(3 of 3 Posts on Harambe) The hardest time to find at Harambe can be family time. But we actually left the camp several times during the week (twice for pre-op apointments, once to go to the US, and once to go for an unavoidable business meeting in Kelowna) so we got a lot of time with the girls.

Just staying in the trailer is nice, too. I find the pace of life is so much slower. We sure are going to miss our trailer! Jrock and I decided to sell “Gordon” to get some cash flow for our next adoption. It makes sense, but it will be hard to say goodbye to our fun little trailer where we’ve had so many good times.

(2 of 3 Posts on Harambe) Last year Spice met a sweet boy at camp and they became fast friends. I thought maybe it was one of those camp friendships that would just disapear, but low and behold – there he was, the first day we got to Harambe! And C stayed glued to Spice and Sugar for the rest of the week. He seemed to spend time with both of the girls this time, and it was great to have a slightly older boy around to help keep an eye on our water-diving mavens.

We spent time at the beach each day, pasrtly to cool off, and partly to relax and practice the girls’ swimming. There were two little boys camped next to us that the girls had a blast hanging out with; their parents were really nice and I hope we get them as neighbors again next year! Off the beach, the girls also met up with some other friends from the Okanagan, and Sugar met a new friend, K, that she really liked dancing and swimming with too. They sure did have a lot of fun (and so did we.)

(1 of 3 Posts on Harambe) The main purpose of Harambe (in my view) is for our girls to enjoy time with other multiracial families. But the second purpose is is the cultural activities that instill pride in African culture.

Now, I will say at the outset that there are no Ethiopian activities at the camp, which I am trying to remedy. And Africa’s a big continent, so Cote d’Ivoire drumming and Nigerian cooking don’t really have much to do with our girls’ Ethiopian heritage. That said, there is a pride and engagement that is totally positive from doing “African” activities with African adult role models and other kids. Plus, we just have a lot of fun participating and learning!

Here are some of the highlights!

The cool thing about Harambe is that the girls get to do African activities all week, like drumming with Fana and dancing with lots of other ‘brown’ girls… It’s awesome.

Last year the big deal for Sugar and Spice was seeing other families that look like ours. But i think this year the big deal will be seeing the older black girls- their hair, their personalities and self assurance.  There is no doubt in Jrock and I ‘s minds that this week is worthwhile. Oh.   And did I mention it’s a ton of fun? 

Having a good time this afternoon at Harambe Camp! We sent Huey off to Germany this morning and will miss her… Typing from my iPhone so will make this short! The kids met old friends today, went on a scavenger hunt, and off to the beach . They are learning to ride their bikes with no training wheels… So far, a busted lip, rattled bloody tooth , and several scraped knees. All Spice! Sugar is mote cautious…

Being away from home for the first time on your birthday can be hard for anyone, much less a 16 year old girl. So we tried to make Huey’s sweet sixteen as jam-packed as we could this week.

We started off the day with presents, as is the tradition in our house. We gave Huey a recipe book I made, some picture frames the girls made, a water bottle with Canadian geese on it and a couple of German brewskies (as is the German 16th birthday tradition. Don’t worry – only to share at home with Jrock. Don’t call the exchange student police.)

Then, we went to Summerland for geocaching and hiking Giant’s Head Mountain, to Summerland Sweets, and louging on the beach, and then to Peachland for supper at a German restaurant.

Except for when she first woke up, I think we managed to keep Huey so busy all day long, she didn’t have time to be homesick. And the rest of us fell asleep exhausted that night too!

Hover your cursor over the pics to see the detailed descriptions.

You know how businesses have a grand opening months after they have actually opened? Well, this is our equivalent of the adoption post-opening grand opening, lol.

Last weekend Jrock and the girls and I drove on a whirlwind trip to Vancouver to officially kick off our adoption with the agency. We signed all the paperwork and marked the day as the officially beginning of our Lesotho adoption.

We tried to make a fun day out of a rushed trip, so we took the Seabus from Vancouver over to North Vancouver and the girls just loved it. We had supper at the Longsdale Quay, and then just took the Seabus and burned back to the Okanagan. The weather was crummy and rainy, but it was still nice to spend a day in the big city and see the sites.

