Tarangire and OP

It was one of those days. Friday was my Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. The short version:  After making a turn on a blinking green arrow, I was pulled over.  The police officers said “In this country, blinking green means you must stop”.  No it doesn’t, and this was the second time this week that I’d been pulled over for running a light when I hadn’t.  I was not the respectful person that the officer wanted me to be…in hindsight, the way that I should have been.  After threats of taking me to jail and threatening to take my car, a couple hours of our time, and more “fine” money than we would have liked, I was on my way.  I am very thankful that I had several people come to my rescue (Matt, Mama Jackie, Lucas).

Some time at Tarangire was just the yang that I needed to counteract the yin.  Matt, Ashlyn, and Anderson went out Friday afternoon.  Tierney had her first OP (Outdoor Pursuits) trip this weekend and she needed to be dropped off on Saturday morning, so I stayed with her…more on her trip later.

For sure the highlight of the weekend was when elephants decided the food was better in camp.  After lunch they hung around for awhile and we couldn’t get back to our tent (naptime?!).  The same group came back that night and parked themselves between mine/Anderson’s and Matt/Ashlyn’s tents.  We could have reached out and touched them.  2 hours of them shaking acacia pods from the tree and chomping outside our tent.  Anderson (and Matt) thought the noxious fart was hysterical.  We got reports later that other friends saw lion walking down the walkway in the middle of the night, too.  Cool!   

Tarangire sundowers make it better. All is right in the world again.  

Tierney had her introductory trip into the OP program while we were on safari. While technically not a backpacking trip they were required to hike with their full packs and everything that they needed for the trip had to fit in it.  By all accounts from Tierney, it was a fun trip, and she’s looking forward to the next level trip in November. 

And we were thinking of Fiona on her 7th birthday . 

(Photo idea credit to Matt and Ashlyn)

Ashlyn’s Crazy Café 10th Birthday Party

I can’t believe Ashlyn turned 10 this week.  The morning of her birthday Matt said “Ten years ago, the morning started out very differently”.  It’s become sort of a birthday tradition to re-tell the kids the story of the day they were born.  We all love it, but I’m left wondering where my dark hard baby went.   

Ashlyn wanted a sleepover for her birthday, so she had to wait until the weekend for that, but on her birthday she requested rainbow cupcakes….again.   

For her birthday party we decided to invite her friends to “Ashlyn’s Crazy Café”.  But first we decorated plates, had a water balloon fight, and had treasure hunt where the final clue brought them to the dinner table.

The idea is that the menu is all in code, so they had no idea what they were actually ordering.  Luckily I had some big kid helpers (Tierney, Udine, and Magnus) to get it all sorted.   

Oh no!  It seems Indya and Avalon ordered spaghetti (Slippery Ropes & Fairy Dust) and ice cream (Udder Delight) without ordering any utensils (Big Dipper or Trident)!

And Ellesmere somehow managed to order cupcakes (Fat Chance), marshmallows (Fluffy Pillow), and ice cream (Udder Delight) all in the same course. 

By the amount of screaming we heard, I’d have to declare the evening a success.  We even had a few marshmallows left over to roast on the fire while telling stories

After a late night and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast all were ready for some quiet time. 

We’re so glad that everyone was able to come help celebrate Ashlyn’s 10th birthday with us.

Happy 10th Birthday, Ashlyn.  We hope the next 10 years bring you as much joy and happiness as you have brought to us the last decade.

(In case you want to see the full ‘translation’)