10 Things to do With Your Baby in Oklahoma - Summer Edition

I don't sit well.  When finding days when it's just the two of us, I know that a plan to explore does us both good.  And as a first-time mom with an infant son, I'm always asking fellow mommas and friends about activities they do to keep their little one stimulated and them out of the house.  So, some times it's nice to mix up the mommy play dates and quiet time at home.  Here's a compiled list of activites to keep you, and your little one, busy in Oklahoma this summer.

1. The Classics
• Oklahoma City Zoo 
• Oklahoma Aquarium
• Science Museum Oklahoma
2. It's Better When It's Free
• Live on the Plaza
• Fred Jones, J. Museum of Art
• Sam Noblem Museum of Natural History - Free Admission First Monday of the Month
• Oklahoma Railway Museum
3. Keep Them Active
• Youth Fitness Zone Open Gym
• Oklahoma Gold Gymnastics Tumble Town
• Metro Gymnastics
4. Learn & Play
• Evening Family Story Time at Stillwater Library
• Metro Library Summer Reading
5. Explore Native American Culture
• Travel OK Pow Wow Event Calendar
• Native Times Oklahoma Pow Wow Calendar 2014
6. Picnic & Hike At a Local Lake
• Lake McMurtry
• Boomer Lake
• Arcadia Lake
• Lake Hefner
• Lake Overholser
• Yost Lake
• Lake Ponca
• Kaw Lake
• Keystone Lake
• Eufala Lake
• Lake Texoma
• Lake Murray
• Grand Lake
• Lake Tenkiller
• Broken Bow Lake
7. Events at Myriad Botanical Gardens
• Night Time Stories
• Summer Movie Series
• Acoustic Thursdays
• Twilight Concert Series on Sunday Nights
• Thirsty Thursdays with Children's Story Time
• Photo Fridays
8. Explore Your City
• City of Stillwater Calendar
• City of Edmond Calendar
• City of Oklahoma City Activities Calendar
• Visit OKC Events
• City of Tulsa Recreation Overview
9. Mommy-and-Me Swim Classes At Your Local City Pool
• Stillwater Swim Lessons
• Edmond Swim Lessons
• Tulsa Swim Lessons
• Oklahoma City Swim Lessons
10. Family-Friendly Festivals
• Find Festival - Oklahoma List
• Visit OKC Events
• Narrow Your Search At Travel OK

For other ideas on mommy and me play dates:

15 Ideas for Mommy Baby Dates

Activities for New Moms

The Stay At Home Mom Survival Guide

Oklahoma Metro Family Magazine - Summer Activities & Camps Directory

50 Free Things to Do In Oklahoma

Listen to This - Summer Edition

My glory days of burned cds with corny titles written in sharpie are not far from me.  I've been able to vault any and all of those burned cds I made over the years, and I tend to think of music in the same philosophy.  Yo Yo Ma's Bach Cello Suites has been disc 6 since I got my driver's license, oooh, let's just say a while back.  I still listen to my rainy Sunday cd, and will probably be that mom who drowns in nostalgia during school commutes.  Poor Henry.  But memories and fun aside, I wanted to share what is part of my Summer 2014 playlist.  (Don't you fret, Love Never Felt So Good, some old school country, and pretty much every song from Sons of Anarchy Vol. 3 is also in full jam mode.)

1. An Awful Thing to Waste by Brendan Trinkle
2. Baby Boomerang by The Shins
3. Landfill by Daughter
4. Forever Young by Audra Mae
5. Cross My Mind by Twin Forks  (Dashboard Confessional gone Mumford & Sons)
6. Not In That Way by Sam Smith
7. Iron by Woodkid
8. Dance, Dance, Dance by Lykke Li
9. We Don't Eat by James Vincent McMorrow
10. Heirloom by Sleeping At Last
11. Passion Play by William Fitzsimmons
12. Muder In the City by The Avett Brothers
13. I Will Remain by Matthew and the Atlas
14. Day Is Gone by Noah Gundersen & The Forest Rangers

Pinned It Tried It - 4th of July Dinner

Even though the boys were in charge of the hamburger and hotdogs, I finished the 4th of July meal with some of the best blogger recipes for grilling.

One pan was cooked regularly with no seasoning, and used to top hamburgers as well as the corn-on-the-cob.  The second pan was topped with brown sugar and fresh cracked black pepper.  It disappeared so quickly I had to make a second pan before dinner started!

Source:  Martha Stewart

The corn and husks were soaked in water for about an hour, rather than 10 minutes.  With all the other items on the grill, they stayed on for over an hour.  It turned out to be very sweet corn.  Delicious.  I ended up using the cheddar and bacon topping.

Source:  Good Housekeeeping

I didn't need any modifications for this recipe.  Some loved that it retained that smokey flavor from the grill, some didn't.

Source:  Lil Luna

There was more asparagus than appetites, so for the remaining asparagus, I made my own recipe.  (I'm not big on measurements.)

After the asparagus was washed and stems cut, I placed the bunch on a sheet of aluminum foil.

Drizzle the asparagus with sesame seed oil and sesame seeds, to your liking.  Toss the asparagus so the sesame seed oil is distributed throughout.

Finish with red pepper flakes.

Wrap the foil, and fold the ends together.  Grill to your liking.

This asparagus is much more tender than asparagus put straight on the grill, and doesn't have the smokey flavor.  The brood that didn't like the bacon wrapped asparagus, loved this recipe.

I modified the grilled pineapple recipe by dredging the pineapple slices in the brown sugar and butter before grilling, and drizzling the remaining sauce afterwards.  It was a hit.

Source:  Oh Sweet Basil

I modified the banana boat recipe by crushing the graham cracks and surrounding the banana, as well as topping it off, with the dust.  This was already requested to be made again at the next family cookout.

Source:  Tablespoon