Jack got a new set of wheels for his birthday. Diana and Alan wanted to get Jack a bike and were leaning towards a traditional bike with...ya know...pedals.

We have been watching Jack tear around on his scooter, and thought that a balance bike could potentially vault him forward in his (our) goal of having the best balance of any 3-year old in the world.

So we talked Diana and Alan into buying a balance bike instead.

When we first got here, we visited our new neighbors and Jack rode 5-year old Maya's pedal bike. For the next three weeks Jack never missed an opportunity to tell us that he wanted a bike of his own. We'd go to the store and he'd make a bee-line for the bikes. A red one at Game (Lusaka's answer to Walmart, perhaps) was particularly desirable.

What all the bikes had in common, however, were pedals.

Flash forward to Jack's birthday. He got up in the morning and we gave him the bike. He took a long look at it and asked where might the pedals be.

This bike doesn't have pedals Jack, we explained. You push with your feet.

At which point he cried...for a long time.

But he's come around, and now is making laps around the house like a champ.

Even in his PJs.


Jack has really taken a shine to his baby brother -- when he's not motoring around on his bike, that is. Note the fierce frog tat on Jack's forearm by the way. The kid definitely has tattoos in his future. They fascinate him.



Sam's getting more alert daily. He's a pretty smiley guy, but generally demurs in front of the camera.



The rainy season is no joke here. Lusaka has weather, to be sure . In Vientiane, the rainy season generally meant a sunny day with an hour or so of heavy rain that generally fell straight down.

Here, the temperature drops suddenly, the wind whips up, thunder claps and lightning streaks across the sky.

And the rain. Oh, the rain.

Sadly, rain is difficult for an untrained photographer like me to capture on film.





Maybe video is better.