We had a lovely May long weekend out at our friend P & B’s house near Vernon. They have a daughter T from Swaziland that our girls love playing with, and P invited two other families that we got to know. One family has a little boy from Lesotho, so it was neat to learn about that country and get to know smiley KO. the other family has a sweet boy from Swaziland, KE. Between our four families, we had 5 kids between 4 and 5 1/2… and boy o boy, did they have fun.

Huey also had her first experience “camping” – also known as sleeping in the tent beside our trailer parked in P’s driveway. She thought she was roughing it, anyway! lol Jrock, unfortunately, got REALLY sick the first day of our visit. So we had to take him home and we actually spent the rest of the weekend without him while he moaned and groaned his way back to health.

The ladies and I took the kidlets out to the Caravan Theatre for a hay ride and to the Sunday Farmer’s market. It was the first time I’d been out there, and I was enchanted. I’ve told my sister that we have to go out for a performance later this summer… and I hope she’ll make the trip. Meanwhile, Huey suffered the small kids through and had a quiet moment watching the hockey game with the guys while we took the kids to the farm market. Fun May long! and hopefully we’ll do it again with Jrock in tow… (he’s fine now, BTW.)

Hover over the pictures for the details.

We busted Huey out of highschool last week (she was ok with that!) to take a cruise up to Barriere, north of Kamloops. It was a full bus with my dad and the three girls and Jrock and I – but heck, that’s what we have the Pilot with 8 seats for, right?

It was a lovely sunny day. Our mission was to collect Gordon, our beloved holiday trailer, from my godparents’ place up in Darfield (just north of Barriere.) Unfortunately, they were on a cruise, but we took the time to walk around and enjoy their property anyway.  Jrock is always such a party pooper. After we arrived (three hours of driving,) he complained “…it’ll be too muddy to walk to the river! We’ll be all wet, and… bla bla bla...”

I have learned after 9 years of togetherness to ignore him. So we hiked out to the river and it was gorgeous (and mud-free.) Enjoy the pictures from a lovely corner of the world.

We had a great time in Calgary. As it always is, the time was jam-packed. The first night, we went out for Ethiopian food at Fassil. Pretty good! Although I wasn’t impressed with the thick and dark injera. That said, the beef tibs and asa tibs were great. The next day, we were joined by Auntie T for a long day at the zoo. I always have mixed feeling at zoos – I understand re-introducing whooping cranes and housing injured animals – but the others that have nothing wrong with them, I wish weren’t there. Spice seemed to echo my sentiments. On the other hand, the girls got to see bush pigs and colobus monkeys that they hadn’t seen since we were in Ethiopia. So that was cool. That night we ate Chinese and visited with Uncle D and Nonna. My grandmother was super happy to see the girls, and it was great to visit. Then off Jrock went for a late night beer with his best bud K. In the morning - we were off! to Lake Louise to drop off Huey (who was joining up with an exchange student trip in Jasper) and hit the highway home.

It was super nice to meet up with our friends and family in Calgary – but boy o boy, am I glad that we are home. Back to tulips, green grass, singing birds, and sunshine.

That said, we made the very most of the brown muddy days in Calgary. We went out to Big Hill Springs park, which was a real treat. The kids and Jrock all borrowed mud-worthy footware, so they had a blast splashing about in the slop. The kids has a lovely time playing in the stream, jumping over logs and discovering islands.Unfortunately, you can see that I was the only one with my heeled boots on!

The sunshine was lovely, though, and the running waters made us all wistful and expectant for spring. I imagine that park is just lovely in the summertime, as it was still pretty brown and muddy!

From Calgary! We’re visiting our dear frinds L & K and their little son Leo. The kids woke us up at 4am (ok, so it was 5am here, BUT…) and went tearing around the house looking for the remains of the Easter Bunny’s visit. Poor Huey was trying to sleep and got tromped over by marauding egg hunters. MUCH later in the morning, we had a lovely ham and Easter brunch.

Still today we will eat Ethiopian food, and then tomorrow we’re off to the zoo with Auntie T and Nonna. The fun continues! I hope you all have a lovely weekend with your families.

