growing up

aliyah hit two milestones last week:

sleeping in her own bed and riding a bike with training wheels.

on the ground floor of the buiding next to ours is a long open area, safe from traffic, where aliyah loves to ride and exercise those legs.

since aliyah never shared a bed with us, this is her first time to sleep outside of a crib. we can't get over how much bigger she seems in a bed. she likes it there better than her crib, though the excitement of being in the "big bed" have having the ability to get in and out of it makes for shorter afternoon naps and earlier mornings. :

gone for a ride

she'll take it any way she can. :)

cowboy hall of fame

there's a museum in oklahoma called the national western and cowboy heritage museum. i still call it by it's old name: the cowboy hall of fame. it's become quite a gem of a meseum with paintings, sculptures, clothing, tools, and all kinds of relics and regalia of native americans and cowboys. they have a few areas that are particularly fun for children, like the mock-rodeo, an actual life-sized town with a saloon, bank, chapel.. just like in the ol west... and a children's play/discovery area... so much fun...

the botanical gardens outing

last week nadi and i took the kids to the botanical gardens in downtown oklahoma city. despite the fact that we were in a glass building designed to trap heat and recieve sun on a 100 degree august day, we had a great time. the kids loved seeing the plants, climbing stone paths along waterfalls, and most of all, talking to a parrot that could repeat their greetings.



















afterwards, aliyah stretched her legs outside a bit. as some of you know, she loves running down ramps (the tunnel, the shopping cart entrance to level 3, the long stone path towards the pilgrim house and pretty much the whole itc parking lot ...) nice that she got to do it on the grass a bit. :)

out for a drive

... in the mall food court

my mermaid

yesterday nadia, amelia and i took the kids to an aquatic park in edmond (where victor and i used to live). the kiddie area was big with water that was as shallow as aliyah's ankles and as deep as her waist: just perfect. there were slides and water shooting, spraying, splashing and pouring from every direction. aliyah had such a good time playing, sliding, bobbing, splashing.... it was a slice of heaven on earth for her.

a cool spot

why do we looooove going to barnes & noble?















for the coffee?
















for the books?
















for the wicked train set. oh yeeeeah.

the backyard

because of the boiling heat, especially during the first week we were here, aliyah's spent much of her time indoors. however, in the mornings, evenings and, recently on less scorching days, we go in the backyard and play with water.

back with the cousins

aliyah has been so lucky this year; this is her fourth time to see her cousins since last september. now that we're in oklahoma, she gets to stay under the same roof with her cousins and play with them every day... if only she always had it this good. :)















loving the green grass. :)

summer day in bahji

hello. :)
















wednesday, july 12 2006. bahji.

love love LOVE the beach

growing up - april 2

sometimes i find it hard to believe that this child is not yet two.

bahji visit - march 26

on mondays, aliyah and i go to bahji. before going, we usually have lunch in the bwc staff dining room. here's aliyah is with her good friend sisay.

...at bahji

naw-ruz 2006

aliyah found a ramp near where the naw-ruz celebration was and loved running up and down it over and over ... and over again. :)



















...with her friend, Shiori Ishikawa, who is wearing a beautiful red kimono