Once we got home, Jalena wanted to stay in her church clothes while playing. David stripped down.
It was a hot day, so David then did a rain dance for Mom in the kitchen.
Monday night we ate burgers on chappatis (amazing Kenyan tortillas that Katie says have too much oil for Josh - boo!). While dining, we were treated to the Italians that live in our complex walking hundreds of laps (it's maybe 150 meters to walk around the property). Every other bite they'd be walking by either our front or back window with serious looks on their faces.
After dinner, David and Jalena had some fun while Mom and Dad cleaned up.
Then they decided to pile on Mommy.
And then amazingly calmed down to listen to stories before bed.
Tuesday, we bought a new car. A truly new car, for Kenya. That means it is a 2002 import from Japan, but it has never been driven by Kenyans. Just realized that we haven't taken a photo of it. It's basically the size of a Camry, but is a station wagon. It's a great car. Daddy was exhausted after buying Mommy a car for her birthday for the second year in a row (since last year he totaled the Outback while she was in Kenya).
David was so excited that he doesn't have to ride in cars with crockroaches, and that he can finally sit in his car seat, that he gave Mommy a big smooch.
Thursday was Jalena's last day at school before a one-month break. She came home (only a half last day) and proceeded to crash from the sugar high of her school's last day party. Not interested in eating the lunch we prepared for her.
With Jalena falling asleep, David went to sleep a little easier than normal. Nairobi is blessed by every minute this little guy sleeps.
But he sleeps like his Dad (i.e. pretty much always goes to bed after Mom and always wakes up before Mom), so David woke first and took charge of waking Jalena from her nap.
Teacher Demeress (the braille instructor) swung by to make suggestions about how to make our house more friendly for Jalena. She had some good suggestions, but when David suddenly appeared from his room totally nude, she told us that even the best schools for the blind in Germany don't have a solution for naked toddlers.
Jalena was happy to go to bed again that night. But Mommy was just so sad to have time alone with Dad.
On Friday, we drove the new car to the giraffe park outside town. It's not too fancy, but it was perfect for our first family outing.
We all felt the same wonder that's on Jalena's face in this photo. David tried to kiss a giraffe at one point, but it was less excited about the germs a 23 month-old might be carrying and declined. It's feelings may also have been hurt that David kept pointing and saying "Dog!"
This is the face when Mommy said sternly, "Jalena, now you NEED to let Mommy feed the giraffe."
Then we went for a hike through the park.
Jalena had a great time on what we think was the longest (and certainly most technical) walk of her life. At one point we asked the guide what sounds giraffes make. Jalena jumped in: "If you want to call a giraffe," she said, and we thought we were about to be more impressed than ever by what she was learning at school, "you just do this: Giraffe! Giraffe! Daisy! Jock!" she yelled (the two dominant giraffes there are Daisy and Jock).
As long as David had a stick to bang against anything he could think of, he was happy. We confirmed about 50 times that there were no animals in this area that might think of him as a "tasty small animal" before we let him walk this far away from us (or Josh let him walk at all for that matter). Apparently, the most "dangerous" animals here are a type of antelope that's no bigger than a jackrabbit. It was a true wonder that although there were giraffe "poop balls" all over the place, they were not something he ever took interest in poking.
As an indicator of our city-slickerness, however, and why it was important to re-re-re-confirm what animals were lurking in bush that might eat David (or us), consider this: toward the end of the walk, we walked right past a giraffe standing perhaps eight feet off the path. Would truly never have noticed. Granted Dad was watching where Jalena was walking on the trail and Mom was carrying David by that point, but still... you wouldn't think a giraffe would get a peek at your bald spot and you would be none the wiser. But that's why you have a guide! To tell you in a nice way that you're pitiful, but can still have a new photo-op. Of course, because we are city-slickers, when we went to take a photo with the giraffe out in the bush, we discovered the battery was dead. So we can only show this photo we took 15 minutes earlier.
Who says Daddy doesn't help around the house? Josh is changing his third poopy diaper in this photo. Note that we've been here 2.5 weeks... One time Josh attempted to change a dirty diaper and Jalena asked Mom, "Why's Dad making that 'eh-eh-eh' sound?" as Josh was gagging.
Our complex has three buildings (one to the left and one to the right outside of this frame, plus our building behind where I'm standing for this photo). There are almost always kids playing in the parking lot or on the ground floor balconies ("verandas"). There are at least four children about David's age, four children within a couple years of Jalena, and two infants in the complex.
Jalena her new friend Lisa walk behind our building. The Italians love walking laps in this back area. David's not crazy about kicking the football back here now. Too many lizards to distract him.
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