Day Trip to Beaver's Bend, Oklahoma

We have been seriously missing the mountains, rivers, and outdoors in general here in Texas, so for Memorial Day weekend, we decided to check out some wilderness areas near Broken Bow, Oklahoma, in Beaver's Bend State Park. Since everyone and their dogs camp this weekend, we decided not to actually camp, but to check on things for a future campout. Corey heard that this lake and river in southeastern Oklahoma, just over the border from us, had mountains and good camping and fly fishing. We began our 3 hour trek and Zach fell right asleep, which I was hoping would extend through most of the drive. However, 30 minutes later, we hit one of the very few stoplights on the entire route, and he promptly woke up and was in a pretty bad mood until he fell asleep again on the drive home.

The boring drive made me miss home so much. Everything along the way was flat, flat, flat! Zach was so bored he resorted to examining his hands and toes for long periods of time. Then he would suck on them. (I'm pretty sure he learned that from his dad, not his mom.)
The monotony was occasionally broken up by a big factory. We passed our friends Sara Lee, Tyson, and Campbell's along the way. We also drove through a number of flat, blah, towns that all looked pretty much like this:
After 3 hours, we arrived in the tiny town of Broken Bow, but still did not see any mountains. In the distance we could see some slight hills that were maybe 100 feet tall, and even that pitiful change in elevation caused our hearts to leap a little. Beaver's Bend State Park was packed with tents and RVs and I just can't understand how that is enjoyable to people. I like to be outdoors and enjoy nature to be away from all the other people and crowds!

We found a little shack that was renting canoes on the river, and jumped at the chance to get out of the car for awhile. We were a little hesitant to have Zach in a canoe, but the classically redneck owner said it was fine. (I suppose I should've questioned his judgement a little more after he asked if my 18 month old was holding his head up pretty well yet. :) ) We put a small life vest on Zach, boarded this awesome, ancient van, and got dropped at the start of the river run.

There was actually a tiny, very shallow run of rapids at the very beginning, and since there was not really a place for Zach to sit, I had to hold him on my lap for the entire trip and hope that we wouldn't tip over. Therefore, Corey had the job of balancing and paddling us (not rowing, as I was corrected by my astute, Eagle Scout husband!) down the shallow river.

Let me just tell you what a fun experience it is to hold a kicking, screaming, crying child on a tiny canoe for an hour. Dipping his feet in the water and telling him to look for Nemo and sharks helped distract him a bit. Despite Zach's many repeated outbursts, we really enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.

There were one or two dozen turtles perched on this fallen tree.

I absolutely LOVED these beautiful trees shooting out of the water. Delectable!

I don't which I liked more, the trees or their reflection.

My feeble attempt at emulating artist Vladmir Kush. :) I was trying to make an hourglass out of this vista, but it looks more like a Rorschach test!

We were surprised to see this familiar old Indian statue, and thought he had been kidnapped from his dwelling in Idaho Falls. However, we found out the sculptor created one of these in each of the 50 states. Nice to see a familiar face so far from home, though!
Zach had just about HAD IT--and so had I. Luckily the end point was just before that bridge.
Two minutes after we buckled him in, he was out for a couple of hours straight. Bummer that he didn't get a good nap earlier so we could have all enjoyed the canoe trip more. Oh well.

On the way home, I had a brighter perspective of our trip than on the way there. We were even blessed to see this lovely sunset. Here's to more adventurous Texas roadtrips!

First Haircut

Personally, I thought Zach's long, gorgeous, corkscrew curls were perfect. However, while in Hawaii, about a dozen people made comments on how cute "she" was, and Corey started sharpening the scissors. I don't find anything wrong with long hair on little boys, as long as it's not shaggy or gross. Both of my brothers had the cutest, sweetest curls for quite awhile.

In this next picture, it's a little more out of control, but it's full of a day's sweat and sunscreen.

Anyways, when it's wet and straight, it's pretty long. Since he turned 18 months old today, I conceded that we could give him a little trim.

I just hope we get a little girl in the future, and that she has Zach's luck with hair! :)

We turned on Finding Nemo, wetted it down, and I took the scissors and clipped about 1.5 inches all the way around.

It kind of broke my heart. The part I cut off was the tiny mullet he was born with! I really am not interested in my baby growing up.

It's quite a bit shorter once it is dry. There is still plenty of hair left, but I miss the little corkscrew curls! Plus, I doubt that they'll grow back.
Something funny about it today was that his little cowlick in back did have a puffy spiral curl! It gets curlier when it is wet. I guess it's cute still, but I miss his long baby hair.

Zach Likes to Hold Hands

One of the most endearing things about my precious baby boy is that he has always liked to hold hands/fingers/thumbs with whomever is closest to him. Some kids twirl hair to calm themselves, some prefer pieces of soft cotton or "silkies" (Missy:)), but my Zachy likes holding hands. It goes beyond a simple preference--he gets downright honery if you don't let him hold it just the right way or if you have to borrow your thumb to scratch your nose or anything! He held my mom's hand a good portion of the drive to Texas from Utah, and it kept him perfectly happy! So while it sometimes gets annoying to have to position my thumb just so while he snuggles in bed with me in the morning (before I join the land of the living), I will be sad when he outgrows the desire to hold his mommy and daddy's hands. How I love this sweet baby boy!