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.