Just a Swinging

Some of you may recall...

Back in October of last year, we purchased Levi a swing with some birthday money he was given.

Well- We finally were able to set it up for him to swing in.

I'll let you be the judge from the pictures-

Do you think he likes it?

I would say YES!

.Best for Last.

We saved our FAVORITE thing about our house for LAST:

"Psst... come on outside guys and take a look"

-Levi

This is the government field that our home overlooks- 

and this is how you will often find it... with lots of animals roaming!

Sometimes you will find water buffalo, cows, goats, dogs, sheep, and one day we even saw a donkey... the opportunities are endless!

"I love to come out on the porch & look for the animals... I always call for them by saying 'MOOOO' "

-Levi

"One day, after it had rained, we spotted something WEALLY funny..."

The rain had formed a small "swimming pool"for some kiddos:

Don't look too close though... we think they may have forgotten their swim suits :)

(Or maybe this counted as bath time????)

Watching these three play in the water made me smile.

 It reminded me of how I loved to play in the puddles in our front yard, after it rained, with my sisters when we were growing up.

Just a few more shots:

"Don't you worry about me guys... if there aren't any animals in the field when I come out-"

"I just find me a little spot on the window seal... hunker down into position..."

"... And drive my cars :) BRRRMMM BRRRMMM!"

So- do you like our backyard?

We sure do!

Our HOME!

Sorry to keep the suspense up Y'all...

Here is a quick tour of our new home:
"Come on, I'll give you da tour "
-Levi

(Downstairs first)

The Master Bedroom:

One of my favorite purchases:

9 tile drawers to organize stuff in- YAY!

(Funny story... it was advertised at the store as a "10 drawer organizer" 

Yep... Pretty sure there are only 9- haha)

As you come down the stairs to our basement, here is Levi's play area:

Levi's Room:

Levi's bed

(We got bunk beds for his room, and are using the top bunk as a toddler bed- works like a charm!)

Our downstairs patio area:
(it's directly under our carport... great use of the space & great shade for sitting, reading, playing, etc...)

Craig's future garden:
(Located just off of our patio)

On the other side of the little wall divider by Levi's play place, you will find Craig's office area + our family area- a great little quiet nook, or pillow pouncing spot, or dance party location...
AKA- very multi-functional!

And out that door you see in the back of our family area- you will find another small porch.
Out and left is where the washer is, directly in front is where Levi swings and we hang our hammock, and on the other side of those bars is an awesome field (more on that later).

Now let's go Upstairs/ Entry Level from outside:

The door in the center straight back in this picture is the front door- the stairs going up just lead to one small little storage area inside, and the roof outside.

 

The door on the right leads to the guest room (which I forgot to take a photo of to include- sorry)

Adjacent to it is our common bathroom.

Yes y'all- we have THREE bathrooms in our house!

Quite an upgrade from the SINGLE toilet we have always in our 5 years of marriage before South Asia

(Funny how that worked out, right? haha)

The Living Room:

(Out the door in the back, is yet again, another small patio overlooking the field...

One of Levi's favorite places to play :), and one of the many reasons we loved this house)

(Directly behind the loveseat on the left is our dining room & kitchen)
The Dining Room:

The Kitchen:
(Which again has a great big window above the sink overlooking the field behind our house-
I love this!)

See the living room right there to the right?

We also love how OPEN everything upstairs is- it is wonderful to be able to be in the kitchen, but still carry on a conversation with guests or Craig/Levi who are in the Living room or Dining room.

Thanks for taking the tour.

Maybe someday you can be our guest :)

:: Palace ~ Part 3 ::

The BEST for LAST:

Not only were Beth and I THRILLED to see a bathtub...
This little boy could barely contain his JOY when he saw it- he was trying with ALL his might to climb into the tub all on his own.

We unnecessarily packed bath toys with us, because what did Levi want to play with?

The complimentary shampoo and bubble bath bottle:

He would ever so delicately stack them on the edge, then grab them and throw them as hard as he could into the tub.

HAHA! 

Always cracking me up :)

Hope you enjoyed our visit to the Palace, maybe you can come stay with us sometime too!

~Felt like a Prince and two princesses~

PS- You may be wondering, where was Craig during all of this?

Well... we were hoping you wouldn't ask :)

Because... He was doing a training in a village, eating food cooked on cow patties, showering at a well, and pooping in a field :)

It's too bad he had to miss out, maybe next time you can join us Craig

Yep...  maybe next time!

(Wink ;))

:: Palace ~ Part 2 ::

Back to the Palace....

One of the reasons we were SO excited to go to the palace after all the HEAT we had been getting,

was they have a POOL!

Levi had a blast in the water, and what better way to follow up some good swimming than...

 Eating YUMMY snacks & hanging out with MAMA!                                          

Have I mentioned that the ambience is beautiful? Green grass, beautiful trees filled with colorful flowers.... AWESOME is what it was!

Such a big boy sitting' all by himself- snacking and checking everything out around him.

"Hey guys, did you hear something?"

"... It's coming from over there..."

"... behind those pretty red flowers.."

"... and past the tiny yard behind our chairs..."

"Let's look and see what it is!"

" A Horse!!! Neigh- Neigh :)"

That's right, they also have horses at the palace you can ride if you want... we didn't, but we enjoyed watching one run behind us.  

Levi just watched intently as the horse went around and around the track:

Levi is definitely ALL boy...

 (who is totally squatting like an Indian here- lol) 

because he loves looking for bugs or playing in dirt, rocks, grass anytime he can. 

One of his favorite things while we were at the pool was watching the man mow the grass behind us.  

He was completely mesmerized :)

Did you spot anything else, Levi?

:)