Birthday Big/Big Brother Weekend

We decided that for Lincoln's actual birthday we would forgo the party and go on a small weekend getaway.  I wanted to do a fun weekend trip just the three of us before we became a family of four so Lincoln's birthday seemed to be a good fit.  The days leading up to Lincoln's birthday Cory was out of town.  He arrived home late Friday night and early Saturday morning we headed out to Tulsa, OK.  Our first stop was lunch.  Lincoln's favorite food is a hot dog so we found a place that specializes in hot dogs.  Ha!  Smashburger was our choice.  It was excellent!  Here is Lincoln giving Cory a random hug!

Our next stop was the Oklahoma Aquarium.  Lincoln slept on the way to Tulsa, so we decided to go right after lunch which would normally be his nap time.  Lincoln smacks his lips together to indicate a fish sound so we heard this noise often as we went through the aquarium.  Lincoln was somewhat interested in the tanks of fish but he was more interested on figuring out how he could get IN there with the fish.  His favorite stop was the open top water of all the sting rays.  I think he could have stayed here forever.

Lincoln kept "chopping" his hands together asking to see an alligator!  Alligators are one of his latest interests.  There we no alligators at the aquarium so we stopped off at the gift store on our way out and bought him a 5 dollar stuff alligator. Fun story: we hung out in the foyer area before leaving so Cory could make a phone call for work.  Lincoln ran around throwing the alligator then running to get it and throwing it again.  At one point he accidentally threw it over close to a little boy who was about 5 years old.  The boy threw it back to Lincoln who in turned threw it to him again.  This turned into a game of toss and Lincoln was loving it. It was fun to see him initiate the interaction with this little boy and have so much fun.

There was a statue alligator outside that we stopped to visit before leaving.

Next we headed to the hotel for a nap (for me and Lincoln).  After our nap we headed to Hideaway Pizza for dinner.  It was a local favorite recommended to us by the front desk of our hotel.  It was quite yummy! 

After dinner our plan was to head to Chuck-E-Cheese for some playtime.  However, once we arrived there was about 200 plus people in there and did not look like much fun.  So we decided to go across the street to the mall to walk around.  While in the mall we ran across the Merry-Go-Round which was full of "neighs" to ride.  This was Lincoln's first time to ride and he LOVED it.

We ended the evening with a donut stop at Krispy Kreme before heading to the hotel and to bed.  The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel, stopped at a few stores to shop and headed back home.  Lincoln was one worn out birthday boy!

We were so happy with how the weekend turned out. 

Beach Vaca: The End (finally)

Well our laptop has bit the dust but they were able to save all our data.  A flash drive with 16,000 pictures was given to me to sort through!  Fun times.  So I am finishing up this vacation post so I can get it off my to-do list.  If my pics were more orgnaized I would add more photos but this will have to do for now.

On Thursday, we enjoyed more pool and beach time.  My mom must have taken these pics of the kids before heading to the water. 

Friday was our last day :(  We went to the Splash Pad at the mall area.  We got there right at 10:00 when it opened which was before it got too busy.  To say that Lincoln loved it would be an understatement.  He had a ball.  I will let the pictures tell the story...

Telling all the passerbys "Hi"

Took a break to tell me he needed a cookie.

Made a friend

And then Carter shared his ICEE with Lincoln

Friday afternoon Heather and I again enjoyed some beach time.  While we were there a man caught this turtle.  All I had was my phone so here is a picture.  I sent it to my mom back at the house and she told me that this raccoon showed up on our porch!  Gross.  I would post a picture but I cannot find it amist the 6000 on my flash drive.  Just imagine it.  It was big.


Friday evening we took one last walk on the beach and I snapped these pics with my other lens. 

Thanks Mom and Dad for an AWESOME time!  We loved our time at the beach and cannot wait to return!!  We love you!

Beach Vaca: Day Four

On Wednesday morning, we headed back out to the beach!  Lincoln enjoyed the beach a little bit more this time.  He especially loved sitting on the shore and letting the water run up on his legs. 

Lincoln waving at everyone on the beach

Getting a drink with some help from Pa-Pa

That evening, my SIL arranged for us to have our pictures taken on the beach by Ken Rada Photography.  He took 361 pictures!  Here are just a few of my favorites.

Thanks, Heather for arranging the pictures for us.  They are definitely ones we will treasure for years to come.