Saying goodbye to Africa

As I reflect on our time in Africa I fondly recall the amazing memories we made with wonderful people and awesome trips.  The last few months in Africa were a whirlwind.  We found out in September that we would be moving back to America in December, plus adding in a new baby in August made for a long "to do" list.  We managed to spend as much time with friends and sneak in a few trips.

In September Adalyn celebrated her 6th birthday with friends at a Spa Party and another classroom party at school.  She continued to enjoy swimming lessons and has done remarkably well with strokes.  Dance class was an opportunity for her to try something new this year and I was not sure she would get on stage for the recital in December, but sure enough she did beautifully.  For the end of her last year at Tyger Valley and grade 0, Adalyn has a school graduation day with a Christmas pageant.  She has made some wonderful friends who she will remember her entire life I hope.

October came around and so did visiting family.  Papa Walker and Steph visited for a week.  We tried to visit all the places we loved during our time in Africa like the Kitty Hawk airport, Papachinos and even sneaked in some pumpkin decorating for Halloween.  Adalyn dressed as Ariel from The Little Mermaid, a Sailor for Grant and a bumble bee for Everly.  It was a super hot Halloween this year so Everly stayed at home with Dad giving out candy and I took Adalyn and Grant with Mrs. Nunan and her two oldest, Gemma and Keagan, out trick or treating in Silver Lakes.  Mark and I got in a few more "date nights" and we went back to an animal park to pet more of the amazing wildlife.

In November, my mom, Susan, Jodi and her boyfriend Dave visited for a week.  Mark was able to get in one last game of golf with Dave.  We went to a few more fun restaurants like Toulas, Crawdaddy's, the Hazel Food Market and with that always comes a haircut for Grant.  November also marked the last month of care at Ouma's for Grant.  He loved his preschool and learned more than we imagined.  He had a school concert and did great to play his tambourine and sit/stand with the other kids during songs.  Adalyn had her end of school year Monkeynastics and Ballet performances as well.  We managed to fit in a week in Durban, staying in a beautiful house on the beach with no one else around.  It was an awesome week to relax, eat out, talk lots of beach walks and visit the Indian Ocean one last time.  November was a big month for another reason as well, we closed on our house in Prairie Village!

December was a whirlwind.  Everly turned 4 months, got her final round of immunizations for a while, became the chubbiest and cutest baby ever and said "good bye" to her wonderful nanny, Rose.  We had a few farewell parties, one for friends with a giant blow-up pool slide and another the following day for the lovely people that worked for us over the years.  This was the first year our gardener, Obit, who has been with us since 2013 joined us for a Christmas celebration.  With Obit, Peter, Rose and Joyce, plus their spouses and children we had a great group to play in the pool with, eat a meal and open gifts.  It was a wonderful send off for us and we were blessed to have know such touching people.  On December 7th, we said tearful goodbyes to our staff and the beautiful house we called "home" for 3.5 years and boarded a plane to Paris.  It's hard to fight off tears every time I think about Africa and the people we met there.  I hope one day to return and see them all.

We spent December 7-13th in Paris, France.  Since it was our first visit there, we saw all the major points possible with kids, Arc de Triumph. Eiffel Tower, Disneyland Paris, Notre Dame de Paris, Museum of Natural History, the Louvre, road the big ferris wheel, saw a few churches, walked many beautiful streets and ate overpriced food.  We had funny moments like arriving too early before our apartment was ready and hanging out in a cafe too long with our luggage on the street.  I breastfed Everly everywhere including at the top of the Eiffel Tower and walking the streets.  Disney was fun, bitter cold, but we road the tea cups, did Alice in Wonderland Maze and saw the parade of characters.  It was a really fun vacation and I am glad we took a vacation before getting settled in America.

On December 14th we landed in America after a super long flight and moved right into our new home.  After having picked it out online and only seeing videos of it, I am happy that it all worked out and we love it.  Perfect location, great school for Adalyn and plenty of space for all of us.  A few weeks after arriving in America, Mark changed jobs and is no longer with Black and Veatch, but works from home, so sadly our international family life has come to an end and we will just have to settle for awesome international vacations.

