On the Trail

Yesterday I told you that Son and his kiddos walked some of the trails at Woolaroc over the weekend. He used my camera to capture some of the things they saw.





They told me that the name of this place is "Princess Falls". Girlie loved that!




Okay, so I just had to throw this photo of Girlie in too.




Much to Son's delight (yeah -right!) they saw this little snake slithering across the ground.

G3 spied something in a pool of water.

Can you tell what he saw?

Here - let me help you.

Frog eggs. How cool is that!

Judging by the way the kids and Son were sweating when they finished their walk on Saturday, I made the right decision by enjoying the exhibits in the air-conditioned museum.

Maybe when it gets cooler AD and I will take a drive to Woolaroc and walk some trails.

Another Trip to Woolaroc

I've posted before about visits to one of our local attractions - Woolaroc. Last September I posted here about taking Son's kiddos to the museum.

This past weekend they were here for another visit and we took the 3 oldest again. As it happened, Woolaroc was hosting an annual trail ride. There were lots of folks there with their horses. This photo was taken through the windshield of Son's car.

We didn't see any buffalo roaming around this time. I imagine they had been moved to another part of the ranch because of the trail riders.

But we did see some other animals on our drive to the museum. This llama seemed to be enjoying his lunch.

Normally we see the water buffalo in or near a large pond on the acreage. There were 3 behind a fence on Saturday.

This ostrich was certainly curious about all the visitors.

This deer was enjoying the day roaming about with some of his/her friends.

Later this week I'll show you some photos Son took. He and his kiddos went on some of the walking trails while I chose to visit the air-conditioned museum. Son took some wonderful photos of "treasures" they found.

Stay tuned. . . .

A Weekend Filled with Grandkids

Son came for a visit this weekend because we were having a mini family reunion for AD's mother's birthday on Sunday.

After they got in on Friday evening, the Disney Candy Land game was brought out for them to play.

On Saturday morning I went with Son and the kids to Lowe's so they could build a fire engine. I really enjoyed taking pictures of the kids assembling their trucks.

There was a real fire truck there too. They raised the ladder as high as it would go. Then 2 firemen climbed all the way to the top - each carrying a pumpkin.

People were saying the firemen were going to drop the pumpkins. I really didn't think they'd do it, but they sure did.

Boy, did those pumpkins make big splats! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the squashed pumpkins.

After that, we drove out to Woolaroc. Son thought the kids would enjoy it and he wanted to share some of his favorite memories of Woolaroc with them. Me too - me too! I wanted to share some of my favorite childhood memories with them too.

Buffalo roam free on the grounds. Son and I took lots of pictures of them and the other animals. This is one of my favorite shots that Son took. This buffalo decided to walk down those rocks and it was very interesting to watch just how he did it.

Then we finally got to the museum. It's like "coming home" to me. That light blue area there by the doors is all mosaic and shows Native American figures.

Those cannon-looking things are telescopes. They aren't usually there but Woolaroc was hosting a special "Sun-day on Saturday" this weekend. The telescopes were set up with special filters for viewing the sun.

Inside the museum Son and I shared our special memories with the kids. Son has always liked this elephant head.

Ever since I was a little girl I've always enjoyed watching this mechanical Indian dance. Back in the day there was a button you could push to watch the figures dance. Now you have to ask an attendant to turn it on. (Please excuse the bad coloring of the photos. There's no flash allowed in the museum and this is the best I could do with my color correcting software.)

This stage coach was actually in service between 1869 and 1912. Years ago when I was a little girl and Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were tv heroes, kids could actually play on this stage coach. My sister and I used to have a good time climbing on it.

The museum is filled with western art. I have many favorites, but this is probably my favorite-ist one of all.

Once outside again, the kids took advantage of the chance to look at the sun through the telescopes.

Woolaroc also has a petting zoo. Among other animals, they have goats, sheep, a miniature horse, some burros and this llama. The attendant said this particular llama didn't know how to spit and it didn't bite. I think it also liked to have it's picture taken because I got several good shots of it.

I think everyone had a good day at Woolaroc but the day wasn't over yet.

G1 and G2 were racing at the track closest to home. G3 and G4 made it through their cousins' heat races but they were pretty tuckered out so Son took them back to the house for some much needed rest for the party on Sunday.

It's a good thing they did too because AD and I left the races right after the boys finished theirs and it was little before 1:00 am then. We just couldn't make it through the rest of the races.

G2 won both the Pure Stock race and the Turf race. G1 placed 3rd in the Turf race. I think if G1 had had a few more laps he might have given his brother a run for his money.

The birthday party on Sunday went well. And I slept really, really well last night!

Sometimes You Just Never Know . . .

. . what will show up in/on a photo. Below is one of my best examples -

See that "headless" buffalo right there? I took that shot back in 2004 at Woolaroc in the Osage Hills of northeast Oklahoma. I don't know how I managed to take the photo at just the right second and just the right angle that creates the illusion of a headless buffalo. Other than just a little tiny bit of color enhancement, nothing else about the photo was digitally changed.

Of all the pictures I've taken over the years, this one is one of my very favorites and it was captured on film at one of my favorite places in Oklahoma.

Woolaroc was originally built by Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petroleum Company, as a ranch retreat. It is a wildlife refuge and there's a wonderful museum there filled with western art and artifacts. There's an animal barn and a hiking trail and many wonderful sights to see.

The name Woolaroc is a combination of 3 words - woods, lakes and rocks.

I have no idea how many times I've visited Woolaroc as a child, as a mother and now as an Oklahoma granny. It's just so peaceful out there.

If you're ever in the area it would be a shame to miss this wonderful place.