First off, Dennis graduated from the FAA Academy after almost 8 weeks of vigorous training! We're thanking God that he made it through and now he'll start work at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday (Sept. 15th). I thought I’d blog about our summer in Oklahoma City (OKC) for those who may want to know what all we were up to. On the above map, you can see OKC is in the middle of the state. Directly south of OKC, where all the interstates intersect, that is where the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is located. So you can see it was quite an easy commute for us.
While our time in OKC was strictly business for Dennis, it was like a long summer vacation for the children and me. We stayed in an extended stay apartment complex in the city of Moore, but on the border of Oklahoma City (only 15 minutes from downtown). As far as Moore’s claim to fame, the nearby water tower brags “Home of Toby Keith” (perhaps that means something to any country music fans out there). Our apartment complex was very family-friendly with sweet little ladies working in the office, a pool, playground and a community dinner on Thursdays --- where we would go to the office building for dinner prepared by the people who work there. We also met all kinds of people from all over the country (and even a family from India). It was enjoyable for me to talk to different people and for the children to have little playmates. At the academy (Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center), Dennis ran into people he worked with at McConnell and Dover Air Force bases.
Our “adventures” around the city included regular trips to the Moore Public Library, a picnic at the Stanley Draper Lake, getting wet at a sprayground (see photos below), and a visit to the National Memorial where the bombing took place at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. We took 3 trips to the wonderful Oklahoma City Zoo - thanks to Retro Wednesdays through August where it was only 75 cents for admission. And it is a very nice zoo – I can see why it is ranked the 3rd best family-friendly zoo in the country!
At a local’s suggestion, the children and I also checked out the Norman Public Library. Norman is about 20 minutes south of Oklahoma City and it is the home of the University of Oklahoma. The Norman library was the best library for children I have ever been to --- they had soooo much fun stuff there. I won’t bore you with the details though – unless you’re a parent or grandparent of a small child, you probably don’t care lol! :)
Our last few days in OKC were a bummer because the children and I all got sick – probably from all the germs at the library lol! It was also very rainy the last few days so I guess we wouldn’t have been able to do anything anyway. I felt bad for the little ones because they didn’t get to play with their friends much those last few days (a 6-year-old boy from India and a 13-year-old boy and his 8-year-old sister from West Virginia – who were so sweet with our young children, by the way).
I was a bit sad to leave Oklahoma. I know we were only there for 2 months, but that was long enough for me to feel comfortable there and get into a routine. Now, I’m a bit overwhelmed at starting over and making roots in Texas. Lord willing, I’ll blog in the coming months about all the wonderful friends we’re making and how much Dennis loves working at the third busiest airport in the world. :)
Below is a slideshow of pictures from our time in OKC --- taken by me, not from the Internet this time. Enjoy!
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