Summer at Nana and Papa’s Farm

Me:  “What was some of your favorite things that we did at Nana and Papa’s house this week?
Liberty:  “Well, I liked the paddle boat, swimming in the lake, the horses, and eating bacon.” (apparently the cereal or toast I feed her every morning doesn’t compare to the hot breakfast Nana fixes her)

We had a blast at my parents house this week.  We were only able to stay four days but we crammed a ton of fun activities in that short amount of time.  I would have to say that Liberty’s favorite activity was riding horses.  My parents have a horse and several mules.  Liberty was really excited that she was old enough to ride one of the mules by herself without one of us leading it.

Emory like riding the horse for about two seconds.  Long enough to get this cute picture :)Liberty and Nana on the Mule

There is a great little lake not too far from my parents house.  It’s shallow and there is plenty of shoreline to play on.  Liberty had fun, of course, but I was so excited that Emory enjoyed it so much.  It was shallow enough near the bank for her to sit and splash.  So cute!

Liberty’s Great Grandpa bought her a new bike while we were there.  It’s purple and has several different speeds.  She LOVED it.  She looks like such a big girl on her new big bike.

We also made a trip to the cemetery while we were down.  I was really excited that we actually got to go on Lilly’s birthday.  We decorated her tree for her 4th birthday.  I love to see my girls gathered around their sister’s grave celebrating her life.

After we left the cemetery we headed to Abilene and visited the Texas Heritage Museum.  It was really neat and Liberty really enjoyed it.Museum Fun…One evening while we were on the paddle boat, I decided it would be funny to jump off.  I actually thought it would scare Liberty, but she thought it was funny.  So, we both ended up swimming in our clothes for awhile. Liberty is hanging onto the boat because she still can’t swim very well.  This made her Nana very nervous.

The weather was crazy while we were there.  It was cloudy and raining almost the whole time.  We just had to get outside in between showers.  Nonetheless, we still had a blast.  It is always fun to get away and leave our responsibilities for a while.

Although we have a least one more trip planned this summer, it is officially school time again.  Liberty will start 1st grade on Thursday.  She is so excited. 

Liberty's Kindergarten Graduation Weekend

This past weekend my sister and her family and my parents all came to visit.  We all love it when they can come!  They arrived on Saturday around lunchtime and we all ate at Pops.  After lunch we came back to the house to change into swim clothes to go swimming at my parent's hotel.  Mom chose to stay at a hotel here in Guthrie with an indoor pool so we could take Liberty and the other two babies (Emory and Hannah) swimming.  Of course, Liberty was so excited.  She had a blast swimming and even Emory seemed to enjoy it.  Liberty still can't swim, but she has a blast trying to figure it out.  She is actually getting pretty good at swimming under water.  It's keeping her head above the water that seems to be the problem.  Not to mention, she seems to swallow more water than is probably good for her. 

After we finished swimming, we came back to the house and had a very short, formal graduation ceremony for Liberty (check out more pictures and video on our homeschool blog).

My beautiful little graduate

Emory would not cooperate for pictures

After Liberty's graduation we headed to Hideaway Pizza for dinner.  YUM!  We had such a great time visiting and eating with family.

My sister (Amanda) and her daughter (Hannah)

Emory, Nana, and Papa :)

After a terrific dinner we headed back to the house for some homemade chocolate cake.  Liberty is such a chocolate junkie.  She wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.  She played with the babies and with her graduation presents until it was time to go to bed.

On Sunday morning we headed back to the pool bright and early :).  Liberty and Nana (the rest of us weren't interested in swimming a 9:00 a.m.) swam until it was time to check out of the hotel.  After that we headed to Bass Pro.  Liberty always loves looking at the fish and the boats.  Emory, Hannah, and Liberty all bought matching hats.  Those babies are too cute!

Emory and Hannah at Bass Pro

We at lunch at Earls in Bricktown and then the family headed back to Texas.  We had such a blast and Libety enjoyed every minute of her special graduation weekend.

Trip to Texas

Scott sent us away earlier this week so he could get some work done.  We didn't complain too much and were happy to head to my parent's house in Texas for a few days of R&R while Scott put in some long hours.  I was nervous to make the trip solo because Emory has not proven to be a good traveller; however,  we were completely blessed and she was an absolute angel going and coming home!

Our unseasonably warm weather followed us all the way there and it was a least 70 degrees when we arrived.  Liberty commenced playing outside immediately.  This monster jungle gym is the newest addition to my parent's backyard and Liberty loves it.  She spent a good 30 minutes playing Star Wars.  She was Princess Leia, I was Han Solo, and Emory was Yoda :).

Emory didn't mind being cast in the role of Yoda and was perfectly content to play along as long as she got to swing in the process.

While we all enjoyed being outside for a change, it totally backfired when Liberty began to suffer a major allergy attack.  Despite her runny nose and coughing, she was determined to enjoy the warm weather.  Thankfully, Emory and I were not affected by whatever was in the air.

We also made the long trip to Rochester to visit Lilly's grave and decorate her tree for Valentines.  We have gotten in the habit of decorating her tree not just for Christmas, but for any major holiday that happens to be coming up.  Obviously, we don't get to do this often since we live so far away, but we love it when we do get to.  On Monday night, my mom and Liberty made Valentines to put on the tree.  It turned out so cute and Liberty had a blast.

I also made a point to take more pictures of the cemetary and surrounding area this time.  I know I've talked about how way out in the middle of nowhere this place is, but I wanted to capture it to really make my point.  So, this is what Rochester, Texas looks like in the winter...

Across the vast expanse of nothing, you can see the giant windmills.  I think they are so beautiful.

Rochester is primarily a farming community.  There are fields as far as the eye can see.  The air is filled with white dust and the sides of the roads are laced with fuzzy white cotton from the recent harvest.

This is the second time Emory has visited her sister's grave.  She looks so much like Lilly.  I'm sad that she will never meet her sister this side of Heaven, but I am storing up memories like this so one day I can tell her all about Lilly and our amazing adventure.

On Wednesday we did absolutely nothing.  We stayed home and just enjoyed relaxing and visting with my parents.  We headed back to OK first thing Thursday morning.  We had a great time and Scott got caught up on work.  Back to our routine on Monday.