This Sunday was Fathers' Day but acknowledgment and celebration would need to be postponed until later in the day. Jeremy got a phone called asking him to fill in as liturgist at their church New Life Methodist church in Moore Oklahoma and he needed to be there early. The service did acknowledge the fathers and grandfathers that were present and the children were dispersed out among the congregation to give out tape measures to each male parent/grandparent. Frank was very touched. They each had a sticker on them that read, "You are loved beyond measure."
As to the rest of the service, I was very impressed at how excellent a job Jeremy did leading the congregation as liturgist especially with out any time to prep. Check out the church website, too – Robin is their webmaster. You will see a smattering of photos of their family there if you poke around in the photo gallery. After the church services, we returned to the house briefly before meeting up with Jeremy's sister August and Evan and new baby boy Wyatt at a Chinese Restaurant named Dot Wo for lunch.
Baby boy Wyatt, born in February, is the most recent recipient of my latest baby quilt and a stack of burp cloths. Details are in my DianeLoves2Quilt 2/21/19 post for the quilt and in my DianeLoves2Quilt 1/18/19 post for the burp cloths.
At the entrance to the restaurant is a gold gilded cat waving to the customers. On our way out, I made videos of Autumn and Isaiah waving back.
After a delicious, extremely filling meal, Robin and I walked Autumn and Isaiah down the sidewalk aways in the same strip mall from Dot Wo, pictured on the left, to Sharkey's Cuts for Kids, pictured on the right.
Isaiah sat in a race car and watched a Baby Shark video while Robin explains to the hairdresser how short she wants his hair cut. Jeremy is a former Marine. His son's hair is kept short!
Autumn got her nails done as well as having a shampoo, trim, and blow dry.
Here I am trying to get a photo with my two grandchildren where everybody is looking at the camera and smiling – more or less. I had limited success while standing up so I tried sitting down. These are the two best of a myriad of photo attempts. Autumn is the little poser, showing off her outfit and her nails. Isaiah is super distracted by his lollipop. I just try to hold a frozen smile on my face while Robin clicks away with her cell phone. Oh, the fourth character in the photo is Sharkey, himself. He has a very toothy grin.
After haircuts we return home for a bit of unwinding in the afternoon. Jeremy chills with Isaiah and his Kindle hoping a nap is in the works. It looks like the attempt is successful for Jeremy (or about to be successful), but not so much so for Isaiah.
I took the time to read a couple more chapters to Autumn out of the book My Father's Dragon, which I had checked out of my local library to go through with my adult literacy student. This is the first chapter book I read to my own kids when they were little, a transition to help them learn that not all books are read in one sitting. Autumn took to the idea readily. It is a ten chapter book and we read two, and only two each day. We both looked forward to it. We followed the hero's adventures along on the map at the front of the book. And we had a deadline since I was taking the book home with me.
I think Robin is going to check the two sequels, also by Ruth Stiles Gannet, out of the library as part of Autumn's summer reading program.
In the afternoon I also did some sewing with Autumn helping her make the pillows and quilts that went with the cowgirl and cowboy doll. A full post on that fun bonding experience is in my DianeLoves2Quilt post for 6/25/19.
Finally, in the late afternoon on Sunday we got around to opening Father's Day cards and gifts. First was Jeremy's turn.
An then was Dad/Grandpa's turn.
Robin had sewn a shirt for Frank and he was admiring the details before trying it on for a photo session.
It has Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Donald & Daisy Duck, and Goofy riding in a bright red Christmas train.
Frank and Jeremy then clown around a bit arm wrestling on the front porch. Look closely. They are using their left arms. Jeremy's right elbow is still healing from his accident in bike safety class... yes, safety class!
Jeremy is still triumphant however.
Frank and Jeremy remain on amicable terms even after the competition.
The evening ended on quieter terms. Here the males of the house, Elliott (cat), Frank (Grandpa), and Isaiah (sans Jeremy) are chilling.
Monday June 17th
Robin took the day off work and five of us went to Science Museum Oklahoma. It is a very impressive, extensive museum. I was a bit bummed when, in visiting the web site in preparation for writing this post, I noticed we had not covered a good deal of the exhibits this trip. We'd been there once before when my sister Maxine had been visiting Oklahoma City in July of 2017. My WanderOrPonder post dated 8/18/17 has many different pictures of what we saw inside the museum on that trip. In going back and reviewing them I was pleased to see this time we had managed to visit other areas we had not explored on our last visit. I felt better once I reviewed my previous post and realized that it was actually serendipitous that this time we had been able to see different exhibits and not only repeats from before.
