Tulsa Zoo

We took advantage of the gorgeous weekend last week and headed over to Tulsa for one last little day adventure as a family of 3.

Addison had a ball looking at all the animals!

Favorite animal...no surprise...FLAMINGOS!  We had to visit them a couple of times. :)

 Least favorite part...frogs?!?!  John made an innocent comment about frogs as we entered the Zoo (mind you there were none in sight) and Addison freaked out, it actually took her a couple of exhibits to recover.  Who knew the comment was going to trigger such a reaction.   John blames me...about every other week I have a frog trapped in the garage or the pool for him to dispose of when he gets home from work.  Seems Addison and I both have a fear that we will have to get over?!?

Soaking Up Summer!

We are soaking up summer and enjoying ourselves before the craziness of life with a new baby begins!

 

Addison would eat watermelon all day, every day if I let her!

 

Checking out what she can see from atop her 'fort' on her swing set.

 

So happy to be playing on her swing set...

 

Addison and I hit up the $2 Kids Summer Movies...it was her first time at the movie theater...she ate almost an entire $5 bag of popcorn herself!

 

Even princesses need their beauty sleep...she wore this dress for almost a week straight!?

 

Addison did the obstacle course just like the big boys at Landon's Tough Mudder birthday party.

 

Love these 2!

 

She is a serious swimmer now...the sprinkle goggles are a must!

 

Thanks Mimi for sending Addison her first PlayDoh set...she asks for it most days before her feet even hit the ground as she rolls out of bed!

 

Splash Pad Fun!

 

Only made better by the fact that Cousin Landon was with us at the Splash Pad.

 

Yes, she is trying to drink the water?!

 

Swimming fun with friends...

 

Thank you Polar Vortex...we actually were able to play outside and didn't need to be in the pool!

 

Addison convinced me to get in the lake and swim with her...

 

Giggles

Addison and I were enjoying a little pooltime the other afternoon...she was of course swimming like a fish and I was floating on a raft -- rough life, I know!?

The conversation went something like this...

Addison: Mommy I want you go under water.

Mommy: Oh, mommy doesn't know how to swim under water.

Addison: But I want you to...

Mommy: Not today Addison.

Addison: When daddy come home I teach you and daddy to go under water.  I a good learner!

Ha!  She is a good learner but she is also a good teacher and has been listing out all the things she is going to teach the baby when it comes out of my belly...like how to swing, how to go poopy on the potty, how to swim.  She is going to be a great big sister! 

And I'll take a rain check on my under water swimming lesson ;)  Someday I'll let the cat out of the bag and tell her mommy once was a pretty good swimmer!

4th of July FUN!

Let's rewind a bit so that I can highlight some of our 4th of July FUN!

 

We started celebrating on Sunday the 29th and went and saw the big fireworks show at Cross Church with Uncle Chris and Landon.  We claimed our spot across the street from the church about 45 minutes before the show started and thankfully we came prepared with lots of stuff to entertain Miss Addison.

  

Patriotic stickers!

 

Mini flags to wave and popcorn to snack on

A popsicle treat from the ice cream truck that was driving thru the parking lot...thanks Uncle Chris!

A certain someone wasn't feeling very photogenic on the morning of the 4th?!? I was just trying to snap a quick pic of her red, white and blue before we went to the fireworks stand.  I guess I picked the wrong moment...or actually this perfectly describes our morning with her on the 4th.  Gotta love having a 2 and a half year old!

 

 

 

Seems lunch and a nap is just what she needed...thankfully she woke up on the right side of the bed after nap and was excited for the party and that her 'friends' (meaning anyone besides mom and dad that comes over to the house) were already in the backyard swimming.

 

Sipping a little lemonade while her sunscreen dried.

We had lots of fun in the pool with family and friends!  I was still a little sad that we weren't able to make the trip to MI to celebrate with my family but having a pool-full ourselves sure made it a lot easier to be away from the Malaneys.  John smoked us brisket and hot links for dinner and the kids took a break from swimming just long enough for us to eat a little.

