We had the privilege of arriving in Kenya in time to attend the retreat and we were looking forward to it for weeks beforehand because it was a chance to see the Indian Ocean, a chance to meet everyone else in the WGM Kenya team right away, and a chance to listen to a thought-provoking speaker during the sessions. Well, the week didn't turn out exactly like we'd hoped. The retreat took place on the coast of the Indian Ocean, which sounds lovely and exotic (and partly was), and was meant to be a true retreat for everyone (even for us newbies who'd just arrived on the field), but our enjoyment quickly diminished when two of our kids became sick on the first day of the retreat. Few things can dampen the mood of a vacation like sick kids!
We had spent a night in Nairobi before our early morning flight to the coast, and it quickly became apparent that Kai was coming down with a fever. He was practically on fire by the time we put the boys to bed. Thankfully Eli had thought to throw in some ibuprofen "just in case" and we gave him a couple doses before we boarded the plane in the morning. The poor guy was clearly uncomfortable, started coughing overnight, and slept terribly. It was the start of an exhausting week. By the next day Asa was feverish too, and by the next night Asa was coughing through the night too, and sleeping terribly. Suffice it to say, this "retreat" was a lot of work for us. With that said, we are still so thankful we had the privilege of going, not only because it was our chance to see the Indian Ocean, but especially because it was a way to meet the rest of our teammates and gain a greater appreciation for our mission organization. In short, we came away from the retreat extremely thankful for our teammates, and for our field leadership, and for the blessing of fun and fellowship even in the midst of managing little kids who are sick!
Caleb somehow avoided the fever/cough (although he did catch the cold by the end of the week), so he was able to enjoy the pool and the beach quite a bit. There was a kiddie pool attached to the main pool, which was amazing for our little swimmer, and he couldn't get enough of it.
Once Asa's fever was gone we got him into the pool as well. We borrowed a floatie from another missionary family, and he loved it!
It's a lot of work to take little kids swimming, but their excitement makes it worthwhile :)
The dining area was poolside, which is great for people without two little boys who keep getting up from the table in favor of wandering toward the pool and making us frantically shout, "Stop! Get away from the pool!" Sheesh...
The Bubba turned seven months while we were there. He was snotting like crazy while I took photos on the beach, but he's so smiley that it's hard to recognize that he was sick!
Caleb loved the beach. He loved playing in the sand, wading in the water, and talking about animals that live in the ocean. There were many moments when my Mama Heart squeezed as I watched our son explore the ocean for the first time!
Kai and Asa saw very little of the beach overall but did make it there once or twice. Kai loved digging in the sand - he's our construction machine guy and loves digging anything - and Asa continually tried eating the sand and hence wasn't allowed to hang around too long. But we can officially say that our entire family has been to the beach on the Indian Ocean!
Toward the end of the week we ventured to the beach right after breakfast, at low tide, to see the tide pools and find sea creatures. It was the highlight of the week! Not only was it breathtakingly beautiful, but we saw lots of fun things, like crabs, starfish, and moray eels!
It was an exhausting week, to be sure, but we're glad we made the trek and put up with sick kids. We're trying to remember the fun parts more than the frustrating parts. One difficult thing that's hard to forget, however, was the heat and humidity. We were at sea level near the equator, after all, and the heat and humidity were treacherous. But the rooms were air conditioned, and there was ice cream at the airport as we waited for our flight back to Nairobi! So there were silver linings even as we sweated through our clothes every day just by standing still. Thank God for air conditioning and ice cream when you need it most!
We made it back safely to Tenwek, even though we ran into some bumps along the way (quite literally). The main road was completely blocked because of an accident, and the detour was completely blocked because of construction, so we wound our way down the Rift Valley through small, nearly impassable roads that jolted the van horrendously but which made for quite an adventure! Our poor kids were stuck in their car seats for over six hours because of how long the new route took, but we made it back in one piece, and Caleb's response when we got back into our house at Tenwek was, "It's so fun to be home!" Our hearts were happy and encouraged to hear our son declare this place to be home. And we agree: yes, it's fun to be home!
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