Upon entry, bottom right of diagram, while Frank and Robin were dealing with admission tickets and museum membership, they urged me to go on ahead with the kids who were antsy to get started. Autumn and Isaiah took off like shots toward the right and into the adjacent CurioCity.
Get lost in this bustling, 20,000-square-foot city! Pronounced like "curiosity," in CurioCity's eight whimsical neighborhoods children are exposed to science through a number of interactive activities that encourage learning through play. Whether it’s storytelling, navigating obstacles, playing instruments or balancing a tightrope, there are plenty of ways to explore. Enjoy your stay in CurioCity!One small problem. Once under the arched threshold, they split up on to two widely divergent paths in almost opposite directions. I lost sight of both and panicked. "Oh, know! Not on my watch!" For Autumn, I had an idea where she'd gone... into Odd-A-See Tower
a spectacular two-story climber where young visitors can conquer their fears and master new skills. In this imaginative, adventurous playground, children have the opportunity to discover processes of perception, senses, wayfinding and risk taking.But Isaiah? Into which of the other seven neighborhoods had he gone and did any one of them loop back to an exit? I anxiously texted and phoned for reinforcements. When Robin and Frank came running over, the kids were herded together and my fears of his possible escape were allayed. During my brief, but heart-stopping frantic search period, I took no photos. (Hmm.. wonder why?). We made them sit still for a couple of photos outside CurioCity.
The outdoor area of the museum is quite lovely. It is fully enclosed (no escapee danger). There are plant exhibits with dinosaurs tucked away in hidden locations to find and interesting statues and gadgets to explore and climb.
The kids can really run off their energy under the watchful eye of this gnome. Note his monogrammed shirt
The stone turtle attracted a lot of seating traffic, Frank and me for example.
We were joined in the afternoon by a friend of Robin's: Dad Dustin, daughter Nora, and baby Zoe. Isaiah, Nora, and Autumn are competing here for king of the turtle mountain.
Another attraction in the garden area was this miniature backhoe that could be operated to scoop up sand and move appropriately sized rocks. See the big grin on operator Frank's face? He may have missed his calling.
Frank was intent and determined to demonstrate mastery over the positioning of this rock. He was quite fascinated with the backhoe's operation but did, a bit reluctantly, get off to give the kids a chance.
"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" That familiar phrase inspired me to ask, as we orderly lined up for a photo with Nora & Autumn in the front row, Isaiah & Baby Zoe & Frank in the middle row, and Robin & Dustin in the back row:
So, isn't it more apropos to know"How many rows a backhoe would hold,if a backhoe could hold rows"?
Once we come back indoors from the courtyard we went to Red Dirt Dinos: An Oklahoma Dinosaur Adventure.
Per the website description of Red Dirt Dinos: An Oklahoma Dinosaur Adventure
Get ready for the ultimate Oklahoma dinosaur adventure! The region’s largest Cretaceous carnivore and an herbivore that called southeastern Oklahoma’s Atoka County home are among the animatronic dinosaurs at the center of Red Dirt Dinos. Created for the Oklahoma Museum Network and funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, Red Dirt Dinos features three dinosaurs that once roamed Oklahoma along with the science used by paleontologists to unearth the secrets of these great giants. Open through Labor Day 2019.
After examining the three huge animatronic dinosaurs in the exhibit, the kids were occupied for quite a long while digging for fossils.
After dinosaurs we moved on up to the second floor. The first area the kids wanted to do was in Destination Space.
Per the website description of Destination Space:
What is the only state that can claim astronaut participation in every phase of NASA’s space program? It's Oklahoma! Come explore Destination Space for an introduction to all things space and exploration. Here, you’ll train like the professionals do. After learning to work and live in space and blasting off on an actual mission in the Mercury Simulator, you’ll be on your way to becoming an official astronaut.The simulator was a great attraction. The kids had ridden in it on their last visit, remembered it, and wanted to do it again. They climb up and into a capsule and the hatch door is closed behind them. A video camera is focused on the riders inside, probably for safety, but for the onlookers and simulator operator, it is projected on a screen near the capsule. The kid-astronauts feel all the motions during take off and landing while viewing the earth on a "window" screen within the capsule. It is fun to watch the expressions on the riders' faces as they accelerate or jiggle or see various scenes out their "window". The simulator operator talks to them during their journey, much as mission control would converse with the astronauts, explaining what stage they are experiencing.