 

These 3 are going to give us a run for our money some day...
Addison is 3 in October
Tucker is 3 in November
Jenna is 3 in December
And they all live a stone's throw away from each other!

It wouldn't have been a 4th of July pool party with our R/W/B popsicles!

 

Addison was starting to get the hang of the whole fireworks thing and insisted that we set-up our chairs early for the show...except on the 4th we just did fireworks on the driveway, so turns out there wasn't too much of a rush to get seating - ha!

 

 

Daddy helped Addison with her first (I think?) sparkler.

4th of July to me growing up always included a parade...whether I was in it on a boat with Sailing School or we walked to it and got candy...there was always a parade in my 4th of July memories.  So again because I was still kind of wishing we were in MI, I found a parade for us to go to on Saturday the 5th...sure it was the closing parade for the rodeo but it was still a parade!  Addison wore her R/W/B, accessorized accordingly (thanks Mimi) and made sure to bring her candy bag.  Since it was the parade for the rodeo there were LOTS of horses and riding clubs, probably 2  dozen or so different groups of horses.  The first group of horses that came by us pooped right in front of us...guess what Addison remembers about the parade -- horse poop!  Not the bag of candy or the 2 popsicles she got, not the clowns driving little bicycles (kinda scary anyways) and not the firetrucks...she remembers the horse poop!  For days if anyone asked how the parade was she would tell them about the horse poop...silly girl.

 

 

 

#2 x 10

The LONG adventure known as potty training began last August for Miss Addison...yes almost 1 full calendar year --- don't judge!?!?  Initially it was a little rough (on Mommy mostly I think) but quickly Addison got the hang of going tinkle on the potty and by the time she started MMO after Labor Day she was staying dry and telling us when she needed to go.  And for a long time we were happy with having a "daytime potty trained" toddler.   We were still saving a ton of money on diapers!

But soon we (mom and dad I suppose) were ready for the next step.   We needed to get rid of pull-ups at nap and bedtime and conquer going #2 in the potty.  We started the process several times but after lots of laundry and frustration we always stopped because we didn't think she was ready.  

Fast forward to this spring and IT WAS TIME.  Baby #2 was growing in my belly and I was determined to only have 1 in diapers/pull-ups.  We started with staying dry at nap...and she actually caught on pretty quickly (I think) and then we changed her nighttime routine and stopped giving her 12+ ounces of milk right before bed.  We are still hit or miss on waking up dry in the morning but she knows when she wakes up dry and runs to put a sticker on her 'stay dry' chart.

The biggest and most frustrating challenge was getting her to go #2 in the potty.  I had read so many things on the internet and talked to so many people that said "they either get it, or they don't"...clearly my kid was falling in the "not getting it" category.  We bribed her with almost everything and she was perfectly content with waiting until the pull-up went on each night to go #2.  Seriously, most nights John or I weren't even back downstairs before she was calling us to come change her "yuckies."  SO FRUSTRATING!  Toys, candy, and ultimately a swing set were used as bribery rewards for going #2.

 

While we were in Milwaukee...something happened...or maybe it was what didn't happen for several days leading up to our Milwaukee trip.  Regardless after a cranky afternoon, lots of tears (mostly from Addison...some from mom) and several trips to the bathroom to just 'try' and see if she needed to poop, it finally happened....#2 on the potty!  And everyone celebrated with a little DQ ice cream treat.

 

We got back to Arkansas 2 days later and she started telling me she only liked Gaga's toilet...nice?!?!  I almost had it shipped here...but after a little patients girlfriend started going #2 on her own potty and the sticker chart starting filling up fast.  10 stickers = swing set -- and she knew it...and would tell people!  Of course there were still plenty of candy bribes along the way. 

 

The swing set was delivered the morning we left for Arizona, not ideal timing but Addison knew that it would be put together and waiting for her when we got home.  I haven't kept track but in the nearly 3 weeks that we've had a swing set she has logged some serious time on the swing...now if we could only teach her to swing by herself, because right now it also means mom and dad have also logged some serious time in the backyard pushing her on said swing.  But after all that hard work (by mom and dad, right?!), at least its nice to see her enjoying her reward!