Grandparents and Vic Falls

Why is it that something you anticipate for so long comes and its awesome and then afterward you realize the time went by so quickly you're not sure it even happened?
70+ paper chain links ago, we started the countdown till Grandpa and Grandma arrived. On the way to the airport, the kids were giddy and excited although somewhat fearful that the flight would be delayed or worse yet...they might be stranded in Ethiopia (which is what happened to our last visitors). As the arrival time drew near, 4 little heads kept constantly poking into the secure area to check for "muzungus". The girls faces lit up as they caught their first glimpse of Grandma clearing security. They ran back to us breathless to report. How good it was to give Dad and Mom big hugs! And then...time went in to warp speed. 15 short days later...we returned from the airport in a silent car with occassional sniffles. And again, we were able to have those types of discussions that draw us closer to each other and closer to Him and Home.
But those 15 days were a blast! Despite the run in that Larissa and I had with malaria. (another post, another time!)
Half of our time was spent traveling to Livingstone, Zambia. We were able to explore Victoria Falls at its highest volume of the year. Going on safari in Chobe National Park in Botswana was also a long awaited experience.
Erik says less words...more pictures...

This is just the very edge of the falls from the Zambian side

The amount of mist was incredible. As we got closer to the falls it was like a torrential rain! We were absolutely soaked!

I must add some words because pictures can't do it justice! The falls are over a mile wide. At the Zambezi River's highest point, 197,000,000 gallons of water per minute are cascading on average 328 feet over the edge. I know you can't even fathom that, but it is A LOT of water! The sheer power of the water is astounding. The roar can be heard from a long distance away. While standing near the falls, not only is the water cascading down, but it is blasting up from below as well because of the sheer force of that volume of water. Of course we couldn't fully appreciate all this awesomeness standing next to it so Grandpa insisted we see it from the air! Yep, you got it, we took a helicopter ride!

ummmm....they forgot to mention they would be leaving the doors open the ENTIRE time. Not gonna lie...it was a little freaky. Mom was clinging to her seat the whole time :)

During the entire flight, rainbows were dancing over the falls

We stayed at a great lodge that was within Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. Mosi-Oa-Tunya means the smoke that thunders in the local language, refering to the Falls. There was plenty of wildlife just where we were staying. We were told to be sure that our sliding doors stayed closed at all times because of the monkeys. One morning, Jonas and Claire watched as a monkey got in someone's balcony sliding door. They ran over to watch. The monkey came out with what he thought was a sugar packet...It was actually coffee. He dumped it out...right on to Claire's head!

Just hanging out at our hotel...WITH SOME ZEBRAS!

We were a five minute walk from the falls. This rainbow over the falls greeted us the day we arrived

I will never get over how weird it is to have to stop your van to let giraffes pass by. When they go by your window all you see is their knees. Weird.

These things are almost creepy.

We were so blessed to be able to experience these beautiful sights. We wished we could have experienced it with all our friends and family,

The kids and I will try to post more pictures later this week.

Blessings to you and yours.