SWIMMIN' FOOLS

My kids have never been the best swimmers. Translation: there was not a drop of water in Moldova. Of course, we have mom and dad's lake, but while we lived in Moldova, we always came home during Christmas, not over the summer, and Christmas is not an ideal time to be swimming in MN.

Swimming is really one of the only things to do here. What Malawi lacks in, well just about everything, it makes up for in their fantastic weather. The kids have swimming lessons at school several times a week and as a family we hit the pool nearly every weekend.

Below are some VERY belated photos of Valentine's day. The cake is curtsey of a fantastic friend who never forgets we live on the edge of the civilized world (when it come to food). Thanks Mary!! The last set of pix is from a Valentine's Day cookie decorating party for kids.

SUNDAY HIKE

Last weekend we went hiking with some friends, and brought all the kids. Malawi is full of these beautiful 'kopje's" or small mountains seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We were with another couple who have lived here for over seven years and if it exists in Malawi, they know where to find it.

So the hike started in the low ground and we hacked our way through maize fields and wandered through empty villages. It was Sunday morning and anyone who is anyone in Malawi is at church on Sunday mornings. We were accompanied by three dogs, our guides, and frankly I was very happy to have them along so they could run ahead and scare all the snakes away!

At nearly the two hour mark we made it to a little "chalet" (a very generous analogy) that hard core climbers going all the way to the peak can use as a base. We used it as a shady spot to have our lunch. After a short rest, seven of us attempted to continue further up. About eight minutes later, every kid in attendance was crying, so we decided that was a good cue to turn around and head back to the chalet/hut. The route did get really difficult and became a bit of a rocky scramble. The guard of the chalet/hut also issued a warning about they hyenas "over there" which is nearly always reason enough to turn around.

All in all, a really fun day trip. We would like to attempt again, but this time without the kids. Remind me to google "hyena repellant."

ANNA BANANA

Anna is 5. Oh brother, I don't remember allowing this! We had a smallish party with some of her friends and a few gifts that actually arrived in time. Anna's current obsession: Littlest Pet Shop's. I don't get it, but China is smiling all the way to bank.

For the party, I made bunches of sugar cookies and then let the kids decorate with frosting. It turned out to be a complete mess, but the kids didn't mind.

And then there is Marge, holding vigil over discarded pizza crusts and cookie crumbs. Oh Marge. She will sit for hours waiting for even the smallest handouts. I think she remembers the lean years from her Soviet upbringing.
Then came the rains, which brought 13 kids into the house for the last hour of the party. Good times!

NIGHTLIFE

The other week, Mike decided to head out at night, after the rains stopped and take some evening night sky photos from our yard.
He ventured over to one of our security lights to get a picture of the thousands of flying termites that swarm in the lights. At some point he looked down and noticed there were frogs eating the termites that had lost their wings and fallen to the ground. And where there are frogs.....there are snakes! Three to be exact, all right at his feet. Two quickly slithered away while one used the confusion to his advantage and nabbed a frog, right in front of Mike and his camera.

Look at the disgusting white ooooze spewing from the frog. Ask Margie to tell you about this. Early on, she made the mistake of grabbing a frog and spent the next hour or so foaming at the mouth in our family room! Note to self, don't go outside in the dark after the rains!! Yikes!

The remainder of the pix are just random shots from around our yard. Notice our discreet front gate and the razor wire that surrounds our house. It's not just us, everyone here lives behind walls like this!

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS!

It seems forever since I have updated this blog. It's because of the rains, of course. As if there was any question about that! You see, February is the height of the rainy season here, and when it rains my painfully slow Internet connection simply peters out into nothingness. I had already made my peace with not having any Internet connection until after 6pm, but the rain factor is bringing this into cruel and unusual punishment levels. But alas, February will not last forever and who would of thought I'd be grateful to have my really slow, really expensive, late night Internet connection back.

Speaking of being grateful for the little things; see below photo of the kids opening a box containing individual cereal packages! Oh the joy (thanks Mary!!) They spent hours dividing, trading, swapping and hiding their booty. I received licorice, which was also promptly hidden. And or a minute I wondered where the kids got it from!

Moving on to Marge. Oh Marge. She is also grateful for the little things. Like sneaking up on the bed for a few short snoozes. If you think that the kids (or I) am responsible for her sharpie tattoo, you'd be dead wrong.

Margo is also grateful (she told me) for the miscellaneous trash she finds out in the yard. Not going to waste a perfectly good chicken foot. No sir'ee!
On a different note, we went camping again and thought you'd like to see our set-up. The first time we all crammed into the bigger tent and used the smaller for our food and clothes. This time around we did it right and had a girls tent and a boys tent. Everyone slept much better! Once again, no one got eaten by a crocodile (my worst nightmare, for real!) But, we did have several run In's with scorpions. We were camping on sand and those little buggers are HARD to see. They blend right in, as you can see from the (albeit poorly lit) photo below.

This sign is not from where we went camping, but it doesn't fit anywhere else in the blog. Don't mess with the crocodiles. Not a bad policy.

Finally, here are some of William's latest Lego creations. He LOVES his Legos and spends hours creating and recreating his projects. He particularly liked this one.