Tag: Vacationing Page 5 of 6

A lot of people at Christmastime travel to the tropics.  But we in the tropics?  We travel to the mountains.  We want the cold.  And in Lushoto, a town about 7 hours away from us, is one of our favorite places ever. 

Like last year, we were blessed with such an amazing week.  There’s never that much to it–just reading (this year was The Hunger Games trilogy for me), playing games, hanging out with excellent friends.  Eating great food that I didn’t have to cook.  Kids playing outside all day.  Enjoying the beauty of the mountains.  And wearing sweaters. 

Grace had her birthday in Lushoto, but we didn’t do a party there this year, since she wants to have one with her friends from school (which will happen next weekend).  But Daddy couldn’t let the special day pass without some fun, so he created a Treasure Hunt that took them all over the lodge.  Like I said.  Best Daddy Ever. 

And he had his own fun by playing soccer with the locals every evening.

With his miniature Buzz:  His favorite Christmas present.

Lilies.

New Year’s Eve Dance Party.  Thankfully, Daddy did not put his arm through a window this year.

Gil got to play football every evening, and use his new macro lens every day.  He was in heaven.

Although technically, I guess, it is winter here. 

But still hot enough to spend a week at our favorite beach house! We invited two families and two students, and of course, it was a relaxing, soul-uplifting, rejuvenating time.

Gil watched a fisherman catch this creature, who then promptly sold it to him for 75 cents.

More beautiful than Malibu; yet totally deserted except for us.

Grace and Ruby, rockin’ out.

Christa and Lotta….sigh.  I love them.

We took a trip to Nairobi, Kenya, during our spring break…to have a little fun, but also to do a little work by visiting a couple other MK schools and getting some ideas and inspiration. We accomplished all of the above.

Nairobi’s giraffe center:  the stuff African dreams are made of

We have chosen to teach at HOPAC instead of RVA, even though this is the view from there….sigh.  But our hearts are still with HOPAC.  Fun to visit RVA though…it’s where I attended in 9th grade, so it felt like going back in time. 

Nairobi is famous for its BBQ restaurants with all-you-can-eat meat…including things like crocodile.  My husband decided Josiah needed to be a real man and refused to allow him to eat anything else but meat, all evening long.  Josiah did not complain.

We stayed with some wonderful friends we knew from Tanzania years ago.  We love you, Hannah!  Such a beautiful senior girl now…and will be attending APU!

Easter Sunday

Lots of blasts from the past on this trip. The chaplain at Rosslyn is married to Robin, who I grew up with in Liberiaand haven’t seen for about 20 years. For many reasons, we have a lot in common…amazing to spend time with them!

Dar es Salaam may be hot, sticky, suffocating, hot, humid, hot right now, but believe it or not, not all of Tanzania is like that.  Dar has the stereotypical tropical climate that you might think of when you think of Africa, but really, not all of Tanzania is this way, or all of Africa, for that matter.  We’ve said many times that we really wish HOPAC could relocate, because we would be out of here in an instant!

We got to spend the week after Christmas in one such place.  Lushoto is in the mountains, about 6000 feet (I think)–a six hour drive–so the climate is entirely different from Dar.  Gone are the palm trees and the humidity, in exchange for rolling green hills, waterfalls, and crisp, cool air.  Just what we needed. 

Muller’s Lodge is a converted 1930’s German boarding house from the days of colonization.  It’s wood and brick, surrounded by hydrangeas and daisies and eucalyptus trees, and has a fireplace in the living room.  Truly blissful.

We’ve been there a few times before, but this time was by far the best, because about 7 other HOPAC families and couples (and some singles!) came up as well…we practically took over the place!  There was always someone to talk to, always someone who wanted to play Settlers, and I hardly saw my children all week because they had so many friends to play with. 

We may have told you on our Home Assignment that we were really praying that God would deepen our friendships this term, and bring us new ones–especially families with little kids.  That is exactly what God has provided.  We are beyond blessed!

This was New Year’s Eve.  First the kids started dancing….

…with their glow bracelets.

Then the grown-ups just couldn’t resist the fun!

Until everyone had joined in!

We were all having a great time…

….until about 9:30, when Gil attempted to open a window to let in some air….the window broke, blood started spurting out of his arm, and the party abruptly ended!  Thankfully, a friend of ours is an RN, and she instantly took over.  They took him to a local Catholic hospital, and he had 3 internal stitches and 5 external ones…all by a surgeon with his pants on backwards.

It was an eventful New Year’s!