A Fun Weekend

We've just had a lovely weekend. Friday afternoon we took off as a family to explore the river area, which is only a short rickshaw ride away. We walked along the river walk, a sidewalk that is on top of the bank, which is rather steep. The boys kept begging to climb down the "mountain". Finally we all made our way to the bottom and walked right by the river. We passed a number of fishermen and boatmen who wanted us to take a ride. After a nice walk we climbed back up to the top and found this little pony cart and went for a ride around the park area.

Later, we found an empty field (well, one side was empty, the other had goats and cows grazing) and the guys threw frisbee for a while. Amazingly enough, we didn't draw a crowd. But then it was Friday afternoon and most people were probably doing their prayers or eating lunch. After a while a group of guys came to play Crickett and the goat herder brought his goats over to where we were to spare them from being hit during the game. The boys were thrilled with these little kids and petted them a while before we went home. In the evening we tried out a new restaurant that served amazing chicken curries and kebabs with Nan ( a soft puffy flat bread). The next day was Saturday and Austin's parents and brother came to visit us. We had lunch together, which included lots of laughter. We are so blessed to have family nearby. Later we all went to the river and this time we took a boat ride. We hired a boatman to take us out for an hour and we just enjoyed the scenery - as well as provided scenery for a few other boats that happened to be out.
It was so nice to be out on the water and away from curious eyes, for the most part. It's really funny going out with Austin's parents. People sometimes think Alice is Marland's daughter instead of wife, which doesn't make him too happy. But this time a lawyer stopped him and talked a while, telling him he looked too young. As we were walking along, Austin commented that as soon as people see us, they feel the need to break out into loud noises of cats, dogs and what they think may be a foreign language. They love to try to pick Riley up, but he doesn't let them. They also borrow the nearest cell phone and take a picture of one or more of the boys. This morning Austin took Riley with him to the market and he was called "Sweet Baby" which didn't impress him very much. Another guy just stood in front of the rickshaw, uttering similar things, till the rickshaw driver decided it was enough and nearly drove over his toes. So if anyone is feeling unnoticed, all you have to do is come visit here and you will have millions of adoring eyes on you!