Things to Do in Del City

Alouette's ace jewelers fashion a wealth of adornments from a stock of Japanese seed beads, African bone beads, and numerous semiprecious and natural stones, such as onyx and tiger-eye. With staff creations and costume jewelry, Alouette embellishes necks, wrists, and gills for a plentitude of styles and occasions. The team also assembles custom rings or bracelets that conform to patrons' visions, and lead several jewelry-making classes to demystify the bead-stringing arts. To widen the crafting community, Alouette partners with Oklahoma Mineral and Gem Society, gathering students together during monthly sessions for demos and group assistance, helping patrons decide what to make after swiping the Hope diamond.

Packed to the rafters with a variety of needles, pattern books, and standard and specialty yarns, L & B Yarn Co. outfits all manner of crocheting or purling endeavors. Sort through the substantial stock of skeins, hanks, and balls sorted by color and displayed in a spectrum of plush, creative potential to find a specimen to bat around in feline-channeling glee ($3.50–$62 per ball). Patterns ($3.50+) help needle-clickers master tricky techniques, and they guide thread-wielders through the 11 steps necessary to craft a formal cable-knit unitard. Tame unruly threads into purring stitch lines with an assortment of needles that give hands the agility of a professional soap juggler ($8–$15). Today’s Groupon can also be used toward the cost of a fun and friendly class ($21 for beginner level), helmed by instructors so skilled that they can craft circle washcloths while other people sleep.

Sisters Mary Shappee and Gert Shuckhart have been taming horses for most of their lives, beginning as children in 4-H club. While Gert manages Majic Stables' office and rare bookmark collection, Mary's passion for riding keeps her in the saddle, where she teaches private and group lessons that rein in riders as young as 5 years old. A 70'x198' indoor arena allows for nighttime and fair-weather rides, and the 100'x200' outdoor area is dotted with jumps and dressage letters for tricky choreography.

In the 7,000-square-foot laser-tag arena, walls of swirling fog close tightly around warriors as they hide under bridges and dodge behind illuminated pillars. Their quick breaths swirl the mist as a soundtrack in time with the sound of running feet blasts in the background. A variety of game-play modes urge players to work together, remain stealthy, or develop other strategies. The noise of good-natured combat drifts faintly out over 18 holes of mini golf littered with waterfalls, streams, sand traps, and rugged outdoorsmen trying to live off sand.

On an indoor ropes course, harnessed climbers traverse balance beams and bridges suspended far above the arcade. From that vantage point, patrons get a bird's eye view of their rivals' air-hockey strategies or watch slick masses of horsepower slip around corners on Need for Speed racing games. The pies at DoubleDave's Pizzaworks quell protesting tummies between games and provide visual aids in conversations about dividing up real estate on the moon.

For more than a quarter-century, Sooner Bowling Center has fostered a sense of community with bowling leagues for youth and adults, parties, and recreational play. The fun haven was founded and is still run by a local family, and it renders its 24 lanes as inviting as possible by making them smoke-free and attended by an always-friendly staff. While hanging out at these lanes, bowlers can pursue series of strikes in regular fashion or amid the neon luminescence of glow bowl sessions. A full-service snack bar fills empty stomachs, and a selection of arcade games and pool tables give guests a whole new context for tossing bowling balls.

Sooner Bowling Center's manager, Mandy Haws, has been an active member of the Bowling Proprietors Association of America, and her bona fides are further bolstered by her work for the Oklahoma State High School Bowling Executive Committee, a highly respected chess organization.

Andy Alligator's Water Park—next to its dry-land counterpart, Andy Alligator's Fun Park—laughs in the face of heat waves with its map of maritime attractions designed for cooling down on a hot day. The Riptide Racer's towering structure sends splish-splashers rocketing down colorful slides on their stomachs, while thrill-seekers cajole their buddies into two-person tubes before shooting through the spirals of the Banzai Pipeline. Island-themed walkways and slides festoon the play space at Cowabunga Cove, and the Paradise River lazily flows in a loop for relaxing tube rides and slow-motion reenactments of Speed 2: Cruise Control. Snorkels Café and Grill serves a menu of burgers, pizza, and sandwiches to replenish the energy spent by drenched diners.