road trip: the boys

So right after arriving in Franklin on Monday, we headed to a nearby playground so the boys could, well, play, and we could all stretch our legs after such a long time in the car.  Franklin seems to be made up of these little intentional communities...playground, pool, cute homes, etc.  It was just a quick little walk and we were there.

The boys traveled in style! (That's the same wagon Kyalo has up in Essex.)

Kyalo liked the slide

walking in puddles is more fun than riding*

I was pretty excited for Kyalo and Bo to have time together again after so much time (about a year) and for Kyalo to have a boy to play with.  I had visions of them playing happily together outside while Erica and I sipped coffee and chatted.  I should really stop having visions because they never come to pass!  There were a few tussles over toys, but I think over all the boys played really well together, especially by the end when they'd warmed up to each other.

action shots!  who knows what's going on here?

Erica bought them superhero t-shirts.

even super heroes need to eat

And since it was cold, and we were heading to the zoo after breakfast, Matt leant Kyalo his University of Kentucky Wildcats hat.

 is he a bat or a cat?

who can say?

but perhaps he's the newest fan!*

After the zoo (more on that later) we went out to dinner.  I really wanted to get some good BBQ and also fried chicken.  That's not too excessive, is it? There wasn't time for the fried chicken (next time!) but we did go out to eat.   Here's Matt and Erica:

Matt with a whole mess o' ribs (don't ask how much) and Erica with the largest potato I've ever seen.

Those are happy faces, though.

The pics of my food didn't come out, sadly, but I did get my shredded pork, cole slaw, and corn-on-the cob (I can never resist!).  Kyalo ate a bit of what we had, but seriously, seemed to be on a hiatus from food for most of the trip!  It was a tad frustrating/worrying. 

On Wed, Matt & Erica took the boys to a park to give us a little break (the driving was starting to tire Dexter out, so he was glad for a little down time).  

 cute little family! *

Bo's doing all the heavy lifting*

And then after the walk and some dinner, it was bath time:

 Kyalo tends to stand in the tub, which makes it hard to get a G-rated photo. *

helping out*

Then it was time to say good night...

hugs*

fathers and sons*

We crammed a lot into just a few days!  It was such a sweet time.  Dexter really enjoyed all the dental talk he got to have with Matt (puts me right to sleep), and talking with Matt who has already survived dental school was encouraging for Dexter.  We're almost done!

There's more to share here, but we're off to Massachusetts for the Easter weekend, so I better wrap this up and load up the car.

all photos with a * courtesy Erica and her iPhone :)

road trip: friends in Franklin

On Monday morning, after a hearty breakfast prepared by Angela, we were off again, this time to friends Matt & Erica (and Bo!) in Franklin, TN.  Interestingly, that we have other friends in that area.  A roommate of mine from the UAE, and a friend from my hometown, whose parents are part of my parents' best friends, and thus, I've known her my whole life.  Got that?

Apparently, Franklin is the place to be!

This was the longest leg of the trip -- 7ish hours, which we did through pouring rain (three cheers to Dexter for driving the ENTIRE trip), which meant we didn't get to see the beautiful Tennessee countryside.  Again, Kyalo did great - looking at his books, playing with his toys, sleeping, etc.  It got a little hairy at the end, but really, it wasn't too bad.  It was nice to know that once we arrived Monday night we wouldn't be going any long distances again until Thursday morning.

There's lots to share from our time there, so this may take a few posts.

On Tuesday morning, my roommate from the UAE, Rita, drove out to see us.  Thinking it would be warm, summery weather in the south, I'd packed a shorts outfit she and our friend Shiny had bought for Kyalo.  I put him in it for the photo op, and then promptly put him back in cool weather clothes.  Rita and I had a chance to go out for brunch and do a little shopping. It was nice to catch up with her after so many years.

On Wednesday we drove about five miles down the road from Matt & Erica's to see my friend Kirsten. It kind of felt like being back in Essex - small town America.  It was fun to see Kirsten and her boys, and to catch up.  I like that there's so many connections in this small (and random!) location.  Makes me wonder if we'll end up down there once school is done.  It is certainly an option on the table.

Kirsten

And it would be fun to be 'neighbors' with someone from my past again.

road trip: VA mountains

After we breezed through Williamsburg (and didn't take in any of the historic sites, mind you) we headed to the Thompsons' home in the mountains of Virginia.  I first met Jimmy & Angela and their two daughters Melissa and Moriah in the UAE.  I think they arrived six or so months after I did, and were in the same apartment complex I was in.  Jimmy is a doctor, and had come to be a part of the Oasis medical staff.  I enjoyed working with him, and getting to know their family in the time I was still in the UAE.  I think Dexter and I spent our first Thanksgiving together with them - tho some of those details are now a little fuzzy; feels like a long time ago!

As I was thinking about how to make the best use of our spring break, visiting the Thompsons in their new home in VA seemed like a good idea.  So I invited ourselves over for a couple of days, and was pleased when they accepted!  The house that they bought is the perfect place for visitors - a huge porch over looking a small pond and woods, a basement with an extra room, and THEM.  They welcomed us back in with open arms. It is hard to believe it had been over two years since we last saw them.

Kyalo took a break from eating any real meals while we were on vacation, so here he is with Angela eating some blueberries (and ONLY blueberries) for breakfast the morning we were heading out to TN.     Since this was our Spring Break trip, I had visions of sipping sweet tea out on the porch and chatting with Angela while Kyalo explored the land (so many rocks, sticks, dirt, I figured he'd be in heaven).  Instead the weather was cold and rainy and the flip flops stayed in the bag all week.

We did get outside between rain showers on Sunday and got to do a little exploring.  Kyalo especially liked their horseshoe/sand pit.  It was hard to drag him away.

