Pizza and planes in Nairobi

Last weekend we took our older kiddos to Nairobi for the weekend to broaden their view of their lovely country and encourage them to dream big.  And also just to have a great time :)  It was wonderful and exhausting, and I will say it again-I DON'T KNOW HOW TEACHERS DO IT.  If your child has ever gone on any kind of a field trip or excursion, you need to write their teacher a thank you note right now. 

The weekend was full of a lot of firsts, the most significant probably being their first time on an airplane.  They were delighted.  When we reached cruising altitude and all you could see below us were clouds that appeared to be unmoving, James asked why-with a note of alarm in his voice-we had stopped moving and how long we could hang in the air like that before we started to fall.  We explained how different things look when you are so far above them, and we were still actually moving very fast even though it looked like we weren't.  I've never thought about it before, but he was right- it looked like we were simply hovering in the air.

I found myself having to explain things I've never had to explain before, like how an elevator works, what a breakfast buffet is, and what wifi is.  Carol had never been to a pool before, and insisted on swimming in the outdoor pool the first evening we were in our hotel, despite the fact the rest of us were in long pants and sweatshirts.

We went to the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, which was Eddah's favorite, and the giraffe center, where we all got licked in the face by big purple tongues.  We spent an afternoon at the Nairobi National Museum, and lastly, visited the campus of Nairobi University.  We talked about how the different schools work within the university, and want living on campus is like.  They all now plan to go there :)  Since Nairobi literally has everything, we took the kids to Pizza Hut for lunch.  The were all big fans, except Eddah, who said she still preferred ugali.

Huge thanks to Ray, Dana, Lynet, and especially Natalie, for helping me plan and pull this fun but slightly hectic weekend off.  I think it was a success :)

Jessie