Tractor Ride

The day finally arrived: the day of the tractor ride for Asa's birthday!  It was a much anticipated event in our house, and our boys were stoked.  We arranged for the driver, some hay bales, and all the MKs who wanted a ride.  It was loads of fun, and a way to remind ourselves that it's autumn in the States.  Hayrides are such a quintessential fall activity, so although it usually feels like spring year-round around here, we were able to bring a bit of fall into the day with this tractor ride.

But before the ride could commence, I had to bake a cake.  Oh, and the boys needed to have a balloon battle.  Because birthday celebrations are always better when they've begun with a balloon battle :)

A short-term visitor recently gave me a box of food coloring - something I never considered bringing with us from the States.  I was so excited to see the bright colors because it meant I could get creative with the cake!  I am not a cake decorator in the slightest, but Asa could tell there were two tractors on it, which is all I cared about.

And then it was time for the ride!  Asa took a brief 30-minute nap beforehand (because he was starting to melt and nobody wants a cranky birthday boy at a birthday party), so he was refreshed and ready to go!  He was super excited to see the tractor pulled up right next to our building and his Daddy getting the hay spread out for everyone.  On a sidenote, this is the tractor/trailer that picks up all the trash around Tenwek everyday.  After his daily rounds today, the driver cleaned out the whole trailer just for us, which was critical lest we all come away with a special smell afterwards :)

This boy just melts my heart!  He was in heaven.

And here's the whole crew that joined us for the ride.  We are so blessed to live in this community of missionaries!

Bubba sat on my lap the entire time and took the whole thing in.  We live in such a beautiful part of Kenya and it was truly a scenic ride.

And naturally there were cows in the road.  There are so many cows in the roads in this country!

We went around Tenwek and then out to the main road before looping back to the hospital.  It was about a half-hour ride.

We also passed through the town of Silibwet on the way back to Tenwek.  We were quite the sight!  Many people were waving and smiling (if not laughing and pulling out their phones to take pictures of all the white kids going for a tractor ride!).

And back home to Tenwek...

This man drives the tractor around Tenwek every single day and we see him drive behind our house every day to pick up the trash in our end of the compound.  We have a routine of running outside to see the tractor and to wave to the driver as he heads out again.  He is faithful to wave and smile to our kids every single time.  And I have never known his name until today!  But apparently there are few people who know his real name because everyone just calls him "Babu" which is the Swahili word for "Grandpa" and that seems quite fitting to me.  So we will call him Babu too!

Oh, sweet tractor-lovin' boy!

And then it was time to eat the cake!  Asa was not happy with everyone singing Happy Birthday because it delayed getting to the cake.  While everyone sang he cried and shouted, "Cake!  Cake!"  He had three pieces before we had to take it away and force him to stop :)

I'm sooooo thankful it worked to have a tractor ride for Asa's birthday!  When we moved here we had no idea how we might get to celebrate our boys' birthdays.  We've been flexible and content with whatever is possible, but this was something particularly special.  Who knew that tractors were a common thing here in Kenya, and that right here at Tenwek we have a guy who's part of the community and drives a tractor every day and could make this birthday party possible?  We feel so blessed.  How spoiled we are to have a tractor ride on the mission field!

Happy Birthday, Asa!

Two Years Old!

This boy turned two years old last weekend!  We were in Nairobi to pick up Eli's cousins who happened to fly into Kenya on Asa's birthday.  We were so excited to have family join us for some birthday fun!

We started the day with chocolate muffins, which this boy loved, especially while watching Peppa Pig (one of his current favorite shows).

And then it was time for a card and a present, because birthdays are always better when they start with a present.  We had a tractor theme for this tractor-loving boy :)

And then we were off to the Giraffe Center!  We wanted to find something fun to do since we were in Nairobi for the weekend, and this turned out to be the perfect place for our birthday boy.  He LOVED it!  He giggled and squealed and shook with joy each time a giraffe ate a pellet from his hand.  It was so much fun to watch him!

Asa was pretty worn out afterwards - so much excitement and being out in the sun can really tucker out a little boy!  We ate at a nearby mall afterwards and he barely made it through lunch, then was asleep within minutes of getting back in the car.  Birthday boys still need good naps!  

