Day Three

On the way out of Tulsa on Sunday morning we decided to drop by and visit the Oklahoma Aquarium.

We saw starfish.

And turtles.

It was feeding time for some of the animals.  The otter above is eating his lunch.  The lady below is feeding the beaver.  I didn't know beavers liked bananas.

Lynne decided she wanted to feed the stingrays so we got some food for them.  Stingrays will splash you if you don't feed them quick enough.

I'll try to post video of the shark tank later.  But I did get a good picture of this one swimming above us.

They also had a fishing lure collection in the building.

After we finished up we loaded into the car and headed back to Texas.  We had a great time in Tulsa.

Tulsa, Day Two

Ok, Ok!  The concert was mainly for me.  But Lynne does like the band too, and really enjoyed the concert.  We got back to the hotel late and went to bed.  The next morning we did what any married couple in a hotel without kids would do.  Sleep late.  We finally got up, ate breakfast , and decided to go to the zoo.

Tulsa has a very nice zoo.  They have lions, tigers, and bears.  Oh My!  It was a nice day and alot of people took advantage of the weather to come see the animals.

You know you're in Oklahoma when you see signs like this everywhere.
The Grizzly was enjoying the sunshine.  I just realized I put 2 bear pictures up, but they are the best pictures I have of the zoo.
We finally got hot at the zoo and decided to leave.  Across the street was the Air & Space Museum, which was air conditioned, so we went there.  We took in the Planetarium show while we were there.  That's the first time I had been to a Planetarium in many moons.

We ate a nice quiet supper, walked the mall, and enjoyed the evening with no kids bugging us. 

The Lost Dogs in Tulsa, OK

I was checking out The Lost Dogs web site about a month ago and noticed they were going to be on tour in about a month.  The nearest they came to us was Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Lynne happened to mention that her birthday was the Wednesday before.  So I took my wife to Tulsa for her birthday!

They were playing at a place called the Gypsy Coffeehouse.  The place was full of artsy types and  what would have been hippies 30 years ago.  We got there at 9 o'clock and were told the band was running late and would be there about 10:15.
They finally got there, set up, and started performing about 10:30.  Our table was about 10 feet from the band!  There were only about 30 people in the place, 20 of which came to see the Dogs.
That's Terry Taylor on the left.  He sings and plays guitar for the Dogs and is also in a band called Daniel Amos.  Derri Daugherty is on the right.  He plays bass and sings with the Dogs.  His other band is The Choir.
Also singing and playing lead guitar was Mike Roe.  He is also the lead singer and guitar player for the 77's, my favorite band.
Playing drums and assorted percussion on this tour was Steve Hindalong.  He also worked with The Choir.  The Dogs played an acoustic set that lasted about and hour and a half.  It was excellent.  It could have gone on all night in my book.  But the band finished up and mingled with the crowd for awhile.



The Dogs are camping out on this tour!  They are traveling route 66 in this motor home and spending their night at campgrounds.  They said during the concert they are ready for real beds.

Maypearl on Alert!

This morning on the way to work, we entered the city of Maypearl and immediately noticed police cars with their lights flashing.  I just thought it was someone getting a ticket but then Jesse said "Why do they have their guns drawn?" I looked down a side street as we drove by and was in the process of saying, "I don't think they had their guns out..." when I saw a task force officer with a very large shotgun crouched down behind his car.  I then noticed the snipers on the roof of the Busy Bee.  I saw a friend of ours who has a business downtown talking with an officer so I called him.  He said that he was in the process of trying to find out what was going on.  I went on and dropped the boys off but not before we noticed the ambulance and paddy wagon at the Exxon and that the school was pretty much surrounded by sheriff deputies   They stopped the cross country team from running and sent them back to the school.  I went on in to my building and my assistant came in.  Her husband and son work for the sheriff's department so I asked her what was up.  She didn't know and the guys wouldn't answer their phones.  At 800am the entire district went on lock down (code red).  We sat in the dark with our doors locked until about 830 when they told us we could go about our day.  My friend from downtown called about that time and said that a man had broken into the police station and stolen the police chief's gun and was holding him hostage.  He did try to fire upon the policeman but the safety was on and so nothing happened except the clip fell out of the gun.  At that point the man took the gun and ran out.  They believe there is still a bullet in the gun.  The goofy thing was that the man gave the police chief his driver's license right before all this happened.  When he left he didn't get his license back.  They know who he is and are now looking for him.  They told us that we may have to lock down again if they suspect he is still around.   The deputies are still patroling the area heavily.

