Ok, now she is really 11.

Only after the much awaited "friends" party can one truly say they are 11. Or so Charlotte would have you believe. After a nearly 3 week delay, the party of the year took place. No easy feat organizing a birthday party for 11 year old girls. Too young for princesses and too old for well, lots of stuff. The middle ground that was found included a just warm enough pool, a big bouncy castle that was touted as "for a more mature group" and a makeup artist. Guess what was the biggest hit, Marcus the wonderfully patient and ever so talented make up artist. All the girls went away with tastefully done faces and a better appreciation for what goes into getting "made up." The background atmosphere that pulled it all together included an ipod full of tween music, helium balloons (I have a great source here in Zim), pizza, all the soda you can drink and a birthday cake that included personal cupcakes. I am a good mom.

Charlotte turns 11

Charlotte turned 11 on the 29th of August. Unfortunately the week leading up to her big day found her home sick with a raging fever. The party she had so hoped would take place on her birthday weekend had to be postponed. We were able to celebrate at home with a pretty fancy cake, nice presents and dinner out at our favorite birthday restaurant, Miller's steakhouse. The crew at Miller's made up a fancy ice cream sunday for the birthday girl and provided a rousing round of "Happy Birthday to You" to the newly minted 11 year old. No worries that her principle was at the next table over! More birthday exploits to come, the party is next weekend. Love, Shannon

Bark, not the dog kind.

One of my greatest joys here in Harare is quite literally my own backyard. We are so fortunate to live in a house with an amazing garden, beyond amazing really. Four acres of thoughtfully landscaped gardens, rivaling many small botanical gardens with a range of trees, plants and flowers that, even after a year of exploring still surprises me. My latest jaunt through the garden with my camera found me focusing on, in addition to the seasonal flowers, some of the unusual bark. We are just heading out of winter right now and the trees are just starting to leaf out again, which is probably why I found myself focused on the bark. Once the leaves arrive I will check my flora books and see if I can better identify some of the species. For now, I will share with you my bark collection, to be followed up with the Aug/Sep flowers. Oh and one nice shot of Kodi at his own private water bowl/pond. Love, Shannon

And the flowers...