Camping

In the middle of July I was laid off from my job. I was ready to move on and am excited about starting something new so all in all it's been a good thing. Since my schedule was suddenly wide open, we decided to go camping in the middle of the week! Many of the camp grounds near us fill up months in advance for weekend spots so we were glad to get a last minute, mid week reservation at a lake near us. It was Noah and Aliyah's first time camping but all in all everyone did great. However, a camping trip with three small children and a dog who LOVES being in the water is not particularly relaxing. A few lessons we learned:

- Noah is impossible to keep clean. I finally gave up and tried to at least wipe off his hands before meal time.
- Buffy will jump out of a boat into the water without thought of how she will possibly get back in the boat (more of a reminder than a new lesson learned :)
- Once one child in a tent wakes up, they all wake up.
- Aliyah is not very good at being quiet, even if we are all whispering and it's 6:30 in the morning and the rest of the campground is still asleep.
- Peeing on a tree is really really fun for small children, even girls.
- Pete's short time in the boy scouts as a child paid off as he was well prepared with a first aid kit when I injured my toe.
- Roasting marshmallows is always fun but it's even more fun around an actual campfire.

We came home tired and dirty and very happy. We definitely hope to go again soon.

Zulu

Aliyah's hair is becoming a bit of a challenge. It is becoming too long to leave in an out style for too long or it becomes really hard to detangle. On the other hand, it's a bit too short for braiding and some other styles I want to try. I read a few different hair style blogs and came across this style for Zulu Knots. I'm definitely on a steep learning curve but I think it turned out ok. So far this style has survived two days and I am hoping with a little freshing up to get it to last a few more.

Wordless Wednesday

Baptism

This last weekend was Aliyah's baptism. She did great and really seemed to enjoy herself and recognize that it was her special day.
Aliyah with her parents and Godparents, Shannon and Kelly.

The kids in their Ethiopian outfits. Noah wasn't too keen on his Ethiopian shirt so we settled for his Ethiopia t-shirt. Aliyah loved her baptism candle and wanted to carry it around at the party we had at our house afterwards.Aliyah enjoying some of the Ethiopian feast we prepared. We were blessed with wonderful weather so we were able to eat outside.

And the special cake that Aunt Jody and Cousin Jordan made that has, you guessed it, the Ethiopian flag on it! All in all it was a wonderful celebration of our very special little girl.

Beach Fun

After a very cold and wet spring, we finally have some nice summer weather. In fact, it was downright HOT this last weekend so we headed to the beach for the day. The boys had fun playing in the sand and running in the waves. Aliyah was a little timid with the water at first but she started to have a lot of fun splashing in the waves as long as mom or dad held her hand. Aliyah was able to take a nap in our popup tent and the boys fell asleep almost immediately once we got in the car to go home. All in all, a fun beach day!

Makeover - Office Edition

Pete is fortunate enough to work from home full time. This has so many advantages but one disadvantage is his less than desirable work space. Our house isn't very big and he used to work at a desk in our bedroom but then when I was on my leave with Aliyah, he had to relocate to the garage because of noise issues. He doesn't need much to work, just a computer and a phone and as you can see above, he hasn't done much to his work space!

So, while he was in Germany for work, the kids and I decided to do a little decorating for him. We went through their art bins and choose some of our favorite pieces and then glued them to large sheets of butcher paper. We then decorated the borders with hand prints and new drawings.

Dad was very surprised to find his newly decorated office. Maybe some day we'll actually get him a real monitor riser so that he doesn't have to put his screen on a bucket...