Over the years, I have not been quiet about my dislike for the capital city of the country in which I live. We have always been greeted with traffic, traffic, more traffic...unfriendly people, scam artists at every turn, and a barrage of mediocre food (perhaps the most offensive problem of all!) So when we went there with my parents several months ago, it was not with hearts of expectation that we boarded the train to go there. But, and I think I've mentioned this before, surprise of all surprises, we had a GREAT time! We had a fab place to stay in, ate great food, got around with very little difficulty, made some great purchases and had a memorable time.
So, officially, BcaptialcityJ, I recant all the negative things I have said about you. Your claims of modernity are much truer than I thought; your ability to handle the masses will go much more smoothly than the nightmare I have envisioned in my mind. BcaptialcityJ, you are now high on my list of places I like to go. It's a tooth-and-nail fight to make it on the list, and you are there. I wish you every bit of success in your big venture next year. I applaud you, and thank you for happy memories.
With that weight off my chest, I feel like now I can post the pictures from our recent trip there. We and our likeminded friends went there last week for time of special focus, and it was great, in so many ways. Good food was eaten, good purchases made (notably, crisco and a quilt for samantha - I know those are items high on your lists, too!) and the girls had a great time with all the friends that make our life feel very blessed.
One evening in particular, the men were all out doing "men" things (which I think involved pool?) so we women were back in the apartment that we shared with several hours to kill before bedtime. Being that it was December, we thought we'd try out the ol' Christmas play. Do keep in mind as you view the pictures that we were in a hotel/apartment room, so our props consisted mainly of plastic shopping bags and towels - that's not a costume designers idea of selection, if you know what I'm saying...
We've got shepherds....
...who were confused about what exactly they were supposed to do...
A Mary and a momma-Joseph....
A little white sheep....
A narrator with an angel attached...
By the time it was all said and done, everyone had participated, though we aren't exactly sure what parts some children were playing (I think at one point Clara Anne decided she wanted to be the hay in the back of the manger and just lay down, but that's neither here nor there...!)
There was also a nice play area for kids on one floor of the apartment building we stayed in. Obviously, you can tell we all had a great time...
One fun little find on our trip was a children's bookstore - full of tons of Asianese books, but nicely stocked with English titles. We ended up buying several new Eric Carle books, more adventures of Ezra Jack Keats' Peter (one of mantha's personal favorite characters) and a few others. One cool feature was several nooks around the store that were perfect for curling up with a kiddo and a good book.
4 comments:
Fun times! And great pics! Thanks for sharing--I loved the ones from the Christmas play. Emma made a darling shepherd!
Wow...I don't know which is better about this blog...the pictures or the story. All the pictures are soo good and I'm so glad your trip was good. Dad and I love you so very much. More than 285,000 people are w/o power in Oklahoma. Dad and I are in that group, but luckily highland had power. You and the family are beautiful as ever.
Well, so you're telling me it's alright to dress up for Christmas but NOT for Halloween? I mean, come on, Christmas is SO much more limiting...no ghosts, no goblins...just angels and animals, and shepherds. But if you've seen (smelled) one shepherd, you've seen (smelled) 'em all. And how can you choose gold, frankincense, and myrhh over ghouls, frankenstein and myrhhder is beyond me. You've left WAY too much of the western world behind you is all I've got to say. Well, your mom and I have to go to the mall (since it stays open until midnight), cause we can't go HOME (we're at the little Highland on the Hill where there is lights and warmth) because the home the Jack Frost killt, has no electricity since OKC just got an oldfashioned ice whoopin' from Mother Nature, and good old OG&E (E stands for Excuses) is predicting 7 - 10 days until all the houses get their MOJO back, sooooooo we're about to hop a jet and kick you out of your BED again (just to get a warm night's sleep).
Your little angels (and shepherds) are dolls. I'm just posting this because Paul and Alicia gave me such a hard time at dinner the other night about not posting anymore. Yes, they DID invite us to dinner (in a manner of speaking). You can get the details from THEM.
Love,
G (it's cold) PA
Yay, your dad posted. You would not believe this storm. We were without power for 3 days, and Dwayne works for OG&E(xcuses)! It was cold, and trying to keep 4 kids (especially the 18 month old) occupied for 58 hours with no electricity was no small feat.
I love the bookstore!! Yay for new books. Ezra Jack Keats is a great author. Let me know, and I can send you some more books. I have lots of extras that we get in. Hope you guys are good. Great pic of you & the Mr.
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