Spring Break in OKC

For the second half of Spring Break we took a road trip to Oklahoma City. We just stayed the one night before heading down to Dallas to celebrate the kids' birthdays with grandparents. It was very much a that's good/that's bad trip, and in the end I still don't know if we came out on top, or wish we'd never gone. 

Highs: we found a fun urban garden downtown, near the basketball arena, our first night there. It had paths and fountains and a children's play area. We also were able to visit the Science Museum on our ASTC pass, which is hands down one of the coolest ones we've ever been too. The kids had been looking forward to a return trip ever since we first went back in 2019.

Lows: Davey was sick on our drive out. He threw up once in the car into a bag and once in a dumpster as we drove through Shamrock, TX, a funny little town I'll probably never have reason to visit again. He spent our first day in a stupor. During the night Davey bounced back, but Griffin went down. He never threw up, but was the most feverish, miserable little guy our the whole next day at the museum. The traffic from OKC to Dallas was also awful once we wrapped up our little trip. We ended up detouring several times for construction or other random backups. Finally, our AirBnB host also left us bad reviews. First for not locking up properly, even though there were no instructions on how to set the alarm. There was a full instruction sheet for getting in, but nothing for leaving. Second, for bringing an extra guest. They were upset we had 6 instead of the listed 5. But I never reported Griffin because the terms only asked for guests over the age of 2 and he was still 1 and slept in a pack n play, which we brought from home. Third, for leaving dirty coffee cups, which is ridiculous because we of course didn't make coffee. We didn't use any dishes as our dinner was from KFC and our breakfast was donuts. Oh well. Can you tell I was bitter about it?

Happy faces at our Air BnB before we had negative feelings towards the host

Exploring the Myriad Botanical Gardens, pretty even in winter

Poor sick Davey just took it all in from a bench

Griffin went down and ended up spending the night on the couch with me

Ready for a fun day at the Science Museum!

We rode these Segways during our last trip and were so glad to see the course was still there! 

Miserable Griffin, and Davey got to keep the balloon from the science demonstration

Water and erosion

Climbing wall at the fitness exhibit

The shooting gallery

And this had to be documented because it was Griffin's first ever time INSIDE a Chick fil A! They had been closed for covid his entire life. We ate here for lunch and, even though feeling lowsy, he loved it!

Griffin, the Gremlin Child

Griffin has always had a mischievous side, but just before his second birthday he decided to go for the naughtiness high score. He was getting into everything! It felt like if you turned your back for even a minute, he'd go wreak havoc, and while you were cleaning up one mess, he'd go make another. It was during this period I decided he would be starting preschool in the fall because he was making me CRAZY!! Here is a sampling of his crimes. During this phase he was also obsessed with stealing toilet brushes, unrolling and flushing toilet paper rolls, eating chapsticks and stealing whatever food he could find. Good thing he is so cute!!

Lower cupboards were locked, but little buddy figured out how to drag stools so now upper cupboards also need locks

Always climbing everything, and often getting stuck

Decided he didn't want the cereal so dumped it all on the counter and just drank the milk

Heard screaming and went to our shower to find he had turned on the cold water and trapped himself in the corner and didn't know how to get back out

Griffin had the biggest obsession with pump soap bottles/shampoos and would climb any counter to get access to one, then squirt it all out and smear it in his hair.

He would pump handfuls. And I didn't know what to do because I couldn't just remove all soap from the house or that would mean no hand washing. I tried keeping bathroom doors locked, but the other kids often left doors open. This lead to so many baths to wash away the suds. 

Climbing counters to try and grab anything within range

He also managed to get his hands on a Sharpie a few times and left some nice artwork all over our walls, doors and floors

Attempting to run away. Thankfully our deadbolt is almost impossible for anyone under the age of 8 to turn, or I'm sure we'd have lost him a few times.

Another sink bath, post soap-in-hair incident. He probably thought he was at the spa.

Even sleep was chaotic - sheets out, shirt out, animals out, luckily diaper on!

Charlie is FOUR!

Charlie is now four!! He is still our easy going kid who takes pleasure in small and simple things. He loves his toys, his family, the color yellow, and all things fun and happy. We celebrated his birthday at home as a family, which was perfect because he's very much a homebody. We love you Charlie!

**Birthday updates for the kids are going to be short and sweet this year, instead of the usual tributes I have written in the past. The problem with getting behind is many of the little details, like funny things they say, current obsessions and recent accomplishments, are lost to time. I didn't even post anything on social media that I can refer back to. I think Griffin was keeping me too busy haha. But something is better than nothing. At least we have some photos!

Charlie got a Lego Luigi set so he can join in the play with Davey and Mario! Luigi may have been defaulted to him as the younger brother, but he has fully embraced it and claimed Luigi as his own.

We got a fancy cupcake from the bakery for his cake this year

Charlie's 4 Year Stats:

35.5 lbs (47%)

42 Inches (85%)

He grew 4 inches and gained 4 pounds this past year. Sound about right for a FOUR year old!

Video clips of Charlie's fourth birthday

February 2022 Roundup

February is often one of our slowest months of the year, which is not a bad thing! The weather lends more towards indoor adventures, soccer is on hiatus, although Sophie did play Upward basketball, all the Christmas aftermath has long since settled, and there are no birthdays or major holidays. That being said, we still got up to plenty. Here are a few highlights:

Afterschool snack at Sam's is always a favorite

Pretty sure Griffin's eyes are bigger than his face

Sophie played Upward basketball for the 3rd/4th grade Ducks. After having last season cancelled (covid) it was a slow start this year trying to relearn skills, but she did eventually find her rhythm and was able to score a few times in the later games. 

Little siblings having fun during the basketball games

Griffin looking dapper for church

Charlie's Letter Group had a field trip to Fish Pros where we were able to see and touch lots of critters. Feeding the turtles and koi was a favorite of both boys!

First trip to Five Below! We discovered they have dime candy so the kids were able to each fill a bag with the $1 bill grandma had sent them for Valentine's day.

Group project puzzle - I did the water and then the kids worked together to finish the land

Safety goggles definitely recommended for eating popcorn

The kids had school off for President's Day so we went to Lubbock with friends to play at the Science Spectrum. Charlie was there even though he didn't make it into any pictures!

Also fun close to home at our own Discovery Center. Griffin is destined to be a star at something someday. So much personality in his little body!

We got to host Letter Group for H. We read Old Hat, New Hat and I invited all the kids to come with a fun hat to show off. Other activities included playing hopscotch, making a Hungry Caterpillar craft and eating honeycomb for snack. 

January/February 2022 Video Clips