halloween fest

The family Y where Kyalo and I go for swimming hosted a harvest festival a couple of weeks ago - opening up all areas of the Y for members to come and play.  Costumes were recommended.  I was excited for Dexter to have a chance to finally see Kyalo swimming, and for us to do a fun and different activity together.  I was sure Kyalo would love showing off all his skills to Papa.

One problem: he gets totally overwhelmed/shy in big crowds, and this was a night of big crowds, loud kids, lots of movement, etc.  He spent a lot of time just standing and observing in the beginning.  Since I couldn't get him to relax in the gym, we decided to take him up to the art classrooms, figuring they'd be a little calmer.

I was right. And Kyalo L O V E D it.

 focused

Making an apple basket, which involved painting with apple halves and gluing pieces of paper down in a weave fashion to make a basket.  He filled that paper to capacity.  It was hard to drag him away.  

the giraffe, hard at work

After painting, we tried to get him to go to a music class or dance party, but he wasn't interested in those.  We did manage to get him to go to the 'pumpkin patch' maze thing.

And after that he'd relaxed enough to try the over-crowded gym rooms again.  This time he hopped on a bike and was good to go!

After all these activities, it was time for our turn in the pool.  Kyalo's really been flourishing in swimming lately, getting much more comfortable and confident in the pool. We took a break over the summer, and when we came back in September he's taken off - jumping into the pool unprompted, getting better at kicking, etc.  The Y thinks kids can swim independently -- and with out floaties -- by 3 or so.  I think if we stick with it, Kyalo could be there!

showing off floating skills - pretty impressive since this often freaks him out

But the best part about swimming is jumping into the pool! I tried hard to get some action shots of that, which was basically a fail.  Here's the best I could do. 

pleased

As you can see, he enjoys himself immensely.  The Y has been such a wonderful investment for us, and I'm already thinking how much I will miss this Y when we move from here next year.  Sure, there are other YMCAs around the country, but this is a 'family' Y, geared mostly to children.  It has been perfect for us.

I don't get too many pictures of myself with Kyalo, so wanted to share this one of my handsome little giraffe and me.  

Swimming was our last activity, so we collected our things and went home. . .and Kyalo slept til 8:30 Sunday morning.  Wins all around!!

the park

We go to a nearby park a lot.  Certainly once a week, sometimes more, almost always with Jenny & Ellen.   They are moving to a town about 30 minutes away next week (which right now feels like they might as well be moving to the moon), so I wanted to grab some pictures of Kyalo and Ellen at the park together, as a little memory of our many, many hours there.

But let me tell you, taking pictures of two non-stop toddlers in a shady park at noon-time does not for good pictures make.  Please forgive the out of focus photos.

It was a beautiful, extra warm, fall day here in New Jersey when I took these pictures last week.

This park has a lot to offer. . .

 (there was a dad singing to his little girl in a nearby swing, and Kyalo was enjoying the song - and probably wondering why I never sing for him at the park)

A cordoned-off tree stump provides hours of fun

a balance beam, of course

The balance beam takes a lot of concentration.  After I took these photos, he fell off the bream right at the end which brought about big tears and heartbreak.  It took a bit to get him to calm down. I'm not sure exactly what happened.  Since the beam is about 3 inches off the ground its not like it was a catastrophic fall or anything. Guess he just landed badly.

Soon he dusted himself off and was able to enjoy the rest of the things the park has to offer.

 this looks like an in-action photo, but really he's paused there.  He can't seem to go any higher just yet. I think he's got his mama's fear of heights!

Ellen likes the slide, too

Love the static!

 he loved hanging from the rings. . . 

but the pull up bar, not so much.

I'd say it was time to wrap this party up.

Here's Kyalo's new consignment shop vest. I love this eggplanty color on him. Gorgeous.  Also, I love puffy vests.

there's our motley crew, heading to the strollers so we could head home

Confession:  I don't really like going to the park.  When it is just me and Kyalo, I find it incredibly boring.  Even though Jenny and I are often too busy chasing our kids on opposite sides of the park to talk, it is nice to have someone there to help pass some of the time.  

After one of our visits to the park, I asked Kyalo what his favorite part was, expecting slide or swings to be the answer.  Instead, he said, "Tcha-cho goves Ey-yen." (Kyalo loves Ellen, in case you don't speak Kyalo).  Next week is going to be pretty tough. How do you explain to a two-year-old that his best friend has moved too far away to visit with as much?  30 minutes is not SO far away, but it sure will be different not being able to call Jenny up at 9 to make plans for 10 am.  Every day -- and I mean EVERY DAY -- Kyalo asks to go to Ellen's house.  Sometimes, when leaving there, he tells me he wants to go back.

