Wanna Get Away?

Well, we did. Since we've been back from our trip to Utah, the temperature in Amarillo has not been below 95 degrees. In fact, I feel like it hasn't been below 100 degrees! So, we decided to escape the heat and take a road trip to OKC. Little did we know the heat would not only follow us but darn near cause us heat stroke!! To say it was hot would be an understatement.

our first stop was the OKC zoo. we knew it would be hot but we couldn't pass up taking the kids to such a fun place. we lasted only about 2 hours before i felt like i was going to sweat to death. nonetheless, we had a good time and managed to stay hydrated and alive.

disclaimer: as you will notice, Zoe is not looking at the camera in ANY of the pictures. this is just to point out to all of my fellow bloggers who's kids not only love the camera but ham it up! this is what i have to deal with.

Avery wanted her picture taken by this peacock that had perched itself on a fence by us.

this is the picture before the bird squawked...

after... scared her to tears!

Zach and i felt bad because we were laughing and i snapped a picture of the aftershock, but i couldn't resist.

after Avery recovered, we headed to the gorilla viewing room because it was next and was air conditioned. we were sitting watching them play and sleep when all of a sudden this giant silver back decided to plant himself by the window right behind us. quite the view, eh?

so, why not take a family photo with a giant gorilla in the background?

because he and I currently share some similar physical characteristics...

we spotted this picture of a baby monkey the zoo named Zoe.

can you tell we were still hot?

the next day we were smarter and went somewhere indoors: the science museum. this was a much more pleasant experience not being so hot. we spent most of the day there and had a great time. there was so much to do.

Avery even got a chance to ride a Segway

and Zach got a chance to take Zoe down an incredibly narrow kids slide.

it's obvious they both enjoyed the ride!

picture with Otto the robot. Zoe loved him...not.

this was as close as we could get her to him.

last, but not least, what outing would be complete without a Zoe tantrum?

or two? not this one!

on the last day of our road trip, we spent some time at the Oklahoma City bombing Memorial and Musuem. this was really neat (mostly for Zach and me). we weren't there for too long (once again, the heat was an issue) but the visit was worth it.

this was the first monument we saw. it reads;

"we come here to remember 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."

behind that monument is a reflecting pond. on each end is a wall.

one wall reads 9:01 the other, 9:03. the bombing happened at 9:02 so they wanted to capture that time.

symbolic chairs lining the walkway. each chair represents a victim of the tragedy. 168 chairs in all.

what an experience and what a trip! we had a great time!

(minus the close calls with heat stroke)