Tulsa State Fair

I love the fair, and I have ever since I was a kid. Who doesn't love the food, the games, and for those of you thrill seekers, the rides. We ventured out this past Saturday to the fairgrounds, where we found a very hot and very crowded fair.

I think the fair gets stranger every year. This year, there was a monkey in a dress that was giving 5's for $1 (quite a deal for the monkey). Lincoln found it pretty amusing.

We then visited the petting zoo area. This was the only animal that we could get to eat because they were all so full from all the other visitors. The petting zoo was about the same except for there was a giraffe there this year. Lincoln loved the animals and said goodbye to each one as we left their pen.

If you go right outside the just for kids area and head towards the east entrance, there is a pioneer station set up. They were letting the kids ride the horse for free (not a word you see much at the fair). I was surprised that he let Lincoln ride alone and that Lincoln was willing. He did so good and held on like he was a natural.

This is our fondant and icing decorated rice krispy treat, it was a little messy.

This is Lincoln after he finished the fondant and icing covered rice krispy treat.

The buildings were extra crowded because it was so hot outside, but who can pass up a free yard stick. Here is Lincoln against a police car (this was staged). Let's hope this scene never gets repeated in Lincoln's lifetime.

Well, I hope that everyone gets to go out and enjoy the fair. The real fair weather starts soon. If you go, have a corndog, funnel cake, turkey leg, roasted corn, and cinnamon roll for me!

P.S. Lincoln is sitting here with me and would like to blog as well, here he is.........m m nn gfgf weee.

Our Mexican Vacation

We are back from Cancun and back in the swing of things. We had a really relaxing, fun, hot, and tiring trip to Mexico. Lincoln did very well on the plane and slept for the majority of the time. The flight wasn't too crowded so he actually got to sit in his own seat, he didn't last long.

Our hotel was nice and the view from our balcony was amazing. We had the view of all the pools with the ocean in the background, very relaxing. This was a shot taken in the morning when we would sit on the balcony and drink coffee.

Our first day was slightly uneventful, we went to La Isla shopping center and had dinner seated between a dolphin tank and a bull shark tank. Unfortunately, it was late so we missed the dolphin show but we got to see mommy and baby swimming around and playing with a ball. Most of the restaurants there are open air, so dinners there were hot and sticky.

We headed to Market 28 the next day. That is the authentic Mexican markets that you can haggle with all the salespeople. I was terrible at it and probably paid too much for everything I bought. After the market we went straight for the beach. Our resort did not have the best beach so we went to a sister resort and camped out there. They also had a great kiddie pool that the boys could swim around in. Lincoln loved the beach, this was the first time that he had been that he wasn't too little to get in.

Lincoln also finally learned to swim with arm floaties on (I know they are pink, they are Uniqua from Backyardigans, the only other option was Dora, you decide which is less girly). That was nice because we didn't have to stand 6 inches away from him at all times and we could relax a little ourselves.

Thursday brought us on our own independent adventure to Isla Mujeres. It is a small island off the coast of Cancun. You have to take a 20-minute ferry ride to get there. This is a picture of Lincoln sporting his new hat. Amazingly enough, he wore it almost the whole trip.

Our main mode of transportation around Cancun was the city bus, it was very cheap (maybe due to the lack of air conditioning), only 6.5 pesos (.65 cents).

We left from Playa Tortugas and took a ferry over to Isla Mujeres. It is a very rustic and non-commercialized area. We rented a golf cart to drive us around the island. Our other option was a moped, but not very safe for 3, which is not to say that the Mexican people weren't riding that many.

Our first stop off on the island was Tortugagranja, a sea turtle farm. Sea turtle preservation is a very big thing there. We had actually just missed an ocean release that they had the day before. They had so many sea turtles of all sizes and you could feed them dog food that they sold.

These are albino sea turtles.

They had hundreds of these tiny, baby sea turtles. They were so cute!

After the turtle farm, we headed off to Playa Tiburon. It's a small, private beach with a restaurant and a captive shark. The beach was nice and calm, which was good for Lincoln. We couldn't get a good picture of the shark, but he was there and about 4 feet long. People were getting in the water and taking pictures with it, no thanks for the Gambills.

We had some good Mexican food there, probably the best we had all trip.

Lincoln loved the beach and he especially liked the sand. He was covered in it and was practically rolling around on the beach.

Mommy and Lincoln enjoying the warm waters.

We went to a mariachi and dance show that night. The boys had a great time and we, of course, forgot the camera. Let's just say the dancers weren't wearing too much and the singing was all lounge act.