Africa was a life changing experience for us.  I grew as a person, learned more about humility and needs and best of all we were blessed with a growing family.  I fondly remember Africa and all the ways it changed our life for the good.  My soul and who I am as a person is different for having moved to Africa.  I am so thankful I kept this blog to help keep those memories alive each time I read it.      

Adalyn turns 6!

On August 31st, my first born, Adalyn, turned 6 years old.  To celebrate we had a spa party with 15 of her girlfriends.  There is a spa close to our home that hosts spa parties and I thought it would be the perfect celebration for turning 6.  Given that I had just had a baby less than a month prior I did not want to have to put much work into giving her a party.  So bringing the food and then letting the staff at the spa take over was perfect.






First the girls changed into mini slippers and robes and enjoyed a brunch on the patio.  I decided a yogurt bar with baked goods and a couple egg casseroles would be perfect for the morning party.





 There was a coffee/tea bar and I put together a mimosa bar although the word mimosa, come to find out, is not universal and some of the other moms did not know what I was talking about.



The guests enjoyed the food and next up was the first spa treatment.

The girls split into 4 groups of 4 and rotated between the stations.  Adalyn started with a facial which was probably the cutest thing to watch.  The girls laid down and got a little face massage, lotions applied, a mask, and cucumbers for their eyes.




Once their face was refreshed and looking years younger, Adalyn and her group were able to get their hair done.  Most of the girls decided to get curls in their hair with sparkles.  Cupcakes and singing the "Happy Birthday" song to celebrate followed.





I decided to make cupcakes this year because it was going to be way easier than making a cake with Everly being a newborn.

The girls did not sit and eat long cause they had 3 more spa stations to visit.

Watching the girls sit for their pedicure just like us moms do was precious.  Except one color would not do for all their toes, most girls selected different colors for each toe and thankfully the spa was happy to fulfill their request.

A stop for multi-colored manicures was next and then Adalyn had her make-up done.




It was a fun morning to watch all these little girls get pampered.  Such a sweet way to celebrate Adalyn turning 6 with friends.  She also celebrated at school by bringing donuts for everyone.  Birthdays are a big deal and she had her hand in all the decisions which she talked about for months leading up to the big day.




Adalyn is growing up so quickly and it is a joy to see all the facets of her personality emerge.  She is tenderhearted, cares for others, observant and particular.  Adalyn loves animals, babies, spending time with friends, riding her bike, watching her favorite tv shows, swimming, dancing, eating sweets and being creative with arts and crafts.  Adalyn can entertain herself for hours playing with her dolls or anything really, she has an amazing imagination.  She often wants me to leave her alone and not watch or listen to her playing.



She is helpful with her siblings but also like to antagonize Grant.  Adalyn comes up with all sorts of make-up games and like to tell jokes/half-truths.   She will only wear what she wants to wear, same goes for doing her hair and she does not care if any of it matches.

 Adalyn receives high marks at school and looks forward to going everyday.  Luckily she gets to do ballet, monkeynastics, tennis, pottery, and a sports class at school.  Somehow she still has plenty of energy to burn when coming home and can't remember what she did in any of the activities.  Outside of school she enjoys her weekly swimming lessons and has a modern dance class twice a week.
Always fun to have a conversation with her, even though she tends to ask the same questions over and over.  Adalyn has a little South African accent and is enjoying her childhood here.  We are blessed to have such a well rounded little girl to call our own.  

Welcoming Everly to the world

It has been over 2 months since I last wrote a blog as I did not feel I had much to share.  Life in Africa is seems more normal the longer we are here too.  But with the birth of a baby there is plenty to share now.



