Greetings, All-
We’ve had a busy six weeks or so, on two sides of the globe. Annette and Luke spent about six weeks in the States getting Luke worked up for some recurring rashes he’d been having since we got to Nairobi. Little Mark, Chris and I played bachelor and didn’t burn the house down.
The big boys and I went camping on the first weekend after Annette and Luke took off. We camped on the shore of Lake Naivasha, at the camp we stopped at on a previous trip at Easter time. We roasted some hot dogs on the first night, and the boys were happy to go to sleep early, with the novelty of the tent and sleeping bags. There was a hippo standing around the next morning when we got up (you can see him over the boys’ left shoulders in the attached photo). After breakfast and a hippo-viewing boat ride, we took off for a game drive at Lake Nakuru National Park. In spite of all of the animals, the boys’ most memorable moment came when a baboon stole their lunch – two PB&J’s and two juice boxes. The baboon was sitting still while I sat by the boys, but made his move when I got up to get something out of the car. They both panicked at the time, but got brave fifteen minutes later when they called Annette to tell her about the event (while they were sitting in the car eating new sandwiches). After all that adventure, Chris went to school on Monday and wrote in his weekend report, where he draws the highlight of his weekend, and drew…a goat (we had seen some near the road on the way to the game drive).
We stayed busy for the rest of the time, too. The boys invited some friends over, we made ice cream, they started washing dishes, and went bowling for the first time. There’s a photo here of Chris hiding during a game of hide and seek. I sent that photo to Annette in the States; she didn’t seem to surprised that a bunch of bachelors would think of hiding above the curtains. They did well for the whole six weeks, though acted up a bit after school got out and they were home all day. We have a stock of food in the garage, and I found them part way through a Costco box of 50 granola/candy bars one day. I became suspicious when I went in the garage and asked Mark what he was doing, and his eyes got as big as saucers while he held his hand over his mouth, smelling like chocolate. Clifford started acting up, too – I think Luke missed his pup as much as Clifford missed his boy.
Luke and Annette got back on July 10, about four weeks after we had planned. The docs eliminated all of the dire things we had feared, though they never defined exactly why he’s having so many rashes. They were able to spend some good time with the family in Georgia and Louisiana, and Annette did a fair bit of shopping.
In spite of almost 24 hours en route, Luke was giddy as soon as he saw his brothers at the airport on arrival in Nairobi. The big boys had made a sign for Mommy and Luke, which Annette says she’ll keep for a long time. When we got back home, about 10 in the evening, Luke got out of the car and ran around the driveway with Clifford for about 20 minutes. The dog was about as excited as the rest of us.
Luke was jetlagged for a few days after they got back. I was in the kitchen one afternoon when he wandered in and collapsed on the floor. I put him onto a blanket, and Clifford came in a few minutes later and flopped on “his boy.” There’s a photo attached here.
All’s well here. The big boys are out of school until early September. All three of them are riding their bikes a lot, in spite of the chilly weather here. Chris won a few dollars at the horse race yesterday. Annette has the big boys in tennis lessons, and they’re all spending some time with some new families who just arrived at post. Annette’s keeping up with three boys and a pup, while fighting to find food that the new baby won’t kick out. The baby’s an herbivore, apparently.
Hope everyone’s well,
Mark