The Stanfords are Back in Texas

After 16 hours in the air the Stanford family finally arrived back in Texas Saturday morning.  And what was the first thing the Dad wanted?  A Whataburger.  So some of us from Church waited in Venus for them to arrive from the airport.

It wasn't a huge crowd.  Most people were going to meet at his Uncles house to greet them later.  It was good to see them again after their 3 year abscence.
Their son also went over to the Exxon and got a pint of BlueBell ice cream.  That makes 2 real good reasons not to leave Texas!

Bloomin' Grove vs Maypearl

Well, I left my camera at the house so I don't have any pictures of the game or Wills band performance.  The band sounded better last night.  I think the kids have been practicing.  And the bass drums didn't run into each other as much.  Oh yeah, we won the game 18-28.

First Football Game of the Season- Maypearl vs It'ly

It's that time of year again. But of course, we're there for the band. You can see Will above with his bass drum (3rd from left). They're waiting to play the fight song and then the national anthem.
There comes the team, running thru the giant banner onto the field. They had a huge inflatable panther last year. Maybe it has a hole in it.
Here is the opening kickoff. It'ly beat us last year but we won the year before that.
Look, the mascot is on the field! No wait, it's just a dog. You know you're in Maypearl when the game is stopped twice for a dog on the field.
The It'ly band played first at half time. They were pretty good.
The Maypearl band finished off the halftime performances. The bass drums were excellent. (Will is second from the left)
One of the band members for It'ly collapsed on the track after coming off the field. The ambulance showed up later and took them away before the second half started.
We ended up beating It'ly 27 to 13.
It was a good game. The first goal of the season was accomplished, beating It'ly.
We waited by the band hall for Will and then headed home. Got home about 11:30, and I had to get up and go to work the next morning. I love (read as: need) my job.

Coyote

This guy was hanging out down by the pecan trees west of the house the other day. That's a little too close for comfort.
Can you see the panicked look in her eyes? I don't think she would make much of a meal.

Andy's at College

We dropped Andy off at UMHB on Saturday. After we got him moved in I told him to pose for me and look all sad we were leaving. This is the picture I got.
His Mommy almost made it to the car before she started to cry.

Should GranPa Get a New Car?

Since GranPa has enjoyed playing with his Prius hybrid so much maybe he should get a full electric car. Can't you picture GranMa and him driving to Church in this? It's called the Tesla Roadster.If you click on the picture you can read a review by Jay Leno. Or you can visit the company's web site by clicking here. It goes 0-60 in less then 4 seconds. Now if I only had a spare $100,000.

Toad Update

The toads have found a nice cool place to live underneath the old cow trough. There is a leak in the drain plug so it's always a little damp under there.
They even allow the frogs to join them in their lair.

The Dancing Birds are Back

Do you remember a post we put up last year about some birds that were dancing in our yard? Well, they are back. I've seen as many as 7 at one time in the yard. I don't know what kind of bird they are.If you click the link above you can see a video of them "dancing".

Watermelons

When Lynne planted her garden this spring she also picked up a few watermelon plants. There wasn't room for them in the garden so we planted them on the side of the house. They have now grown and taken over that entire side of the house.
I guess that soon we will have watermelons to eat. How do you tell if a melon is ready to eat?

Rainbow

Lynne and I had date night tonight. After we got home there was a light drizzle from the tropical storm and we could see a complete double rainbow off to the east. Now there's something you don't see everyday.

Lizzy's New House

The other night we stopped by to see Lizzy's new house. She looks like she is enjoying it.