Little House on the Prairie!

Okay....not really Little House on the Prairie, but as close as I can imagine. On Sunday, Rick had a ton of studying to do, (Air Force classes as well as his Masters work) so I put Ashlyn in the car, and we headed out on an adventure. First stop, Lawton. Not thrilling, but we found a museum. The Museum of the Great Plains. I have to be honest...picking the wild flowers was her favorite event!


"More mommy!"


Checking out an old coffee store.

Pretty cool!

We went through the indoor Museum, as well. There was a whole exhibit about the makings of a tee pee. I thought I did a great job of taking it down to a one year old level...apparently NOT!!! I tried to get a picture of Ashlyn sitting in there. She ran out saying, "they hurt animals, Mommy!" I guess the furry rug on the floor didn't do it for her!

Pretending to be a horse!

Cooking over the camp fire by the wagon!

Ash kept trying to feed this horse her bread. I laughed & tried to explain to her that he was mad at her for putting that silly hat with flowers on his head. She said it was pretty and he liked it so much!

The tractor ride & drive was NOT a good deal, either! Such a beach girl!

The view between Altus and Lawton....Yep, I posted this on my blog!!!

I guess this is an example for the family of what we see..........told you!

Actually, we are having fun with this...Cara, my niece, is doing a class project this year. She has chosen Oklahoma for her state to explore. Ashlyn and I promised to collect pictures, flags, post cards, and anything else that we can find to help with the presentation. Hopefully the trip to Oklahoma City will provide more exciting information. We are going to try to find the waterfalls and explore the zoo & wildlife refuge, too!

Altus Pool!

So, Ashlyn and I have hit the pool a few times. It has been really hot. She has pointed at these "Shamu" slides and wanted to try them out. I was afraid to help her up the steps because I needed to be in the water to catch her. I convinced her to wait until Daddy was with us & then she could try the slides. (She wanted to go without her swimmers on!) Rick helped her up the steps once & then she took off on her own...over & over! What do I know! Ha Ha Ha

She does not need me!

See Mommy, I can do it by myself!

Watch me!

So much fun...I think we did it 1,000 times!!!

A picture of the big slides...yep, you guessed it, Ashlyn wanted to try them, too! Rick put her in his lap & off they went!

He said that Ashlyn giggled all the way from the top to the pool!

"Mommy, I do swide!"

Huge smiles after round 2 of big slide!

Road Trip 2010

Heading West

So, Rick was assigned to air drop training in Altus, Oklahoma for about five weeks. After a little thought, we decided that Ashlyn and I would tag along. It would be a long journey, but we love road trips & love the idea of seeing Daddy everyday for a change! We packed up & headed out on Monday, the 21st. We had hopes of making it to Birmingham the first day, and we wanted to have time to do dinner with friends. Well, after a late start, some animal drama, DVD rewiring, and a wrong turn, we decided to call it a night!

Tuesday morning, we were up bright and early. We met my friend, Brittany, and her children for coffee. Brittany used to live in Mt. Pleasant. (Lincoln & Ash were at The Little Gym together) Next, we hit the McWane Science Center in downtown. It was REALLY cool. There were four stories of things to do. The toddler floor was awesome. They were having a special Mr. Potato Head exhibit. Ashlyn also really liked the aquarium that was on the lower level. She enjoyed watching the sharks in the touch tank, but her hand never made it to the water!

It only took Ashlyn a minute to decide that the slide really did look okay...maybe even a tiny bit inviting! She went down it a few times!

Rick and Ashlyn waiting on Lincoln to come down the slide.

Lorelei did not want Lincoln and Ashlyn to have all of the fun, so she went through a few of the tunnels! She was super cute and smiled all morning!

The touch screen toddler computer...a big hit!

Ash and Lincoln playing with the light wall. They loved moving the pegs around and watching the colors change.

