Miss Tanzania

traveling to the states for the Miss Universe pageant wearing Schwari.

My 'job' at Schwari has been uber interesting lately!!  Generally I do odd jobs like making candles, painting murals, and making playgrounds.  A lot of creative or organizational behind the scenes stuff.

In September we had a fashion show in Dar Es Salam and Schwari did SO well!!  Uproarious standing ovation and clips have been shown on the Social Life section of the news for weeks afterwards. Tanzanians are so proud that all her designs are entirely made in Tanzania and it has been amazing to see the staff shine with pride!

She was then asked to dress the entire Miss Tanzania Pageant with a week's notice.  And somehow we did it!!  And now she was asked to dress Miss Tanzania on her trip to the states for the Miss Universe Pageant.  A few designers were asked so she won't wear Schwari every day but here she is arriving in America.  

Awesome Schwari is getting international attention and publicity!!  Very exciting time at work!!  

Sad that I won't be around next year to see what the future holds.  I wish we had a decent website to send you to for more shots of the amazing clothes and jewelry at the fashion show... if we ever get it up and running I will let you know.  For now here is the site that will follow Winfrida through her trip in the states... it is a total fashion and gossip blog... http://missiepopular.blogspot.com/2012/11/mp-beauties-of-day.html... we will be watching to see what she wears every day for sure!! 

Plastic Heels

 The great thing about not doing the blog for so long is that when I return there are loads of great pictures to choose from!

Kaia in blue heels.

Kaia definitely has her own unique style and the confidence to pull anything off!  Sometimes I don't get it, but she has taught me fashion lessons like... 'if you don't tuck in your shirt really tightly then you won't be able to look down and see your skirt'.

Theo in pink heels.

Theo is still developing his style... more developments to come.

Alphabet

 Guess those lessons Kaia has been giving are beginning to pay off!

Ken dolls

 Carl came home with 3 Ken dolls...

this is how Kaia played with them...

 Ken and Ariel are getting married and living happily ever after.

This is how Theo plays with the other two...

Obviously fighting it out until the bitter end!

Tarangari

 HELLO!!!!

Without getting too optimistic too quickly, we may finally have solved all our computer problems.  I now have a very nice new computer that was hand carried all the way from the states.  It arrived with a broken hard drive so now I also have a nice new shiny hard drive too.   All sorts of things that I don't understand but apparently 'use and will appreciate' have been installed.  I am cautiously excited.

We were also convinced to invest in a new camera when the flash on our day-to-day camera surrendered to old age.  12 years isn't too shabby so no complaints.  But the new one is fantastic and was even able to capture decent shots on safari with a pathetic zoom... so now that I know this we will soon be overloaded with many many grand kid shots to share.

And also... finally... back to blogging.

This weekend we went camping to Tarangari with friends.

 The rains, although short, were strong.  The landscape was stunningly alive and green.

 Ha ha.  Not all moments were calm... Melanie bought a few bracelets for us all and attracted a crowd.  Mine is so pretty :)

 The site was... breathtaking!!

 Kids LOVE to look out the sunroof!!   Kaia spent most of the trip in Melanie's car.. she adores Melanie and Clea.

This is Theo's first real safari.  We thought he might be a bit bored but he loved it!!  He was great at spotting things and he loved to sit and watch the animals for as long as Carl and I, even longer than Kaia.

We saw 'iraf'

 'onkeys'

 and by then Theo was excited enough to get himself up to the sunroof too!

 I personally identified with this tortoise... with a wide vast world in front of him :)

 Kaia's favorite was the Zebra (a close second to her lollipop anyway).

 And Theo loved the lions and elephants the best... although his answer changes each time you ask him.

We haven't been getting out to the parks much because it costs a small fortune and it has been difficult to get around with Carl's leg.  But we gave notice at ISM this month and are leaving at the end of the year... so with Carl's leg on the mend we are excited to soak all of Tanzania that we can before we leave!!  Helps that the kids are awesome campers!!