Hi Calgary friends.. just wanted to let you now that Jrock, the girls, Huey, I and our three dear friends will be eating at Fassil on Easter Sunday at 5:30pm. If anyone wants to dine at the table beside us and visit, you are VERY welcome to meet us there!

HAPPY HOP HOP!

Some cupcake and chicken moments from today in Invermere BC!

A few days ago on March 11 was international women’s day. There is a campaign from Plan Canada that really struck a chord with me. In Canada, for the most part, I can live the life I want. I don’t really have a lot of constraints around my decisions because of my gender.

But in many parts of the world, and indeed, in some parts of this country, women still don’t have the same rights as men. I remember one day in Morocco quite a few years ago that I was traveling around Marrakesh with a Moroccan friend. He was taking me buying carpets. I was careful to wear appropriate clothing and not to offend anyone, since the country is a moderate Islamic state. I thouroughly enjoyed Morocco and felt so welcomed by the men and women I met.

But there was this one shop high above the other houses, deep in the souks. We must have climbed four sets of stairs to get up there, with each level getting several degrees warmer. Finally at the top, there was a dark room filled with looms and weavers. They were all women… all weaving and sweating away. The one man up there was obviously the business owner, and he started to throw carpets down on the floor for me to see, as is the custom. I was distracted by the ladies, weaving and wondering about me – this bold female who dared come and barter with their boss. I found some nice carpets, but the man didn’t want to move much on the price, and I knew we weren’t getting anywhere. My friend grew more nervous, and the man spoke with more distaste ever growing minute. Finally – I had a feeling. I didn’t realize what it was at first… but then I recognized it. This man thought  I was completely inferior to him, because I was a woman. And he would have no trouble whatsoever hurting me if I didn’t act as I was supposed to and buy a carpet.

I spoke quickly in English to my friend (we had been speaking in French with the man,) and he made some excuse about having to run and how we were behind, and so and so would be looking for us soon. Or some other lame excuse. We hustled down the stairs, with the man throwing insults down after us. I have rarely been so frightened in my life.

I guess the moral of my story is that for that brief minute, I felt the fear and subjugation that the weavers in that horrible man’s shop felt every day. And there are many many women in the world who simply aren’t given any chance or opportunity at life – simply because they are girls. Or women.

Have a look at this video, and think about ways you can help.

1. Raise strong, capable daughters. Show them that they can do anything.
2. Consider donating to an organization that empowers girls, such as Plan Canada, Vulnerable Children, or any other.

Jrock and I have been having a pretty darn good time so far… I thought I would post up some of our adventures – especially so our kids at home can see where we’ve been…

Our first night, we rushed from the late plane off to our hotel – to say hi to the girls and to freshen up. Then off we went to Emeril’s in the MGM Grand to meet some old friends. (the food was healthy and good – but nothing really special. We haven’t seen them for 5 years, but they just happened to be in Las Vegas the same time us. Super nice to see them!

The next day, bright and early, Jrock and I went hiking. We went with Hike This!, a one-man tour company, and he was just fantastic. We spent the whole morning in Red Rock Canyon, and actually climbed and scrambled all the way up to the top of the red mountain. Pretty awesome – it was my first connection with the ecology of the area and it’s really beautiful.

The beautiful rocks…

Half way up the mountain…

Barrel cactus, yuccas and a cool face in the rocks…

Jrock showing the top of the mountain… and here it is!

That night, we went to Bouchon Restaurant. It’s in the Venetian (that hotel is so stinky) but the restaurant is mercifully perfume free, and absolutely delicious. There is no food I like more in the world than French food. We spilt an amazing bottle of wine (Arietta Quartet 2008), a roasted endive chicken salad, a plate of charcutterie, and a simple but amazing plate of steak and french fries. And I mean real French fries. The steak was covered in bronzed shallots and herbe de provence butter – yum (even for a non-carnivore like me.)

I feel so at home in a French restaurant – for me, it’s more relaxing than the spa.

Speaking of which…This morning I spent at the spa in our hotel. (Alas, not the Four Seasons, Sharla, but almost as good – the Encore at Wynn.) My body is warmed and manipulated by all tose hot stones. My skin isn’t as soft as my daughters’ – but definitley improved!

Here’s to a few more nice days! Hoeep you enjoyed the pictures, my little ones.