It's been a whirlwind...

The month of May has flown by. Unfortunately for Oklahoma and nearby Joplin, May brought a tornado season like nothing we've had in quite some time. I'll admit I'm one of those people that don't think my home will ever get hit by a tornado, but the storm that came through last Tuesday evening had me running for shelter. I don't know if the massive tornado that destroyed 30% of Joplin, MO was an eye opener or if I just get more worried because of my priority to protect my child.

As predicted Tuesday afternoon the 'perfect storm' was brewing with conditions ideal for a major tornado breakout. This time it truly hit close to home. The community I lived in up until my teenage years was hit. My grandmother and her sisters still live in the area and thankfully did not have any damage to their homes. The tornado did pass by closely to their home but destroyed several homes of families I grew up knowing. Oddly enough, I have a recurring dream from time to time of this area and in every dream it involves tornadoes. This may because it's the place where I have ever actually seen a tornado...who knows. 

The storms continued east as they always do. A wall cloud with visible circulation was expected to come right over my home so I loaded Bryce and Fara (the dog) and drove to the fire station where Nic was working. Not only was Nic there, but they also have a safe room there. The tornado did not touch down until about 10 miles east of my home, so we were in the clear. After the storm passed, I loaded Bryce back up and went back home and went to bed knowing we were safe and sound.

The next day I found out that a tornado touched down in the RV park where our RV was!! Thankfully no one was there camping but three RV's were destroyed and a few others had damage. Ours was moved about a foot and it twisted one of our scissor jacks. It may have a little bit of hail damage but other than that it is fine for us to continue to use it. I know I have seen tornado damage before, but I still get amazed at the damage that can be caused by a tornado. 

I'm sharing some photos below. Incredibly, some one across the lake caught a picture of the tornado as it went over our RV park.

As you enter the park. 

Fifth wheel flipped on it's side.

I took this photo to show the distance that this fifth wheel was slid from it's original position. 

Travel trailer completely obliterated.

Unfortunately from this tornado breakout, RVs and homes weren't the only losses. Families lost their loved ones, lives that can never be replaced. Our sympathies are with them all.

The first zoo trip.

The weather has been so up and down lately...which if you're from Oklahoma you'd come to expect it but we never get used to it.

A week ago on Saturday we managed to catch a perfect day to take Bryce and one of his little girlfriends on a chaperoned date for their first trip to the zoo. Since our wagon was at the lake we loaded up with Kenzie, her Mom Kristi and Kenzie's spacious wagon to enjoy a nice morning at the zoo before another cold front came through.

Our first stop once inside the zoo was to see some distant relatives. Daddy says it's Mommy's side of the family, but Mommy says it's Daddy's. Eitherway, there was a young chimp rolling around, playing and having a great time. I wish I would have caught him on video.

We made our way around, past the camel rides over to the children's zoo where Bryce and Kenzie were able to interact with some goats. Naturally Bryce called every animal a dog.

One of my favorite animals is the Kangaroo.

Then there are the cute little meerkats!

Bryce tried to get up close and personal with the penguins. I couldn't help but think of the movie "Happy Feet".

Then we have the King of the Jungle, who we could hear roaring from the parking lot. Of course he was quiet when we got around to see him.

Enjoying a snack as we pass the bears.

We decided to give the Mommy's a rest from pulling the wagon and took the train around the zoo.

One of the elephants has been at the zoo since the fifties. It's amazing to me that an animal can live that long and much longer.

The flamingos always bring great color to the zoo. Apparently the construction vehicles in the back ground do as well!

Later in the morning the sun decided to make an appearance. Even though Mommy forgot to grab her own sunglasses, she didn't forget to grab Bryce's.

The lonely giraffe.

I thought this was a cute picture of the rhinoceroses...if you can call anything about them cute!

And that concluded Bryce's first trip to the zoo. I was a little disappointed that a few exhibits were closed for construction, but I guess for improvements to be made they have to go through some phases of construction.

After we loaded back up in the car, we caught Bryce and Kenzie holding hands!! We thought it was so cute! I think I have a picture of them when they were very young and they were holding hands then too.

Then just a few miles down the road they crashed!



All in all, it was a great day!

The Easter post...a week late.

Thank goodness finals are this week, then maybe I can get caught up on a few things that have been neglected... like my precious blog, some housecleaning, and maybe a little baking...like some yummy snickerdoodle cookies!

This year it was a rainy Easter, so much so that we went from drought conditions to flooding!

Since Good Friday is one of our many Holidays at work, we headed down to the lake Thursday evening. When we got there, the Easter Bunny had delivered Bryce an early present. Since it couldn't fit in his Easter basket he thought we could go ahead and break it in at the lake.

Bryce got his very own 4-Wheeler! With a little practice he can now make it go all by himself. However, he just doesn't get the concept of turning it and watching where he goes.

Despite it being rainy on Thursday, it was a GORGEOUS Friday! We spent a little time on the dock fishing. 

Unfortunately Bryce isn't really keen on staying on the dock for an extended length of time, but I was able to catch a couple of fish including this nice crappie!

As I watch Bryce this year, it's hard to remember how helpless, dependant and immobile he was last year. It's a good thing this child LOVES to be outdoors. He even tries to help Daddy with the firewood.

Nic worked Easter Sunday so we had to come back home Saturday. Since it was raining we ended up coming home pretty early. Sunday morning the Easter Bunny delivered the rest of Bryce's Easter Basket. Since he had plenty of toys he received some candy filled eggs and a few books.

Later that morning we headed down to Norman to spend the afternoon with my Mom's side of the family. Since it was raining, thundering and lightening any Easter egg hunting was not going to happen. The kids still managed to enjoy themselves.

In watching Bryce interact with everyone, I can't help but realize how extremely lucky he is to have so many people that love him. Also he is lucky to have the opportunity to get to know all but one of his Great-Grandparents. When we are all together I try to get pictures of him with them since I don't have pictures with mine...which I believe is due to my great-grandparents not being alive when I was born, but I'm not 100% sure about that. I guess that's something I'll have to ask my Mom.

Below is Bryce grabbing my Grandpappy's feet. Also in this picture is my Grandma.