On August 4th we welcomed Everly Faye Snyder into the world.  Everly after my grandmother Beverly and Faye is a family name on Mark's side. This third pregnancy was the hardest one for me with lots of pressure and random pain but so worth all of it when we saw her precious face.  You would think that if your body has carried two babies before it would get easier each time but I find that to be the opposite.  It really makes me appreciate how easy of a pregnancy I had with Adalyn, wish I knew that at the time with her.

We chose once again to not find out the gender of our baby until he/she was born.  I thought that after having one boy and one girl I would be able to compare the pregnancies and tell which gender baby #3 would be but I was stumped.  I had pregnancy symptoms similar to both Adalyn's and Grant's and then I had new symptoms I had never experienced before.  In the last few weeks I was thinking it was a girl, but I had been wrong before so my guesses really are not the most reliable.  Of all the wives tales you can do to guess the gender none of them have ever been correct with my kids 100% of the time.  The Chinese gender prediction chart has been right 100% of the time for me strangely.

At 38 weeks and 5 days my contractions started at 9:30pm.  I timed them for an hour and when they were coming 2 minutes apart and lasting almost 1 minute each I woke up Mark and told him we were going to have a baby tomorrow.  Mark responded, "how do you know?", to which I said, "cause I'm having contractions, it's not just a guess".  We got ready, left the kids with our helper and made our way to the hospital.  Thinking that this baby would come quick as Adalyn's was 14 hours start to finish and Grant's was 7, I thought this one would be about 4 hours.  Well, Everly must have liked it too much in the womb as she was not about to budge.

After 15 hours of sporadic contractions, lots of walking the halls of the hospital and no sleep, my body finally progressed to the point I could get an epidural.  Although I did not have any pain medications with Adalyn or Grant's births, I wanted to try an epidural this time and boy was I missing out before.  That magical little drug was delightful, though it was strange to not feel or move half of my body, the fact that I did not have to feel the entire contraction was a blessing.  Random side note: the cost for my epidural and the anesthesiologist' time was a whopping $290!!!!, not sure what they charge in America but I think I got a good deal.

I was a bit bummed when the epidural started wearing off in parts of my body but thankfully I was given another dose.  I told Mark that I did not get an epidural for it to not work, and not being able to move to help with the pain was not fun.  Luckily, after 19 hours start to finish Everly decided it was time to be born.  The nurse was shocked I was ready to push and almost fell down running out of the room to get the doctor.  A few pushes later Everly arrived and we were overjoyed.

It's like Grant has been doing this his whole life. 

she is in love and said, "I'm so glad God gave me a baby girl"

the wonderful Dr. Backer who delivered Everly

Weighing in at 7 lbs 11 ounces and 21.5 inches long, she weighed the least of my 3 kids and was 2nd in height.  One month old now she has gained 2 lbs 7 ounces and grew 1/2 an inch.  She is beginning to outgrow her newborn clothes which are all Adalyn's old clothes we had brought over from the US.  I love to see her in Adalyn's clothes as it brings back such sweet memories of Adalyn.  Plus since the two girls look almost identical it's like looking at my newborn Adalyn at times.

Adalyn and Grant love their sister.  I was not concerned about Adalyn who requested a girl so she was thrilled that her request was fulfilled.  But if this baby happened to be a boy, I knew she would be disappointed but come to love him just like she has Grant.  I was a bit more concerned with Grant but he has adjusted well to Everly joining the family.  Grant has always been a "mama's boy" so he naturally wants me to do everything for him and hold him often.  He is more used to Mark or others helping him now and does not appear jealous of Everly.  I love that I can actually hold Grant again and carry him since I don't have a belly in the way.

Since Everly has been born she has been out and about wherever we are going.  Trips to the mall, the hair salon, dance classes, swimming, doctor appointments, birthday parties, multiple outings to the park and walks around the neighborhood.  She is happy to sleep, eat, burp and smile all day long which makes it easier to adjust to life with 3 kids.  Maybe she is more easy going or maybe I know what I am doing this third time around.  I love to watch Adalyn and Grant love on Everly and I am thankful we were blessed with another healthy and precious baby.

