Last week we began telling Eden and Andy that they had a surprise coming after church on Sunday.  They were very excited about it all week and kept guessing what it might be.  Their guesses ranged from a twiga to freez-e-pops but they never imagined it would be Deda and Aunt Donna!  When I opened the door and the kids saw them standing there, they were shocked!  Andy recovered quickly and ran for them, but Eden was like a zombie.  She could barely move.  It was so funny!

We had a wonderful time with Deda and Aunt Donna for a couple of days in Eldoret.  We played and ran around town to do some errands.  We celebrated Halloween at the Sally Test Center and went trick-or-treating here in the compound.  Eden was a safari guide and Andy was an elephant.  It was perfect because Elanna was a twiga and Gavin was a lion.  🙂  They all had fun running around and I think liked being together more than they actually liked the trick-or-treating.  They got lots of candy and we took a million pictures.

On Tuesday we drove to Nairobi to meet up with Papa and stayed there for the rest of the week.  We got there in time to settle in and have dinner then the kids went to bed when we got back.  Wednesday morning Deda, Aunt Donna and Andy went to the baby elephant sanctuary with Javan (our friend/driver) while Ben, Eden and I were at the embassy.  We all met back at the hotel for lunch and naps.  Then we spent the rainy afternoon at the mall playing at Beezy Bees, riding the elevators and escalators and then had tea and snacks at Java House before going back to the hotel.

On Thursday we did a safari ride through Nairobi National Park.  It was a great trip!  We saw a bunch of twiga right beside the road as soon as we drove in to the park.  Then we saw a bunch of gazelle, eland, a few monkeys, some cape buffalo, 4 rhinos in a pack, zebras and the best part were the lions.  Total we saw 6 lions!  We first saw 2 females sitting under a tree.  Then we saw a male lion with his kill.  He was a ways off, but we could see him dragging his food.  Then on our way out of the park we saw three lion cubs sitting under a tree.  We also saw a bunch of birds and two crocodiles as well as a group of baboons.  It was really fun and the kids did a great job.  Especially because we didn’t really eat from breakfast until we got back to the hotel at 5.  They napped during the drive and slept pretty well.

Thursday evening we ate “lunch” (at 5:15) poolside and played in the pool.  The pool was warm which was nice because it was a bit chilly outside.  The kids loved swimming and jumping off the side.  Then we had baths and ate a light dinner then visited before bed.

We had a great time with Deda, Aunt Donna and Papa and  were so sad when Deda and Aunt Donna left.  The kids are very excited that Papa is coming tomorrow, and Eden is especially looking forward to their week together.  We’ve posted a few pictures and will post more after we swap pics with Deda, Papa and Aunt Donna.