PHOTOSTORY FRIDAY: FALL FUN AND PAIN AT THE ZOO

Hosted by Cecily and Kelli   Last week the kids were out of school for three days.  Besides pumpkin painting....that's a whole other story.....we went to the zoo with my friend Tammy and her son John plus I also took Avani and Addison along. 
Am I crazy?

I believe so after this!

 Of course, I took plenty pictures of animals but I got some really good kid shots then I played on Picnik so that is what you are going to get!! 

 
 
 
 Except for this cute little guy....I didn't play with this picture but I like this picture because he kept checking me out through the corner of his eye as if to say, "Are you lookin' at me?"
 
 
 
 Our usual "Monkey see, monkey do!" picture at the zoo.  I don't know why I always take so many of these or why I love them so but I just do!
 Sweet little Addison!  I love this picture!  It appears that she is looking at something but I think she was getting bored since we stayed by the otters for awhile!  Then after I shot this she did......

What a beautiful two teeth smile!!I swear her eyes just light up!
 Then came the funniest part of the day.  The kids were looking through the children's petting zoo when Tammy and I said, "Oh kids look over here!  You will have to look really hard for this one!"  They looked, searched and pointed out non-existent animals when they asked what exactly they were looking for to which John reads the sign beside them, "It is a temporarily vacant!"  They didn't have a clue what that meant so they kept looking while Tammy & I snapped pictures and laughed!!

Then came the traumatic portion of the trip!  The zoo was full of bees.  By full I mean they were overtaking the place!  Everywhere you walked there were bees especially if you walked near a patch of flowers or a trash can.  They would just land on us like they were welcome.  This made me extrememly nervous since Avani is allergic and we forgot her epipen and by we I mean her mother!  I could see it now either her struggling to breath or a scene out of Pure Luck with Martin Short but only Avani's face swelling like a balloon.  I took lunches and sat down at a table without bees swarming around......or so I thought.  I get the kids all arranged then sit down to feed Addy when I hear screams.  Then Isaiah screamed like I don't think I've ever heard him scream.
 Picture this:  Isaiah screaming while Avani, John and Elijah scream and run in all different directions.  I am trying to figure out what just happened and Addison with the rest of the zoo guests look at us like we have totally lost our minds!  All of this while Tammy is inside buying food for her and John.
 I figure out a bee stung Isaiah on his ear!  Poor kid and those ears!  I try my best to calm and organize with absolutely NO luck!  Bees still swarming, kids still screaming, Isaiah wailing, Addy and the zoo guests are still looking at me like we've lost our minds.  At this point, I think I did!  I scream at the kids to get their food and go inside while grabbing a screaming Zay and trying to push Addy in the stroller. 
 Did anyone ask me if I needed help? 
 NO!Nope not one single heartless person!  Jerks!Let's see you be calm with 3 scared kids, 1 wailing in pain and 1 in a stroller still looking at us like we are nuts.....five count them FIVE KIDS and one me!  I was totally outnumbered and should really think of this BEFORE an outing!  I WILL REMEMBER THIS....SURE HOPE YOU HEARTLESS JERKS DON'T GET STUNG TOO BECAUSE I AM TAKING THE LAST TWO TABLES INDOORS!
 Finally once inside a worker asks me about the commotion and calls security and medical over to check on the bee sting boy!  He cried and cried and just when I thought he would be ok he would let out a scream then cry some more!  I seriously wondered if he would even let me put him down long enough to get to the car if needed.  Finally after 30-45 minutes, we coaxed him back outside with...."When a bee stings you, it dies.  All the other bees see this and will never sting you while you are here because they don't want to die too!"  Total crap but it worked!   "Please Lord, don't let him get stung again or I will never hear the end of it!"  Yep I prayed right after lying to my son!
 He wore a light jacket with a hood and let me tell you this.....that kid wore the hood the entire rest of our trip at the zoo and held it with his hands so NO bees could get in!  I didn't tell him they don't always sting ears and could very well just stink him in the face because remember "all the other bees aren't going to sting him"!  Just when I thought he was over it and would let go of the hood.....he would grab it again 2 seconds later....poor guy!  Still cute though....
 
 Don't you think so?If you don't, then don't answer!!
 Finally time for pics with the turtle....
 The boys were a little uncooperative but Avani my little model posed and posed..and of course I played around on Picnik again....
 They even have a "Go pink!" effect for Breast Cancer Awareness month! 
Cute!
We had a good time and the weather was absolutely PERFECT! 
Hosted by Cecily and Kelli

DAVE AND BUSTER'S

Today after Elijah's basketball game we met our friends Tammy and Jessie and their son John at the new Dave and Buster's for lunch. The food was really good but I shocked to see that it was half the size of the one we visited while in Atlanta a year ago. I must say the food is great but pricey and they don't really have many things for the younger kids to do. I realize that it is supposed to cater more to the adult crowd but we visited anyway. My food was REALLY good! The boys had a good time but they always do when they are together!

He's lovin' life right about now!

Totally immersed!

Pure joy!

Total concentration! Can you see Elijah's tongue?

This the THE ONLY game Isaiah wanted to play!

He loves cars!

John and Elijah attempt to dance!

And my favorite pic of the outing:

At least he does NOT get his dancing abilities from his Daddy!

This is all from his Momma and her little twinkle toes!

