Inspiration

Today has been a beautiful day. The weather is perfect.

Becky and the twins were whining about us staying home and having school when the out of doors is beckoning. I saw on Jenn's "One Thing" blog (link on my sidebar) that she and her kids made a trip to the Tulsa zoo yesterday. The Tulsa Zoo IS the closest one to us, but between admission costs and gas prices... we opted for the Natural Falls State Park. This is just west of Siloam Springs, off Highway 412. It was a real bargain- $3 for the van load. (Of course the van was on empty... $50 for half a tank. Add in lunch and drinks...)

We hiked the circuit... half of which was paved and stroller friendly. The other half had Becky and the boys carrying Tyrel in his stroller like a king on his litter.

Matthew was forced to use his own two legs for the entire day. When we got down to the base of the Falls, I stayed with Ty and Matt while the older kids went to the overlook for me to take their pictures. After the hike, we stayed and played at the playgrounds. Tyrel was NOT delighted with the tube slide. Matthew was.

We had a few funny moments. At one point, Becky was changing Ty's stinky diaper. She had just finished, when a breeze blew up and she inhaled deeply. "I LOVE that smell", Becky says.

"You love the smell of baby poop?"

"NO! Mom!... the cedar and pine smells in the air!"

It was too bad we didn't have a video camera. When we were ready to leave, Matt was refusing to come off the playground equipment. Finally, Ben and I had him trapped between us, his only escape was down a small double slide. He held onto the brace above the slide, swung out and dropped down... right onto the divider between the slides. He rolled on down the slide and hobbled to the van, clutching his 'equipment'.

OW!

We had a very nice field trip. Good Idea, Jenn.

This is Dan in mid-leap from the swings. It took us six trys to capture him in the air!