meet up with the rest of the gang.  I got them settled in and then met up with Bill and Will.  We enjoyed the parade and waited patiently for the girls to appear. 

Then, as the first few floats came by flinging candy at a very stoic Will, I realized that this was his first parade.  He was a little overwhelmed by the whole scene and it took him a while to warm up to the idea of all of these loud vehicles parading by throwing candy at him.  But then it hit him....this is CANDY!  And I am supposed to go get it! 

I love these pics.  It shows his progression from uncertain toddler to thrilled parade spectator.  You can almost see the light bulb go on in one of these pictures.   Oh - and there's a picture of Claire standing up on the back of a horse while clip clopping down Main street.     

What is this? 

I don't know....this is loud.  I don't get it.

Dad, are you sure we should pick that candy up? 

Okay, okay.  I'm getting this.  Hello, candy! 

Like this? 

Woo Hoo!!  This is my kind of morning!

I got it, I got it! 

My loot!

Hellllooooo cheerleaders! 

Claire, standing up on Belle, clip clopping down Main street