It’s hard to believe, but Thomas is 12 years old! Our oldest child is 12! Kids really do get older (not the parents
though ;) ). We are so proud of Thomas and the son,
brother, friend, student, etc. that he is. He
is very kindhearted and sensitive to the needs of others as well as perceptive as to what those needs are. Leave it to Thomas to find me and
ask if I’m okay or hug me if he can sense that I need one. He’s great with his sisters in that way too. He’s also always rallying the girls together in
secret to plan a surprise, clean, or do something that he thinks would help. He gets along with others well at school too and is a good friend to everyone. As far as being a student, he’s so
internally motivated to learn and is not afraid of a challenge—thus his
progress on the piano the last few years, his love of Rubik’s cubes, and the
reason for his birthday present of Lego Mindstorms. Bri and I knew that he would jump in on his
own and tackle the robot making without needing too much help from us—which is awesome. He experiments, builds, troubleshoots and then
shows us what he has done. And last but not least, we love his smile (we called him Mr. Smiley when he was a baby) and those blue eyes that light up when he smiles, as well as his laugh--the contagious laugh that he's had since he was a baby!Of course first thing on Saturday morning, Thomas wanted to start celebrating by opening presents. A few
things that Thomas has been obsessed about for months/years and luckily hasn't changed since I ordered them two months ago before our R&R so they would get here in time, are
Rubik’s cubes, computer programming, and Legos. So his gifts were a set of 3 different Rubik's cubes (pyramid, mirror cube, and multi-sided irregular shape ) and Lego Mindstorms that involves building robots with Legos and programming them to do things. Rhea contributed too by giving him a homemade writing and drawing book, some candy in a specially made candy holding plastic bag, and a sweet note.
After getting to play with his presents for a few hours, we got a ride with the embassy bus to the Xyami mall in Talatona. Since we sold our car, we don't have the wheels to get around. Fortuitously, our new CLO (in charge of activities at the embassy), had planned a movie trip out to the mall that day and had arranged transportation through the embassy motorpool (transportation that far away is not possible otherwise--it has to be a CLO event). I contacted two of Thomas' closest friends to see if they could join us there, which they were sweet to do. Thomas' friends are Pan from Indonesia and Oliver from all over but mostly claims the Netherlands. Pan gave Thomas a chess set with fun character pieces and Oliver gave him a remote control car. Both are beloved gifts!
Their sweet mothers, Maryo on the left and Dora on the right. I wish I lived out in Talatona to be closer to these ladies (and of course better grocery shopping, restaurants, compound living, etc.)!!
We took the kids to see "The Secret Life of Pets," 3D, but of course it was only available in Portuguese. It helped that it was a cartoon so the kids could get the gist of the story. :) The theater is new and kept clean, so we enjoyed the experience!
After getting to play with his presents for a few hours, we got a ride with the embassy bus to the Xyami mall in Talatona. Since we sold our car, we don't have the wheels to get around. Fortuitously, our new CLO (in charge of activities at the embassy), had planned a movie trip out to the mall that day and had arranged transportation through the embassy motorpool (transportation that far away is not possible otherwise--it has to be a CLO event). I contacted two of Thomas' closest friends to see if they could join us there, which they were sweet to do. Thomas' friends are Pan from Indonesia and Oliver from all over but mostly claims the Netherlands. Pan gave Thomas a chess set with fun character pieces and Oliver gave him a remote control car. Both are beloved gifts!
Their sweet mothers, Maryo on the left and Dora on the right. I wish I lived out in Talatona to be closer to these ladies (and of course better grocery shopping, restaurants, compound living, etc.)!!
We took the kids to see "The Secret Life of Pets," 3D, but of course it was only available in Portuguese. It helped that it was a cartoon so the kids could get the gist of the story. :) The theater is new and kept clean, so we enjoyed the experience!
We also like this mall because it has a Pizza Hut and KFC! The line was ridiculously long at KFC (Angolans and other non-Americans are obsessed with KFC!), so we opted for Pizza Hut. Of course no one was disappointed. :)
They have one indoor slide inside the mall, but the age limit is young, so the kids missed out on the chance to play together there. It's not an easy thing to be kids and stand close to a playground without being able to play on it!
We did find this fun replica of an Angolan taxi which the kids wanted to take a picture with "to remember the taxis in Angola." It was a little too tall so they propped themselves up on things and their toes.
After a fun afternoon at the mall with his friends, we headed back home as a family on the embassy van and sang to Thomas with a small fire on his cupcake with 12 candles close together. He requested brownies instead of cake, and wanted them in cupcake form. Can't argue with that low maintenance request! Luckily Grandma P has sent us packages of candles, balloons, lighters, etc. so we're always stocked for birthdays!
And to end his fun day, Thomas received phone calls from Grandparents. :)
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