So here is what has been going on the past few months...
In September Uncle Justin and his girlfriend Christin came to visit us! In a very short visit, we managed to see the Elephant Orphanage and the Animal Orphanage (and also pet the Cheetahs!). We took a trip to Crescent Island and also made a stop at the Friday Masai Market for shopping. Most importantly we took a three day, two night trip and flew to the Masai Mara! (Amazing trip to Mara blog to follow). It was an incredible experience and we were so glad we could share it with them. Thanks for making the trip guys, we hope you had as much fun as we did!
Uncle Justin and Christin with the Masai Warriors outside the Nairobi National Park and a group shot at the Masai Mara with the owner of the camp.
Papa Andy and Papa Scott also came to visit in October! The came about three weeks after Uncle Justin left. They too had a short 10 day visit, but we crammed in a lot of stuff and played with the kids a lot and of course...took lots of pictures! We too took a great trip to Crescent Island and luckily just missed the rains. This made for an absolutely beautiful trip and our first trip seeing any of the land GREEN in our whole year in Kenya. We hiked a gorge in Hells Gate and visited a local Tea Farm. We visited the Kenya Weaverbird Factory and got to see the locals making pottery from the dirt of Mt. Kenya and men and women weaving magnificent tapestries. We took a trip to the city of Karen where they filmed the movie "Out of Africa". We also visited the author's actual home which is now a museum. This is also the site where they filmed part of the movie. We made a trip to the market and had many nice dinners. It was wonderful! Thanks to you two for making the trip, it was great! We feel truly blessed to have so many visitors able to see us even though we live so far away. What a treat! Our next visitor is Mom,she comes in January and hopefully Aunt Alexis will be here in February! :)
With Papa Andy and Papa Scott at Crescent Island (walking with the animals) in Hells Gate National Park and hiking the Gorge in Hells Gate on another day.
While Dad and Scott were here, I ran the Nairobi Half Marathon! This was my very first! I am pretty proud of myself I must say. I mean, its 13.2 miles and with the altitude, it wasn't the easiest, but it sure was fun. :) While running the half marathon in downtown Nairobi we saw a heard of cows, a cart full of over 50 LIVE chickens crammed together (being pulled by a donkey), a camel, Masai Warriors cheering us on and a dead dog. All while running half of it in the pouring rain. But like I said, it was fun! :)
I started swim lessons at the end of October with about 40 kids! Yes, I am crazy! I teach 2 to 6 year old children from 9 - 12 Sat. morning, a "Baby and Me" class of babies under 2 (and their Moms) Sunday morning from 9 -10 am, and Monday afternoon 2 to 6 year old children from 3-5 pm. It certainly makes for less time on the weekends, but it has been fun. About half of the children are from Hannah's pre-school and the other half from the Diplomatic community.
The kids were sick with runny noses for about 2 months. Is this seriously what happens when kids start pre-school? Unfortunately we had a scare with Chase as he ended up having a Croup cough one morning and then a febrile seizure not but a few hours later that afternoon. We are not really sure if that is what it was, but the doctors say most likely. We had to go to the Children's Hospital and get him admitted but a few hours later he was back to normal. Obviously he is doing fine now, but it certainly wasn't fun and something I hope to not have to go through again.
The kids stayed sick for another two weeks with pink eye and then Hannah with an ear infection. I seriously thought it would never end, but thank goodness...everyone is well now... Finally!!
At the Marine Ball and a pic with some of our good friends. It was a blast!
We had our Marine Ball November 7th which was great. We had a lot of fun dancing and of course Tom was the hit of the night as he performed his annual WORM at the end of the night for every one's enjoyment. Ha It was awesome! We spent the night at the hotel to make for a pleasant morning of sleeping late as well as massages. Can't beat that!
Hannah's school term has just ended as of a few weeks ago. It was a fun year for Hannah ( I think)., and a busy school year for me too. I had no idea how involved it would be to be a "Class Mom". Most of it is fun; however, due to the lack of information and availability to information, like computers and printers, I ended up doing a lot of research and printing on my own. Something I guess you take for granted in the US- access to computers and printers!! Anyway, I still enjoyed it and will probably volunteer next year if I am not already signed up ahead of time for the year (without my knowledge).
Hannah (left) doing dance routine, (middle) being very shy while class was singing song, and (right) practicing monkeynastics on the balance beam.
Hannah had a school performance to end her school year. She sang a song with her class, did a dance routine and also a gymnastics routine. She was incredibly shy, but looked cute. Our first school performance of many down the road. Although we were excited to go the school performance, the day was moved at the last minute to Thanksgiving. Since there are not that many Americans at the school, they had no idea the drama it was cause me...THE AMERICAN. Did they know I was hosting (for the first time ever) 20 people at my home? Did they also know that it was my first time cooking a turkey (2 actually!)? Anyway, I delayed Turkey Day by an hour as to not pass our friends on the road and to make sure the turkeys were not over cooked. Thank goodness for my housekeeper Florence keeping an eye on them both while they cooked. She sent text message updates every 3o minutes. I mean, I seriously have it rough. Ha Thanksgiving turned out great and it was surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be thanks to great new friends and a little help.
Getting ready for Thanksgiving, carving the turkey, making the gravy and a picture of the office clan on Tday, Left to Right; The Hammonds, The Healeys, The Rhodes and The Lewis'.
So, I think that pretty much wraps up my three month update and lucky you, just in time for a most likely belated Christmas update. :) You never know, it is a new year!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
(just in case)
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