Aaaahhhhh. Vacation.

We just spent three relatively sweat-free weeks with family in the US. Here are some of the best moments from our girls' latest intercontinental blitz:

Norah really loves airplanes. She also loves the fact that I allow her to watch Winnie the Pooh again and again and again on airplanes. She is also pants-less. Whatever.



Kata is terribly safety-conscious. Either that or she is showing an early affinity for comic books.



Here at last! After a very long day and night traveling, we woke up to this: beautiful white sands on Perdido Key with the Henrys!



Good to be on the beach. I mean, we live on the beach and all, but, like I said, goooood to be on the beach.



Lost in the giant sandbox.



My babies.



Then it was on to North Carolina for family wedding extravaganza-- two weddings in one week. Here is Nana with three of her great-grands.



And here's Charlie and his three great-grands...



Norah put on quite the show at family wedding number two. She danced and she danced and she danced. On the lawn she danced. And on the dance floor she danced. With the bride she danced. Here she is during the lawn portion of her extended dance trance:



Still dancing.



Eventually Norah stopped dancing and we were able to move on to other activities. Hiking in Cashiers.



My good friend Sarah came to Chattanooga to visit with her daughter Sophia. Remember these two from last June?



Yup, that's right! What a difference a year makes!



We safely made it back to Guyana last week. Norah has gone back to school and Kata is taking bold steps in every direction, but still prefers mostly to crawl. I am starting ballet class for the girls again on Wednesday and Patrick is hard at work growing those bell peppers and talapia...stay tuned!

One Whole Year of Kata

Kata is ONE!!! We are officially baby-less in the Henry household. Here are some highlights from International Kata Day:



She was chanting, "I want cake! I want cake!"



Miss Four-Teeth, ready to party.



Tearing in to the presents. I think this is the only one she was able to open...



...because she had a VERY enthusiastic, um, helper. Hi, Norah!



See what I mean? Just trying to help a sister out, that's all!



Are you really giving this to me?!?



First taste.



There we go, red velvet girl. Really, both of my girls were very dainty first birthday cake eaters...



This picture is for Papaw...Kata's found her most relaxing pose.



Norah helping Kata show "ONE" on her fingers.



Partying with Sharon!



Although only 48 hours later it's fair to say we may be regretting this choice...here's Kata's big present: a sandbox!!!



Digging in! It wasn't until the next day that she discovered how delicious it is.



Norah's a big fan of International Kata Day.



Eventually, we had to put the lid back on the sandbox. Sure sign of a well-received birthday present.



Couldn't leave you with tears...here's our birthday girl one more time. Happy Birthday, dear Kata!

Proud Mama!

I am so proud of my little ballerina! Her first ballet class (not-so-expertly taught by me) was this Wednesday.
She could hardly contain her excitement:



To the entertainment of the other watching mothers, Norah's enthusiasm never waned during class...My "teaching" was continually interrupted by my own child in some fantastically twisted pose yelling "Hey Mom, look at me!"


So sweet. Ballerina girl.

Stunning, Miss N

Yesterday was a charity tea and Easter Hat Show that I attended with my oldest daughter. We made matching pink tulle and paper rose hats, and wore white dresses to complete the look:



Tea time!



Mother, daughter. Tremendous fun.



The ladies.



Mademoiselles Norah and Thandi



So, at this point, I start walking towards the car thinking Norah is not interested at all at parading her hat in front of at least one hundred strangers. Wrong. She pulls my hand and says, "Mom, I haven't showed them my hat yet." Ok. I enter her in the hat show not thinking for a second that she'll go on stage when the moment comes. Or at least she'll make me carry her. Wrong and wrong.

I prep her for what she'll have to do (walk on stage, wave to the judges, walk around the bandstand, etc) still thinking she'll cry or at the very least cling to my skirt. They announce her name on the microphone, and she takes off. Without me. Does NOT want me anywhere near her. "I'll do it myself!" she says. The pictures are horribly backlit, but take a look:

Here she is parading herself on the stage.



I will not hold your hand, Mom!



Walking off the stage-- just look at the excitement you can see in her hand! They say her name several times on the microphone (as they describe her lovely attire) and each time she yells "That's me!!!" The crowd goes wild.



After her lap around the bandstand, she wants to go back up on the stage.



Finally, I am able to convince her that it is someone else's turn. I practically have to bribe her out of the spotlight. Stunning.

Easter

Good morning, Norah and Kata! The Easter bunny left lots of good stuff...



After church, we went to the Pegasus. Can't go to the Peg without a quick swing.



Easter brunch!



Back home, a rare full-family portrait.



On Easter Monday, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that EVERYONE in Guyana flies a kite. Along the seawall, the sky was almost black with hundreds and hundreds of soaring kites. It was really an amazing sight. Here's our participation:



Our kite flying high above Bel Air Gardens. Our house is the white one dwarfed by the concrete monster next door.

Egg Hunt

Here are our girls at the US Embassy's Easter Egg Hunt. Unintentional matchy-matchy pink seersucker.



Kata and Fiona hydrate before the big hunt.



KEH finds the first egg!



Norah tiptoes gracefully over all of the eggs, choosing only to pick up the purple ones. Maybe next year she'll learn to throw some elbows.



Enough, already. Get us in the shade now.