A Boy Turns 10 (in Two Parts)

Our baby is ten!

Part One

We had a special celebration this year given that his birthday fell on Mother's Day, so Caleb and I enjoyed a "double holiday."  I woke up to breakfast in bed and some fun cards from the boys, then we got busy baking a cake right away.  Eli made sure I had a couple uninterrupted hours in the hammock, which allowed me to read a novel and take a nap, but the rest of the day was all about the birthday boy!

At some point, I'm not exactly sure when, Caleb crossed over the point when we no longer get him toys for his birthday.  He wants books, T-shirts, movies, and other "older kid" kind of stuff.  It's weird to think that I haven't bought him a new animal toy in a while!  But it's also fun to be on the lookout for new books for him.  Caleb is a bookworm and we love it.

He thought about his cake a couple months ago.  He wanted a cake with King Kong and Godzilla on it.  I reminded him he had lots of time left to think about it (and, ahem, I hoped he would truly think about it more and change his mind!), but he was firm.  He wanted King Kong and Godzilla on his cake!

I wasn't entirely sure how to do that.  And quite frankly, I chose not to think about it until the eleventh hour.  But inspiration struck at the last minute and this is what I came up with:

Not too shabby!  I couldn't figure out how to incorporate candles into the scene, but Caleb had decided he didn't want candles in the end, so I didn't have to think overlong about it.  He also specifically requested that he didn't want anyone singing Happy Birthday to him, nor did he want to open presents in front of anyone, so his party was a rather quiet affair.  But goodness, he loved his cake!

What's that saying about imitation being the highest level of compliment?  I don't remember it exactly, but I was deeply honored when Caleb decided he wanted to decorate his own mini cake with Godzilla like the big cake!  (We had too much batter with the cake mix we used.  It was a Kenyan brand and didn't match my 9x13 pan quite right, so we made an extra mini cake with the extra batter.)

Part Two

Caleb's birthday was a success!  But his actual birthday was only half the celebration.  We had decided that turning 10 is a pretty big deal and we wanted to do something fun and new to mark the occasion.  So we chose to use an upcoming week off to visit a national park we hadn't been to before and count it as part of Caleb's birthday celebration.  So, a couple weeks after his birthday, we ventured to Hell's Gate National Park and spent a couple days exploring.

Hell's Gate has been on our bucket list for years.  We lived closer to it when we were at Tenwek, but never bothered going at that time because our kids were too little to do any of the activities the park offers (and which make visiting the park totally worth it).  But now that all three boys are able to go biking, and maybe even try rock climbing, we knew it was finally time to check out Hell's Gate National Park!

And it was amazing!  The first day we just drove around and eventually found our way to Obsidian Caves.  The word "cave" is a bit generous since it's just a cleft in the rockface, but it's an obsidian-filled rockface and it was neat to see and feel the smooth, shiny black rock all over the place.

In addition to the obsidian everywhere, Eli found a ton of porcupine quills!  They were a bit incognito because they were mixed in with a bunch of dried grass stalks, but sure enough, there were a whole bunch of black-and-white porcupine quills scattered on the ground.  Clearly something ate a porcupine here (or tried to) and the only thing remaining are the quills.  It probably happened a long time ago, but how cool that we discovered it???  (You have to look very closely to see the quills in this picture, but there's a bunch of them there!  Incognito...)

The caves offered a distant view of Lake Naivasha and the weather was cool and cloudy and perfect for exploring.  The boys climbed and scrambled all over for a long time and begged to stay longer, but it was getting dark and we had to get back to the campsite. (Yes! We camped in Kenya for the first time!)

The next day we went biking.  It was our first family bike ride!  It has been quite a journey to teach our kids to ride bikes, which I won't go into here, but suffice it to say that going on a family bike ride was a major milestone for us!  And these kids went far - over 4 miles, which is super far given that they've only gone in circles around our little compound before.  It was a big ask, but it paid off because the experience of biking with wildlife was incredible!!!

Hell's Gate doesn't have many predators (if any), so it's one of the only parks you can go biking through.  We just followed the main road for awhile, then turned around and came back to the park gate.  It was a perfect day - I'm talking 75 and sunny and all the fresh air in the world to enjoy.  

The scenery couldn't be beat.  Cliffs and plains with plenty of wildlife amidst it all.  We saw baboons, warthogs, zebra, eland, Grant's gazelle, hartebeest, a secretary bird, a giraffe, and cape buffalo.  It felt like a dream!

On the way back to the park gate, we stopped at Fischer's Tower to try our hand at rock climbing.  Caleb was too tuckered out from the bike ride to take a turn, and Eli's foot was cut and he didn't want to squeeze a sore foot into the climbing shoes, so only Kai, Asa, and Mama ended up tackling Fischer's Tower.

Asa made a valiant effort but became skittish soon into the climb and needed to come down.  I was proud of him for having a go, and for his courage in trying something like this!  Plus, how adorable is a little guy in that climbing gear???

Kai, who had never rock climbed before, was a total champ!  I wish I would've timed him because it was shocking how quickly and confidently he skirted up the rockface.  He was fearless, full of energy and bravery.  We were so proud!  I was even more proud after taking a turn myself.  I went up the same route Kai did, and even me with longer arms and legs had trouble finding and reaching some of the hand holds.  I don't know how he did it!

Kai descended as courageously and confidently as he went up.  He trusted the rope and followed the guide's instructions well.  I was so impressed because leaning back when you're up that high and feel nothing but air underneath you is nerve-wracking.  I was more nervous than Kai was!  That kid might have more climbing adventures in his future.

Meanwhile, Caleb stayed occupied with a hyrax friend down below.  This guy suddenly appeared after Caleb threw his apple core on the ground, then another hyrax showed up, and it was exactly what our animal-obsessed kid needed to get his energy back after the long bike ride.  Any kind of wildlife, even a rodent like this, has the power to energize and excite Caleb!

Speaking of getting excited over any and all wildlife, we saw our very first dung beetle at Hell's Gate too!  And it was rolling a ball of dung!  So cool.

It was a birthday for the books!  Caleb felt extra loved and that was the whole goal.

Our oldest is a kind-hearted young man and he regularly blesses our family with his kindness and compassion.  He's an emotional kid - sometimes more than we'd like - but the amazing thing about that is the hordes of love that pours out of him.  Caleb is the first to offer a hug or kind word when he recognizes that someone needs encouragement, and he's still the snuggler he's always been and it fills us up to get a good Caleb snuggle.

He's an obedient kid who follows directions without complaint.  He plays really well with his brothers but also self-entertains like the best of them.  He keeps growing in courage and bravery and we're proud of everything he overcomes as a kid who struggles with social anxiety and some sensory stuff.  Truly, his courage and bravery are monumental given what he's had to face in that regard.  He's braver than me, that's for sure, and I'm so proud to call him mine.

Caleb loves the Lord wholeheartedly, which is the greatest desire we have for all of our sons, and he's an incredible example of what it looks like to know God and remember His Word and want to learn more about Him.  I pray I can be like him.

Happiest of Birthdays to our Caleb!