Sunday Morning at Guthrie Green

Oh, poor sad lonely blog! It's been forever since we posted, despite our constant promises to do better.  June just totally flew by - I can't believe that tomorrow is July 1st! I guess time flies when you're having fun, or when you're not, in our case.  All three of us have been sick -- John and I with the most violent stomach bug either of us have ever had (glad I shared, I bet), and Henry with both a stomach bug and a mystery virus that my mom (in all her medical expertise) has diagnosed as roseola. Henry is set to have tubes put in his ears on Tuesday, so this roseola better hit the road. Fast.

We had a brief period of time this morning when everyone was feeling rosy, so we headed down to check out the Sunday Market at Guthrie Green. Guthrie Green opened up about a year ago, and until this morning, we had yet to go and check it out to see what all the fuss was about.  GG is a really great urban gathering space, something that I hadn't really experienced since leaving Chicago. Today was Sunday Market day, so I imagine the vibe was a bit different than most weekdays. The crowd was the perfect mix of yuppies, retirees, young families, and dirty hippies. There's a stage for live music, a fantastic splash pad for the kiddos, expansive green space, and a pavilion for activities, which today as an outdoor Zumba class.  Henry had a blast - he had lots of space to run around and lots of people to look at (he took a special interest in the Zumba-ers). John was especially pleased by the market vendor selling vinyl. Great. I thought we had escaped that when we moved.

The verdict: Guthrie Green is awesome. I'm so proud of Tulsa for having a place like this, and we can't wait to go back and play next weekend!

Mesmerized by the Zumba class

Posing for a pic/restraining Henry from joining the Zumba class

Checking out the gardens

Vendors

Henry Is 18 Months Old!

Gaah! How did this happen? It seemed like I just a minute ago he looked like this:



And now he looks like this:



Both are totally precious (to me, at least) but I wonder when my little baby was replaced by this kid.  The 18 month old Henry is a boisterous, independent, and opinionated toddler. Or at least as opinionated as one can be without speaking English.  A few of his stats at 18 months: He absolutely loves cars, and anything else with four wheels for that matter. Playing outside is one of his favorite activities, and he's absolutely fearless on the playground.  The kid is 100% boy! He's a great eater and will never turn down spaghetti, bananas, or graham crackers. He love love loves being read to, and I can't think of anything sweeter than spying on him in his room while he's flipping through a book, "reading" to himself.

Here's to 18 awesome months with our little guy. We've loved every second of it!

Dominating the slide at the park

I DIE over these curls!

Long Time No Blog

First of all, where the heck did May go? It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Mother's Day, and now it's June 2nd! Time flies when you're having fun. Or it just flies. 

As pretty much everyone knows, the weather has been the total pits in Oklahoma lately. Thank goodness our area was spared the horrible tornadoes that ravaged other parts of the state. We were fortunate enough to skate by with some really heavy thunderstorms.  While I'm SO thankful we avoided the severe weather, being trapped inside (with Henry) due to the crummy weather has really stunk. So, when the weather has actually been nice, we've been outside trying to take advantage of the few moments of sunshine (or just not rain).  This means lots of park time and a little pool time.

We will try to be better at posting for June. I was so busy at work in May that I had a mantra of "If I can just make it to June. If I can just make it to June." Well, my June calendar isn't looking much better, but I'm still hopeful for a better month. Below are some pics of what we've been up to the past couple of weeks.

Henry's new favorite food: Spaghetti. His uniform for eating this new cuisine: diaper-only.

John and Henry freezing their tushies off in the baby pool Memorial Day weekend.

Memorial Day = splash pads are turned on. We explored the one in our neighborhood park. Brrr.

Henry loved it!

Our cousin's pony birthday party. Henry enjoyed it a little bit more than last year.

Riding solo

One-handed!

Mother's Day Weekend Fun

When I was growing up, I would always ask my mom when Kids' day was, because I didn't understand why there were dedicated Mothers' and Fathers' Days.  She would always respond "everyday."  Ain't that the truth!

We had a super fun Mother's Day weekend. We had early Mother's Day celebrations with Mimi with brunch at Wild Fork. The weather was gorgeous, so we got to sit outside (which became very convenient when Henry lost his patience waiting for our food). We spent Saturday afternoon doing one of our favorite things: spring planting. We planted several pots on the back patio, and now that we have outdoor furniture, our backyard is becoming a very cozy spot.

