Waco Trip

Two weekends ago (17th - 19th) we were going to Waco for the weekend. It was pretty much a last minute trip. I think it was Wednesday when we decided we would make a quick weekend trip to Texas. On Friday we had our stuff in the car and it was almost time to pick Kayla up from school. She was leaving early and she was extremely excited! Darlene calls to inform us of the bad weather they were having. Our entire drive would have been in pouring rain, and it was going to continue raining most of the weekend. So, it was time for plan B. If only we had a plan B.

This was not much of a problem for us because we are both so spontaneous. We are both great at planning weekend get-aways 30 minutes before time to leave. HA! We did get on the internet and find a hotel in Bricktown in Oklahoma City. It met the requirement of an indoor pool. Other than that, we did not know anything about where we were going.

We arrive at the hotel and it looks like they are set up for some sort of convention. It turns out that we were there for their grand opening. They had invited TONS of people to come and stay the night for free. We were not one of those people! The hotel had just opened in February. It was really nice and had a wonderful pool for the kids.

Friday Night:

We headed straight for the pool. We managed to be the only people there. I was kind of shocked because there were so many people everywhere else. The kids were so excited to swim.

Caroline and I preferred to hang out in the hot tub. The pool water was really cold! Kayla was all over the place having a great time.

After swimming for a little bit, we headed to Bricktown to walk around. Kayla was so excited about getting to ride on the boat. We talked her into getting boat tickets the next day so we could ride it more than once.

Here is the ballpark. There were ball games both nights we were there, but we decided buying tickets was not really necessary.

Here is the view of the ball field from our hotel parking garage. It is right next door.

We watched a few minutes of the game, but it was really cold and windy.

The perfect ending to the day - a back massage for mommy.

One negative of being so close to the fields when you are trying to get kids to sleep:

These are the fireworks out of our hotel window after the game ended.

Saturday:

We got up the next morning and had a really yummy breakfast at the hotel. They were serving all of their best stuff because of all the invited guests. We then headed for the Science Museum of Oklahoma (formerly the Omniplex). This was an amazing place. We were there around 6 hours and could have stayed longer. They have over 350 hands on exhibits. We all had a great time.

Astronaut Kayla

Astronaut Caroline

Andy was in heaven. An entire room filled with brain tease puzzles.

This was supposed to simulate the winds during a tornado. In this picture, the winds were 78.3 mph in the tube.

This is a really fun playground. However, there is one of those spiral slides at the very top. It is really tall and very steep. Caroline got on it by herself before I could catch up with her. The next thing I heard was the sound of her tumbling down the slide and then intense screaming. Andy said she was actually rolling/flipping down the slide. Thank goodness she did not get hurt. You can bet she did not get back on the slide!

Here is pirate Kayla. They had a traveling shipwreck exhibit. It was really fascinating. There were all sorts of things on display from the SS Republic which sank in a hurricane in 1865.

There was also a huge train display and airplane display. The girls had a great time climbing into all of the different flight simulators.

We went to the Science Live show. This was Kayla's favorite part of the day. There were real explosions, fire, and the "DUST OF DOOM". You have to say that last part while screaming. Both girls were entertained during this great show.

Upstairs is the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Kayla and I were both pretty excited to see this. It was kind of a let down. There were some pictures on the wall of different gymnasts. There were a few mats and small balance beams on the floor. That was pretty much it. Caroline had a good time running around in there, and Kayla practiced her cartwheel on the balance beam.

After the museum it was time for our boat ride. Kayla was so excited. We stand in this really long line waiting for a boat to come. One arrives and everyone is getting on. By the time we make it to the front of the line there are only 2 seats left. We let the guy behind us get on. We wait for what seems like forever. Another boat arrives and we get to get on first. It is pretty much full when the boat dies. The guide works on it for a while, but it is not going to start. We have to get off the boat and wait some more. Finally, our boat arrives. Kayla is thrilled.

Here she is about halfway through the ride - bored out of her mind. There was absolutely no way she was going to ride again.

We finished the night off with a very tasty Mexican dinner...

and more swimming.

Here is Caroline ready for bed. She is reading her new dinosaur book that she just HAD to have from the museum.

Sunday:

Time for one last swim before it is time to go home.

We drove Kayla by the capitol building on the way out of town. We were going to go to the OKC Zoo but it was way too cold and windy.

It was a good thing we headed home. The girls (and parents) were exhausted. Kayla and Caroline both slept the whole way home. I hate that we did not make it to Waco, but I must admit that this drive was so much better! It turned out to be a really wonderful weekend.