Daddy Daughter Dance 2008

Last week, there was a daddy daughter dance at the Whiteside Park gym. We did not have a camera to take pictures of the actual dance, but we paid to get a picture taken by a person there. Raegan and Mik danced to the music of Miley Cyrus, Cheetah Girls, and the Cha Cha Slide. Dad and daughter danced together during the slow "lovely" dances and Rae did a lot of playing with a balloon while Dad danced around on his own.

Halloween post

Raegan went tricking and treating with the children of the Remington family. Her friend, Karyna Remington, was in cheerleading with her. The Remingtons also have four other kids in the family. Raegan painted her face green for the night to look like a real "bad" witch. Not much to say about Halloween night, other than Nichole had a good time with Erin Remington (mother) and Mik ran around a lot with Daniel Remington (7 year old son).

Visit to an Oklahoma Corn Maize

With the Corn Maize company being a worldwide business, we were able to go to one in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma that was just like going to HeeHaws in Utah. We went on a Sunday morning as soon as it opened and were one of only a couple families there. It was also a windy day...big surprise. Raegan led the family through the Maize and got through it very quickly. If you ever find yourself in a labyrinth with a minotaur, hope that Rae is by your side. We rode in the cowtrain, climbed on the hay hills, raced ducks with the water pumps, and played in the corn box.

Daytime Trick or Treating

The best part of Halloween each year is Boo Haa Haa. Parents and children walk the street of the Brookside Neighborhood commercial area in Tulsa. For a mile and a half, the street is full of small shops, restaurants, bars, retailers, churches, etc… People sit outside the businesses and hand out candy to the traffic of children in costumes. The churches have games and Jupiter Jumps for the kiddos. It is fun, fun! This year we took Izzy with us. She looked so cool in her camo t-shirt and bandana, but she was such a pain. She is terrible on a leash and pulls hard constantly, plus she pooped twice during the walk. There is also a parade in the afternoon, after the tricking and treating is done.

Disappointment as usual

The State Fair in Tulas is crap! We don't know why we go to it. Here is a listing of what you will find there. Hundreds of vendor booths selling crap that could never be sold in stores because no one cares to waste their money on it, carnival games and $5.00 carnival rides, livestock to look at, and lots of fried food. Now does that sound like fun and a good use of money. I do not think so. The only redeeming thing about the Fair this year was being able to see a short magic act that included the only woman in the world to do an underwater escape in full-view of the audience.

Celebrate the Clan of MacFarlane

Of course the family attended the Tulsa Scottish Festival in September. This is one of the many annual events that are a must for our family to be a part in Tulsa. Again, the Wicked Tinkers performed. They are the most awesome Scottish band! Along with the Tinkers, we watched some of the Amateur Caber Toss event and Raegan dancing during the Wicked Tinkers concert. The view of Tulsa from the River West Festival Park is possibly the best view of downtown Tulsa there is.

Tulsa Scottish Highland Game clip

Raegan moving to the music


Wicked Tinkers - check out these websites
http://www.myspace.com/wickedtinkersmusic
http://www.wickedtinkers.com/Video/TLLS.set.1.2.mov

A-W-E-S-O-M-E, Awesome, Awesome, Awesome are We

The end of the summer and into the fall was filled with Raegan being a part of the South Tulsa Raiders Cheer Team. This post title was one of Raegan's cheers. Nichole coached the team with our friend, Jessica Brown. Raegan’s friend, Kennedy Brown, also was a part of the team. She was gung ho about doing cheerleading at the beginning, but that quickly faded. Nichole and I told Raegan that if she did cheer throughout the whole season and did well following directions and having self control, that she could do gymnastics again. Well, she did not do very well with this. We will have to see about gymnastics in the near future because she really loved to do it before, unlike ever with cheerleading.

Coach, come help me!

In April 2008, Raegan did gymnastics at a gym at one of the Tulsa City Parks. She really enjoyed it and wants to do it again. We promised her that she could do so when she shows us that she follows directions better and tries harder to do things on her own. She has worked on this hard during 2008 and has improved a lot. Rae loves doing tricks on the playground equipment at school; flipping, hanging, climbing.

