Posts Tagged: "experience"

Escape Room Experience

Princess Diana - August 7, 2019 - Uncategorized

My family and I were trapped in a room… We could only escape by unravelling a series of clues… We had one hour… Or else… Tick. Tick.

For the next 60 minutes, my sisters, nieces, brother, brother-in-law and I bonded by working together to search for clues and decipher them.

What is an Escape Room?

“Escape Room” adventure games offer a unique experiences for families and groups ages 12 to 100.

You pick a themed room with distinct story line, and your team has to complete your mission to “escape” the room in 60 minutes or less.

It’s a one-of-a-kind experience working together under that type of pressure.

For us, it was an adrenaline rush filled with lots of laughter. So much laughter.

When a clue was particularly perplexing, someone would yell, “That’s it! We’re gonna die in here!” That always cracked everyone up.

iFLY Indoor Skydiving

Queen Darlene - November 17, 2017 - Anniversary, Birthday, Business, Christmas, Experiences, Father's Day, Gifts for Him, Mother's Day

I’ve always wanted to skydive but jumping out of an airplane just didn’t make a lot of sense the older I became.

My sister-in-law gave me a gift certificate to iFLY so I could fulfill my dream closer to the ground!

Indoor Skydiving

iFLY is indoor skydiving that simulates true free fall conditions in a vertical wind tunnel.

Their motto of “It’s where the dream of flight becomes a reality” really happened for me!

At age 65 I’m no spring chicken (a phrase my mother-in-law would say) but there have been lots of elderly people who have been brave enough to skydive.

I hoped the wind tunnel would help me decide if I was just satisfied doing a simulation or if I needed to do the real thing. Continue Reading

MoviePass | Watch One Movie in Theaters Every Day

Princess Diana - November 14, 2017 - $20 or Less, Birthday, Christmas, Experiences, Family, Gifts for Him, Gifts for Me, Graduation, Kids, Retirement, Valentine's Day

Some people love being able to watch movies on their home entertainment system, but others love the original movie watching experience–in an actual movie theater!

They want a cinematic experience that involves sitting in a dark theater watching a film on a three-story screen while listening to the audio come out of a massive speaker system. For them, it’s just not the same watching movies at home.

There is another reason some people love going to the movies.

They want to see a movie as soon as it comes out. They don’t want to wait months for it to become available on Redbox, on Netflix or on DVD.

Psst. I personally love the social aspect of watching horror movies inside a crowded theater–to feel dozens of strangers suck in their breath together in anticipation or to hear a blood curdling screen come from someone sitting in the row behind you.

Recreate the Pose of a Famous Photo

Queen Darlene - November 2, 2017 - Birthday, Business, Christmas, Retirement

My boss, Dennis, loves the Beatles. And yes, he’s a baby boomer! His favorite album is Abbey Road with John, Paul, Ringo and George walking across a striped crosswalk on the cover.

The Beatles had many famous photo albums but this may be their fans’ most favorite.

For one of his retirement gifts, I recreated the famous Beatles photo with Dennis and his three Team Leaders who have worked with him for 20 years.

I scoped out the many streets in our city and found the white stripes in an intersection that would allow us to recreate the photo.

Summer Break Quality Time With Each Child

Princess Diana - October 4, 2017 - Experiences, Kids

My friend, Carol, told me about a wonderful summer tradition she started in her family that I want to share with you.

Each summer, she spends 5 days with each of her children, just the two of them.

She explained her children act differently when she is alone with them. For this reason, she loves to give them quality one-on-one time during their summer break from school.

She has done this for years with each of her children, and they always look forward to creating new memories together.

For each of the 5 days, she follows the same order of events every year.

Quality Time Over 5 Days

Annual Birthday Adventure

Queen Darlene - September 8, 2017 - Birthday, Experiences, Father's Day, Kids, Mother's Day, Uncategorized

My husband asked,”Are we doing anything for my sister this year?” I replied, “You mean the 2nd Annual Birthday Adventure?”

