Grandparents' Day 2006

Today was Grandparents Day at Alex's school. Last year, Nana and Papa Evans came to see what Alex does each day. This year Grammy and Grandpa Hardage got the chance. This was Grandpa's first time to see the school at all. They went with Alex through every class period; participating in some, observing in others. They shared lunch with him and played with him at recess. Apparently Grandpa helped the boys collect some treasure in a blue bucket.

Gathering The Eggs

The Easter Bunny came today on a cool but dry morning and scattered eggs all over the backyard amongst the numerous cottonwood pollen strands. Alex kept trying to watch for him, but he must have shown up when we went upstairs to wake up Aaron, because we could see the eggs from his window. Dressed in matching Easter sweaters that Grammy Hardage made, and carrying Easter pails they decorated with Mommy, they collected all the eggs (except for the one the squirrel broke into). And if you're wondering, the tongue does help when gathering Easter eggs. Aaron, look behind you!

What's Bigger: The Eggs or The Eyes?

As you might guess, the first picture I took he wasn't looking at me. This was his adjustment. He and Becky colored these with food coloring and a colander. Becky swears she'll NEVER color eggs any other way EVER. :)

The Easter Bunny 2006

This year Alex actually asked to visit the Easter Bunny. After listening to him talk he determined that the Easter Bunny is a boy. Until then we weren't sure. Aaron declined to participate and we decided not to force the issue as we wouldn't have gotten the picture we wanted without his cooperation anyway.

See, Getting Your Hair Trimmed Is Not So Bad

We've taken Aaron to the kid-oriented Cookie Cutters in the past, but the barbers at BoRics are more experienced cutting kids hair and do a great job with him. He can hardly sit still for it but with a sucker, kind words from the barber and some parental support he's doing much better. Gone are the days where I had to hold him in his seat to get a haircut. He's to strong for that now anyway. What a big boy!

The Tooth Fairy Doesn't Bring Toothpaste

It turns out that Alex's guess was right. There were no toothbrushes, floss, or toothpaste under his pillow this morning. The little black bag that housed his tooth last night was filled with a Sacagawea golden dollar coin this morning.

The First Loose Tooth Is History!!!

Alex was very brave tonight and after about an hour of convincing he let me grab that tooth and out it came. Tomorrow we'll find out if the tooth fairy brings toothpaste or money. Alex's vote is for a golden dollar.

Fishing Equipment for Giants

Another exhibit at the Oklahoma Aquarium was The Karl and Beverly White National Fishing Tackle Museum. In addition to numerous lures and reels and few ancient hooks, we found some tackle that could possibly have been used by giants.

The Oklahoma Aquarium

We traveled back to Bartlesville last night and spent the night with Nana & Papa. Today we went to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks, OK. They just completed it a couple of years ago and we had a great time. They have numerous exhibits showing everything from regional freshwater fish to exotic deep sea varieties. The kids loved touching the sea stars and stingrays. They also have a huge shark tank that you can walk through in an enclosed glass tunnel.

Showing the Boys the Duck Pond

Becky and I went to college at the Univeristy of Oklahoma. One of the places we enjoyed going when we were there was the campus Duck Pond. It is a large pond on some beautiful property where some ducks and geese live year-round. We used to come and feed them all the time, especially in the winter. I proposed to Becky on the little stone pier that she is sitting on with the boys. We wanted to show it to them and let them feed the ducks. Severe weather was moving in, so we made it a short trip.

The Evans Clan - March 2006

Curls and Air Hockey

Marli took a break from getting ready for the group picture to play Nana in a little air hockey.

Marli's Scarf

Becky finished this scarf for Marli and she posed for us, very pleased.

Hornhead

Alex also took advantage of the hands-on items in the room to see what it would like if he grew horns :)

Paleontologists in the Making

The museum had a Discovery Room that "is a place to explore artifacts and scientific specimens in a hands-on, interactive environment." One of these stations involved the older kids climbing into an excavation pit and using paintbrushes to remove the dirt from some fossils embedded in the floor.

Posing By Dinosaur Bones

I love the juxtaposition of these 2 pictures. The pose by the big Apatasaurus femur was near the beginning of the exhibit and they hadn't been posing that much yet and it was obviously still fun. The line up in front of the Allosaurus skeleton was the last of the morning and they had had enough.

Pentaceratops

The Museum has the best preserved skeleton of a Pentaceratops in the world. Pentaceratops had the biggest head of any dinosaur that includes the bony plates of an enormous frill.

Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History

Today we brought the kids to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. While they have a lot of interesting wildlife exhibits, we mainly came to see the dinosaurs. Before we checked them out though, we had to pose them by the enormous bronze mammoth sculpture in the main lobby. Very impressive. Then I couldn’t help myself and convinced Marli and Alex to lay under the uplifted mammoth’s foot as if it were about to step on them. It became one of their favorite pictures of the day.

Bedtime Stories

Note who's reading to whom.

Impromptu Family Reunion

Since we were in town and Manning was just born, Dad got his sisters Margaret & Joyce, sister-in-law Oma Lee, and their daughters Julie, Lisa, Diane, Debra and several of their kids over to Mark and Melinda's house for a get-together. It was great to see some family members we hadn't seen in over a decade. One of them was a newborn when we saw her over 13 years ago and now Rebecca Blair is a teenager. I hope it doesn't take this long to see everyone again.

Marcus's Scarf

This one Becky finsihed while we were here. Marcus was thrilled to have his own Aunt Becky Original, even though it was 70 degrees outside.

Making Girly Sandals

Aunt Becky and Marli spent this afternoon decorating a pair of sandals with strips of a pretty fabric that had been cut into strips. They were just tied on the top until they were good and frilly.

My Favorite Manning Photo (So Far)

I just like how he's looking right at the camera. He still has that look in his eye like he doesn't quite know what's going on.

Aaron’s a Real Swinger

Aaron loves to swing like his brother did at this age. If he talks you into letting him on the swing, be prepared to be there a while (and get a picture if you can – the smiles that the swing produces are precious). He surprised me by wanted to sit on the big kids’ swing and he held on pretty well, though it was clearly harder for him.

The Playful Sea Lion

We were pleasantly surprised to find a sea Lion at the OKC Zoo that loved to play with us. We could see him through an underwater viewing window, and he could see us. If you put your hand up to the window, he would swim upside-down and touch it with his nose. So if you moved your hand, he would follow it perfectly, pausing every so often to blow an air bubble out his nose at us that looked like an underwater sneeze. We stayed here for a while and the older kids (OK, me to) loved playing with the friendly sea lion.

Manning’s First Zoo Trip

Today was Manning’s first official trip to the zoo. The OKC Zoo is a fairly large property that will wear you out on a full tour. He got to ride in style in his stroller and got to eat lunch in the gorilla exhibit.

Climbing on the Animals

One of the Kids favorite parts about the Oklahoma City Zoo was getting to climb on various animal sculptures and pose for pictures.