10 Fish!

The summer fun continues for the Clark family. This time it involved hot dogs on hooks and a bunch of little blue gills.

After our night out camping we drove to the fishing area on the lake and let the kids cast their lines to see what we could catch. Steven was on fire! He caught nine blue gills (one was a whopper) and kept telling us he's caught ten fish because he remember catching a tiny fish in a net with Grandma Pam when we visited Emerald Isle so long ago!

Lyla helped me reel one in but left most of the casting, bobber watching, and fish catching to me and Tommy. 

Finally we can report success in the fishing department. Had to be the hot dogs!

Our Inaugural Camping Trip

Tommy has been obsessed with the VW Vanagon since he got to ride in one owned by his coworker. He would troll Craigslist from Minnesota to Oklahoma because someone in our family would be able to check it out if we found one to buy. I was adamant against it because where do you put car seats? 


Finally, I realized he really just wanted something that we could do as a family - something that we could build memories with for our kids. I've always liked camping so it wasn't that I was against camping but I just didn't see how a Vanagon was practical for our soon to be family of five. Then I thought, how about a pop-up camper, and Voila! suddenly we owned one! Seriously, just like that Tommy found one he wanted, bid on it (he also trolled ebay) and won! 


During our family vacation to Arkansas over the fourth of July, he and his dad drove to Ada, Oklahoma to pick it up. The man he bought it from had a teenage grandson who had outgrown weekend camping trips and they decided to sell the camper. He seemed happy that it was going to our family to continue the fun! 


Since the ditch at the start of the driveway to Sugarloaf Mountain is inaccessible by low clearance vehicles, we parked the camper at the neighbors and waited to take it home the next day.




Getting it in the driveway was another fun event. Tommy had a hard time thinking backward about turning the wheel but eventually he got it in the driveway. We bought a hand truck (accessory #1) to help guide it down the driveway and eventually, we'll need it to put it in the garage. 

Our inaugural camping trip was on July 20 to Longview Lake. We went with friends - Danny and Michelle and their kids Mia and Miles. It was great fun! We were super worried about the heat - during the week it had been over 100 degrees everyday and heat advisories. Tommy was worried about our baby but I told him I would sit in a lawn chair near the ice bucket the whole time, if needed. In the end, the weather was great. The Van Doren's got a site in the shade, there was a nice breeze and overnight the temperature dropped to at least 70 degrees and we actually needed blankets to cover up! It was great!


During the evening the kids played really well. Steven even took the kids to the edge of the "woods" to tell them ghost stories by the light of the flashlight.

Bedtime was a little rough since it was 10pm and the kids usually go to bed around 8pm. It was also bad because we forgot pillows and sleep toys. Won't do that again!


However, once they were asleep the kids didn't wake up until the sun started shining in. Our little girl who always wakes up first was actually the one who stayed in bed the longest! Note the deflated air mattress - we're going to have to work on that. 


PHOTO TO BE INSERTED ONCE DOWNLOADED FROM MY PHONE


All in all, it was a great adventure and we're looking forward to our next trip!

Things we see

Kids are consistent. Everyday we drive them on the same roads to and from school and inevitably they point out the same things every time we pass them. It always makes me smile to hear them say, "mommy, did you see it, did you see it?"

Just don't want to forget the funny things.

Like how they tell me they are going to eat the apple on the Applebee's corporate headquarters sign.

Like how Lyla calls this billboard "the bad guy getting married." Poor Abe.

Like how Lyla sees the tiny weather station on this clocktower, calls it the spinner and tells me how fast it is spinning.

Like how we can't wait to see the horse with wings because it means we are close to home.

I told you so

It's not like me to tell Tommy "I told you so" but this one, I really did tell him "I told you so."

During the first half of the week of the Fourth of July the kids were on Sugarloaf mountain with their grandparents. During the week they had captured a few toads outside and held them hostage in the bug catcher for a few hours. Note that I mentioned they held them OUTSIDE. Later in the week, when Tommy and I returned from our anniversary trip/babymoon, Papa found a frog outside and caught him. He and Tommy were so excited that they brought him inside to show the kids. Tommy then proceeded to suggest that the kids should pet the frog and he'd take him out of the bug catcher (such a sturdy housing unit anyway). That was my first mention that this probably wasn't a good idea and should possibly be moved outside.

And then it happened, the frog got loose.

He jumped to the only nearby spot to hide - under the dishwasher. The frog rescue then commenced. It involved tools, dishwasher removal, wire rearranging and finally a traumatized frog removed from the space between the wall and the dishwasher connections.

At least Grandma got to have the men folk vacuum underneath her diswasher!

A reward (?) for all his hard work.

NOTE: No frogs were harmed during the filming of this event. Maybe a little traumatized but he got washed off and hopped into the woods upon release!

Fourth of July 2012

Today was a scorcher! Over 100 degrees by 10am and no shade in sight!

Tommy and I left our anniversary/babymoon cabin in the morning and headed by to Sugarloaf via the Heavner Runestone and Peter Conser House. I just love random historic markers along the highway.

Once we got back to the house everyone loaded up to join Papa at his band gig in Greenwood (that is everyone except this pregnant momma who decided that she would wilt in the heat). At the "Birthday Party for America" as the kids were calling it, the KC Clarks met up with Cousins Ava and Bridget along with Maddie, Sabrina and Zachery who were visiting from Georgia for the week.

Since the band played in the afternoon, everyone decided that the heat was too much to back out in the evening for a fireworks show. Tonya had a great idea and pulled out glow sticks and the kids put on their own fireworks show in the living room. I got to try out some fun settings on my camera to try and make the glow sticks look like flames, too bad the kids can't hold very still!

Sixth Anniversary and Babymoon

For our sixth anniversary, combined with our babymoon, we went to a cabin in the Kiamichi Mountains. Tommy really treated me well because he is not one to enjoy sitting and doing nothing for days but I really needed to just be still for a while.  We had a little creek flowing behind our cabin, a nice nature path, a small fishing pond (didn't even get a bite), and animal watching from our porch (birds and racoons, just like the city). I finished two books while we were there and Tommy got through a bunch of back issues of his magazine subscriptions. It was a nice break.



On our way back to get the kids we stopped to check out a few historical markers that we saw along the way. The Peter Conser home was interesting, can't really tell you why there was a life-sized fake horse in the barn.

The Heavener Runestone was probably the best adventure, though. Tommy remembers taking a field trip there in grade school and it was just as awe-inspiring today.

The woman in the gift shop was really the most awe-inspiring. She was so convicted to her cause, it was impressive. I am not sure that I could ever get that attached to some scratches in a rock but she was very interested in sharing it all with us.