Another Kruger Safari

We spent 4 days on safari at Kruger National Park this past weekend.  We have been on safari at Kruger before but were in a different part of the park and wanted to get in one last safari holiday before baby #3 arrives.






Adalyn's 4 princesses had to join in on the game drives as well.

Looking up at the traditional beams as you lay in bed is always beautiful

I found a wonderful lodge that was family friendly so Adalyn could go on game drives and was intimate so we had more of a personal experience.  From the food to customer service and excellent game drives I highly recommend Naledi Game Lodge for a perfect South African Safari.  There were only 5 families staying there and with the staff outnumbering the guests, no detail was left behind.  They even gave the father's a shaving gift set on Sunday and sang to them.  



Our chalet overlooked a river so we could enjoy spotting the animals coming to drink and bath.  The weather was great while we were on safari, even getting into the upper 80s during the day.  Adalyn enjoyed swimming in the pool, though the water was quite cold to me, the water thermostat said 63.








There was another family from Norway at the lodge who had a little 6 year old boy that Adalyn became fast friends with.  Despite the fact that he did not speak any English they played well together, even holding conversations with each other and managed to figure out that they wanted to sit together on the game drives.









We went on 6 game drives, 3 hours every morning and another 3 hours in the late afternoon.  The weather would start out quite cold, but by the time you stopped for coffee/tea in the bush it was time to take a layer of clothing off.

Adalyn is into dressing herself, and despite it being in the 80s she had to wear her pink hat and gloves.

The opposite for the afternoon drives, it would be warm and sunny, but when the sun went down while we enjoyed another round of drinks in the bush we put another layer on.  The night drives were great though we definitely saw more animals during the day.

Herd of buffalo

 On the first game drive I sat in the 3rd row of seats and that turned out to be a bad decision.  It was far too bumpy for my pregnant body and I had to brace myself as we drove therefore not getting to enjoy the experience as much.  I decided to rest up and not go on the next morning drive which gave Adalyn and Mark some time together.  I wised up and moved up a row and added a pillow to sit on which made all the difference for the remainder of our 6 game drives.

Warthog

I was very happy to see all the amazing animals we had on our list, though we did not spot a leopard or cheetah so I guess we have to come back again.

Wildebeest

Some of the animals were quite close at only 6 feet away and our guide and tracker did an excellent job of giving us an amazing experience.  I have never been on a safari with a tracker who sits at the very front of the vehicle before but it was amazing what he could detect from animal tracks/smells/broken branches as we drove along.







At times we would stop the vehicle and he would get out and walk through the bush just to track down an animal.

Our tracker with Adalyn and her buddy enjoying a drink by the river.
Elephants were on the other side doing the same.

There were 3 safari vehicles from our lodge and we never saw another lodge so it was great to be out in the bush and feel more at one with nature.  All of the guides would work together and communicate on cb radio as to where each had seen an animal that day so the others to go to the area and see it as well.

The highlight of the safari animal experience was seeing 3 lions, a mom and her 2 sons, enjoying their buffalo kill. I was shocked at how close we could get to the lions, only 6 feet away in the vehicle, but they were not bothered by us as they were enjoying their meal.





I think this is how everyone looks after a big meal (maybe minus the blood).  Of course since they had to kill their meal, they are probably a bit more exhausted.

Adalyn and Mark found a great climbing tree at the lodge. 

 It was also great to have a vacation just the 3 of us.  Grant has been on 2 safari vacations before and he is too young to go on the game drives (he's too loud and won't be still when necessary) so I thought it would be best to leave him at home with Joyce so he could play and enjoy himself.

At 32 weeks pregnant, I enjoyed someone else preparing all the meals and all the relaxation time I was able to get in 4 days.



Adalyn enjoyed this safari more than the others we have been on because she is starting to realize how unique of an experience it is to see the animals in their natural habitat.  We try to explain that safaris are not an option in America but I don't think it sinks in with her. This holiday was a great last getaway before baby #3 arrives and hopefully won't be our last safari.

Beautiful mountain view drive home