We decided to get some beach pictures on our last day. It was very windy out, so they didn't turn out that great. This is Lincoln and his cousin Chase, they had a blast together.

Our little family.

The whole gang.

That night we went back to La Isla for some shopping. Lincoln was terrified of the cookie monster, he would only take a picture with him from the safety of his stroller.

This was one of those guys who sits there for hours at a time and only moves if you tip him. He offered me a ride so I hopped on (okay, so we didn't really go anywhere).

There were so many lizards that ran all over Cancun, I thought a picture with one would be appropriate.

A clown on stilts who made animal balloons, need I say more.

And what Mexico vacation would be complete without a picture in a sombrero, for $25 dollars we weren't bringing one home with us.

Well, I know it was long, but I hope that you enjoyed our vacation recap. We had a good time but there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

Lincoln learned a few spanish words that he used while we were in Mexico. I leave you with this short video, until next time!

Blogging from...........Broken Arrow

I know that the next time I said that I would post that it would be with wonderful beach pictures. Well, things didn't quite work out as planned. Due to the mother nature, we will not be leaving for Cancun until tomorrow morning. I'm just thankful that we are still getting to go. Hurricane Ike really took it's toll on Houston. My sister lives in Friendswood and was evacuated last Thursday (she went straight to Cancun). She thinks that her house is okay and not flooded. Her husband's work place, on the other hand, had it's roof ripped right off. She won't be back until Saturday to be able to see if there was any damage so pray that there wasn't anything major.

We did still have a little weekend excitement, so I thought I could at least blog about Lincoln's first bowling experience. We went to our 2 nephews birthday party at Mickey's bowling alley. Just to fill you in, Ryan's brother and his sister both had boys on the same day (unplanned) and they were born on the actual 9/11. We won't ever forget the day they came into the world.

Okay, back to bowling. Lincoln loved it and stuck with it for a full game and wanted to keep going. We were having him use the ramp at first, but being the independent little one that he is, he didn't want to use and wanted to roll the ball. I'm not exactly sure how many balls we had to have retrieved because they would stop halfway down the lane.

Here is his first push-off (love that he would only do it with one finger).

Watching the ball roll down the lane.

Finally, the celebratory dance. He always cheered for himself after every bowl.

Now, this is what happened when we tried to make him use the ramp after he threw a fit because we were trying to help him roll it down the lane. I think we have hit the terrible almost 2's.

All in all, it was a good party with some very yummy chocolate cake balls that my sister-in-law made. She took a chocolate cake mix and baked it as directed. Then she mushed in a whole can of ready made chocolate icing. You make tightly packed balls (about ping pong ball size or smaller) and then dip the whole thing in chocolate. They were rich and delicious. I think you can also do it with about any cake and icing combo or use white choc to dip them in.

Speaking of terrible 2's, we have found that we have a very stubborn child. There are also some things that these days he just insists on. This morning at breakfast, he was adament that he wear this hat while he ate. Let me just tell you that he has never, ever worn this hat upon our request. I guess I just need to start preparing to pick my battles.

Well, we really are off to Cancun tomorrow, granted there are no more delays. Have a great week- Adios mi amigos!!

We don't like Ike (Hurricane Ike, that is)

We are down to 4 days until we get to leave for Cancun! If anyone has been watching the news, there is this little hurricane that happens to be heading towards the gulf coast. This won't so much affect Cancun, but it might affect our connecting flight out of Houston, cross your fingers that it doesn't.

I have been a blogger slacker, so I will quickly bring you up to speed. We spent Labor Day with some of our friends out in Inola. They had 2 puppies that they had left from their litter and Lincoln loved them. He was pretty much carrying them around like they were stuffed animals, and oddly enough, the puppies didn't mind.

My friends kept trying to get us to take one, but that is the last thing we need right now. We are going to have to find a new home for our dog. If you know of anyone that might want a chocolate lab, please let us know. She needs a good home with someone who has time to deal with her "issues".


Lincoln had his first can of Coke over Labor day (not by my doing). When I say first Coke, I don't just mean a drink, I mean someone thought it would be a good idea to give him a full can of Coke. Let's just say he thoroughly enjoyed every drop, what the heck, it was a holiday after all.

This is a picture of Lincoln, Ryan, and our friends' daughter, Sydnie.

Lincoln has started trying to do somersaults. He is getting better, but doesn't quite have the full roll-over yet. He was contorting and keeping himself in the most awkward positions, so when I snapped his picture, he kind of looks like an exorcist spider walking kid. Creepy!

Well, that is about all for now. Next time I post I will have some wonderful beach pictures, granted all the hurricanes stay away. Until then, have a great week!