Ashlyn and I with Brittany, Lincoln, and Lorelei after lunch. We ate at Whole Foods so that we could say "hi" to Jim, Brittany's husband. He is a manager at the store. The kids were pretty tired by the time we decided to get a group shot...sorry!After visiting with the Taylor's for the morning, we got back on the road. We drove for about 8 hours. Ashlyn was so tired that she slept for almost four! We stopped just outside of Little Rock for the night. We all slept late the next morning & then we hit the highway once more. We made it to Altus by 6 pm. Ashlyn pretty much tackled the words Birmingham, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. (One at a time, or it gets a bit crazy!) The base dorms were full, so we were placed in a nearby hotel for a few days. Ashlyn still keeps saying that we are going to go to Oklahoma. Hate to tell her, but this is it!!!

Day 1 in Altus, Oklahoma...Ash and I hit the pool on base for the afternoon, while Rick went to class. It was SO hot. They were saying that the heat index was going to be 116 in the mid afternoon...I believe it! Thank the Lord that the toddler pool is under a tent!

After a nap, we went to dinner at a little place in town called Val's.

Hanging out in the hotel room & watching TV way after our bed time. Daddy was working on the computer & did not notice the time, so we pretended not to notice either! Mommy & Me!

......Still having FUN!

This past week we stayed pretty busy. It all started with the awards day at The Little Gym!

Rick and Papa joined us for class. Ashlyn was a little out of sorts. She usually does everything & has the best time...not Thursday! She wanted me to hold her during all of the tasks. It was so silly! She did a few tricks, but not like normal. At one point, she and Papa did roll around on the floor laughing. No, that was not a required stunt. It did change her mood a bit, though.

Thanks Papa!!!
Papa & Me
Showing off... just a little!


Ms. Valerie, Ashlyn's FAVORITE!!!

Ms. Valerie has been Ash's teacher ever since Ashlyn was 4 months old. Valerie is moving to Florida, so it was our last class with her. We sure will miss her smile and spunk. She made our trips to TLG so much fun!!! We liked her so much that we used to pick our class according to the days that she would be teaching!

Friday night, Rick and I took Ash to see Shrek 4. It was her first movie. (Well, actually, she went with Nana, Aunt Sissy, and I to see Mama Mia, when she was very tiny. She slept through most of the movie.) We ate popcorn, Twizzlers, and shared a Coke. Ash LOVED it! She was not too sure about the dark room, so she took turns sitting with Daddy & Mommy!!! When the lights came on for us to leave, she said, "more?"

On the way out of the theater, we stopped to play some video games. Ashlyn's favorite was driving the cars with Daddy!

Sunday, we went to our cousin, Hayley's, 1st Birthday party. It was at a park & boy was it HOT!!! The heat index was 114. Ash chose to hang out under this tree & drink juice.

She figured out the bouncy ball pretty quickly!

Uncle Matt came to visit for a couple of days. We went to the pool with him on Monday. Ashlyn really enjoyed dumping her bottle of water on his head. I think she would have done it for hours! She is starting to really get comfortable in the pool. At one point, she was jumping to me without her puddle jumper swimmies on!

Glenda, Cara, and Brooke came to visit us on Tuesday. We went back to Nana's pool for the afternoon. We took lunch with us & had a wonderful time. They spent the night with us & we watched Monster's Inc.

Girls Just Want to Have FUN!!!

Week One...Summertime F U N !!!

Ready to face the heat! After a couple days of being lazy, we were ready to start our summer. Ashlyn and I decided to hit the beach & we invited Alli (our neighbor) and her friend to join us. Can I help?

Running with the "Big" girls!

Swimming with Mommy! Ash had a blast & after just a few minutes she would splash around on her own. Back and forth between Alli and I, she was screaming, "sim'in like Ariel!"

A break and a snack...

Twizzlers - Make mouth HAPPY!!!

Day two...beach with Alli!

Day three...Splash Island with Mommy's Circle from church!

Day four...Nana's pool. We were Chillaxin' in da sun!Day six...Brooke and Cara came to visit. We went to see Shrek 4 in 3D, and hit the beach again!

Ummm Mommy, the strap is in your way!

In case you were wondering, I did not force Ash to have all of this fun. Each morning she would wake up & right away make her decision. "Ashy go beach or Ashy go pool" - first words out of her mouth! I knew we were going to have a "Carolina Girl!"