Tenkiller 2013: Day 2

Day two started off with homemade waffles for breakfast, then the outside play/sit-and-drink-coffee time began in full force. There's nothing like staying in your pj's until noon in my opinion. Eventually we all got dressed and brushed our teeth (maybe). We packed a picnic lunch, and we headed to Chicken Creek for some more of our annual traditions-- hide and seek and kickball. Chicken Creek is a beautiful park and camping area about a ten minute's drive from the lake house.  The large trees make for perfect hiding places and the little playground keeps the kids entertained. However, when we arrived, we found the gate shut and locked. It was closed. Thank you, Government Shut-Down. Turns out, the park is run by the Army Core of Engineers and so it was temporarily "out of service." Boo! Thankfully, we called and another park in the area (Tenkiller State Park) was open, so we headed there instead. 

Once inside the park, we found a good place to eat, then walked around and found a really great spot for our games. The kids are all old enough now to really get into the games and they have so much fun. Actually, all the adults do to. I swear every time I am being chased as I run toward home base, I scream like a little girl. A funny moment came when I was "it" and started chasing down the last person hiding, 9 year old, Eli. He is one fast little dude, and we ran at full speed around the park area while everyone else was screaming and cheering. I was closing in but wearing out fast and made a last ditch effort to lean forward and tag him. Bad move. I felt my weight shifting forward and knew right away I couldn't stop the momentum. So I went with it and took my 36 year old body down, did a complete somersault, then came to rest flat on my back. The laughing that was coming from the onlookers (including my husband) made me lose it. I died laughing too because I am quite certain I looked like a complete idiot. 

Next up came a rousing game of kickball. Lucas I believe has a future in the sport if he can only play offense. He likes to kick and run. Playing in the outfield? Not his thang. Plus it was late afternoon and he had skipped a nap, so he was starting to melt down. 

Around 4:00 we went back to the house where I started prepping for dinner. Friday night at the lake house is "adult date night on the deck". The kids get to have popcorn and watch a movie inside while the adults have a nice candlelight dinner on the back deck. As my lasagna was in the oven, we could tell the sun was about to set, so we rounded everyone up for a walk around the "loop" (the small gravel road with a few scattered lake houses). The sunset did not disappoint.

At the beginning of our walk, the sky looked like this. 

Hazy, purple light fading gently into a soft pinkish-yellow.

Then the yellow turned more vibrant along with brilliant orange and gold.

Eventually we got this. Fire over the calm water.

And finally, this beauty broke forth and we all just stood and stared. 

Even the kids were into it. Sunsets are God's masterpieces of nature.

We also managed to take a few photos of us humans as we walked. Here's Eli and Leah at the beginning of our journey. This is about as good as it gets when you ask a nine year old boy and an eight year old girl to pose next to each other. We'll save it for their wedding slide show.

The ladies this year: Tracy, me and Nikki

And of course, a ridiculous shot of us. 

After we finished our walk and had our lovely, quiet dinner on the back deck, the kids went to bed and we settled in for another movie night. The selection-- Oblivion. Let's just say, Tom has a lot better movies in his repertoire. I think at least four out of the six of us fell asleep at one point or another. 

And just like that-- Day two was done.