He smiled. I only had three weeks to come up with an idea.

Last year, I planned a Birthday Adventure with Adult Siblings for Randy and his brother to celebrate their sister’s birthday. It was so much fun Randy wanted to do it again.

Randy and I enjoy taking scenic Route 66 road trips to have breakfast or lunch and then browse through antique and boutique shops in small town America.

Light bulb moment!

Unforgettable Annual Birthday Experience

Plan a Route 66 Birthday Adventure by driving on the Mother Road in a convertible car.

Better yet make it a Mustang convertible! A red one!

My plans were to rent a convertible but in telling friends of the adventure, I was given an opportunity to borrow one! Continue Reading

Canoe Camping Wilderness Adventure

Princess Diana - July 19, 2017 - Birthday, Christmas, Experiences, Gifts for Him, Gifts for Me, Graduation

There are places in the United States known as canoe country. It’s where water and wilderness combine for a canoe trip of a lifetime.

Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), or Boundary Waters for short, is one of those places. The area is a million acres of pristine wilderness containing more than 1,000 lakes that borders Canada, hence the name Boundary Waters.

I recently returned from a Girl Scouts travel camp where 11 of us drove north from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Ely, Minnesota for everyone’s first camping canoe experience. There were seven girls ages 12-17, and four adult volunteers.

Into the Wilderness

Separated into two groups with two guides each, we unplugged from civilization and headed out with only our canoes, paddles, camping gear, food, and a thirst for adventure.

For five days, we experienced breath-taking views of a wilderness paradise as we paddled across crystal-clear waters. I can’t believe I spotted more than 10 bald eagles on my trip!

One-on-One Father/Son Time

Princess Diana - June 13, 2017 - Birthday, Experiences, Father's Day, Gifts for Him

Although my husband’s parents only live a few miles away, my husband doesn’t get much one-on-one time with his father.

They meet up for quick lunches here and there, but they haven’t spent more than an hour, just the two of them together, in quite a while.

I wanted to remedy that with a thoughtful Father’s Day gift – father/son time!

I thought my husband and his dad would enjoy the experience of going to a professional baseball game together. It’s a perfect outing that combines sports entertainment and plenty of time to chat, drink beer, eat peanuts, etc.

Indoor Go Kart Racing | Adrenaline Experience

Princess Diana - May 23, 2017 - Birthday, Experiences, Gifts for Him

If you’ve followed my blog for a little while, you probably know I like to give my nieces experience gifts.

A few years ago, I took them on a limouisine ride to look at Christmas lights. This time when they visited during their spring break, I gave them a thrilling experience that got their adrenaline pumping – indoor go kart racing at speeds of up to 45 miles per hour!

Need for Speed

At Pole Position Raceway, as long as someone’s 48 inches tall they’re allowed to drive, so even my nine year old niece could do it.

My nephew joined my nieces and after receiving the proper safety training, it was go time! They put on their helmets, strapped into their go karts, and put the pedal to the metal!

Behind the Scenes Experience With Zoo Animals

Princess Diana - March 28, 2017 - Experiences, Gifts for Me, Kids

Recently, I realized that you haven’t truly experienced the zoo until you’ve experienced it behind the scenes.

My family has a zoo membership so we go multiples times throughout the year. At this point, I felt like I had seen everything the zoo had to offer.

Out of all the animals, my favorite ones to see are the giraffes and my favorite thing to do is feed them. Every time I see them I think, “God sure has a wonderful imagination to have come up with these animals!”

They are so beautiful and majestic, yet supremely awkward at the same time. And the built-in sunscreen on their tongues – genius design!

Behind the Scenes “Wild Encounter” at the Zoo

On my last visit to the Oklahoma City Zoo, I went with my Leadership Oklahoma City class to learn about the zoo and its planned expansion. As a bonus, they treated us to a behind the scenes “Wild Encounter” with elephants.

We entered the building where the elephants live, and we were given the rare and exciting opportunity to see them up close.