Gray's First Movie

Yesterday my mom and I took Gray to his first movie theater movie. We saw the Princess and the Frog and he made it through the whole thing. I didn't think he would but, except for getting a little antsy during a few slow parts he watched the whole thing. Of course the popcorn and chocolate covered raisins were a big help. This is exciting because Robert and I have always loved going to the movies and have not been able to go in the last 2.5 years. I have a feeling we will be seeing every cartoon that comes out for the next few years :)

Gray's room

I am scrambling to get a few things finished around the house before our family arrives for Christmas next week. Yesterday our handy man came and finished hanging up the airplanes in Gray's room. The walls in this house are really difficult to drill into, and forget hammering a nail into them. In order to hang a picture a hole has to be drilled with a special kind of drill that punches as it drills, and then an anchor and screw have to used so it won't rip out of the wall once you hang something. So for now here are pictures of Gray's room all decked out in it's "Things That Go" theme.

We wish you a Merry Christmas

There are a lot of great things about pre-school okay, the constant runny nose is a negative but, all the great art and stories are a definate bonus. This week we got to go to a party in Gray's classroom where the kids sang for us and then we had punch and cookies. So to welcome in the Christmas season I give you Mrs. Moshiri's 2-year-old class at Betty Rowland's Nursery School...

Last Weekend

was pretty crazy around here. On Saturday morning Gray and I went to the Santa fly-in at The Tulsa Air and Space Museum. Santa came in the helicopter and then he came inside and each child got their picture taken with him. Gray's favorite part was showing me around the museum. He has been there many times with Nana but I had never been.



We got our Christmas tree on a very cold Sunday morning. Then went to Curious George Live in the afternoon. Which was very cute and Gray seemed to love it (except the ballads).

Back in Seattle...again

We are back for Thanksgiving this time. Tonight Gray and I were hanging out with Tom and Yaya and had an impromptu dance party. Yaya caught this moment on tape and I thought you guys would all appreciate it too. Can my boy move or what? Too bad he gets so dizzy in the process.

Back in Seattle

A week ago we were in Seattle for a couple of days to attend our friends Bird and Katie's wedding. It also gave us a chance to hang out with Grandma, Papa and Babe (the golden retriever). I miss a lot of things about Seattle but weather is not one of them. When we left Tulsa it was 70 degrees and sunny and while we were in Seattle it was in the 50's and rainy. It was a nice little vacation, never mind that we are going back this weekend for Thanksgiving, luckily Gray loves going on airplanes!

Happy Halloween

Here a few pictures from out busy Halloween weekend. On Friday night we went to a party with Nana and Uncle George. There was a haunted house that Gray couldn't get enough of, as soon as he got out he wanted to go back in. I thought it was pretty creepy but it didn't bother him at all.

We had a neighborhood party on Saturday and then went Trick or Treating on our street.



I have never lived in a place that got many trick or treaters (one or two at the most), but I was told that there would be a lot at our new house. So I bought 3 bags of candy thinking that we could send the extras with Robert to work. At about 7:00pm I realized that we didn't have nearly enough and sent Robert to Walgreens to grab more. These are all the bags that we emptied.

It turns out that not only do we have lots of kids in our neighborhood, but people drive over by the van load from other parts of town to Trick or Treat in our neighborhood too. It was really fun (except for the teenagers who came without even a costume on, what is with that?)!

Poor Baby

Last weekend Gray got really sick (at 3:30 Sunday morning his temperature was 102.1). Robert was back in Seattle so Gray and I spent the weekend hanging out in my bed watching movies, mostly Cars or "Lightning The Queen Movie" as Gray calls it. On Saturday he went down for a nap but woke up half an hour later and then fell asleep like this 10 minutes later in bed next to me.

Going to the Pumpkin Patch

We drove down to Bixby last weekend to Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch. I sort of missed getting to go out to the field to pick our own but there were lots of pumpkins to pick from. Gray loved getting to pull the wagon around (until it was full of pumpkins that is). They also had goats to feed, and horses, pigs and chickens. All that along with the homemade chocolate fudge made for a very nice morning out.

They Grow Up So Fast...

Next Monday Gray will officially be 2.5 years old, Woah. Since I see him every day it is easy to miss all of the little changes that add up to the big ones. But, here he is no longer a baby but a real little boy (though he would correct me there and let you know that he is a Big Boy). He is saying 6 word sentences "Mama, I want to get up" (said at 2:00am the other night). He can change the DVD he is watching all by himself (I think that Robert taught him that one) and he's learning to play hide and seek, and actually stay hidden (usually he jumps out and yells "Here I am" the first time you say "I wonder where Gray is"). Every day he says something new that surpises me and usually makes me laugh. This parenting thing can be really fun!

