Mikaela's New Haircut

We were getting tired of Mikaela's tangles,and she became deathly afraid of "the salon." So, I broke my promise that I would never cut anyone's hair whom I loved. I cut her hair yesterday and it went okay. What do you think? It is hard to mess up someone who is sooo dang cute!

New House

These are pictures of our new house. No, we aren't in it yet, but you can see the difference between this and the temporary house. We are excited!

Our first African House

So this is it. We are here temporarily, but I thought maybe you would be interested in seeing what things look like here. There are two fence pictures, our guard, the pillar in front of our house, and the trees. Madison contributed to most of the pics :) Hope you enjoy.

Mozambique, Africa

We've made it to Africa. A long ride, but it was actually not so bad as the first time we came to Africa as Newlyweds. Back then I hadn't had back surgery so it was murder to be on a 15 hour flight. I figured this time would be awful because of the girls...but they did a great job. They slept about eight hours and each seat had a personal movie player. That kept us all engaged for a long time. Don't get me wrong, it was arduous, just not as much as I thought it would be. That is a good thing!
Adjusting is always interesting. Sometimes really intense, like when your daughter is throwing up and has a fever for four days and no one knows what is wrong, and you are thinking, "Malaria? Yellow Fever? Cholera? Crazy African illness?" Sometimes it is just one tiny thing after another like having none of your own pans to cook in so you use the sterling silver ones they give you and they burn everything in sight. Hence having to make eggs in the microwave for Mikaela. Or when you have to distill your water in this big, ugly silver thing that sits in your kitchen and may clean your water but it still tastes like dirt. We cook with it and wash veggies in it with bleach and brush our teeth with it. The welcome book talks about how mundane things, routine things, get under your skin because there are just so many, all day, that are different or hard or non-intuitive; one example is our kitchen sink has the hot water on the right and cold on the left and you pull up to turn it off and you push it down to turn it on. Weird.
Madison likes school and has been really fortunate to get a great teacher for kindergarten. They also made an exception and let her into the first grade gymnastics class--I begged and they felt pity on me. She starts on Tuesday. One of the slides is her at her fist day of school and Mikaela in her pijamas as we were still adjusting to time zones.
It is more chilly here than we thought, the girls have to wear sweaters but I am happy as a clam. It is like Fall or Spring weather when you wear jeans and a t-shirt or even a sweater at times. The sun is beautiful and we live 30 seconds from the beach. The beaches are disgusting and where we visited there was a dead rat-yuck! Our friends asked if we saw any hypodermic needles---we won't be going there anymore. Life will be a little easier when we have a car and can get ourselves around and go to the nicer beaches up the coast a bit.
All in all, we are happy and surviving. We are in a temporary house, but it is big and nice and we really have no complaints. We just have to get used to a key for everything and the laundry room being outside by the gaurds little bathroom that always smells disgusting. Other than that, there is comfy furniture and we have internet! Not so many mosquitos since it is winter, so we are really doing well. In the group of pictures after the slide show I will put in some of Madison's pictures of the house, the yard and the guard. Then we will send more when our new house is ready.
Love to all--from Africa :)

Holy Shrimp, Batman

I know someone is wondering what kind of lobster or crayfish that is, but it really is a shrimp. We bought four of them at the fish market, and they weighed over 1/4 lb EACH (and cost about $2 each)! Needless to say the girls didn't even finish theirs. I almost asked if they sold saddles for them, as well.

The fish is a red grouper, the first fish we ate here in Maputo (yes, the fish market is Tobias' favorite place so far), and it was DELICIOUS!! We almost felt like we were eating Nemo, though, since he looked more like he belongs in an aquarium. But we will definitely get grouper again. Our favorite so far has been the fresh clams. You buy them live and cook them immediately, and they are fantastic. I think we have eaten more than Mikaela's weight in clams already (and they only cost about 50 cents/lb). HEAVEN!

Do Ya Think Maybe She Likes Him?

Well, our family now has our first dog, a Boxer named Sugar Ray. He is happy, VERY energetic, and just what we need, especially for Africa. Most people here are terrified of dogs, which makes him a perfect fake guard dog because he looks tough and scary, but is as nice as a new puppy. When we take him walking it is like parting the Red Sea, people move right out of the way and give us PLENTY of space. And the girls can't really hurt him, either, since he weighs more than both of them and pulls me around like a little kid when he wants something. We are really happy to have him.

