Back to Shule

On Thursday Anna and I headed to Roxanne's house to visit the kids from Shule. Apparently before we arrived they were super excited to meet Anna but when we got there they came over all shy. They loved showing off all the English they have learnt and singing some new songs, including 'The Wheels on the Bus' and a song about the days of the week.

Anna enjoyed the whole experience so much she fell asleep (No mean feat when you hear how much noise these kids can make!!).

It was great to see and hear how much progress these children have made over the last four and a half months. Most importantly, they now know how to ask their teacher for candy in English!!

First swimming lesson.

I think I briefly mentioned Anna's first swimming lesson in my last post. Here's a few photo's to give you a better idea of how it went!!

Not off to a good start - she doesn't look too impressed!

This photo clearly shows the trauma the poor little thing went through. However, when we took her out of her float (which is a bit on the big size at the moment) she was a bit happier. No smiles as yet but no screaming either!

We also took her swimming to a swimming pool in a local hotel the following day and she had her first taste of being underwater!!! Although it was on purpose, it was a bit of a shock to all involved, but Anna didn't cry or scream (just coughed a bit). She will be a water baby yet :)

We're back!

After a drama filled evening and morning before our scheduled flight back to Tanzania (we found out when we tried to book in online that a ticket had never been issued for Anna and we would have to pay $411 at the airport for her - more than we paid for each of us and it didn't include a meal!), we eventually all made it on to the plane with all our luggage successfully weighed and checked in.

Anna was a superstar the whole way and even managed to stay in her routine and slept most of the journey back. Once back in Dar we took the easy option and rather than trek across town with all our luggage only to endure a long wait at the port and an even longer ferry ride back, we would buy an extra ticket for our luggage and get the plane back. A great decision which meant that we were back home by 10am rather than 2pm.

It was great to be welcomed back by our German team mates who all congregated at our house to say hi and to meet Anna. Our American speaking friends are currently on holiday and will be back in the next day or two.

Anna has been a hit here and everyone loves her. I am continually handing her over to our local friends (and sometimes people we have just met) and assuming I will get her back at some point! She is adapting really well and although sometimes the heat gets a bit much, she is still her usual smiley self.

Chillin' underneath the fans at a local hotel.

Enjoying a Stoney with Dad.

Having her first swimming lesson in the Indian ocean - not bad! The water was a bit on the cold side at first but she soon got used to it and enjoyed a bit of relief from the hot of the beach.

Where did the last 4 months go??

Somehow our time in England is at an end. We are in our last week at home in the UK and I am not entirely certain where the last 4 months have gone!

Our last week has been a great time of seeing family and here are one or two photo's of our family as it currently looks...

All dressed up for Aunty Abby and Uncle Rob's wedding.

The Mottram clan, bigger all the time ;)

The Osborn clan, also growing almost daily!

The snow came the day before we were due to leave and having missed all the snow over the last couple of years we were very happy to see it. Plus we got to leave before all the chaos of closed schools and icy roads. (We really need to learn to cope a bit better with 'adverse weather' don't we?!)

Anyway, we have had a fantastic time back in the UK catching up with friends and family but we are about ready to get back to life as we currently know it in a mildly warmer climate!! We will miss everyone lots so keep in touch and let us know how you are doing.

Bye for now x

Learning curve (and some cute pics :))

Over the last 4 1/2 weeks life as we knew it has been altered beyond anything we could have imagined with every decision affected by the arrival of our little one. We are on a steep learning curve as we are frequently reminded, from the big things to the smaller things like figuring out how to get tiny baby clothes over our dear one's head as demonstrated in the picture.

Bath time in the kitchen sink

Watching the Grand Prix with Dad

1 month on...

Our little girl passed her one month-iversary on Monday. She is piling on the weight, even though I have to strictly time her feeds to make sure she doesn't over do it and bring it all back, and seems to be growing very quickly. In our own (perhaps a little biased) opinion, she is getting more and more beautiful every day and we are loving every minute of being her parents :)

Here is our little beauty wearing a special vest all the way from Canada, just to show the world that she really is 1 month old!

Rich playing with the camera...

With a new subject at hand (who is unable to protest), Rich has been enjoying playing around with the camera (and our daughter!) to get some unusual photo's.

Anna and her cousin Zenia, apparently not so thrilled to be meeting each other!!