Brendan's 16th Birthday

So as I mentioned, I didn't take any pictures after Great Wolf Lodge, when Bren's birthday celebrations got underway. We ate together for a couple nights and the final night was Medieval Times. I totally slacked on pictures... even with my cel phone camera! But thankfully I have other family who got some good shots (thanks guys!). So here are some of their pictures.

Medieval Times

Both kids loved it & Isabella asks regularly when we're going to go back. I was pleasantly surprised by their vegetarian option & thought it was really tasty with good variety. The crowns were my least favorite part. ;o) I think Brendan had a good time! 

Great Wolf Lodge October 2011

Once again we find ourselves at Great Wolf Lodge. Well, it's an easy get-away from Oklahoma City (only 3 hours or so from here to Dallas) and the kids LOVE it (and Mike is a sucker for giving them what they want. haha!). Isabella especially loves it. So we decided to once again stay for a few days before joining up with some of my family for my nephew's 16th birthday celebration (of which I have no pictures... I'm horrible at this stuff! Not to mention Mike broke my camera as we were leaving the local food picnic so these pics from GWL were from my cel phone. He'll tell you a different story about the camera though, so don't ask.). It's pretty much the same old stuff. Isabella loves the water slides. Jackson enjoys the water for a bit and then he's ready to explore other areas (which is where the rest of the hotel comes in handy!). They both love the rooms with the bunk beds and all the fun creatures. And they both really have a lot of fun making the howling wolf noises every time they see a wolf at the hotel. :) Oh & they both really like the nightly show & story time (and meeting the wolf characters).

Now we must put our trips to Great Wolf Lodge on hold and focus on the trip we've been planning for awhile... Costa Rica!

Slow Food Local Food Picnic, 2011

I believe this is the 3rd year that we have attended the Slow Food's Annual local food picnic. We really enjoy this even, the whole family looks forward to it! For one, I can enjoy eating lots of local food (including local, humanely raised meats) nearly all of which (if not all) is grown/produced w/o the junk (pesticides, chemical fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics, etc). And there are lots of yummy dishes put together by chefs from local restaurants around the OKC area. For two, pay $5 per person to enjoy all you can drink local wine & beer (had a bit much of the wine this year for myself & didn't feel too hot the next day but it was fun at the event!). And for the kids- they love the animals that are there to pet, the face painting, the food art, the pony rides, and this year they had trackless train rides (for everyone, even adults could jump on). They have live music (lots of old country songs that Mike knows but the rest of us are clueless) & the atmosphere at the Harn Homestead is really nice for a picnic. We look forward to many many more years of attending this awesome event!

And as you can see in the pictures, Isabella got the butterfly painted on her face and Jackson (which you probably wouldn't guess) got painted as Chewbacca from Star Wars. (haha)

The Great State Fair of Oklahoma 2011

Isabella loves the fair. Correction... Isabella loves the rides at the fair.

This year, when we heard that Toy Story 3 on Ice was going to be coming along w/ the fair, we had to buy tickets. Jackson has been obsessed with Toy Story for awhile and we knew he'd love it. We got pretty close seats and we were right up close to the rink. Isabella was acting like a teenager- grumpy because she no longer wanted to see Toy Story but rather wanted to start riding the rides. (After the show, she said she only liked the intro w/ Minnie & Mickey & nothing else.)

Jackson was quite mesmerized by the show and watched it all pretty closely. We were glad to see the claw in the show, that is one of Jackson's favorite parts.

We then ate lunch (which I was happy to find a place with wraps for me and grilled cheese for the kids!) and then we were off to ride the rides! We weren't sure how Jackson would do so we put him on the little dragon roller coaster with Bella to see if we should buy a wristband or just a few tickets. Turns out, he enjoys the rides as much as Isabella! Jackson and Isabella ended up riding quite a bit together and they both had lots of fun. Unfortunately it was pretty hot and sunny so after a bit of riding, Jackson was hot and tired. So Mike took Jackson to look at the animals and Isabella and I took off to ride a bunch of rides together. I picked the first ride (which was a mistake), the Gravitron. Now this is the ride where you lean up against the wall, the spaceship like ride spins really fast, and then the wall slides up & you are pressed against it and off the floor. Isabella did not like this ride one bit. She actually cried & wanted to get off. Of course we were stuck so I did my best to calm her down (didn't work) while we endured the ride. When we finally got off, she said she hated it and that I was not allowed to pick any more of the rides. So I learned my lesson! She picked all the rest of the rides and did fine with them all... even other spinning, bigger kid rides. Just not the gravitron! It was all fun for me because it has been so long since I've been on a real ride and it was fun to see Isabella have such a good time. 

We checked out some animals and then went into the butterfly tent where the kids got to have butterflies climb on their hands. Then we headed home (much to Isabella's dismay and a huge fit did follow). We were hot, a little sunburned, and TIRED!