Myriad Botanical Gardens

After the Taylor Swift concert on Saturday night, Erin and I walked through the downtown Myriad Botanical Gardens before we went to our car. The gardens had been closed for a long time due to renovations, but just reopened. I was so impressed with it I had to take the family back ASAP!

Here the children are waiting for the wave fountain to splash water on them.

Get ready...

Get set...

Go!

I tried taking cute pictures of each child, but they are in that awkward photo stage. 

I love Jack's goofy face.

While I was snapping away at the kids, Howard asked a passerby to take an impromptu family photo. Turned out the passerby was a photographer scoping out the place. Lucky us! Too bad not all the kids are looking, but at least Luke isn't hiding and everyone has their eyes open. I've really lowered my standards to what is acceptable photography with 4 children.

Luke rolling down the hill. If only he had made his legs straight, then he would have gone much faster.

Gorgeous view of the gardens!

This may seem random, but my Okinawa friends will appreciate it! The renovated bathrooms have this hand dryer which actually dries your hands. These are all over Japan.

It spells GROW.  This was in the Children's Garden area.

It's amazing how a random piece of metal art can be so entertaining. I have so many pictures of the kids doing crazy things on this.

My stud muffin!

I had to keep yelling at the kids because they kept putting their hands in the photo or jumping in. We were loosing daylight fast and Howard was having difficulty with the camera settings.

The Crystal Bridge changed colors throughout the evening. There were also lighted rectangles embedded into the sidewalk as well as lighting under benches and along the walk paths to light your way.  There were a lot more interesting things, but not enough time to blog about it all.

The temperature dropped fast tonight and the winds really picked up. I can't wait to go back!

Father Son Camp Out

This weekend while Erin and I had our lovely girl time, the boys were able to go on the church's father/son camp out.  They went to Red Rock Canyon State Park, and Howard said it was even better than the Chickasaw Natl Rec Area.  As soon as we have time time and good weather (who knows when that will be?) in the same weekend, we will go back as a family.  Since Howard had to leave right after work on Friday, I was in charge of packing. I did great except for one thing - I forgot to pack pillows. Sorry boys! Erin and I are looking forward to more father and son outings, we enjoyed the peace and quiet!

 Luke was camera shy.

 Howie loved the rock climbing. According to Jackson, they "climbed a mountain".

Howard assisted with another boy. The boy's father was up the wall on the other side keeping everyone safe. If you notice carefully, Howard is doing it without ropes or anything. Maybe not the safest thing to do, but I was impressed.  Although, it's only impressive AFTER he did it and told me about it in the safety of our home.

 

 This is what you get when a 9 year old is in charge of the camera. (Plus 20 more of these poses.)

Brotherly love. They may fight and tease each other until I cry, but I know they love each other very much.

Concerts

Last week Erin and I were able to go to a concert on top of the Union parking garage at OU. I parked right under the concert and when we walked up to the top level, we were surprised to get a close preview of Phil Wickham rehearsing. We arrived early since it was a free concert and we wanted to make sure we had good seats.

It was a benefit concert sponsored by "Wishing Well", a non-profit org promoting awareness and activism in supplying people with clean drinking water. 

We enjoyed the wait with perfect weather and a cozy spot on the curb.

Since we arrived early, we were able to sit in the front row - it was amazing. Erin got a little tired, but I was a mean Mom and wouldn't leave, so I let her lay on my lap.  This is how close were were, and I wasn't even using a zoom or anything! The roof-top was packed with people, so we were extra thankful for good seats.

 Our second great adventure was the Taylor Swift Concert on Saturday, Oct 15. The tickets were her birthday present in July.  I nearly cried when Taylor Swift came on.  Not because I was excited to see Taylor, but because I was so happy to so how happy and excited Erin was. It was like Christmas for me!

 The opening act was a guy named David Nail. I had never heard of him, but he was really good.

The second act was the band, NeedToBreathe (yes, I wrote it correctly).  I had heard one of their songs before, and enjoyed them as well.

 

 Erin and I got all dressed up, we curled our hair and did our make-up.  I'm so glad I could go with her!

The venue was very high quality. The video and audio were excellent! Here is Taylor, as seen on the large screen next to our nosebleed seating. Taylor is looking toward our section. I think she was staring at Erin directly! :)

This tree was near the back side of the arena. It was a nice treat for her fans in that section.

 

 

I had no idea she could even play the piano. She is one talented singer/performer! And very quick at changing clothes too! I think she changed about 7 times, maybe more.

During the finale, she sang "Love Story", which is Erin's favorite song. Overall we had a wonderful time! Taylor Swift is a good and tasteful performer, very family friendly! 

My only complaint would be that I purchased our tickets from stubhub.com (NEVER AGAIN!) Our seats were sold TWICE! Fortunately for us, my tickets were scanned first, so we entered the arena without any problem.  The other ticket holders had a problem, had to buy an additional ticket, but made it to our seats first. I wasn't mad, because in reality the seats were equally hers. The arena upgraded the other woman and Erin and I were able to sit in our assigned seats. I'm glad the other woman received an upgrade in seating because she told me that her and her daughter were in tears initially and of all the hassle they experienced. Monday morning, stubhub.com will be receiving a call from me!

Here is a nice playlist of a few of the songs we heard at both concerts. Enjoy!