Happy Birthday, Henry!!!

Today is our Henry's 4th birthday!  He has been looking forward to this day for months and is so excited to be four.  We had a bit of a scramble to get things together (thanks Uncle Joel for helping with the shopping!), but it all worked out rather well.  He wanted a Thomas the train cake, but I just couldn't find things to make that happen.  I did find Thomas plates and party hats, though, and he was quite happy about that.  Instead of Thomas we ended up with dinosaurs in grass and sharks in water...with lollies for trees.






There were some young men here for a bible study so he had quite a crew to sing to him!












Here's his face when he saw his new bike and squirrel toy.












And here is the birthday boy riding his new bike.  Hard to believe my little baby is 4!  We finished off our evening by calling grandmas in the states using google voice.  Nice to hear their voices!

Sunday at Dzanani

This morning we drove to the congregation at Dzanani for bible class and worship.  The kids had not been to Venda yet so they had a lot of fun seeing all of the sights.  No monkey sightings, much to their chagrin, but they did get to see cows walking along the side of the road and lots of goats.  We stopped along the way to take photos and look over the edge of this cliff at the old road:

This is the view down below where the old road used to run.  So very thankful for the new road...the lovely paved and safe road.

They do not have a bible class for children at Dzanani so the morning was long for the kids, but they did very well.  James preached the lesson and I thought did a great job with the translator.  Probably the highlight of the morning for the kids was watching out the window as 3 cows walked past. On the way home a monkey ran across the road in front of us, but of course all of the kids missed it.

We had a lazy afternoon and evening, then gathered to sing after dinner.  Once we put the kids in bed I went out for some practice driving with Joel.  Getting used to driving on the left side isn't the biggest challenge here.  Automatic transmissions are not common, so we're having to re-learn how to drive a manual.  AND drive on the left side...on roads that are not clearly marked and are shared by cattle and pedestrians.  I'm getting better at the manual and did ok in town...at night with no traffic.  I'll get there eventually.



And a bonus picture from yesterday.  The girls were helping me make pizzas while the boys continued the monkey stakeout.

The monkey stakeout

Last night at about midnight Charlotte, bleary-eyed but excited, came out of her room and declared that she had seen a monkey outside her window!  "It kinda looked like a cat.  But like a monkey, too.  A cat-like monkey."  It probably was a cat, but there was no convincing her.

Then this morning the kids found monkey prints on the garden wall.  Oh, what joy!  What adventure!  A real monkey was here!!!!  

And if a real monkey was here then surely it will come back!  So, the kids started a stakeout.  They took out their field journals and drew the monkey prints and then started watching...and waiting...and watching.  There was a brief distraction caused by a couple of geckos under the car, but still they waited.  An hour later they had lunch.  Then another hour later mean mommy called them in for quiet time/nap time.  I think the plan is to resume the stakeout this afternoon and stay out until bath time.  No need to tell them that monkeys are not likely to come with four children playing and making a bunch of noise while waiting...

Our journey over

We're here!!!  We arrived late Tuesday night (or, rather, early Wednesday morning) after traveling for...well, a long time.  We arrived at the Atlanta airport at about 9am Monday morning and looked quite a sight lugging the luggage into the airport.  My sister, Lauren, was able to come to Atlanta to see us off and it was a good thing, too, because we would never have been able to get all of it with just 2 adults.  Ok, and maybe we were too stubborn about not wanting to pay for a trolley to use...

The first flight from Atlanta to Washington D.C. was only about 2 hours long and went really well.  The kids absolutely loved riding in an airplane.  The girls sat together and amused themselves with a deck of cards the whole time and the boys were content with a new magna doodle.  

The D.C. airport was a big hit with the kids, mostly due to the trains and the flags in the international terminal.  We set up camp at the gate and then James and I took turns taking the kids for walks and secret missions that ended in milkshakes and ice-cream.  

Our next flight was slightly delayed due to a thunderstorm, but otherwise was uneventful.  The kids were still overjoyed to be on a real plane and just loved everything about it.  We had most of a row to ourselves- Rosie next to a window, Charlotte next to her, an aisle, then James, Liam, me, and Henry (Henry was in an aisle seat).  Everything was fun and novel to the kids- drinks!  my own tv!  a tiny bathroom on an airplane!

The kids ate and watched a movie, then slept on that first flight.  We stopped in Dakar, Senegal, to refuel after 8 hours in the air.  It was dawn when we landed and fun to see Dakar wake up.  My impression of what I could see of the city from the plane was much like people think of when they think of Africa- square houses with square windows cut out and clothes lines on the roofs.  The buildings looked unfinished or abandoned, but they went on for miles.  

After an hour or so we took off again for the final flight from Dakar to Johannesburg, also 8 hours.  I was able to sleep for bits, but never more than 30 minutes at a time because some child was usually awake at some time.  The boys actually only pulled out their kindles for maybe an hour and the girls not at all.  We arrived in Joburg at about 6pm and had no trouble going through customs or anything.  The Beckleys and our friend, Joel Williams, were there to greet us.  All of the kids were hungry so we stopped at a McDonalds near the airport.  I know, I know, we travel how many miles across the world and eat at McDonalds.  But...they're actually rare here (though KFC is common) and they were open.  

After our quick meal it was an almost 6 hour drive up to Louis Trichardt.  We arrived about 1am, Wednesday morning.  We slept late this morning, then the kids wanted to explore.  Charlotte was dressed, and standing at the door with her field journal and crayons in hand before I could finish my coffee.  They had so much fun running around the large garden here and discovering things.  A banana tree!  An orange tree!  Look over here!  Guess what?  There's an archway over here!  

Later in the afternoon Joanne, the girls, and I drove to a grocery store.  What fun things to see!  Near the house there is a street lined with Bauhinia trees (orchid trees) that I decided to call the Purple Way of Delight.  Rosie started making a tree book- she draws a picture and labels a tree on each page and already has a lot of new african entries.  I enjoyed shopping here and seeing what is available.  The girls were happy about finding custard already made and of course immediately found all of the sweets.  I did let them get some chocolate yogurt drink and custard.  :)  They weren't so thrilled about seeing cow lips and chicken feet for sale.  I was fascinated by the ostrich meat- we'll have to try that.  Anyone want to come over for some ostrich pot pie?