he new year began in Italy. We returned to Nairobi Jan 12th. Jan 17-18 we took Gio and 4 of his friends for a weekend of zip-lining and rafting.
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| Jan 1st vaccination (HPV dose #2) given by Paolo's best friend Dr. Angelo. The vaccination has been out of stock in Kenya for months so we had to get creative. |
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| A visit from the newlyweds (remember our trip to Italy in May?) Cristina (Paolo's niece) and Giacomo and their two dogs. |
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| Another reality of expat life- often you must plan far ahead. Gio will have a graduation ceremony in June. We wanted to avoid the lack of options and very high prices in Kenya so we bought Gio his outfit in Italy (and hope we got the sizes right for 6 months of growth!).
One of our favorite people in Italy is a young man named Lele. He took Gio rock climbing in early January.
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| This is Lele. Maria adores him! |
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| Maria was cold riding her bike. Gio offered a solution. He can be such a sweet big brother! |
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| In Milano and visiting LEGO city with cousin Giacomo (Cristina's brother, not to be confused with her husband Giacomo!). |
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| Cannot pass up gelato when in Italy! |
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| One day before we fly back to Nairobi and Maria lost her first tooth! Much excitement in the house that day! |
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| Visiting our favorite shop and their store dog Elbrus! |
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| Almost home. It is a long travel day to get back to Nairobi. |
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| Day before school starts again and I took Gio to get two teeth pulled. Tooth fairy was busy with the Bellis this week! |
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| Jagger got a large puncture wound on his paw from a fever tree thorn. Bruno took good care of him. |
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| Ready for day 1 of 2020 at school! |
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| Gio and his gang walking to the buses after the first day back. |
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| Someone got a lot bigger while we were away... |
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| ...a LOT bigger! January 18-19 Birthday Party Weekend! (This was supposed to happen in December but had to be rescheduled due to the heavy rains.) |
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| First Miles arrived- Maria is quite a fan! |
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| We picked up the rest of the gang at Nicky's house (Nicky's dad helped us with the driving). |
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| And after a 2 hour drive we arrived at Savage Wilderness. |
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| After lunch the boys did some Stand Up Paddleboarding. |
The lesson began with each boy jumping into the river to practice river rescue (one of the instructors was standing further down the river to make sure they could get to the edge).
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| Paddling. Their first assignment was to try standing on their heads! |
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| And then to try all 5 standing at once... |
....with little success but lots of laughs!
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| Next everyone took some turns doing the zip line over the river. Maria got to participate in this activity! |
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| Pool time while the adults enjoyed a few sundowners. After dinner we returned to the pool area where the staff had built us a fire. S'mores were a big hit. |
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| Paolo and I only had to remind the boys to be quiet a "few" times in the night (they had their own cabin). Next morning breakfast before hitting the rapids. |
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| Ready to go! |
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| Bus ride 9km up the river to the launch site. |
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| Meanwhile back at camp...more zip-lining for Maria and Nicky's brother Sammy (also 6). I stayed back with them. Sammy was disappointed he was too young to go on the rafts. Maria was not! And here are the photos of the big adventure. They were out on the river for about 3 hours. One of the crew members was in a kayak ahead of the rafts to capture these photos.... |
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| Raft 1: Paolo, Gio, Nicky, Nicky's dad William & Max. Their guide is the owner of Savage Wilderness- Mark Savage. He is in his mid-70s and a remarkable man. Still takes groups up Mt. Kenya both the walking route and the climbing route! |
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| Yikes! I am glad I did not see this one until it was all over. |
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| In the background is boat 2- Yoav, Miles, Miles' dad Tony, Paolo's friend Giovanni and their guide. |
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| My favorite photo of all- Paolo taking a tumble! |
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| Bruno was admitted to the hospital in the middle of the night just before we went away for the weekend. He spent 3 nights there. He was ultimately diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He is home now and on a regimen of medicines. He is weak but feeling good enough to resume his monkey chasing adventures at Karura. Love this sweet old fellow. |
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| Jan 21 Elementary School Field Day (rescheduled from December due to the heavy rains) |
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| Got her first diary from her friend Alessia. |
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| First page in that diary. YIKES! |
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| Morning coffee. |
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| Field Day at school |
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| Waiting for the school bus. Gio had gone to school at 6AM for swim team practice. Maria was off to a sleepover that afternoon so we did not see her again until Saturday. She loves sleepovers!! |
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| Saturday fun at the water park. |
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| Spirit Week at school.... First day- Book character. (Captain Underpants). Question: Do ANY Elementary School parents enjoy Spirit Week?? |
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| Combined twin day (which I forgot about!) with sport jersey day. |
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| Riding her beloved Blackie. Her teacher told her she is ready to move to a new level (and so a new horse). She burst into tears. |
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| Cheering on the high school rugby team! |
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| Still her favorite sleeping spot- getting rather snug. |
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| Two goofballs. Gioia is now 8 months old and 10kgs heavier than Jagger...and still growing!
Gio goes with the 5th grade on a three night camping trip next week and we head to Lamu Island for a long weekend Feb 7-10. I hope your February starts off well.
XOXO. Clara
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