Memorial Day Weekend

I think I'll start with the most recent and work down. I guess because the most recent is very special to me. Brent preached two sermons today (Sunday, May 24, 2009). Gary, Jessica and I went to the second service. What can I say? I am not biased...am I?...but he was so good. He was very articulate, related the Bible to today, and most of all, made the Bible so interesting. All of this I have heard before but I got to actually hear it for myself. Am I proud? Of course.

As we were arriving for the second service several people stopped Jessica and told her what a great job Brent did. I could really relate to the message and Gary said he could too.

We went to our usual place after church...The Rib Crib. The kids seem to do very well there and they have delicious grilled cheese sandwiches that they love.

Anna Claire, Granddad, Ma, and Bennett. (Anna Claire weighs 28 pounds and Bennett weighs 24 pounds. Anna Claire turned 3 on April 17, 2009 and Bennett turned 1 on March 24, 2009. Bennett wears a size 18 - 24 months...mostly 24 months, and Anna Claire wears a size 3 and there's plenty of room to spare in her clothes.)

Brent, Jessica, Anna Claire and Bennett (May 24, 2009)

THE CLUBHOUSE

In April Anna Claire and Bennett got a clubhouse for their birthday. Gary and I found some carpet for it yesterday (Saturday). Anna Claire likes to pretend that it is her store and she stands at the counter and her friend stands outside with some fake fruit and she sells fruit to her friend (or Ma), whoever is around. She also calls it her workshop.

Gary and Brent started putting the clubhouse together (from a kit at Sam's) back in April and it was definitely more than what either one of them bargained for. After Gary and Brent unpacked the wood the directions state "takes 8 - 12 hours for a professional." Gary and Brent worked on it all one day and then Brent was left to finish it. He did an excellent job!

Anna Claire still has on her Tinkerbell dress from earlier. Click once over the picture. Look at her earring and pearl necklace. She has Tinkerbell shoes so I don't know why she didn't have those on.


If you click once over this picture to enlarge it you can see both ear rings and pearl necklace. Anna Claire is giving me a piece of pizza and pie.


BASS PRO

What is the fascination with Bass Pro? Every time we travel to Norman, which is a lot, a trip to Bass Pro is always on the agenda. They don't change merchandise every month. Anna Claire looks at the fish and then plays in the tents. On the way Gary took a wrong turn and Anna Claire told him "Granddad, use your GPS." On this trip it was just Ma, Granddad, and Anna Claire.

This time we just let Granddad shop around and she and I played in the tent. We did jumping jacks in the tent, sat around the pretend fire, and told campfire stories. I told Anna Claire that we needed to just sit around the "campfire"; which was a fake campfire. In her three-year old adult voice the conversation went something like this:

Ma: "Anna Claire, why don't we let other people look in the tent?"

Anna Claire: "Ma...you have three choices...we can go home, sit around the campfire, or have fun and play in the tent. Now, you have to choose one...what do you want to do?

Ma: "Well, uh, okay...I guess we'll play in the tent."

Anna Clarie: "Good, let's go in the tent and play."

So, she's the boss!

Anna Claire and I were sitting in some lawn chairs by the campfire and tent and I noticed her staring at my legs. Without saying a word, using two hands, she lifted up one leg and placed it over another. Then, she moved her hands in the exact pose that I had. I saw just a little hint of a smile but I didn't say anything.




Playing in tent at Bass Pro


Sitting around "campfire" at Bass Pro

Pretending to be asleep in tent at Bass Pro

Driving boat at Bass Pro

Now, just in case Bass Pro received new merchandise overnight, we went again the next day. This time everyone went. I did buy the neatest egg holder for the travel trailer. Gary bought a new ice chest that is supposed to keep food cold in 90 degree weather for up to 6 days. I hope we never have to test it! We also bought a griddle for camping. We have one but can't find it. The day before Gary bought the kids some water guns. Bennett is too young for one but we have learned that whatever we buy Anna Claire, we better get Bennett one also. The water guns Gary bought are different colors and I told him that was a mistake. He should have gotten both water guns the same color.

On the way back to Norman out of the blue Bennett yelled "Ma" and then he had a half-grin, half-laugh. We all laughed. I don't know what he was thinking. He isn't saying words, except for (Mommmmma, Daadaaa, AnCare, and GrDay) so this was pretty big.


It really doesn't take much to make Gary and me happy, especially when Anna Claire and Bennett are involved. Sunday afternoon we were playing in Anna Claire's room and Bennett crawled to Gary, who was sitting on the floor. He crawled up to Gary, put both hands around his stomach, laid his head on Gary's leg, and patted his stomach. On the way home that's all Gary talked about.

On the way home today we stopped in Oklahoma City and checked out a RV park that is close to Frontier Land and the racetrack. It is supposed to be close to the zoo also but I never saw the signs to the zoo.

We also checked out some more RV's. We've already decided ours is too small so we looked at some new ones. You can either have two bedrooms and a small living area or a big living area (room for a sofa and two recliners) but only one large bedroom. Two bedrooms are a must for us so I guess we'll just be happy with what we have until the RV manufacturers realize a need for a large living area and two bedrooms.