On a sidenote, I love this picture below.  Doesn't Caleb look like such a punky teenageer?  He was actually just too nervous to get close to the giraffes and refused to stand by the rest of the family for this photo, but he looks so smug!  Kai enjoyed feeding the giraffes just as much as Asa.  They are our adventurous two and are proving to be very much alike in many ways.

Once we were back at the guesthouse with the birthday boy well-napped, well-fed, and well-bathed (because giraffe slime is for real!), then it was time for a couple more presents, also tractor-themed.  New jammies!  New bedtime book!  And joy all-around :)

Our Asa Bubba is such a joy.  He is energetic and adventurous, curious and daring.  He fully believes he can do anything his brothers can, and therefore finds a lot of trouble for himself :)  He loves to dig in the dirt and climb trees and run around with sticks.  He loves to play with tractors and trucks and construction machines.  He loves to eat pepperoni, which we have to ration, and therefore cries when he can't have any.  He is comfortable with anyone and has become very good at greeting people in Swahili.  Asa loves to play with his brothers, especially if they're chasing each other around the house or building forts on the couch.  He likes to run away when it's time to change his diaper and he loves to be naked.  He can't sleep without his snuggle blanket and often needs it throughout the day for comfort.  Asa is a complete Mama's boy - no one else will do if Mama is around.  And he's definitely discovered his will and has daily toddler tantrums with piercing screams that make our ears ring!  But in between the tantrums is our precious little boy who's discovering more about the world every day and who makes this life better for all of us.  His giggles are contagious, his dimpled smile still makes my heart stop, and his sing-song voice is the most beautiful sound in the world.  We continue to pray that our Bubba will do what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord and have a heart fully committed to Him.  We cannot thank God enough for our son!

We love you, Asa!

New School Year

The new school year has begun!  The Tenwek Coop officially started this week, and although we are not a part of the coop (because our kids are still too young) we officially began our new homeschool curriculum for Kindergarten!  Caleb is a Kindergartener this year, and Kai is a Preschooler, and they do all of their lessons together and do rather well for themselves.  We are using the Abeka Homeschool Curriculum, which is great.  I chose it because a friend from my MOPS group in Duluth recommended it, and it's truly a great curriculum.

An official preschool class will begin next week for two mornings a week, and Kai will be a part of it.  The mom of a family that just arrived (and who will be here for four months, so at least for the entire fall semester) has offered to teach it and we are thrilled!  It will be so wonderful for Kai to have his own class and something special just for him.  And during that preschool time, one of the boys from that family who is Caleb's age will come to our house to do some school and to play with Caleb.  I am so thankful for this arrangement!  

Homeschooling overseas is certainly not the same as signing up our kids for school in the States, but the Lord has been very good and everything has come together wonderfully for our kids' school year this year!

Asa and the Chameleon

Last week the maintenance department chopped tons of branches off several trees in our compound in an attempt to get rid of a certain parasite that's infected them.  The branches lay piled around until this week when a tractor and trailer came to haul them away.  We went outside to watch because tractors are a big deal in our house these days (namely for Asa Bubba), and one of the maintenance men walked toward us with a branch and said, "Take it."  I thought, Why do we want to take that random branch?  And then I noticed what was on the end of it: a chameleon.

Kenyans are terrified of chameleons, or any reptile for that matter.  They think we're crazy for loving them and playing with them and taking them home as pets.  Several times I've seen grown men and women jump away at the sight of a chameleon in our kids' hands.  It cracks me up because chameleons are perfectly harmless and wildly fascinating creatures.  Watching them change colors so easily, and observing them catch flies in the blink of an eye, and trying to see what they're looking at as their eyes look in two different directions at once - these  are observations that never get old.  Chameleons are truly one of God's most unique creations.

So the maintenance worker this morning wanted nothing to do with the chameleon he found in the pile of branches, but God bless him for knowing the wazungu would probably take the little critter off his hands, which we gladly did, and Asa was especially excited about it.

Asa often has a lot to say, and his speech is growing at an astronomical rate right now.  He says more words with more clarity all the time, and this was the first time I'd heard him say "chameleon" so well.  (These videos were taken on my phone and the picture was clear on my phone, so I'm not sure why they're blurry here.  Oh well.)

Thank you, maintenance man, for passing along this little friend today!  We're happy to take the scary reptiles off your hands :)