Once again in the Utah mountains

Raegan and Mik went camping this July in Levan Canyon with Grandpa and Grandma Blair. We were in Utah and wanted to do something that we had not been able to do for a long time, camping in actual mountains. Nichole was in Tulsa at the time and we really missed her. She is a lot of fun to camp with.

I can ride my bike with no training wheels

Well, not really. Raegan can ride her bike with no training wheels, but not with no Dad. Here is a day that Raegan, Nichole and I practiced her riding skills in the very large parking lot of the Victory Christian Centerchurch of Oral Roberts). ( Nichole took the pictures while I held onto Rae’s bike and she kept saying, “Am I riding so fast?!” These pictures were taken in August of 2008. As of Nov. 2008, Rae still needs Dad’s help with holding the bike. She will learn it someday. I could complain if she wasn’t so great at school and reading.

Yes We Can!

The Obama Rally for Change stopped in Springfield, Missouri on Sat. Nov. 1^st. We all traveled from Tulsa to Springfield that day. We did early voting Saturday morning in Tulsa and then left for Missouri. We actually stood in line outside the stadium for longer than it took to drive to the stadium. The drive was 2 ½ hours and the wait in line was 3 hours, with another 1 ½ hour wait inside the stadium for the Obamas to arrive from Pueblo, Colorado. The crowd outside the stadium stretched for just over a mile and a half. Estimates are that approx. 35,000 people crammed into a high school football stadium (seating and standing on the field).

It was awesome! I cannot even believe that we got to see Obama speak in person. We sat in the stands about 50 yards from the podium and at the end of the seating right where his motorcade entered the field. Michelle and Barack both spoke, along with Claire McCaskill (Democratic Senator in Missouri).

Raegan loved being at the Rally and she is so excited for the election. Nichole and I are also very excited and plan to stay up as long as it takes to find out the results of Tuesday nights results.

On the trip to the Rally, we stopped at the McDonalds in Vinita, Oklahoma. It stretches over the Will Rogers Turnpike.

Free Fishing Day

June 7th was free fishing day in Oklahoma. However, only one lake, Lake Yahola, in Tulsa County allowed the free fishing on their waters. The lake borders Mohawk Park, the park that the Tulsa Zoo is in. There was also a contest sponsored by Zebco fishing supplies. There were certain fish tagged for prizes and also a prize for the largest fish. However, I am not sure how anyone on the lake this day was going to catch any fish. June is a windy month in Oklahoma and this day was no exception. The lake is actually a man-made lake, different than a reservoir. The lake is completely rimmed by cement. This means there is no shore to sit on and fish from. It is like sitting on a street curb above a sloping cement ramp into the water. We were lucky to have found an area that had a wider spot to sit on. The wind was causing the lake to crest white waves. It was impossible to get the line cast out further than 20 feet and then it would drift to the edge within 30 seconds, and the fish would be at the bottom of the lake. Raegan loved picking up the worms for the bait. She even named one of them "Gerald." At the beginning, Raegan dropped her lunch bag in the lake that I had fish out. It's not easy getting near the water at the lake with the sloping ramp edges. After Nichole and I both had our hooks catch on something in the lake and break the lines, we left.

Tulsa Views to miss

There are views in Tulsa that Nichole and I are really going to miss seeing and feeling. They look good and they make you feel good. You would have to be in Tulsa and experience it to know what we mean by see and feel. There are the views from the River West Park looking at Tulsa to the east across the Arkansas River. There are the views of Tulsa covered with green and trees as you drive over the top of hills in the city. There is Tulsa downtown that has beautiful buildings. The large Arkansas River flowing to the south towards the Mississippi River is awesome. There is the beautiful weather in May and June, especially in the morning and evening. There is the massive amount of rain that keeps the city green from April to December. Gosh, now why do we want to leave this place?

