This is what having a blog has done for me. Funny story: I've been telling people that I have a small back yard and needed to buy a push-mower so I could cut it. Generally, the comment I get back is a joke about cutting the yard with a weed-eater. At least, I THINK it was a joke... Well, last Saturday it the lawn maintenance people came for the complex, and they cut my backyard. The good news is I don't have to buy a mower. The funny part? Guess what he cut it with! You guessed it - a weed eater!! And I'm so amused, that I want to take a picture of this guy, but I don't want to raise the blinds and make it obvious, so I twist them open in the kitchen and snap away. I did seriously consider for a moment whether I could ask him to pose for a picture, and that's when I realized it - I am a tourist. And this is my life! But I've decided this isn't a bad thing at all. What is a tourist? Someone who walks around with a camera and tries to see new things and get enjoyment out of them. A true tourist is someone who WANTS to be pleased with everything they see. Why can't I be a tourist?
So in true tourist fashion we decided to check out the local lake for a little while on Labor Day. A little over 5 miles from our house is Lake Arcadia, just east of downtown Edmond. There's several parks on the lake with camping, boating, hiking trails, "beaches", picnic tables and playgrounds. We checked them out on the web and the girls picked the one with the coolest looking playground. We loaded up the kids, some snacks, and hit the road. Less than 10 minutes later we were there. The playground had a rock climbing wall, and Ben took a picture of the girls sitting on top of it. After a little while we wanted to go exploring, and since none of the hiking trails were close to the water we walked over to the "beach" and let the girls play in the water. They had a roped off swimming area there for people to play in, and the girls just held up their shorts/capris and waded in. Because we thought we might go hiking, we had brought the "backpack" carrier for Connor. He's just a tad bit too small for it right now, so we had to roll up blankets it put them on either side of him to keep him from slumping over. Then I had Ben put an extra blanket next to his head so he wouldn't hit his face on the edge. He was so cute! 
After we got home, Ben and I spent the rest of the afternoon watching a top 100 80's songs countdown on VH1. We are so lame... but we loved it!
I also wanted to throw in this picture of a cross by the interstate near our house. Ben likes it that I have a blog now, and is often heard saying something like, "Why don't you put such-and-such on your blog?" This picture of the cross was his idea. It's huge. I don't think the picture does it justice. It's about as tall as a water tower. Among other things, Edmond is the home of Oklahoma Christian University, so in some ways we feel like we are back home in the Bible belt!
5 comments:
Hey, grand idea! You can be a tourist by proxy for all the rest of us who have never been to Oklahoma! Take all the pics you want and we can say we've "been to Edmond". Connor's wearing my hat (I think)! Man, we miss you guys bunches.
Looks like you guys are in a great area. How nice is that to be so close to the lake and all that comes with that lake. Sounds like a fun place to be.
I am happy for you that things are going so well now after such a rough start. Thats great.
Hey Anita! I had no idea you had moved. Hope things are going great for you. We'll miss you here, but look forward to reading about your family's new adventures.
Shannon
Im so glad you can post these pictures so we can see what your up to!
Anita, I try to take a picture every day, some days are better than others, it helps me "notice" things more and increases my gratitude for all things. Jayne & I did the "tourist" thing in Columbia on Saturday. The kids are all so cute...Connor is too adorable! Hope life is good for you in Oklahoma. Have driven through there going to Colorado.
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