A week in Uganda

I just finished teaching Leadership to a new cohort in our MA in Organizational Leadership program located in Kampala, Uganda. They will now return to home/life/work/ministry and we'll continue together in the course via distance. This cohort joins two others in their 2nd and 3rd years respectively, so we had 3 classes, each taking two courses taught by 6 faculty - quite a party. It was a great week but I am ready for home - I begin the trek tomorrow.

I've included pictures of some of the students, sites around town, and pic of me with a birthday cake with my name on it - accompanied by the Happy Birthday song from 60+! It was lovely surprise on the 26th. 

My cohort of students. The residency week is for introductions to the semester's two courses (in this case Leadership and Teaching and Learning, taught by Joel Gray in the back) and for building relationships. From here students go home with their assignments, readings, etc. We will continue together for the remainder of the semester via distance. Then they return for a week of introduction to the next semester's courses, etc. and hopefully finish in three years.

Me and my surprise birthday cake!

Ugandan donuts for our morning tea break.

Read the sign carefully...

Do these belong to the gas station owner??

Zoo time!

Great morning at the zoo (one day last week) with our Colorado Springs cousins! Timo, Mattias and I joined Thea, Isaac and Theo on a windy, cool August day. (The weather has been very sunny and hot, so it was a nice change for a day.) The zoo is located on the slopes of Cheyenne Mountain, so getting to the exhibits means climbing up and around the hills! But that also means you can get incredible views of the city and further.

One of the best things at this zoo is the giraffe habitat. There are at least two dozen female giraffe in this large exhibit, and visitors can feed them lettuce! The giraffe are very friendly and not shy at all about putting their faces - and tongues - right up to you to nuzzle in for lettuce. I didn't get a great photo of this - but next time Jim can come and try! It is the first exhibit after the entrance, so Timo was still feeling shy and uncertain. He didn't want to get too close - but of course by the time we left, he wanted to go back and see the giraffe again.

We saw three different kinds of bears. This one below was the smallest - the spectacle bear that lives in South America - and also the most visible.

 

Another amazing highlight was seeing three lion cubs, less than 2 months old, who had just been brought out from their birth/newborn area and are now able to be viewed. They were so cute and furry and still a bit wobbly trying to climb around in the exhibit. (I didn't get a photo because their were a lot of people and I was holding Timo so he could see.)
 
This Siberian tiger (Amur tiger) was VERY active while we were watching. She was pacing through the forested area, and then jumped down the cliff and pawed at the pond. We stood on a bridge over the pond and watched her growl at the water and then slowly wade in. What a beautiful creature!!
 

And, that's all! Still more to see - we'll be back!

A new spot at Garden of the Gods

We "finally" got both backpacks up and running for a hike again this summer, and "finally" got over to Garden of the Gods to explore a different section of the park than we had seen yet. Of course it is still high tourist time so on a Saturday afternoon there were lots of people, but we had a few quiet moments - and some seriously stunning views! (You can hardly tell that we are just to the west of downtown Colorado Springs, and nestled among neighborhoods - thanks to the trees and ridges.)

Timo is waving hi!

Now THIS is the good life! Love it!! Amidst all the bustle of life with two young boys and working hard to make homemade meals (Jul) and working full days at the office (Jim), getting outside on a trail... looking up at the mountains, walking through the sunflowers, chatting away with each other while walking together ... it gives us a powerful emotional boost - sigh - and gives us rest in the middle of life's chores.

Who's coming to visit us next?!
 

Ahh, boys and summer

Mattias is so over the baby toys. He's moved on to bigger and better. Cars and balls and books and doors and kitchen pots, for example. He's taking a particular liking to the treehouse, and tries to put things (like cars) on & off the shelves. 

Yes, we are now starting to run into the good and bad of brothers playing together... Suddenly Timo has to share the cars!! And yet, suddenly, we have those periods when I look over and they are playing together!! As Timo said recently, "Play cars, baby 'tias? Baby 'tias, play cars?" (holding out a car to Mattias) And then, "Mommy, go away." (looking up and seeing me watching)

And, just a part of the daily routine, is Timo loading up his Tonka dump truck. And dump. And repeat.

I finally made popsicles this summer! By my recollection, I think this was Timo's first popsicle. Of course I made the simple More with Less recipe: plain yogurt mixed with frozen orange juice concentrate.

 

The best part was the popsicle beard! And the fact that Timo was happily occupied eating it for 20 minutes.

Julie Penrose Fountain at America the Beautiful Park

Hurrah, it's Saturday! Family time! And a chance to get out and enjoy our city! 

Because of our two big trips in June & July, we hadn't been to the Penrose Fountain yet this summer. And even though Timo and I went several times last summer (with Auntie Rachel once, and Grandpa once, plus another time) this was Jim's first time to see it! The fountain is a huge, impressive circular shape that rotates and sprays water, and beneath is a wide, shallow 'moat', the perfect play area for kids. It is situated in the downtown area (and so only a few miles from our house), with the Front Range as a beautiful backdrop.

At first both boys were content to sit and watch all the commotion and splashing, but after a time, Timo took off and just kept running/walking in circles around the whole fountain along with all the other kids. On the outer edge the water forms a little river, so most of the kids just run with the flow, screaming and jumping happily.
 

Timo like to sit or lie down in the "river"

Mattias LOVED the water!!
 

It was a beatiful, warm, and sunny (yikes, "the sun is SO bright!" We can't help but repeating that over and over.) morning.

 

Disclaimer: okay let's be honest. We did have a really fun time at the fountain. And it is one of my favorite summer things in Colorado Springs. However...we have two little boys, and naptimes to think about... so our family outing lasted about an hour and a half, and then we all came home exhausted. Ha! That's the life right now!