Kylie's 8th birthday, August 21

We happened to be in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, for Kylie's 8th birthday. Our car needed to get worked on, so we drove the 7 hours down - our car survived - and then it went in the shop. Of course, it wasn't ready by the time we needed to return, so we borrowed another car to return in. 3 hours into the trip back, the air conditioner went out in that car. Good times!

An employee of the Baptist Mission of Uganda drove our car back to us a week later and came to help us hook up our solar power, but that's another story.

The second picture was taken at the top of the hill at the Baptist Mission. It really is a beautiful view, but just like Victoria Falls, there is no railing around these high cliff-like places. My children are sitting next to a 15 - foot drop off, catching HUGE snails.

The lady standing there is Jan Skuza, a colleague of ours in Kampala. We stayed with her and her husband Lynn for two nights and were there when we woke up for the birth day.

Jan's husband, Lynn, got up early and made french toast and eggs, and Jan made homemade breakfast sausage for the birthday breakfast. It was a real treat. My kids love the Skuza's!

Caleb wanted to let you know how old his sister was.

Another item of business to take care of in Kampala was getting Karis a haircut. She wanted it short, so Jan told us a place we should go.

I don't think the lady was used to cutting hair of someone who is so short. She didn't put Karis in a booster seat, which made it hard for her to see.

The result was a lop-sided hair cut, but thankfully, Karis doesn't care, and she looks pretty cute anyway.

Kylie wanted pizza for her birthday, but the Italian place she likes was closed down for a month while the owners visited family.

Her next choice was a hamburger.

I have yet to have a good hamburger in African (I've only tried three), so I was a little skeptical.

We went to an "American" style restaurant for the burger, and it was ok, but not great. It's hard for me to love a burger that is dry, missing mustard, and no pickles in sight...but that's just me.

We also had ice cream while we were in Kampala and got to re-stock on some grocery items we wanted. Plus, we also found some TV series that were for sale on DVD, so we bought a few to have an American media "fix." It's also a great way to wind down the day after studying language.

Other than that, the last exciting thing for the kids was seeing this baby baboon on the side of the road on our return. We usually spot elephants or hippos as we near the national park, but on our way down, we could only faintly see one elephant through the trees, and on the way back - nada. (That's Spanish - not Lugbara, for anyone who was confused).