Frank and I wandered the nearby areas while the kids were waiting on line for their turn in the simulator. We saw exhibits of space equipment such as this Gemini Space Suit.
Another region of upstairs was devoted to the Olympics and focused on Olympians who were from Oklahoma. The tug of war activity was very popular. I thought it interesting that, left to their own devices, the kids segregated themselves into boys and girls – not size.
Autumn enjoyed taking time out to socialize with baby Zoe.
I have a penchant for noticing bathroom decor. I thought the red and white tile pattern in this one was particularly striking. It seemed precise while being totally random. I liked how it reflected itself in the mirror, too.
I kept staring at it trying to see if I could make out the word SCIENCE with the stylized e's and m's in the following museum logo. But if there was an embedded code, it escaped me.
Our day was ending and as we made our way out, Autumn imagined herself as an astronaut, posing in a space suit cutout in the central welcoming area.
Our day was ending and as we made our way out, Autumn imagined herself as an astronaut, posing in a space suit cutout in the central welcoming area.
She and I passed through the exit turnstile, waiting for Frank, Robin, and Isaiah to catch up. It was then I noticed some displays comprised old objects, similar in theme. The first one that caught my eye, of course, was a box of sewing machines, even hand cranked ones.
A second glass fronted compartment contained old telephones. Note the cordless handsets with antennae. The red landline phone in my sewing room has a rotary dial as does a red phone in Frank's office. I guess our two command centers are historically equipped.
A cubby containing nostalgic games prompted me to look up their origins and invention dates: Operation (1965), Rook (1906), Monopoly (1935), Yahtzee (1956), Clue (1949), and Chutes and Ladders (1943 in the U.S.).
- Operation was initially produced by Milton Bradley in 1965 and is currently made by Hasbro, with an estimated franchise worth of USD $40 million. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_(game)
- Rook playing cards were introduced by Parker Brothers in 1906 to provide an alternative to standard playing cards for those in the Puritan tradition or Mennonite culture who considered the face cards in a regular deck inappropriate because of their association with gambling and cartomancy. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rook_(card_game)
- Monopoly has become a part of international popular culture, having been licensed locally in more than 103 countries and printed in more than 37 languages.It was first published by Parker Brothers in 1935. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_(game)
- Yahtzee was marketed by the E.S. Lowe Company from 1956 until 1973. In 1973, the Milton Bradley Company purchased the E.S. Lowe Company and assumed the rights to produce and sell Yahtzee. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahtzee
- Chutes and Ladders was initially the board game called Snakes and Ladders and originated in ancient India, where it was known with the name Mokshapat or Moksha Patamu. In 1943, the game was introduced in the US under the name Chutes and Ladders. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_Ladders
- Clue in North America, Cluedo began as a murder mystery game for three to six players that was devised by Anthony E. Pratt from Birmingham, England. The game was first manufactured by Waddingtons in the UK in 1949. Since then, it has been relaunched and updated several times, and it is currently owned and published by the American game and toy company Hasbro. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluedo
As I was standing in front of these displays, musing in particular about which games I had played, Autumn broke into my thoughts considerately offering, "Why don't you sit here and rest until they come, Grandma. I'll run up and down these steps to expend my excess energy." Look closely. She is dancing or doing gymnastics or limbo or something else vigorous.
It had been a good, fun-filled day but now it was time to head home – or rather out to dinner.
Jeremy's mother, recently widowed, had moved last fall from Colorado to Oklahoma City. She wanted to show us her, artfully decorated, new apartment and cook dinner for us. We enjoyed meatloaf, mashed potatoes, brownies and ice cream. Our tour included her guest room which is decked out in a Wizard of Oz theme. Her pride and joy is the quilt and pillows on the bed all made by Robin. You can read more about them in Robin's blog post http://robinlovesquilting.blogspot.com/2019/06/theres-no-place-like-complete-decade-of.html
Her completed quilt had been displayed in a quilt show in Oklahoma City in 2013. It tells the tale of the movie, starting out as sepia toned at the top, and migrating through rows of technicolor film strips as you progress downward. At the sides are vertical columns of ruby slippers and fields of poppies. I loved seeing her hard work once again up close in person.
So - which is her hard work - the quilt or the baby she is holding?
ReplyDelete