Best Day Ever

The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy. The new school year and getting into new routines as a family are just two of the reasons. 

Before that happened though, we managed to escape Dodoma for a few days and enjoy our first family holiday here in Tanzania at Mikumi National Park. It is the nearest game park to where we live, just under 5 hours drive away.

To get to our accommodation on the first day we had to drive through a 50km stretch of Mikumi. Without even going on a safari drive we got to see zebra, impala, giraffe's and so much more. The girls were so excited. Topped off with the playground at the Tan Swiss and the yummy food in their restaurant, at bedtime, Abigail declared it was 'The Best Day Ever'!

Then we got to do two half-days on safari (we didn't think the girls would manage full days!), seeing amazing animals, loving how both Abigail and Naomi were so excited by anything and everything and making memories as a family!

We got to see so much great stuff ... including the ever elusive leopard (although it was at such a distance the photo's were a little blurry!). We were explaining to Abigail how special it was to see a leopard, when our guide Samuel turned around and said 'It's more than special'!!! Below are just a few of the animals we got to see.

As well as seeing the animals, we all got to chill out with our books, enjoy the playground, Abigail made lists of all the animals we saw and we all slept VERY well.

It really was such a fun time, we all enjoyed ourselves and both girls are already talking about next time we go to see the animals! Every night after that first one, Abigail told us she that this was 'the best day ever', even better than the one before! We're so lucky that we got to go on what many would count as the holiday of a lifetime, yet for us it's just down the road (and of course there are lots of other too!) There will definitely be a next time!

All Our Stuff!

Well, almost 3 weeks ago we were all lazing around in our pyjamas ... it was 8am on a Sunday morning and all of a sudden there was lots of noise outside. 

For those of you following the saga of our container on Facebook and our news updates, you will already know the reason! After months of battling with shipping companies, immigration and customs officials, all our belongings arrived with absolutely no warning! The best surprise ever!

We quickly moved our car (Jenny did, still in her PJ's!), phoned around our friends for extra help ... and got on with the work in hand! It all got unloaded onto the grass outside our house, checked and then moved into the right rooms!

The girls were super excited to get all their toys ... in fact they disappeared into their room for a lot of the time and slowly opened everything! There was a big clean up job that evening in order for them to go to sleep!

The house looked like a total bomb-site as we managed to get everything inside by lunchtime. We've been saying ever since ... the house might look like a mess but it's a happy mess!! 

We packed up all our things almost 8 months ago and ... while there are only a few things that we would really have missed if the container hadn't survived the journey, plus the fact that we've been bumbling along fine without it all since we arrived in February ... it has been SO nice to finally get to make our house, our home! 

Admittedly, our home doesn't look very African but we're here for the long haul and at the end of the day it is our haven of peace from the hustle and bustle of life. We have already had the opportunity to give lots of things away that were in the container and to use stuff for other people's benefit. We look at it all as a real gift that we want to share with our friends here.

Below are a couple of before and after shots of some of the rooms. There is still a lot more to do but we're getting there!!

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us through this very long 'waiting period'. There were days when it was really tough and we were questioning 'why?' for everything. Now we're still smiling that it's here ... the novelty has yet to wear off!!