As long as the weather holds up, we'll be back there, burning off some energy.  It just won't be the same with out our pals.

busy weekend

A couple of weekends ago (already?) Francis came to visit us.  After his whirl-wind trip around the US (Michigan, Mass, Illinois) he needed to add NJ -- and NY, of course -- to his list.  He came in Friday afternoon, so while Dexter was in school, Kyalo and I scooped him up and whisked him off to a most important site-seeing spot:  Target!

Shopping done, we picked Dexter up from school, and then settled in for a quiet evening at home.  We had chai, and pizza, and I made Francis' favorite apple crisp (not my best offering of it, but its the thought that counts) in honor of his birthday later this month.  Kyalo LOVED having Francis around, and Dexter and I loved having someone else to entertain Kyalo.

Francis was a good friend to read to Kyalo, but was a little distressed when Kyalo said, "read 'gain!" after every book.  

And there was drawing, too. They spent lots of time working on masterpieces of Grandma, Grandpa, Papa, Mom, and so on.  There Kyalo is showing off their work.

On Saturday, we ventured into NYC.  This is embarrassing to admit, but Dexter and I hadn't been there since December when Jana was here.  So, you need to come visit so we can get across the river more often!  It was a beautiful, warm fall day, perfect to be in the 'big seety' as Kyalo calls it.  

Even though we lugged the camera with us, we didn't take too many pictures.  Here are some of the things we did:  Times square (where we saw naked ladies painted in pink which somehow had something to do with breast cancer awareness month), the rushing Bull over near wall street (smaller than any of us thought), burgers at the Shake Shack, the guys did the Empire State building while I went alone (bliss) to the NY Public Library and saw a children's literature exhibit (awesome), and the World Trade Center Memorial.  Having recently seen a documentary on the memorial we were interested to see it.  The lines and security to get in were INSANE (and I can't imagine what it must have been like in the summer) but it was worth it.  Very moving!

World Trade Center One (I think it is called) a neighbor of mine is the building 'super' of this building.  Cool job, huh?

A few years ago, we visited Matt & Erica when they were still living in Long Island (and our boys hadn't yet entered the scene) and made a trip to NYC.  I took some pictures of the area that day.

 July 2010

July 2010

October 2013

I'm not sure if these pictures really show off how significant the changes are, but it is pretty impressive to me -- the building was nowhere in sight in 2010, and now it is basically completed!  There will be a museum opening in the next year or so, and I hope we'll get to that as well.  Who will come with us?

The guys wanted to make the trek up the Empire State building which my fear of heights could not really handle.  So they went there (with Kyalo sleeping in the carrier on Dexter's back) and I ventured off to explore NYC on my own.  This meant getting lost in a subway station, and then spending time in the NYPL for the first time - something I'd wanted to do since that first visit to the city with Matt and Erica.  And lucky for me there was an exhibit on children's literature.  It was really well done, I was sorry I made it there so close to closing and couldn't really enjoy it.  Some of the cool things were:  the 'real' Winnie-the-Pooh and his pals (not at all what he looks like now!), original sketches by Beatrix Potter of Petter Rabbit, and really interesting set ups for the various themes.  Since I'd left the camera with the guys, thinking they'd take pictures from the top -- only to find out later about how they nearly lost the bag with all our valuables in it -- I don't have any pictures from my library experience. But I do have this of one of the lions on the outside of the library.

We met up, walked through Time Square, and then headed home.  I hadn't really thought about it before, but the electricity usage for Times Square is kind of out of control, especially when you consider how unreliable it is in a place like Kijabe.  Perspective!

On Sunday we had to take Francis to the CURE headquarters in Pennsylvania (another state!), so after another nice relaxed morning and time of bonding we headed off to PA.  After getting to PA, we needed to get dinner before Dexter and I took the three hour trek back to NJ.  So we went to Cracker Barrel, where there was serious solitaire game playing.

According to the game, Francis is a genuis

glad we got that confirmed!

And a few more photos, of course:

It was entirely too short, of course, but we're so grateful that have had the chance to share this part of our life with Francis.  We do hope to get back to Kenya one of these days, but it probably won't be for a while yet.  So in the meantime, we relish these moments with friends when we get them.

I'll leave you with my favorite picture of our visits together. This was up in MA in September.  

pals