Friday Stephanie, Cati and I met my sister Janell, the boys, Amanda and Janell’s friend Jenn at the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum in Seminole. I was nervous about this outing because I had never been to this place and its kind of in the middle of nowhere. What if I dragged these kids to the lamest museum on the planet? I certainly wouldn’t be cool Aunt Cindy anymore that’s for sure.

The museum was great. Every thing there is hands on learning broken up into sections. In the construction zone you can shovel rocks into little dump trucks and build an arch with foam blocks. For some reason the rock pit in the construction zone was Cati’s favorite. We had to drag her away to ride the train and even then I thought for sure there were going to be tears. But once she was on the train every thing was OK, just as long as she knew she go back to the rock pit when the train ride was over. Personally, I thought the bubble zone and the indoor climbing maze were the most fun. Though we all spent quite a bit of time in the wacky mirror room.

The kids played hard all morning and we ended the trip with lunch at McDonald’s (of course). I think they all had a really great time. We’ll all have to go back when they get the big outside maze completed. Until then, I’m afraid Steph is going to have to build a rock pit in her backyard.

I have been leery of blogging about going to see The Police live in concert because I was afraid that if I talked about it, it wouldn’t come true. The Police were breaking up right around the time I was falling in love with them and it has always been one of those big “I missed out on something” moments that I never got to see them perform live. When they announced their reunion tour I told Chris that there was no way I was missing it this time.

And honestly, I really didn’t think it would happen. Tickets were unbelievably hard to get. The first show for Dallas sold out in a matter of minutes. Ten minutes after that show sold out, they announced a second Dallas show. I had a choice of two different areas, behind the stage or the seats we ended up with. The seats weren’t bad, but it would have been nice to be a little closer.

The concert did not disappoint. They played for a good two hours, doing three encores. It was amazing. I kept looking over at Chris with this stupid grin on my face. I just couldn’t believe that we were there and they were there and that we were all there together. It was beautiful. The only bad part was not taking my camera. The tickets said no cameras, but when we got to the stadium they said cameras were OK (go figure).

Not only that, but I also found two, yes two, pairs of Prana pants on the sales rack at REI for $15 each. This had to have been the second best day of my life.

Last night Chris and I decided that we wanted Chinese food for dinner. We sat there for a while debating on where to go (because it was raining…AGAIN) and lamenting the fact that we don’t have Chinese delivery. I suggested we go to the place just up the street. We’ve been here about five years and we’ve never tried this place. There are lots of places we’re leery of trying in our neighborhood because everything around here looks run down and sketchy. So we said “what the Hell?” and sloshed our way over.

That sketchy little Chinese restaurant is now my favorite Chinese food place. Its not because the food was phenomenal. It was good, but not “Wow this is the best Chinese food I’ve ever eaten” good. I love the place because the inside looks just like a movie set version of a Chinese restaurant. The place is dimly lit with huge Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The walls are wood paneled with those big Chinese circular arches separating dinning areas. You just knew that there was a secret room in the back where the head of the local Chinese Mafia played mahjong with some of his old pals and henchmen.

We opted for the family dinner for two, which we decided really serves four. The food is brought in silver serving dishes and you just fill your plate with fried rice and sweet and sour pork and peppered beef in a tomato based sauce. As we sat there eating, we suddenly heard a small child screaming from the kitchen. I looked up at Chris and said “Oh my God. They’re cooking babies”. Chris replied “That’s why this peppered beef tastes so good. Its seasoned with their tears.”

It was really good peppered beef.

Saturday was Organization-I-Work-For day at Frontier City and since tickets were only $5, I figured this would be the only way I’d get my Frontier City stamp for my passport. That place can be pretty pricey. We figured out that a normal day out there would cost two people about $56 just to get in. That’s not including food and drink (bottle of water = $3), and parking is $6. The Organization-I-Work-For day is a bargain.

Frontier City isn’t very high on my amusement park list. Most of the rides are kind of like the carni-rides at the fair. The last time Chris and I went we only rode two rides: the roller coaster and the tilt-a-whirl. Chris tilted and whirled our car so well, it made him sick and he couldn’t ride anything for the rest of the day. This time was much better. My sister, her husband, and my niece Amanda came down to spend the day with us. Amanda was my tilt-a-whirl partner and she did a marvelous job helping me tilt and whirl our car. Plus, she didn’t get sick.

The first ride Amanda wanted to ride was the Renegade Rapids, so of course we obliged. I was wearing dark denim capris that go so wet they never dried out. Eight hours and the butt of my pants were still soggy. At least I stayed cool all day. Chris and I were really surprised with how long we actually stayed at the park. We rode a lot of rides and had a really good time. I have great footage of my brother-in-law Daniel screaming like a girl and a new stamp on my frontier passport.

Two down; seven to go. That party for ten on a canal boat is gonna be mine.

Daniel and JaNell at Frontier City (June 2007) from elephantsoap on Vimeo

Now, that’s funny.

Tagged by Shelley

Here are the rules to play:

1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

8 Randomosities …

1. I am going to see The Police live in concert in two weeks!
2. I have broken both of my arms, not at the same time.
3. I do not have tonsils.
4. I wanted to be a Broadway singer when I was little (the vacuum was my stage, the cord my mic.).
5. I can still do a cartwheel.
6. I was born almost two months early.
7. I think Sour Patch Kids would go great on corn flakes.
8. I would have a pet elephant if Chris would let me.

I tag…

1. Amy

2. the Ninja

3. Brian

4. Eagle

5. Anna

6. Mary

7. Jen

8. Ken

I have not forgotten that I have a blog. I promise. Work has been so crazy lately that I haven’t had time to even think of blogging. By the time we make it home at the end of the day and I get all my evening chores done, I’m pooped. Things should be slowing down around here by next week (I hope). The good news is that one of my microscopy images has been selected for the cover of the July issue of Cellular Microbiology. I am super excited about this and I actually won’t believe it until I see the journal in my hands.

I do have things to blog about, like my plan to be a tourist in my own state this summer. The Sunday paper had a “passport to Oklahoma� section in it a few weeks ago. It consists of a map and a bunch of different Oklahoma attractions. If you get nine or more stamps before Labor Day you could win the grand prize. I am determined to get at least nine stamps. I figure each time I go to one of the destinations on the map, the more I have to blog about. I only have one stamp so far (Remington Park), but the summer is young and I plan on roping my best friend Steph into this project. She just doesn’t know it yet.

And I know I could do a whole entry just on my summer reading list. I just finished Laurie Notaro’s new book and I’m in the middle of reading A Civil Action. I have a big stack of books just waiting for me to get to them on my desk. I should list them. I always wonder why our library only has a summer reading program for kids. Remember those? If you read a certain amount of books, you would get something like pizza or ice cream. They should do that for grownups too.