Arbuckle Wilderness Adventure

Yesterday was a gorgeous day so we took an impromptu trip to Davis, OK for a drive through Arbuckle Wilderness. If you're not familiar with it, it's one of those exotic animal parks where you can feed the animals from your vehicle. There were tons of emus, llamas, camels, zebras, giraffes, and deer. At first we tried to let Nicholas sit on our laps in the front but he was way more enthused about all the buttons he could push. He would occasionally look up and see the animals poking their heads in the window, which gave him quite a good chuckle, but then it was right back to the buttons. Here he is "driving" with Daddy. Notice the tongues? Like father like son!

Things were much smoother after buckling him back into his car seat. Well, for a little while anyway! About 3.5 seconds after this picture, the pooh-pooh hit the fan.

Camel #1 was joined by his accessory, camel #2, and they both decided they were going to infiltrate our truck. Nicholas thought this was just hilarious and was sticking his finger out to say "hi" when we jumped into panic mode as they were only inches away from him. Greg quickly tried to roll up the window and one of the attack camels got his neck caught in the window. Before Greg was able to lower it back down, the camel forced his way out, knocking the window off the track. We made a safe getaway, but the damage had been done. Now we're stuck about halfway through the park, where it's strictly forbidden to exit your vehicles, with a window that won't roll up next to our very small child. Luckily, the rest of the drive was uneventful and we continued to have a good time. WHEW! Here are a few more pictures from our adventure.
And I just wanted to throw this cute one in for fun. This is Nicholas trying to fit into his Daddy's shoes. Good try, babe!

On the road again

We now have another trip successfully under our belt after spending the weekend in Missouri at my brother's house. I have to say that Nicholas was awesome on this trip, which was a huge relief. Taking your toddler to a house that isn't baby-proofed can be exhausting, but thanks to his VERY fun cousins Alli, Jake, & Kami and their endless supply of TOYS, that wasn't an issue! We opened the door to their playroom and it was like he was seeing heaven! I swear his eyes even glazed over. We also got to have an early birthday party for Jake & Kami since we wouldn't be there for their actual birthday on Halloween. Grandma and Grandpa had an awesome idea for their presents, as seen below. That's 100 $1 bills, plus another $200 thrown in by Pop for good measure! What kid wouldn't want that for their birthday??? What adult wouldn't want that for their birthday??? I remember feeling special when I got a $5 bill in my birthday card! It was a great weekend although it went by way too fast!!

Here is Nicholas being ever so helpful while I packed.

I didn't even notice my son's antics in this one until later...I couldn't resist including it!

Paging Dr. Jaggi...

All of this playing was clearly exhausting.

And of course, getting some cuddle time with Pop!!

What's new

We've had a really fun weekend. Both Greg and I have had family visiting from Missouri, so Nicholas has been quite spoiled. We're heading down to the fairgrounds in a little while to check out Mistletoe Market. Hopefully Nicholas will be on his best behavior and let Mommy shop! Everything else has been great. Busy, but great. Life seems much more exciting in your mind, but then you go to write it down and realize it's quite ordinary. But anyway, here's a picture and video that are far from ordinary. I took this picture the other night before bed. I think it's one of those moments you're lucky to catch and will be SO glad you did later in life. They are the best of friends and I love it!!

This video just makes me smile. Nicholas has absolutely fallen in love with Thomas the Train and his very sweet Daddy went to the website yesterday and played him some songs and videos. Thomas just made a visit to Oklahoma City last weekend but we decided he was still too small to really enjoy it. But I'm pretty confident we'll be going next time! He danced like this for about 10 minutes straight.

Giddy Up Horsey!

Our little cowboy is now 16 months old!

Ohhhhhhh!

I forgot to post this picture the other day. Everytime Nicholas sees or hears something that peaks his interest he makes this "OH" face. This one was a reaction to the neighbor's dog barking. CUTENESS!