OKC Road Trip

We took a 12+ hour roadtrip to OKC and back to visit the temple open house. Al joined up with us in Dallas, so it was good times:

Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's apartment in Dallas

Lunch at McDonald's

"Scenic Overlook" in Oaklahoma

Dinner at Cafe 7 in OKC

OKC Temple Open House

Free downtown parking on Saturdays... woot woot!

The wall in the background says: "We come here to visit those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity."

This "survivor tree" survived the blast that killed 168 people (including 19 children) on April 19, 1995. Al and I decided that we were students at Madison Elementary at the time of the bombing.

Outdoor symbolic memorial. Read more about some of the symbolism here: https://oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/visit/outdoor-symbolic-memorial/.

Survivor tree in the background.

Will Rogers Park and Botanical Gardens

There were quite a few animals, like turtles, geese, koi...

Cool cypress knees

For lunch we went to Nic's Grill. Al was a sport and waited in line for an hour in the heat. Their burgers have been recognized by Jimmy Kimmel, Jay Leno, and Diners, Dives, and Drive-Ins. Supposedly one of the best burgers in the country.

Wheeler Park

This park was super cool... In addition to the ferris wheel and cool photo op, there were lots of games to play and a long line of hammocks.

Al took the girls on the ferris wheel. #BestAuntEver

Great view!

The ferris wheel reminded us of our trip to Orlando a couple years ago (below).

We swung by London and Rome on our way home.

J/k. This is World Casino on the Oklahoma / Texas border. I decided that Oklahoma should be known for its three Cs: cannabis, casinos, and clay. (All three things could be seen all over the place, everywhere we went.)

Meanwhile, Grandma and Grandpa were spoiling Owen back in Dallas. ;)

Dinner with Grandma and Grandpa at Chuck E. Cheese.

Dallas Temple

Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's apartment

This was just a sampling of the fun. We took too many pictures to post here. Glad we could go!

OKC Temple Open House

These are photos of the OKC Temple, published by the Church:

Heidi says this was her favorite room; she liked the murals on the wall.

I remember attending the San Diego Temple open house when I was about the girls' age, and the thing I remember most was the bride's room. I remember thinking that I wanted to get married in the temple. That is what motivated me to want to take the girls. I want them to set the goal of temple marriage now, while they're young.

The celestial room was Lizzie's favorite.

Academic Night

Lizzie presented her G/T project at the school's annual Pflex Showcase:

Afterward there were a lot of other fun activities:

Crawling!

Heidi

Heidi fell off the slide at recess yesterday and broke her arm. The school freaked out and called 9-1-1. One police car, one ambulance, and one fire truck showed up. We opted to forego an expensive ambulance ride to the ER, but the EMTs still carried her to the minivan:

The firefighters put her arm in a temporary splint

The diagnosis was a supracondylar fracture. The bone was displaced, so she had to get surgery to realign the bone.

Swollen and bruised. Before surgery. 

After surgery.

The surgeon's handiwork. He put in three temporary pins to align the fractured bone. The pins will be removed later.

Safe at home the next morning

The next step will be to remove the splint and put on a cast next Thursday. (It's too swollen to put on a cast right now.) After that she will wear the cast for three weeks. She has lots of limitations on her physical activity for the next three months until it heals completely.

Easter

Easter morning, making resurrection rolls:

The Easter bunny brought Legos:

Austin Nature & Science Center

This one wasn't at the Nature & Science Center, but we saw it on the same trip. It's the Treaty Oak.

The Treaty Oak in Austin, Texas is estimated to be about 500 years old. In 1989, in an act of deliberate vandalism, the tree was poisoned with the powerful hardwood herbicide Velpar. Lab tests showed the quantity of herbicide used would have been sufficient to kill 100 trees. The intensive efforts to save the Treaty Oak included applications of sugar to the root zone, replacement of soil around its roots and the installation of a system to mist the tree with spring water. Although arborists expected the tree to die, the Treaty Oak survived. Still, almost two-thirds of the tree died and more than half of its crown had to be pruned. (Before its vandalism, the tree's branches had a spread of 127 feet.) In 1997, the Treaty Oak produced its first crop of acorns since the vandalism. City workers gathered and germinated the acorns, distributing the seedlings throughout Texas and other states. Today the tree is a thriving, though lopsided, reminder of its once-grand form. Many Texans see the Treaty Oak as a symbol of strength and endurance.   

William fell on his face and got a major goose egg. He says he has a turkey on his head. (Goose... turkey... get it?) ;)

We got a tour of the birds of prey. (Can you spot 2 owls in the cage?)

McKinney Falls State Park

Upper Falls:

With Mom's friend Gennie

William fell in one of the small pools and got all wet.

Remains of the Horse Trainer's Cabin:

Picnic lunch:

Rock Shelter (more than 4,000 years old):

With Onion Creek running down below:

Bluebonnet Meadow:

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Lots and lots of wildflowers: