Woolaroc

 Woods. Lakes. Rocks.

If you had hundreds of acres full of those things and couldn't come up with a name, what would you do?
Frank Phillips combined all of the assets and named his place Woolaroc.

Woolaroc was developed in the mid 1920's by Frank Phillips of Phillips 66.  He felt this beauty needed to be shared by everyone.  From what I recall, he and a brother had tried to dig for oil at 3 different sites.  Using the remainder of their money, they tried one more time, and found oil!  Hence, their success of Phillips 66.  Buffaloes were shipped in from South Dakota and all sorts of animals are basically roaming free on the property.  The buffalo and ostrich are really that close to our car.  There is a museum on Oklahoma history, a petting zoo, a Mountain Man camp, and a playground area.  We spent a day during spring break here with our friends, the Ramseys.  Located near Bartlesville, it was worth the trip!

G and Mason, one of his first Stillwater friends!

Morgan, Mason, Addie, Grant, Kyle, Reid

Museum entrance made of mosaic tiles

A replica of an olden day home

Man down! Man down! Mas shot Grant!  

Kristy and I were pleasantly surprised by how intrigued the four older kids were in the museum.  They literally ran from exhibit to exhibit and were reading about everything from mammoth molars to arrowheads to stuffed wolves and Indian war dances.

playground

them!

us!

Reid's favorite part on the playground was running in and out of the miniature buildings and knocking on the windows.  I especially loved this photo because of his joy at the time.

 And now we headed to the petting zoo portion...

outdoors - miniature horses

and goats the kids were feeding

The goat closest to me was able to bite Reid when Mister stuck his hand through the fence.  Reid pulled back quickly and cried for about 10 seconds and then went straight back to the animals.  He wasn't fazed a bit (I was!).

and then inside....

EVERY animal in here was super interesting to Reid.  I know most of you won't care about every animal in these. The reason I took and posted so many of these is to show Reid and his fascination.  He wanted to touch and explore and feed each one. No fear.

Back to the playground...

 Last and FAVORITE part - Mountain Man Camp

Several tepees were set up and a few men who were "from the 1840's fur trapping trade" showed us the ropes.  We first went to the largest tepee where there was a fire going and animal skins to sit upon.  It was so warm in there!  (chilly day).  

Here is "gun" Mountain Man.  If you were as tall as his rifle, then you were able to shoot.  Kyle wasn't quite tall enough but smiled and showed those cute dimples (and was super excited), and Mountain Man caved (get the joke?).  

Another item to note is his hat... Kyle goes "are those EYES?!" all bewildered.  He wasn't too fond of the fox fur.

Grant wasn't especially fond of the gun but what he (and I!) loved was the tomahawk throwing.  He and I both nailed two of the three in to the target log.  It was fun and got a little adrenaline going.  

Walker boys posing in the prairie lean-to.

Walker and Ramsey clan.  Totally all posing.  Including Reid.  I said "let's go sit so I can take a picture" and he squatted right down for me until we were finished with photos!  :)

A great day and a great idea, K!  Thanks for including us.

Our last week

I feel like I say this on here a lot but.... look how cute he is!!!!

Reid has his favorite camera smile and it just cracks us up!  We say "smile" and he immediately goes to this face (as you'll see in all of these photos!).

We went to the UHBC Easter egg family gathering and Reid happily wore the bunny ears.  It was his first hunt where he could actually hunt, and at the end, was enjoying it.  

The Walker Bros

One of my oldest and dearest friends came to town last week to visit us and her brother's family.  She has four boys, ages 6 1/2 to 1 1/2!  Needless to say, our house was loud but fun.  All seven of the kids are truly good kids... just "all boy" - which we both love!  Here are the youngest two having quality bonding time enjoying a sucker!

Kyle's great class on their teacher's birthday.  

I am thankful every day for her and for the great group of kids he is surrounded with each day.

Spring Break movie - just us two in our living room during Reid's nap!

And you'll never guess what we watched.... STAR WARS!  Episode VI, in case you care.

I learned a lot, needless to say.

And, if you are at your home and bored any time, please feel free to come visit us!  This is the scaffolding that is in our entry way.  Literally, blocking the door.  And because of the beam, we have to take it down and then reassemble before moving on to the rest of the room.  The best news, however, is that once we're finished with the living room, we will just have the four bathrooms and the office to do!  We painted and landscaped the front the past two weekends and neither was finished so we're ready to hopefully tie up some loose ends this weekend, amid baseball practices and Easter.  I am placing bets for the outside to be finished but not the inside.

This face popped up on the screen during the NCAA tournament.
It's my Johnny boy from my mid-90's fascination with the Utah Jazz!
I had no idea his son was a player for Gonzaga.  

John Stockton - my favorite NBA player.

Solar Rover

GG and Bubba went shopping with Grant last week and they picked out a Solar Rover to assemble.  (Grandparents are great for this sort of thing that busy parents don't get around to very often!)

Grant and my dad put it together - but mostly Grant I have been told as Dad was just the assistant.

 

"It's powered by light, right?!?"  wrong type but great try!