girl's day out

Last Saturday, the senior class of the Christian boarding school in Niamey put on a Girl's Day Out event for all girls & ladies of all ages. Since Mark & I decided that we each individually wanted to devote special time to each child throughout the year as part of our family goals, I knew this would be the perfect opportunity for a Mommy/daughter date.

We dressed up in our finest duds & headed out for our special day together ...

but not without a funny picture first because, well, it's just who we are ...

I was so glad to have this time with just Isabelle. She knew it was coming for a week & was counting down the days.

The event provided the options of the attendants having a manicure, pedicure, henna, massage, & hair cut as well as other fun options like a thrift store, tea room, beauty workshops & a dress-up photo booth. There was also a salad & soup lunch, too.

Izzy & I chose to just have our nails done, shop at the store, have a sip of tea, stop by the photo booth & enjoy lunch together.

She was a little upset when we were leaving because she was having so much fun & heard that the "How to Make Earrings" workshop was about to begin. Even though I tried to help her understand that she didn't even wear earrings, she still wanted to go learn how to make them! Bless her heart. I knew she just wanted to stay & have more fun no matter what they were offering! She offered up her best smile when I put her in the car, though.

We had such a great time together & I'm so thankful that I got to have that special day with just her & I. I told her about all the fun days we had like that in America & how I can't wait to have more dates with her. She made sure to tell me that next time it should be Luke's turn to go on a date! Such a sweet, thoughtful sister.

Later that evening, after the kids had gone to bed, we got an email with the pictures from our photo booth session. There had been just a big pile of dress-up clothes in one room & then a bench & backdrop in the other with a student taking pictures. Izzy & I picked out semi-matching shirts & she wanted to wear a big hat so I just chose to pick out a funky scarf & put on my sunglasses. The first one we did smiles but Izzy wanted to do a funny one for the second picture.

Y'all, my girl's face made me crack up hysterically! Seriously, Mark & I sat & laughed at this picture for a good long time. She is just so funny!! The girl that emailed us the pictures said, "The second picture is my personal favorite. I think it might be the cutest picture in the entire universe...;D!" Ha! Ha!!

izzy + luke = BFF

I know I probably sound like a broken record talking about how Isabelle & Luke have become BFF lately. But, really, it's just been such a sweet thing to watch develop. It's not just that they are just brothers & sisters ... they are friends. 

It's gone from Izzy being the adoring big sister to her baby brother, to Luke being the adoring little brother to his idolized big sister, to Izzy desperately wanting Luke to play with her & him not having any clue what's going on, to Luke learning how to take care of himself & maybe even fight back a little, to both of them actually wanting to play together & spend time together & making mischief together & laughing together & making each other laugh & taking up for each other & caring about each other & well, just being friends.

Now, every day is not all roses at the Phillips' house. They are definitely still siblings & we have a lot of refereeing to do but on those occasions where they move from siblings to friends ... it's just so sweet. 

Here's a little photo tour of Izzy & Luke's developing relationship ...

Izzy + Luke = BFF!

family fun days

For the first time ever, Mark & I sat down & made a list of goals we wanted to accomplish as a family in 2012. (I'll try & do a post on all of our goals we made later.) One of our goals was to have a "Family Fun Day" each month. We, of course, have fun as a family every day (ha!) but we wanted to make sure that we spend time away from the house, just the 4 of us, making memories together. 

Our first fun day? The zoo! Also known as the animal prison to any adult with good seeing eyes. To our children, though, this is a magical place where they can see hippos, lions & monkeys! It only costs us a total of $6 to get into the zoo, so it's a very inexpensive fun day. 

I will add that it is VERY hard to do things like this where we live. For one, there are just not many options. I'm already nervous about trying to plan 11 more fun days in this city! And, secondly, our family sticks out just a bit when we go out & about. Just a bit. You know when you go to the zoo in, let's say, Louisville? You can blend in with the crowd, right? Your kid cries or falls down & you may get a stare or 2 but no one minds you much business because they are taking care of their own kids. 

 

Here? Not so much. It's almost like our kids become the bigger attraction at the zoo! Everyone stares at us. Everyone nudges their neighbor to say, "Hey look at those white people & their kids." And then out come the souvenir sellers because they know we want to buy one of their tablecloths & they will not take a kind "No, thank you" for an answer. 

So a trip to the zoo to do something fun, blend in with the crowd, just be out of the house for a day ... not so easy here. But we do it because, for our kids, it is fun. They have no idea that they don't look like anyone else. They don't realize people are staring at them. And they are so used to everyone wanting to shake their hands that it's not unusual or weird to them. 

But enough of that side story ... onto the fun at the zoo!

Seriously guys? Look at this poor monkey. Breaks my heart every time.

And this one? Poor fella.

My precious little girl. She was so excited to come to the zoo. PS - Can you see the pile of thorns & trash in the background? That's our zoo people. Classy & clean.

More cuteness coming at you. And more trash, too.

Izzy's favorite part ... the hippos.

She was telling some elaborate story here. That's her thing now ... telling stories. She'll say, "Okay, okay guys ..." & then go off telling us some story that we can only understand half of.

Lukey checking out the monkeys. These were indeed his favorite part.

Izzy was checking out this monkey by herself & she turned around & said, "This is what monkeys do" & stuck out her tongue. We were like, "Umm... Isabelle, monkeys do not do that. What are you talking about?"

But then she turned back around, reached for the monkey & he stuck his tongue out at her! Sorry, Belles, you were right.

My baby & the baby hippo.

Nothing ends a fun day at the zoo like a Tootsie Roll pop.

And this is where my daughter decided she wanted to get grumpy during our fun day & not take a picture with me. But at least my son still loves me.

Oh age 3, you are free to move on whenever you please!