Hintons Abroad: July 2016

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

4th of July

We've been asked by several people about the Fourth of July: Do we celebrate it in Kenya? How? With whom?

Yes! We do celebrate the Fourth here in Kenya. Both last year and this year, we had a BBQ at our house for anybody (whether American or not) who wanted to come. This year, we had about 60 people. Here are the stats:

Countries represented:
-USA (States: California, Texas, Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida)
-Canada
-Kenya
-Australia
-United Kingdom

We grilled hot dogs (thanks to our neighbor Paul for letting us use his grill while he's back in the States!), and the kids played with glow bracelets and rubber-band-launched rockets sent from California. It was fun to remember our home country and introduce others to our traditions.

Dresses from Grammie and Gramps

What do you do with three cute girls, a beautiful backyard, and new dresses from Grammie and Gramps in Hawaii? Have a photoshoot!

A beautiful day in the "neigh"borhood

One of the great things about living on campus here at Rosslyn is the other people that we get to know. One of the other staff families who live close to us have two high-school aged daughters, one of whom, Karen, has been riding horses for years. We've been wanting to go with her to have the girls ride a bit, and today we got the chance. There's actually a riding facility less than a mile from campus.

Arriving at the stables with Karen.

Both of the girls were mesmerized by the horses. Karen showed them how to groom the horse and prepare it for a ride, as well as the basics of how to act around horses. It was fun to see her slip into "expert" mode; it's obviously something that she's passionate about.

Cecily wanted to get in on the action too; soon enough!

Each of the girls got to ride a pony while it was led by one of the groomsmen (Jackson and Peter), who gave them instructions on how to control the ponies. The joy and amazement on each of their faces showed us that they were having a great time.