On Sunday we met my grandmother and parents at their country club for another celebratory brunch. Afterwards, we enjoyed the amazing weather and watched Henry play on his new slide at my parent's house. That kid and slide, and slide, and slide again - it never gets old for him!

It was such a great weekend filled with family and fun. I love living in Tulsa and being able to share these special weekends with family. Hope all my mom friends enjoyed their day!

Post brunch (and trip to Snow Goose, hence the pig) with Mimi

Having a blast on his new slide

The sweet card Henry made for me at school

My little family

I'm so lucky to be this precious little guy's Mom!

My grandmother, mom, and me.

April in Review

Or is it "revue"? Nope, pretty sure it's "review" unless we are talking about a chorus line, which we most definitely are not.

April was pretty crazy. So crazy, in fact, that I did not have time to post much, even though there were lots of happenings to post about.  We started the month with my continuing attempts at living up my NY resolution to be more social.  A friend and I went to Tatas and Tinis, a fun pink martini-themed event benefiting Oklahoma Project Woman.  It was a great event, and I will definitely plan on going back next year.  A couple of days later, John and I went to another alcohol-themed event (because we are clearly driven to drink) at the Cain's Ballroom called Mix, benefiting Philbrook Museum. It was a mixology contest among some of Tulsa's more notable bartenders, and the people watching was excellent, especially after the event-goers had had an opportunity to partake in some of the contestants' wares.

The second weekend of April, I accompanied my mom and some friends to a great food and wine event at OSU in Stillwater -- Of Wine, Women and the West. The highlight of the event (for me, at least) was getting to see Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, in the flesh. I love love love her recipes, and she has a great sense of humor.  We also had the opportunity to taste some really great wines from a Napa vineyard owned by an Oklahoman.  All of that day drinking led to a nice nap in the car on the way home.

The last weekend in April we took a little road trip to KC for a sweet friend's baby shower.  This entailed me skipping the Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon, and while I'm still very disappointed in myself for not running, I'm glad I got to spend some time with some of my awesome college friends. We also introduced Henry to John's aunt, uncle, and cousin - so it was a fun friends and family weekend all around.  And did I mention that we got to go to Trader Joe's? Oh, how I took this place for granted when we lived in Chicago and the closest TJ's was a mere mile away. My shopping experience was pure bliss and quite possibly (not really) the highlight of our weekend away.  Henry still has some improving to do before I will feel joy at taking him on a road trip again.

We hope to be better at posting in May - we've got lots of fun stuff on the schedge so far, which makes for great blog material (because let's face it, our everyday lives are just about as interesting as watching the grass grow).

We took Henry to Woodward Park in an attempt to get some cute pics of him. Unfortunately all he wanted to do was run away from us. Fast.

Henry playing games at a cousin's birthday party. It was out in the country and he kept running to see the cows.

Steph came in town and we did a little celebrating of some fun stuff going on in her life right now. Although, she's 23, so everything she does sounds fun to me.

Microscopic Pioneer Woman. She was hilarious!

Sara, Leigh, and me at Leigh's shower. She is going to be the best momma!

Amazing Technicolor Dream Race

If you're not up for a sappy post about fitness, community, and fun, then you might as well stop reading now.

I got up bright and early and joined my mom and some friends for The Color Run, a race that (when in Tulsa) benefits the River Parks and involves being pelted with technicolor dream paint along the course.  There were around 14,000 participants this year, all in a field of white, waiting to start the  race along Riverside Drive. There were so many people that people were still waiting to start when I finished, and believe me - I did not break any records. The race was untimed (thank goodness) and more like an obstacle course with all the weaving and dodging around walkers and other just general mosey-ers of all ages.  It was pretty cool seeing that many Tulsans doing their bodies, and their city, good.

After the race, everyone got in a big mosh pit-type formation and threw even more color up in the air, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but definitely was not once the air was thick with powder and people. I was convinced I was going to suffocate to amazing technicolor dream death.

After being blown off by a leaf blower and several minutes of major scrubbing, I'm back to my pasty pale self (except for maybe some blue in my ears).  Definitely a fun event, and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year (hopefully with John and Henry in tow).

The before: shiny happy people

After: Rainbow Brite

Easter Number 2

Like Easter Number 1, it was great to spend time with family (and to eat fried chicken).  Also like Easter Number 1, Henry was not the least bit interested in Easter eggs.  In fact, the only thing he was interested in was playing outside while whining. But, at least he looked super cute doing it! Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Henry and his amazing technicolor Easter pants

Henry, John, me, and my incredibly blousy shirt

The crew for Easter round 2. Love being able to spend holidays with family!