Happy Day!

Friday was the big day...Norah's third birthday party and, the way I see it, the first time I got to do it up big because she actually was vaguely aware of what having a birthday means. Balloons and all!



Balloons and, um....bouncy castles. Kids' birthday parties are a BIG DEAL here in Guyana. Complete with bouncy castles, trampolines (yes, both!), clowns, sound systems, etc. When in Rome...I tried to act uninterested in all of that stuff, but Patrick convinced me, rightfully so with hindsight, that Norah NEEDED a bouncy castle. So, here we go!



Hi there, birthday girl!



Ballerina birthday party spread.



Kata enjoying the refreshments.



Friends! Bouncy castles!



Aahhhhh! This is all too much!



Lovely weather, cool grass.



The ladies.



And now for the big moment...cake! I bought these gorgeous ballerina cupcake toppers, but no, Norah wanted cake! So, cupcake toppers went on top of a strawberry cake. Light those candles!



Blow! (Special note to Eleanor: she got two of three on the first try.)



Refreshing melty cake after all of that bouncing. Just in case you can't tell, she's wearing her tutu under her "princess dress." Yup, Norah gets birthdays.

The brief but glorious return of Flounder

We have several Israeli friends here in Georgetown and Norah was recently invited to a children's celebration of Purim. For the Jewish holiday of Purim, the children traditionally have a costume party:



Flounder was beyond thrilled to swim out of the box in Kata's closet and run and play again!



Tragically, though, Flounder was quickly swallowed by a lion.



Despite being flannel and hairy, the lion was it for the remainder of the hot evening...makes me sweaty just looking at her. Happy Purim!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

The greenest girls in Guyana:



(thanks Bridget and Louis!)

We're back!

We've been back in Guyana for a little more than a month after a WONDERFUL vacation back in the US. Thanks to all of the family and friends who traveled to see us while we were there! It was fantastic to have seen so many of you! Norah built a snowman, drank her first hot chocolate and made snow angels in Indiana. Kata learned to crawl, pull up to standing and was baptized in Chicago! (and, let's just mention that I got multiple pedicures, thank you very much.) Not a bad trip!

Since returning to South America, we have had a lot on our plates. We moved into a new house two days after returning. It's a much better house with lots of outdoor space for playing. We're a block from the sea and have a great ocean breeze all day. But, our internet has been down almost constantly-- so I'm just now able to play some catch-up. Here is a series of pretty random scenes from the daily life of our dear Guyana Girls:

New yard, new shades. Stylin'.



The swing is up! Norah's been waiting patiently to be able to use her swing again, and now it sits in one of our many mango trees!



Stella, on guard. While she can't complain about our new gigantic yard, she does claim to miss her street cow buddies.



Lots of bougainvillea to make a girl feel like a princess...




NASCAR comes to Guyana!!! Um...just kidding. Just Norah's style for the annual Mashramani parade (Guyana's national holiday.)



Parade schmarade. My toys are way cooler.



Mash!



Shade, please. Anywhere. Any shade will do.



Back home-- watch out for grabby hands! Grabby hands are everywhere!




While enjoying our new yard last Saturday, our guard (and friend) Cheryl gave us a lesson on getting to the coconut water from some of the coconuts growing in our yard.



Anticipation!



Aaahhhh! Coconut water's biggest fan, Princess Norah.



Last weekend we visited the Guyana Zoo and found that every little girl needs a Tapir. Lovely, no?!?



Cool breezes, green grass. We love our new house!