Dress-up

So, when you need to by busy packing and finishing 500 things, what do you do? Take a "trip" to India! Dress up in fun clothes, paint your face, curl your hair and pack suitcases to stick under the couch and take a vacation. It is is especially fun with Madison as your trip coordinato and Niki as your stylist! Can kids be any more beautiful? Yes, I know. I am biased! Anytime you are busy and looking for perspective try the "India" trip...worked for us!

Zoo trip

I am behind in my blogging, this is a trip we took with some friends to the Reston zoo here in Virginia and had such a great time, we wanted to share some pictures with you. The girls are letting me actually braid their hair these days AND put a flower in it! They warned us that the camels might try to eat it and to be careful--"Sully" the camel got pretty close, but he was so kind and friendly he didn't eat any people, just the food we gave him and the kleenex that fell on the ground, and the box the food came in...the girls thought it was so neat to pet a camel--I did too! Their feet are so cute! What a day at the zoo!

Madison's new haircut

Madison had her first real hair cut. When she was 3 she cut a little off one side, but this is the real thing! We think she looks so grown up for a five and a half year old and I think she is ready to be 20! Grandma Diana is our swimsuit supplier and gave Madi this on her last visit. We promised a fashion show, hope you like it! Madison is either in this or her gymnastics leotard these days! :) We love summer!!

Fun with Oma and Opa

Oma and Opa came and we had such a fun time with spoons...and the river and just being together. We had a hard time getting Oma out of the water!! Notice Madison's hair--she got it cut, so the next pictures she looks so different!

Dad's Visit

My dad was here for almost two weeks and Kathie came at the end for the last few days. We thought we were so lucky they came for so long, but, of course, it turned out to be so short!! Grandpa is awesome and was so helpful around the house, in our condo, with the girls, doing the dishes, making walking sticks and flower boxes--we loved having him around. We were total tourists too! WE saw museums and the Ford Theater, the monuments, the Arlington Cemetery and had a wonderful walk on Sunday on the Mall. We LOVE Grandpa Kay and Grandma Kathie and miss them! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Come to see us in Mozambique-- we can't wait two years to see you again :)
One of our favorite memories is throwing rocks into the creek and making a "dam" the little Mexican kids we played with called "the border." It was halarious...they also did such a good job organizing themselves and doing the work. Dad and I commented that we could not have gotten them to do what they did, but because they decided, they did it is no time. So cute! Sorry about the allergies guys!! Come in the winter next time! Love you!

How would you like to cuddle a kangaroo?

So, Peter and Michelle's neighbor is a zookeeper at a small zoo of exotic animals nearby. They are training a "baby" (meaning almost one year old) kangaroo to be an educational animal, so the zookeeper gets to take him home. Of course, he needs exercise, so one day we were visiting with them and saw their neighbor coming over holding a baby kangaroo. This wasn't just exciting for the kids - Dad got totally into it, as well. Can you imagine how cool it is to hold a baby kangaroo and then watch him hop around your front lawn? Not your everyday, "Mom, can I go pet him?" Just look at the faces of the two girls holding him. Once in a lifetime.

Mika's Birthday!!!

The BIG 3!!!! Mikaela has been wanting to be three for months now, so today was a BIG day. She was probably wondering if it would ever come. Grandma and Grandpa Roy, Grandpa and Grandma Kathie, and Oma and Opa had all left gifts for her, which have been sitting wrapped on the dresser for over a week. And this morning she got a special treat - after opening a couple of presents, getting sung to, congratulated, and a special breakfast, she got to go early to gymnastics class with her sister to play on the gym toys. They love it. They recently watched a movie about Nadia Comăneci, a Romanian gymnast who started young, and has become somewhat of a role model. It is really fun to watch them in the early stages of learning to be gymnasts, a little awkward, very cute, and makes you chuckle. Today was a great day for both of them.

Great Falls

One of our new favorite things to do here in D.C. is go to Great Falls. It is beautiful place with wonderful trails and gorgeous falls. Madison is our little acrobat! :)

Mom's visit

My mom came to visit with her husband, Roy. We had a wonderful weekend in the sun, making cookies, eating at yummy restaurants, playing at the park and taking walks. My mom and I had some nice early morning talks and we all actually finished all three High School Musicals :) As always, it was too short! Love you mom!