Henryville 2008

Raegan's school, Patrick Henry Elementary, has been working on a project for the past few months. The kids have been collecting cardboard boxes, egg cartons, and whatever else junk that would be good to construct together as buildings. The kids then were able to cutout a person and make a building. The classes of K through 3rd grade made the neighborhoods of the town called Henryville. The 4th and 5th graders made the large buildings. The town was constructed in the school gym and open to families and the general public to see. A TV news story was done on it and a Tulsa World article. The project was led by a local architect company. Raegan made a house and colored a jump roping girl and an alien chicken.

Movie in the Park

We love going to the free movies at the Tulsa River West Park. As the name states, the park is on the west side of the Arkansas River, across from the Tulsa downtown. We take blankets and pillows to lay on the grass and watch a movie on a large outdoor inflatable screen. It is so fun! Before the movie, people from Radio Disney play music and do games with the kids. This week the movie was "Nancy Drew" so there was a scavenger hunt. It merely consisted of going around and asking people questions and counting stuff in the park. Then there was a limbo contest and a High School Musical dance to learn. Awesome stuff!

Our Brown Eyed Girl

Today we went to Woodward Park to take some pictures of Raegan. We thought that since Mothers Day is around the corner that we should take a few pictures to send to the Grandmas. She absolutely HATES to look at the camera and really does not love to get pictures taken. But she was a trooper. We had a great time walking through the rose gardens and snapping some cute moments. It is a beautiful day here in Tulsa and we got to take pictures in a beautiful park of a beautiful girl! We figured that she will most likely be loosing her teeth soon so I better get some pictures while she still has that little girl face. Tonight we will be enjoying one of the many free things to do in Tulsa. A Summer movie in the park. Tonight Surf's Up is playing and we are heading out with a picnic and some blankets.

Earth Day 2008

April 19th, 2008 was celebrated as Earth Day in Tulsa. We celebrated Earth Day at the Tulsa Zoo again this year. The day was warm, the zoo was crowded, and the animals were awesome (as usual). We went with the Brown's this year and had a great time. Nichole did a great job pulling the wagon around the zoo. Here is a quick rundown of the goings-on at the T-Town Zoo:
1) The polar bear was out walking around
2) Roady the Roadrunner was just standing in the sun watching the crowds
3) Watched a good demo about washing chemicals down the storm drains
4) The porcupine paced back and forth
5) Raegan got water splashed on her in the cave area by Dad
6) The zoo mislabeled the pelicans as ibis
7) The indoor pavilion was hotter than outside in the sun
8) Mik stood on the carousel with Raegan and Kennedy and didn't get sick
9) Raegan made a clothespin butterfly
10) Forgot the camera in the car that was parked half mile away

Happy 3rd Rock from the Sun Celebration!!!

Tornado Warning

We were awakened last night by the sound of a tornado siren. This is the first time we have heard the siren in our neighborhood, and the first time we have heard a siren when it was wasn't being tested and not at a Tulsa football game. Nichole woke me up sometime around 3:00 a.m. We turned on the TV to check the weather alert and I went upstairs to bring Raegan down to our bed. Nichole cleaned out the closet under the stairs while I grabbed the flashlight. The siren went on and off a couple times, however by 3:15 we were back in bed sleeping. According to the weather news, the tornado area was passing through the northwest corner of Tulsa County, but not near us. We only had hail the size of rubber bouncy balls. The weather report was showing the areas where wind rotational speeds were fast enough and just right for tornadoes to form and the spots where tornadoes were touching down. None in Tulsa, so all good.

Nichole's Hawaiian Cake

Nichole made a beautiful coconut cake a couple nights ago and I just had to photograph it and post it. I wanted to share with the family and whoever else. It was a three-layer coconut batter, coconut cream layer in the middle, coconut frosting all over it, and coconut shavings on top. Man, coco-nutty. It was very good. I told Nichole that next time she could add a chocolate cream layer in the middle instead of the coconut layer and it would be like eating a Mounds candy cake.