lake hefner: the feeling of endless water

Well, my mom-in-law is now safely back in New Zealand, which erases my excuse for not posting daily, right? Sort of. Except that my outings have primarily been: outside in the back with my kids in the mornings (not that I couldn't take photos there :o) and places with a/c like bookshops. Otherwise, houseyness. Why? In part because it's dreadfully hot. We're in the stretch of weeks that goes from 95-100+. (My mil decided she'd rather not visit in July ever again!)

In the meantime, here's a photo of Lake Hefner from July 2007. Purr!

A friend from Australia will be visiting soon. She's touring through the US and will be stopping by to see us and Oklahoma. She'll be arriving Thursday night and staying until Tuesday. Expect photos from an art gallery walk, a visit south of the city to the lush nature bliss of Chickasaw National Recreation Area, and a local museum. :)

more Pops + steamy temps

A family portrait, though probably not one to frame and give to all the relatives (grin). Taken outside of Pops.

The blue drink sort of scared me. I stuck with an organic orange green tea. :o

And, if you are lucky and sit in the right place, with all the sunlight coming in through glass and bottles, a rainbow might even kiss you! My son, Kai, had the honor.

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On a different topic, look at our delightful weather. Sadly, I'm a mild weather girl. Taken from News Channel 5's website (koco.com):

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Thank you for comments. Again, I'll catch up with everyone once my mil leaves this weekend. xo.

pops on route 66

My mom-in-law is interested in Route 66, so we went just NE of Oklahoma City to Pops, which houses 500+ different types of drinks. Out front was this huge 'pop' structure; at night, it has lights that brighten it up. I liked the effects the clouds had that day.

party girl

In Oklahoma City yesterday, there was a huge bash. Everyone was invited. Thousands turned out. Very relevant for my OKC blog, yes? Okay, well, maybe it was actually Ari's birthday, and just family-types were there. (It was great fun with good chat and belly laughs.) Ah well, cute photos should be allowed too (grin).

ari ella turns two

An extra post today to say: Happy Second Birthday, Ari Ella! My daughter was born at home just after 2pm on July 18, 2006. :)

A couple of weeks old:




About 3 months old:




One year old:




Just last month:

window to the sky

Clouds yesterday formed a window - nice view too. :)

the soul of flowers + a visit

Another from the gardens / park over the weekend. I know some people don't care for floral and nature photography - but I love it. Being with the flowers summons a deep calm and awe for me. It seems one can see the whole world in the simplicity and complexity of the natural world - each piece having a voice as strong as human counterparts.

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My journal has been less than daily and my replies / comments less than prevalent because my mom-in-law is visiting from New Zealand. I'll catch up with everyone soonish, promise.

Kai (my son) with his ouma and their "fish gardens":

fading rose, vibrant rose

Many of the remaining roses at Will Roger's Park are no longer at their height... yet, they still have a beauty to them.

lovers in the gardens

We went for a walk through the gardens - I wanted to take some photos of my mom-in-law with my kids in the pretty setting too (she's visiting from New Zealand). It was incredibly hot. These two have the right idea - frolicking in the water. However, just so you don't get too tempted to shed clothes and hop in, they've dyed the water blue. Being a smurf isn't so cool after all, I guess.

july rain

July in Oklahoma means lots of intense sunshine and 90-100 degree temps. However, we received a wonderful gift of soaking rain yesterday afternoon, yum.

music trapped in collage

And, yes, another collage from the Oklahoma History Center. :)

another collage

This is an up-close peek at another collage from the Oklahoma History Center. These were made by highschools, by the way. :) The full view is:

Speaking of closer views, I zoomed in on a couple parts of yesterday's collage. Here they are:

oklahoma collage

The Oklahoma History Center is a very neat place. You can check out their website here: http://www.okhistorycenter.org/. It states, "An architectural masterpiece, a decade in the making, the Oklahoma History Center is an 18-acre, 215,000 square-foot learning center exploring Oklahoma’s unique history of geology, transportation, commerce, culture, aviation, heritage and more..."

This photo is from July 2007, a beautiful collage about Oklahoma. Thought it was appropriate for today with the red-white-blue theme.

July Theme Day: No, No, No

First photo - no alcohol in gas - becoming more popular because it's supposed to be better for the longevity of the car and gas mileage. Gas prices from yesterday.

I guess it's tempting to park by an old dumpster behind these buildings, even though I saw things like 6 inch screws strewed around, so much so that they made this official notice, ha.

No to the yucky stuff! A bag from one of the local heath food stores here, Akins.

And this? My sweet (really she is) daughter getting mad with a great big NO. (From April.) I know it was naughty to snap a photo, but I already had my camera out, and I promise I did it quickly. :o (grin)


One other notable mention that I couldn't snap a photo of (busy) - signs that said "No Parking Or Standing". Are they common elsewhere? I'd never seen them before. My son had a good giggle - "but how will people walk to get places?" ;)


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Others around the world are having fun with NO too, take a peek? :)

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

American Fork (UT), USA by Annie, Anderson (SC), USA by Lessie, Ararat, Australia by freefalling, Arradon, France by Alice, Ashton under Lyne, UK by Pennine, Aspen (CO), USA by IamMBB, Athens, Greece by Debbie, Auckland, New Zealand by Lachezar, Austin (TX), USA by LB, Avignon, France by Nathalie, Bandung, Indonesia by Harry Makertia, Barrow-in-Furness, UK by Enitharmon, Barton (VT), USA by Andree, Belgrade, Serbia by Bibi, Bellefonte (PA), USA by Barb-n-PA, Bicheno, Australia by Greg, Birmingham (AL), USA by VJ, Bogor, Indonesia by Gagah, Boston (MA), USA by Cluelessinboston, Brantford (ON), Canada by Nancy, Brighton, UK by Harvey, Brookville (OH), USA by Abraham, Bucaramanga, Colombia by Fernando, Bucharest, Romania by Malpraxis, Budapest, Hungary by agrajag, Budapest, Hungary by Zannnie and Zsolt, Canterbury, UK by Rose, Cavite, Philippines by Steven Que, Chandler (AZ), USA by Melindaduff, Château-Gontier, France by Laurent, Cheltenham, UK by Marley, Chennai, India by Ram N, 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