Last week Kakasii needed to visit our shamba (farm) in the village so we decided to make a family trip out of it.

That was no small feat. Packing for Max and Elly is quite involved. In addition to clothes, sippy cups, diapers and wipes, we must not forget Max’s tractors and trucks if we are going to be away from home for more than 10 minutes.

We also needed to take a refrigerator along with us. We bought a bigger fridge for the house in Arusha and wanted to put the smaller fridge in the farmhouse. So Kakasii pulled three of the seats out of the Land Cruiser to make room for the fridge. That didn’t leave much room for the people who were needing to also ride along.

Our house helpers Anita (left) and Mazaa (right) came along, too.

The drive to the shamba is a little more than an hour. Once we got there it was only a matter of minutes before Kakasii was ready to take Max and Elly on a walk to greet the neighbors. He couldn’t wait to show off his twins! In Tanzania, the father gets all the credit for twins–nevermind I was the one who carried them for 35 weeks!

With Kakasii, Max and Elly on their way, it was time for Anita, Mazaa and I to clean the house. It had been quite some time since we last stayed in the farmhouse so there was plenty to clean up.

Once Kakasii and the kids were back from their visiting, it was time for one of the great life lessons kids get on the farm: the circle of life. Max and Elly got to meet their supper.

The next time they saw that rooster, he was here:

While supper cooked, Max and Elly fed the surviving chickens.

And then tormented them by chasing them around the yard.

And Max of course took one of his tractors out for a ride through the banana fields.

After our yummy chicken supper we hit the hay. Fortunately, chasing chickens takes a lot out of Max and Elly so they fell right to sleep.