We're Jason, Beth, Lee Anna, Sawyer, and Sarah Claire, a family of five living, learning, and laughing lots in Northern Africa.
We hope you can learn a little (and maybe laugh a little too) as you read about our latest adventures.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Hopping the Equator

Well, we didn't want to let Sawyer and Lee Anna have all the fun this month, so we took a little trip of our own this past weekend. The three of us made our first little trek into the southern hemisphere and spent four days in Kenya!
Sarah Claire might not be able to tell you about the gorgeous trees and flowers, the incredible wildlife, or the beautiful tea plantations all around us, but she knows this: THEY HAVE A PLAYGROUND! I might post some more of those pictures later, but for now here's our little world traveler having fun on the playground.
She has definitely given it a workout!
"Yook at me, Mama! I fwide!"
It has been really fun to see a different part of Africa and enjoy the incredible beauty and cooler temperatures of this place.
What was really NOT fun was the two days Sarah Claire and I (Beth) spent sick in bed during our stay here. We were actually only supposed to be here for two days, but we had to extend our trip a little because we were too sick to travel on Saturday.
Although this clinic was just about 50 feet from our door, I wasn't sure I was even going to make it over there on Saturday morning. Thankfully, I did, and the doctor was very helpful. We've been resting and recovering for a few days now, and very soon we'll be headed back to the city to catch our flight home. We hope our next post will be from our much-hotter-and-drier-and-not-quite-so-beautiful-but-still-home-to-us home.

Saturday, July 02, 2011

Hurry Back, Guys!

So, what does a small, two-year-old, third child do if the two bigger ones aren't on the scene for a few days?  It seems the one in our family is eating up the extra attention! Lee Anna and Sawyer hopped on a plane with Uncle Andy last week to spend three weeks visiting grandparents and cousins on the other side of the pond. So little Sarah Claire is getting to experience being an only child. Did we ever say it was hard when we just had one kid? Turns out it's really not.

Here are the big kids by the door with their carry-on bags loaded with 24 hours' worth of entertainment.

Before they left, Lee Anna had a brief Ukrainian language lesson with Uncle Andy. She learned to say several words and phrases, and learned some of their alphabet, too. (The English part was written by Sawyer.)
But now, it's just Mom, Dad, and Sarah Claire! She got all dressed up in her new "Fancy Nancy" dress. But she didn't like being called "Fancy Nancy!" "NO!! Sarah Claire!!"
Have you ever seen anything as fierce as this ferocious bear?  She loves to put on the mask and growl at us.

She took the mask off and then said "Again." Then proceeded to put it on upside down.
She's a sweetie!