Tulsa State Fair

In an effort to experience true Oklahoma charm this week we went to the Tulsa State Fair! Setting aside that Tulsa is not, in fact, a State we donned our very cleanest NASCAR driver t-shirts, cutoff jean shorts, and Skoal hats and headed off for several days of extreme people watching, deep fried food eating, and of course watching the little Prince go on the carney rides now that he is more than 36" tall!



Gray seemed to like the carousel giraffe better than the other animals



This little pony's name was Tornado - he might have lived up to his name had he not been chained to a wheel along with 5 of his closest friends. You are only as fast as the slowest pony!



GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



At the petting zoo you could feed some of the animals, including this rather impressive ostrich. The only issue is that the pellets you are given feed them look remarkably like the fingers of a 2 year old. Relying on the ostrich to assertain which was which proved to be a poor management decision. Needless to say Gray fed him once...and only once.

[A note for the grandparental readers of this blog: your grandson continues to have ten fully functional fingers]



It wouldn't be a Tulsa activity without delicious fried pickles. They are actually quite good with tartar sauce. Other favorites at the fair - chocolate covered bacon (on a stick), pizza (on a stick), fried green tomatoes (on a stick), and of course candied apples and corn on the cob (both on sticks)



Gray's first roller coaster ride - he had a great time while his parents eyed the rickety contraption suspiciously



Yeeeee Haw

Bubble bath

I realized last night that I had never gotten a picture of Gray in the bathtub and I thought "what am I going to use to embarrass him in front of his prom date?"

Scottish Festival

Yesterday Gray, Nana and I hit the Oklahoma State Scottish Festival. Gray loved the rock band and dancers, the giant Clydesdales, cows and sheep.

3,2,1...BLAST OFF

After several requests from Gray his Nana took him to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. His favorite part is getting to pretend to launch a space shuttle by flicking switches and pushing buttons and then yelling 3,2,1...BLAST OFF. Nana is convinced that he will be an engineer. Maybe the gene just skipped a generation and wasn't lost completely with me.





"I can almost reach it"

Bedtime Stories

The other day Gray surprised us by starting to read the stories by himself when we sat down to read books before bed. It's amazing how much a 2 1/2 year old can memorize. This may only interest the grandparents but for those of you who can understand toddler speach we think it's pretty cute.

There's an alligator under my bed


Goodnight Moon

First Day of School

Our little boy started at Betty Rowland Nursery School today. I surprised myself by being a little bit sad but he had no trouble giving me a kiss and going off to play with the new toys. I let him pick one stuffed animal to take with him for nap time, he chose the kangaroo that Robert brought back from Australia last month. When I picked him up in the afternoon he immediately told me that it had been GREAT! So I guess we don't have to worry.

Goodbye and Thank you

We have now lost our two summer helpers to college. While they are both off to bigger and better things this is VERY sad for Laura, Robert, and Gray. Luke our "manny" is off to Pomona (welcome to the Claremont fraternity) and Rachel to Stanford. Gray had a fantastic summer and he is already missing you both!




P.S. Thanks Rachel, for all of the great pictures!

One fish, two fish

Gray decided he was tired of waiting the other night and started reading without me.

Vacation in Seattle

Two days after I got back from Portugal we headed off to Seattle for a vacation. We stayed with our friends Tom and Yaya where we were very well fed (Thank you Yaya!). We visited our favorite parks, saw lots of friends, and made a trip to a local farm. While Robert and his Dad watched the Sounders get whipped by Barcelona FC the girls spent the evening at Pike Place Market and having dinner overlooking Seattle Harbor.

Gray feeding Tilly the pygmy goat.

Gray and Molly after picking their squashes.

After I expressed a craving for real Ramen, Yaya made us a noodle feast.

Swinging at our our old favorite park.

Climbing with Will at PEPs.

Yaya and I, Cecelia and Bonnie (the MILs) at the Pink Door.

My Little Adventure

One of the things I wanted to do while in Braga was visit a linen factory that I had read about so yesterday afternoon I hopped in a taxi (keep in mind that I speak about 3 words of Portugese and the driver spoke no English). I gave him what I thought was the address but it turns out was not a complete address. We headed out of town and up a hill (he was talking to his dispatcher trying to figure out where we were going). He stopped 3 times to ask for directions, including ringing a woman's doorbell and telling me this was it but it was really just somone's house. We finally found the place and I convinced the driver to stay while I bought some beautiful hand woven linens and watched a woman do some weaving.

Still in Portugal

After two days of sitting listening to talks we went on a field trip yesterday to the Duoro (the port wine making area of Portugal). The stripes on the hills are terraces and grape vines.

A boat ride on the Duoro river.

Then a stop to do some wine tasting.

And we finally arrived at dinner. After dinner we watched a performance of Capoeira (a Brazilian martial art/dance).

And just to prove that I have actually been attending the conference...