Are your hearts fonder of me yet?

(You know, since I've been a bit absent and all.)




We had out of town houseguests for six days.

Yep, I said six days.

SIX.

S-I-X.

If that doesn't wear you out, I don't know what will.

Six days of houseguests when you are used to a super-quiet little household of three all the time is quite the shock to the system.

But we had fun.

We did a special activity every day.

Thursday we went bowling.


How stinkin' cute are these little buddies? Lifelong friends, no matter the miles that may separate them.

My man and his cute buns. One day he will thank me for posting this picture because we all know a day will come when our buns will no longer be as cute. My man was the big winner -- he's got a crazy wicked arm when it comes to bowling.

Love those bowling shoes, don't you? We were missing one small pair of a young boy who may have decided he was done participating.

Friday we took the young'ns to a paint-your-own pottery place.


Check out the rockin' dinosaur my little artist (that's "ar-teeeeest") painted.

And then we went to the park because the crazy Minne-SOH-tans thought that 55 degrees in February was a downright heatwave. Yes, they were also equally impressed with the snow flurries we got just a mere two days later. Gotta love Oklahoma weather.

Saturday we went to the local Bass Pro Shop to wander around (Minne-SOH-tans love that place). My husband plugged all of the machines with quarters so we could all enjoy some friendly competition at the little shooting range game in there. I maxed out at a score of 130 (pretty low, yipes), but I did manage to shoot the turkey and the badger several times. Then we all ventured out to Safari Sanctuary, a local animal sanctuary that rescues exotic animals (most of which were probably purchased on the black market) to see the tigers and lions and the LIGER. (Shout out to my favorite feline, Rocky.) Napoleon Dynamite would be proud.


Keep in mind, there was no zoom lens on my camera. It is up close and very personal at this place. We love it.



I really wasn't kidding about the liger (dad was a lion, mom was a tiger). He is our favorite attraction. I wish I could have gotten a picture of him standing so you could see how huge he is. And, just in case you were wondering, you can buy bags of frozen raw chicken to feed to the cats using these poles, my husband's favorite part.



Again, no zoom lens. There was only about three or four feet between him and I (and maybe a couple rows of chain link fencing).

I can't remember what this little guy was, but when he would walk he was super slinky.

Besides the big cats, there is also a whole other side to this place with tons of other animals -- a zebra, pigs, goats, donkeys, llamas, monkeys, wolves, a porcupine, a prairie dog, a turkey, lots of geese, and then a house with snakes and birds and lemurs. You're able to pet a lot of the animals if you want. We also lucked out and were walking by right when they were getting ready to take a baby kangaroo on a Valentine visit, so we got to pet him as well. He was super soft, like a mink coat.

This blonde (not albino) raccoon was my other favorite.

But these little newborn boogers were not my favorite. Apparently we got there just after the boa constrictor mama gave birth. To a whole lotta babies. And no, I'm not responsible if you have nightmares after reading this post.

My husband got a little up close and personal with a wolf, which was pretty much against the rules, but the wolf had gotten out between the two lines of chain link fencing so he was closer than he would have normally been to us. Plus, he really took quite a liking to my husband, who was thrilled to no end to get to pet a wolf. I normally refer to my husband as "Saint Francis of Assissi" at our house, patron saint of the animals, since my husband is a crazy animal lover.

Last, but not least, we got to go in the room with these little guys (and a humongo iguana) and feed them fruit snacks. They were so much fun!



Later that evening my husband and I hurried downtown for an intimate wedding of one of our closest friends, where I played a random song or two on the piano and might have even snuck in a John Denver song. A wedding is not complete without John Denver. Haha, hopefully my friend agrees.






Sunday afternoon the boys went to Dave 'n Busters while we gals got gussied up and went to the ballet -- Sleeping Beauty. It was both of those things -- beautiful and made me quite sleepy. It was the first ballet for both Minne-SOH-ta girls (mom and daughter alike), so that was fun.



Monday we took the crazies to our local bounce place -- Bounce U. It was my boy's first time to darken their door, and let me just say, it was quite the hit. Shout out to Annie, who was also there with her kids -- nothing like running into your blog friends in real life! An hour and a half of non-stop bouncing was just what the doctor ordered for all three kids. They were all plumb wore out, as my grandma used to say. And we capped off their stay with a special dinner that night at a local favorite -- White River Fish Market. (Nothin' like a nationally known fish restaurant smack dab in the middle of landlocked Oklahoma!) I am not a fishy person, but I must admit, the food was great, and our Minne-SOH-tan friends loved it.

I'm proud. I had coupons for pretty much every single activity, so nothing cost more than half of what it was supposed to, or it didn't cost at all, like the ballet, since I get comp tickets. We also didn't even pay a single cent for any of the three kids at Bounce U. The coupon was supposed to be a B1G1, but I think the girls running it were so swamped they didn't care. Awesome.

My sweet boy quietly cried himself to sleep Monday night, knowing that it was his last night with his buddies. Bless his sweet little heart.

We all had a good time. Even though it's been five, almost six years, since we left Minne-SOH-ta, we still miss our friends dearly.

But we're all wiped out.

Even the felines.




And I am utterly exhausted.

Ex. haus. ted.

I think that's Latin for "needs a vacation". And a pedicure.

But there is no rest for the weary, folks.

It is my week off from ballet this week, but lo and behold, my sweet little boy that never ever ever gets sick, is sick.

Six days of all play will do that to ya'. So no school for him yesterday or today (we'll see about tomorrow), which means no catching up time yet for this exhausted mama. Thank goodness I've been popping the Airborne for the last week or so.

What about you? Been up to anything fun?