Last day in Oklahoma

Spent the last day in Oklahoma around Norman. Had a great lunch at Pita Pit - they should roll this out in England it would go a storm, click on the link to check out the meals. Michael bought a birthday card and present for Rosie - a cheerleader kit - and I got a hoodie for Helen at Campus Corner.




Then it was off to Lake Thunderbird for a walk, as the thermometer hit 80 degrees. I'd been wondering why there were so many boat shops and now I know! Back to civilisation tomorrow via New York!

Oklahoma City

Drove up to Oklahoma city today and visited the State Capitol. Here are three shots ... from the outside (the dome was only built in 2001), in the Governors "blue room" whee he does his press conferences and in the senate (they were all at lunch!)After a great guided tour of the Capitol we headed off to the Oklahoma Bomb Memorial which is built on the site of the Federal Building which was blown up at 9.02 on April 19th 1995 by Timothy McVeigh. Over 160 people died including many children at the nursery - tragic. We toured the exhibition which is very graphic and thought provoking in it's story of the attack and the aftermath. As for the memorial it is such a touching and moving tribute to those who died you can feel the atmosphere change as you step in from the busy downtown streets.

Hanging around Norman Oklahoma

A great chill out day today as you can see from the pictures. Went to the library this morning and then met Michael for a burger and fries lunch followed by a trip to Main Street in Norman - even saw the railway station (such as it is). I think my body clock is just coming round .. I am still wanting to go to bed a 8 and get up at 3 though! Off to he Oklahoma bomb memorial in the morning.

Afternoon at the ball game

At the Walkers Stadium the football is enough to give me a sore head - here the sun has managed it for me. It was like a summer day in February - amazing. As for the ball game it was really very interesting - I once saw the New York Yankees with Helen and it was so boring that after 9 innings it was still 0-0 and the fans were raving about the pitcher. I just wanted someone to whack the ball. Today Oklahoma University beat Western Illinois by 7-6 in what was a likeable match. Very American and very cutesy!

2.4 Hours in Tulsa

I am spending a few days with Michael in Oklahoma and today we went up to Tulsa. Downtown is just a few tower blocks and lots of parking lots - and no people. So we drove to find out where they all were and found them at Expo - this is the Expo Oilman guarding the entrance. What we found was the most astonishing gun show - yes real guns, bullets, knives .. all to buy and take away - it was a real family affair.We'd had breakfast on Route 66 in small town America. It was very windy and there were some worries about tornadoes and the alarm went off twice - we thought it was a test but on the second time we legged it back to the car just in case! This is Michael standing on a corner in Chandler Oklahoma - on Route 66. Finally we went back to Oklahoma City and "Bricktown" for a great steak and some interesting architecture including this wonderful mural of 1930's Oklahoma.

Girls on the town!

How times change ... just a few years ago I was at the bar in this very same place with Ben & Michael having a drink and a meal for Ben's birthday. Now just look at the children - my god am I mad? Never mind time travlling in "Life on Mars" - I'm doing it without an accident and still living in the present.

Laughing Cavalier

What a bouncy and happy baby Emily is. Here she is after being stuffed full of green organic baby food - and what a smile. The food around her mouth makes her look like one of those civil war cavaliers - the laughing one!

The Dribbling Chef

We have Jamie Oliver as the "naked chef" so here is Rosie May McCarthy - the "dribbling chef". I was in a finance meeting at work and got this picture from Helen of Rosie making MASHED SURPRISE. The surprise is there are no spuds in it. A packet of SMASH a few frozen veg and plonked in some shells to serve. Quite good for a 2 year old!

Any moment now!

Ahh. Doesn't Rosie look like a sweet little girl? Here she is at her friends 2nd birthday party at the Leicester City Farm. As you can see she loves the puddles ... and 10 seconds after this photo was taken she was flat on her face in this one. Just as well Helen had a change of clothes and lots of strong powder to wash the animal Sh*t off.

Rosie gets a morning treat

A snowy day in Leicester and we all had the chance for a bit of late rise. Rosie - for the first time ever - decided she would sit in our bed with her milk and biscuit while Helen had her cup of tea. I'd like to say I made the tea but I failed this morning after getting up at 5 to see if I could drive to Wales.

Gina Ford strikes again

Our favourite child book is "The Contented Little Baby" by Gina Ford. Can't speak too highly of the routines and all the general "common sense" stuff. Both Rosie and Emily sleep through and seem generally very content so it has worked for us. But I am not sure of Gina Ford had this in mind when she wrote her book - still this is Emily being very very a contented little baby!