three stooges

I spent 4 days with my niece and nephew in victoria recently - i hadn't seen them in over a year, and it may be another 3 years before i see them again... jacob was only a crawling, beer guzzling babe of one and katie had just passed out of her toddler years when i saw them last.

jacob, still with a zest for beer, runs at full speed, throws himself off high objects risking life and limb at every opportunity. katie has developed into a fully fledged princess with a wardrobe to match it. what have i missed?? it is alarming!!

jacob knows how to charm...

katie has a daily after-school routine of becoming a princess

three stooges

A part of me wishes I could live around the corner and pick them up for icecream on a whim, or play "choo choo" trains on the living room table more often. Another part of me wants them to be proud of their nutcase aunt who jumbles around in a 4x4 in the bush of africa. i love them dearly, i hope my physical absence in their daily routine doesn't make me less significant in their lives...

I also went to visit my Oma for an afternoon, one of my last chances to sample her outstanding coffee and watch her throw her cane across the room. She is still spry for 93 1/2, takes only a multi-vitamin, and the way she whips around her apartment, you wouldn't know she is missing half a femur! When I told her I was moving to Africa, she smirked and said "i'm not surprised!" For all I know, she will still be making coffee and doing needle work at 97 when I return from Kenya. She is an exemplary model of good honest hard work and a fiercely independent woman! (i ask her about boyfriends in the building, and she turns up her nose, saying "what do i need one of those for?")