BA HALLOWEEN FUN

Crazy day ending in a crazy way!! Tonight was BA's Halloween deal downtown so we went w/Tammy, Jessie and John for fun, friends and well yes we wanted candy too! Since I couldn't find the ever elusive and evidently popular "batmanelmothomasfwankensteintransformer" costume and couldn't really find much of anything in his size period no matter where I went ~ he was a fireman and a cute one at that. I put mascara on his face to resemble soot and he said, "Mommy I don't want girl makeup!" I quickly replied with, "THIS is fireman dirt makeup!" He was certainly fine with that answer and he liked his costume although he was a little upset he didn't have a "firetuck to dwive"!!

We saw Avani looking beautiful like usual


Elijah (Hulk), Isaiah (Fireman) and John (Iron Man)

Isaiah trying to get a "tiss" from John ~ look at those lips!!

The "real" Spiderman showed up for the festivities

He said, "Are you weal?"

Very excited the firemen let him "dwive" the "firetuck"

Camo face painting ~ yippee ~ so fun to wash off!!

TULSA TALONS VS IOWA BARNSTORMERS VS FAMILY REUNION?

Today we had to go to the family reunion on Martez's maternal grandmother's side of the family which I was "so" looking forward to.....sense the sarcasm! I was trying to be positive and pray that they were much nicer than his maternal grandfather's side of the family b/c his maternal Grandfather is an ass and that is putting it VERY nicely!!! In fact most of the relatives on his mom's side of the family do not speak to me willingly! His Grandmother, his sister, a couple of cousins and two aunts on his mom's BIG side of the family talk to me and are genuinely nice but the rest basically ignore or carry on a very forced fake conversation OR just outright tell me what they think of me being white. You know what really cracks me up is he wasn't really even raised by his father or really around that part of his family much but he is so much more like them it isn't even funny. My father-in-law's family is nice, outgoing, talkative and funny even to me and they actually like talking to me and invite us places .....hmmm......he is just like them not that his mom would like me saying that very much but it is true b/c my husband is nothing like his mom's family. Martez is outgoing and almost too nice...he will talk to complete strangers and he knows everyone somehow no matter where we are even out of town......not shy, snotty and quiet! They just don't like the fact that he is married to a white woman and actually grew up and moved on with his life.......OH but somehow they aren't prejudice at all? Explain that to me! Racism goes both ways baby! Ok so obviously I can never seem to even bring up his family without getting upset and going off on some tangent every single time so..............we went to the reunion where I notice that somehow over the past eight years I had not met these people. We were right on time unlike everyone else like usual. For those of you who know me you know I have a flair for tardiness but you haven't seen tardy until you attend an Oliver/Armstead/Gist event! I swear weddings, birthday parties, reunions, church will all start hours late! Well they were all "nice" for the most part not overly welcoming to me but oh well they weren't there to see me anyway. His mom got there about 20 minutes before we had to leave and then had to complain about us leaving and Martez really said, "Well we got here on time and we've been here. I told you we made plans and had to leave early but you chose to be a couple of hours late so that is your fault!" Go BABY! I love him! The reunion was to be like 4 or 5 hrs long but we stayed a couple of hours thankfully leaving before most of the "hatefuls" arrived BECAUSE Tammy and Jessie saved the day again. They got us unknowingly out of another family "not-so-social" occasion AGAIN for something else Martez would rather do and therefore leave early which benefits ME and my kids!!!! Yet another reason to LOVE the Harvey's: they have awesome timing!! I don't remember what the last occasion was but I remember I didn't want to go and then Tammy called wondering if we wanted to go to a 66ers game and of course Martez said yes so WOOHOO THEY SAVED THE DAY! THEN they saved my day again with yet another call. Tammy calls to see if we want to go to a Talons game and I said probably not b/c of the family reunion that we had to cancel the Branson trip for was that evening but I would ask Martez. Thinking he would say no I asked reluctantly but WOOHOO he said, "Yes we'll just leave the reunion early since we don't want to go anyway!" WOOHOO baby! Now those of you that know me know that I do not understand football! Tammy, Jessie, and Martez are all big football fans but I just don't understand it. The only games I plan on even watching in life are those games that my son's will play in and that is about it! HOWEVER I WAS MORE THAN WILLING TO LEAVE THE REUNION TO GO TO A TALONS GAME EVEN THOUGH I WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND MUCH OTHER THAN A TOUCHDOWN OR FUMBLE! lol Needless to say I just took pics and sat! Fine with me! Thanks Harveys!

Isaiah, Elijah and John

Footbally stuff that Jessie wanted pics of

The final score!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAMMY!

Today we went to my friend Tammy's birthday party. She turned 43 and how sad is it that instead of starting a small fire they had to just get a 4 candle and a 3 candle! Ha! Love ya Tammy! Anyway we had a good time! Her cake was absolutely amazing in fact I think it may be the best birthday cake I have ever had. It was an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery and it was GOOD! As you can tell she is a football nut mainly an OU and Dallas Cowboy fan but she loves football and vows to make me understand the game one day! Good luck with that plan Tammy! They always have birthday parties at her Grandpa's house which is perfectly fine with me b/c their is always swimming and plenty of BBQ and Daddy Bob's ribs are AMAZING as you can tell...

He is just too cute for words!

Just having some fun!

We kept telling the boys to pee in the bushes outside and Isaiah looked so cute I just couldn't resist taking a picture! I think he enjoyed peeing outside b/c he went pee about every 10minutes and each time he would waddle over baring it all to the party so we could help pull up his wet swim trunks! You all know I have many pictures of that too but I won't be posting those pics they are saved for the scrapbook o' blackmail! My kids are going to hate me when they are older and realize all the embarrassing moments I have captured!