A few more from Eliza's 4th

This is a slideshow of a few more photos from the birthday. I'm experimenting with using Picasa.

Troutbeck - Springhide House

For our first Spring Break in Zimbabwe, we did not head for the beaches of Mozambique like half the families at HIS but headed to the mountains an easy 3-hour-drive to the east for a just couple of nights away. We were lucky to find out about this house from some local friends of ours who have been coming up here for 10 years. You need to bring everything with you from toilet paper to salt & pepper, but there are beds, comfy if a bit worn furniture, and importantly, Rusiya and her husband who are the managers of the estate and who, in true Zimbabwe style, took very good care of us. Rusiya cooked hot meals and took the kids to see her lambs and chicks. Her husband built fires in the fireplace at night when it got cold. We had loads of candles but were lucky that we had power the whole weekend. $15/person/night and half-price for the kids! I hope we can make it up again and bring friends during the month-long Christmas holiday we'll be here.

Springhide House, Nyanga National Park, near the town of Troutbeck

There are 5 single beds, 3 in this kids' room, 2 at the top of the stairs, and

her is one of two rooms with double beds, both with fireplaces.

"World's View" overlook nearby.

Up in the mountains, a lot of people come to fish, but you have to have your own gear. So we just took the kids out on the row boat which was not very easy to manage with the wind and broken oarlocks. (It's always helpful to have a good sense of humor while living in Africa since you are definitely going to find yourself in situations where things don't work quite the way they should.) While David golfed at the Troutbeck Inn, I explored the grounds with the kids. At home, we played board games and less traditional iPad games, and read, wrote, and had our drinks while the kids enjoyed climbing the boulders in the front yard. Even though we are at the tail end of the dry season (it actually rained on our way home and the risk of fire went from extremely high to moderate), it was still beautiful with blossoming azaleas and fresh smelling pines.

Veld fires purposefully set ths time every year everywhere in Zimbabwe

Lake at Troutbeck

Mambo the Kitten (never mind Eliza's haircut)

Eliza turns 4!

I figure this is the last birthday of the early childhood years for us. Five is a big turning point. But let's focus on the here and now.

Who is Eliza at four? Eliza greets guests with a flourish of excitement. She knows how to accept gifts and introduce an immediate activity: Come! Come see the new kitty! She cares about what outfit she is wearing, and it's often her last question to me before she goes to sleep at night: Can I wear the blue dress with the pink flamingo tomorrow? When playing a group game like duck-duck-goose, Eliza wants to be picked over and over, and she runs fast, head up with a serious, determined expression. 

Eliza is into painting but still prefers abstract design to anything recognizable. She wants to do things on her own terms and is not interested in writing anything other than her name (and forget about the letter z). She's into shopping and is always up for an outing with mom. One of her favorite birthday gifts is a pink heart-shaped purse with jeweled handle that is a musical jewelry box complete with the small ballerina that turns around in front of a mirror.

Eliza is fascinated with cutting hair, but doesn't care much about the finished product. She can't quite grasp that if you cut your hair very short, you can't wear pony tails or braids. Eliza knows she shouldn't grab the kitten around the middle and bounce him up and down, pretending he's a bunny, or dress him up in doll clothes, or hold him by his front paws to make him dance...but she can't help herself. She likes Tinkerbell and princesses, but she knows how to fight and play super heroes with the boys. One minute she's pretending to fly (Tinkerbell), the next dancing (ballerina), the next water-bending (Katara of Avatar: The Last Airbender - love it!).

Like her brother, Eliza is unafraid of strangers. Sometimes at a first meeting, she will refuse to be polite. She'll pretend she's shy and cling to her mother's skirt, but that has more to do with her refusal to do what's expected than unfriendliness. Within minutes, she will be climbing up the pants leg of that stranger demanding to be swung around or listened to. In school, she's doing well, but she tends to be talkative (don't know where she got that from!).

Eliza and Emma with their hair cuts.

I actually got tears in my eyes when I saw this cake. Bridget the Baker is an artist.

waiting to cut the cake 

I want the unicorn's head!

Reading the first clue on the treasure hunt.

Recent Happenings

Miles and Eliza, wearing Ethiopian formal-wear from Mercy Corps friend Amanuel, aka Dibaba

Tarisai Day at HIS, celebrating Zimbabwean culture and showing their Warthog pride

Eliza with Cindy, our tortoise. Cindy is shy.

Eliza wearing a mask Miles made for her

With Emma, Eliza's new best friend, at Emma's bday party...before Eliza cut their hair

At Hoggerty Hill Country Fair, Eliza in ecstasy brushing a horse's mane with her new pink brush

At the fair, Miles shooting a paint ball gun to win prizes

Damage done. Eliza's third attempt at cutting her own hair...less and less to cut.

Hair on the ground...not so obvious here but looked like a real salon...except longer pieces of hair.

My lemon, the Camry, and muscle boy.

First sleep over! Miles and Vaughn looking at Spiderman comic books.

Catching daddy at lunch...this was after the real hair trim and before her own trim.