crazy ducks

We took the boys to a park the other day and introduced them to ducks. There was a cute little bench overlooking a pond where we stopped for a snack and rested (and gave the ducks a chance to catch their breath after being chased all over by an excited 14 month old).


The ducks were, of course, curious about what the boys were munching on. Well, one duck got a little too courageous and before we knew what had happened, he had snatched the bag of gold fish right out of Cohen's hand!

Cohen was completely taken off guard and more than a little intimidated. Yeah. In fact, I would say it was a quasi-tramatic experience for him.

I mean, hey! A pack of aggressive ducks with limited sense of boundaries can be pretty scary for a two year old! (Or even a grown woman, right Mom? You and the duck episode will always be one of my funniest childhood memories :)

As you can see, Cohen spent the rest of our time at the park a little on the cautious side.

California

We spent a month out in California debriefing our past two years in Mozambique in preparation to transition to a new organization. Here are some pictures of our time there:

Family

Finally our boys get to put faces to those strange voices they hear over the internet!

It was so neat to introduce my son to his Aunt Joy. The few days we had in Kentucky together went quickly!
We then spent a very quick week in Missouri visiting Grandpa and Grandma. Grandmas are just perfect anyways, but this one particularly knew just how to put Cohlen "in his element" by giving him the very serious task of helping to cut up strawberries for dessert.

Cohen and Grandma sliced and cousin Ellen ate them just about as quickly!

Christian was thoroughly entertained at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

He had a ready partner in crime in his cousin Ellen.

Uncle Scott insists being burried up to their necks in pebbles was Cohen and Ellen's idea.

Christian and Grandpa made fast friends. There's nothing and no one quite like a Grandpa for fun!

Garlic

The following demonstration of how to crush garlic in typical Mozambican culinary fashion is provided for you by Christian Kern.

Tasty!

In all the packing, Christian has been my right-hand man. Actually, mostly just AT my right hand...pulling everything out of the boxes just as fast as I pack them in. At one point I found him playing with this wooden mortar and pistal--just like he's seen Fernanda do this past year. Mozambicans typically put the cloves of garlic in the base with a bit of salt, and then grind it to a pulp for seasoning meat dishes and other food. And they always put it on the ground when crushing the garlic because you have better leverage. As you can see from the pictures above, Christian has picked up the general idea.