There's their house! Which, let me tell you is VERY misleading by looking at it from this picture.  I should have gotten a picture of the porch.  As we stood outside watching Kyalo, Dexter kept commenting how much it felt like Kijabe to him. . .the mountains, the narrow, windy roads we had to drive to get there, the fog.  Needless to say, we both loved Virginia a lot.  After living in a place like Belleville being surrounded by so much land seems like bliss!

After a few days down in TN we drove back through to spend one more night with them, and to break up the trip.

I think it was 25* F but they thought it was warm enough - or occasion enough - to fire up the new grill for the first time.

yum

In between our visits, Angela stocked up on books from a local used bookstore for Kyalo.  Here they are reading together.

Angela, Jimmy, Kyalo

Do you see how close everyone is sitting to the fire? I'm telling you, it was cold!  Here Jimmy had been giving Dexter the finer points of the March Madness bracketing process. I'm sure Dexter will get into it next year!  

 Dr. Jimmy, off to work

Moriah and Kyalo

Angela and me

This visit was really fun and special for us.  There are already talks about heading back.  Perhaps in the summer. Is is a little further away than we'd like, but it is nice to know that we can hop in the car and get there in a day or so, so long as Kyalo remains agreeable.

In the meantime, I'm trying to convince them to come to NYC for a visit. 

road trip 2013: Williamsburg, VA

Hello there.  Been a while, hasn't it?  Dexter and I have just returned from a whirlwind Spring Break (yet we didn't see much of spring) where we drove to MD-VA-TN.  There's lots to share, which I'll do slowly over the next few days.  I'll just hope my new found addiction to a little game called 'Words with Friends' doesn't get in the way.

Spring Break came at a much-needed time.  Dexter had been buried under exams and assignments and patients, and was needing a change of pace.  I'm not sure if driving 2,100 miles was exactly the rest and relaxation that the doctor ordered, but it was fun.  Can we have another week to relax now? :)

Our trip started last Friday night in Baltimore with my Aunt Ellen.  I didn't get any pictures that time around, but it was nice to spend time with her. Uncle Tim was on the west coast with their daughter, so we had good chats and yummy soup Friday evening.  A breakfast of bacon and pancakes and we were off in the morning...

at the UMDNJ parking lot - ready to go!

Our second stop was in Williamsburg, VA, to visit my mom's half-sister, Dorothy.  We'd visited her last summer, but Kyalo was pretty grouchy that day, so I was hoping she'd get to see his sweeter personality on this trip.

and she did!

please note:  those little fruit pouches, while genius in their portability are probably NOT the best snack to give a toddler in the car.  Kyalo liked its volcano effect, more than the snack effect.

Dorothy was kind enough to load Kyalo up with some new toys. Here they are, exploring one together.   I can't remember her exact age, but she's close to 95.  I hope to be as independent and well functioning as she is if I ever make it to 95!

After an all-too short visit, we were on the road again, to points south and west (ish), to our friends in the mountains of VA.

The road looked like this:

and thankfully,  Kyalo looked like this:

When you're in the car for hours on end, there is truly nothing better than a sleeping baby!

But let me just take this time now to say that Kyalo did remarkably well on this trip. I loaded him up with lots of books (from home and the library) toys, snacks, music, and he really made it through with very few complaints.  I think for a boy whose name means "journey" he is aptly named!

23 months

Here we are, a mere month away from having a two-year-old in the house.  I intended to get pictures yesterday, when he was looking "smart" for church (and his hair was combed. really), but that didn't happen. . . here are the only pics I managed to get today. . .

I'm really hoping that we're coming to the end of long-sleeves.  Spring, come quickly!

Here are some snapshots of things that have been happening around here, but that haven't yet made it to the blog.

This "hutch" space has become an office of sorts - where we keep our computers, printer, etc.  Need to keep them up and away from Kyalo, you see.  But he's figured out how to get to them, nonetheless.  On this day he dumped out laundry so that he could get up and personal with the blog.  If it isn't the laundry basket, it is his toy basket, or a toy.  I spend a lot of my time a) cleaning up everything he's dumped out, and b) taking things away from him that serve as some kind of step.  It won't be too long before he can reach the computers even without assistance.  Then what do we do?

I turn my back for a minute, and Kyalo's turned his breakfast yogurt into a face mask (there are worse pictures).  I should have been prepared for a full body finger painting experience, if I'd remembered this.  We don't do yogurt too much around here any more.

Dexter and Kyalo went on a little walk one afternoon after school, and they came home carrying this big stick.  Kyalo never passes up the opportunity to grab a stick when he's on a walk {we have a growing collection of sticks scattered throughout our house}, and this one was extra fun because it required both of them to carry it.

it does not take much to make him happy

the stick is SO BIG

 I love his funny little expression here.  I wonder what he's thinking?

A couple of weekends ago we got to see my first boss from Kenya, Andy & his wife Kathy.  They were life savers to me when I first moved to Kenya, and served as surrogate family.  They're just down the road in Philly, but could be moving soon. We met in Point Pleasant which is a beach town (it got hammered by Hurricane Sandy in Nov), but it was so c-o-l-d and windy. Maybe we'll get there again when it is warm and summery.

Lastly,  here's Kyalo in a sweater knitted for him by someone from the Dental Clinic in Kijabe.  I love homemade things.  This is really beautiful on him, too.

my handsome guy

Guess it is time to get a couple of pictures of me in the mix one of these days.

We had a pretty exciting moment this weekend. On Saturday, Kyalo slept through the night (8 PM - 7 AM) FOR THE FIRST TIME.  I thought, hoped, dreamed, that this was the beginning of good things to come. Alas, Sunday night he made up for that by waking up about four times.  So we'll live in hope for another uninterrupted night of sleep, and we'll hope that it doesn't take another 23 months.