Africa!

Matt and I had an unbelievable trip to Africa in the beginning of November! We went for the EO Global University - a conference for an organization that Matt is a part of. It is impossible to pick one favorite part from our travels, or for me to accurately recap all of the details, so here are the highlights...

First stop: Livingstone, Zambia

The view from our hotel - Victoria Falls

Matt 'living on the edge'

Some of the wildlife that was within reach

Maveric and Iceman taking a helicopter tour of the falls

We also did white water rafting down the Zambezi River (at the base of Victoria Falls) and took a swim in the Devil's Pool... both were unbelievably terrifying and exciting at the same time!

Next stop: Jao Camp Safari, Botswana

The road to camp

We were lucky to be there at a time of year when almost every animal we saw had babies with it

Leopard that came right up to our trucks and rubbed his whiskers on the bumper!

The King - we also ran into him on a night drive and got thisclose

Typical sunset

There are just too many great pictures from Safari - I will have to upload them to a different site and link to them from here!

Last stop: Cape Town for the EO conference, South Africa

Opening night featured a concert from Gold Fish

While Matt was in conferences, I signed up for "Spousal Events" which included getting a baking lesson from a head pastry chef, sushi lessons from a head sushi chef, and a tour of the Dylan Lewis studio... from Dylan Lewis! Yes, I was in heaven.

This was an incredible trip for Matt and I. We learned so much about African while there and have nothing but great memories - and TONS of pictures!

Must. Update. Blog.

I am attempting to catch up over the next couple of days with several posts about all the excitement of the past month!

Elliot At School

I saw this posted outside Elliot's classroom last week and had to take a picture of it to share. It is a script of what the kids were saying while playing "airplane". The teachers had set up a couch, chairs and two old video game steering wheels and told the kids it was an airplane just like the ones they saw flying overhead when they were outside.

If you click on the picture it should enlarge so that you can read it. My favorite line is "Elliot: We're buckled up. Do you want to play a video game on my phone?". I think he has heard that on his real-life plane rides once or twice.

Party Time

We celebrated Elliot's 4th Birthday a few days early with his very first "friend" party today! To sum it up, five four-year-olds running through the house for three hours = chaos (the really fun, entertaining kind of course).

The Cupcakes (considering I couldn't even successfully bake pumpkin bread + botched two pans of pumpkin seeds earlier this week, I am relieved that these turned out!)

Why so many cupcakes? When I asked Elliot if he would like chocolate or vanilla, he said "yes".

The Man (Ironman)

The activity/craft was to make Apple Monsters. Here are two that I caught on camera before they were devoured...

It was a fun-filled three hours. Thanks to everyone who came and survived!

Crawling

We have take-off! As you will see, Stella is now mobile. Thankfully, she doesn't go very fast yet - she stops to pick at specks of dirt on the floor, play with her feet, and applaud herself. So cute!

Circus

We went to the circus today! Elliot LOVED it! Stella stayed home with auntie Hannah so that we could have a date. Elliot says his favorite part was the clowns (although he didn't want to get close to them). He was also impressed by a hi-wire motorcycle act which nearly gave me a panic attack - who decides it's a good idea to spin a motorcycle around a rope 100 feet in the air?!

Spiderman of course.

This elephant could do P90X yoga moves better than I can!

Catchin' Up

I was going through photos and videos from this summer - sorting, editing, deleting - and realized there was a lot of good stuff I didn't get around to posting. So get comfortable, this may take a lot of scrolling!

June

Little Sister's Wedding

Playing outside

Dad's Day

(he does rock)

July

Trip to Ft. Collins

Playing in Perham

August

Here comes Fall

E living it up at the Cabin

(he is not spoiled at all)

Surprise Bday Party for Matt (I really have no good pictures from the party, but it was a successful surprise!)

A Rainy Day with the Zachariases

September

E asked if I could paint his fingernails! I just couldn't say no, but I am hoping it's only a phase :)

We take lots of walks like this

Taking a kiss break on the walk home after preschool. Pucker up!

There. I feel like I've caught up!

New School

Today was Elliot's first day at a new preschool - an official preschool, inside a real school, as opposed to the daycare center he had been going to since he was 12 weeks old (sniffle. where does the time go?). He had a great experience and learned a lot at his "old" school, but the "new" school is closer to home - walking distance even - and is in the elementary school which we plan to have him attend. To help add a little appeal to the idea of a new school Elliot got to pick out some new shoes. Surprise, he picked Iron Man light up shoes - Spiderman light up shoes did not come in his size.

Elliot seemed a little nervous when I dropped him off, but we walked around and checked out the room until he discovered the fish tank. Then he was ok with saying good-bye. I was probably more sad about leaving than he was! After picking Elliot up, he filled me in on the highlights from his afternoon - they read books and sang songs in "group time", had bananas, cheezits and milk for snack, he played with trucks, he played in the sandbox outside, he peed and pooped, and he does not remember the names of his classmates. There you go.