A hunt for buffalo

Jake has seen a lot in his 18 months as an Oklahoman, but yesterday Kevin and I were able to introduce him to one of our favorite places — Tallgrass Prairie near Pawhuska. We love nature and history, so parks and preserves are great places to visit. This gem has a herd of buffalo that in previous times has been right alongside and upon the roadway, making viewing of the creatures optimal without leaving the comfort, and safety, of an automobile (nothing like having the roadway blocked by bison crossing). As we drove into the preserve, we saw some buffalo off in the distance, and Jake was excited. Finally, we came across a handful near the road, with one guy right alongside scratching his neck on a post. As expected, and hoped for, Jake was thrilled. We picnicked at the preserve, where we saw buffalo walking single-file along a hill in the distance, walked the prairie trails and even visited the headquarters, which has been closed before, as it is operated on volunteer time. There were some nifty bones (comparisons of buffalo to cows are awesome) and Jake was enamored by an armadillo shell. As we drove the bison loop, we were disappointed there were not anymore buffalo. We finally gave up, but as we left the park, grateful for one encounter, we finally saw several others (albeit not the big herd we've seen in the past) all gathered at the entrance close to the road. Jake loved watching them (especially when nature called. LOL). It was a great day.

Jake's first close-up encounter with a buffalo:



Time for lunch:



Man, I'm hungry as a buffalo:



Buffalo:









Getting a good, safe look:



Watching the bathroom habits of buffalo is good times:



Jake jumping (We think Violet's nose pushed something on the camera to mess the settings up, but we liked this photo despite its being dark):



Jake in the flowers:



Jake in the flowers some more:



Jake: No more in the flowers Mom:



I'm going back to the car:



Bye:

Because I missed you

What a wonderful Mother's Day I have had today. First, I received an awesome homemade card and a watch from Jake, and then we went to church and enjoyed another Mother's Day with Kevin's mom, or Mama Sue, as she is known since Jake came into our lives.
After a yummy potluck dinner at church it was on to see my mom, Mama Sherry, and pizza for supper. We stopped off along the highway for ice cream at Dairy Queen.
When we were going home, it was dark, and the talk turned to past Mother's Days since I became a mom.
I told Jake this was our second Mother's Day together and my third Mother's Day since I've known he was my son. I told him the first Mother's Day he still was in China, and we were ready to come to get him, but the governments wouldn't let us yet.
"I know," Jake said, "and I cried."
"You did?" I asked, the same time Kevin said, "You cried?"
"Yeah," Jake said, "because I missed you."
WOW. Jake doesn't talk about his feelings much, and while I know he really didn't cry because he missed us (before he knew us), it still spoke volumes about his depth of feeling for us now.
Yeah, it was a great Mother's Day.
Violet

Happy Mother's Day

This is one of my favorite photos of Violet and Jake.

It was taken just a couple of days after we were united with Jake in China. We were driving somewhere on a sightseeing trip.

You can see the love in Violet's eyes for her new son. And, you can see how comfortable Jake had already become with her. There's nothing better than falling asleep on your mommy's lap.

Happy Mother's Day Violet.

Love,

Kevin