This month we were back in Accra and back to our normal routine. Everyone was busy, busy, busy!
School Resumes for the Girls, and Ends for the Year
Once we got settled back into Accra, it was time to hit the ground running for the girls and I. We all had a very busy month with the school. The girls came back and fell right back into their routine at the school, with morning drop-offs and all. We even saw some big snails in the parking lot one day after one of the rains that have started now that the rainy season is finally here and washing away all the harmattan dust!
And, of course, no update on the school would be complete without some pictures of the girls on the playground. Abigail is now trying her hand at the monkey bars and trying to get as adept as her big sister!
This month was also a very poignant one at the school because it marked the end of the school year for both girls, and the end of Sara Gail’s time at Little Explorers, because she’ll be moving up to a bigger school for First Grade in the fall. As usual, the school did an amazing job with the End of Year Shows, and the girls were so impressive with their memorization skills. Sara Gail had a few very long lines about dinosaur facts that she had to remember and then recite for the show, in both French and English. And even Abigail had some lines to memorize and then perform during her show! The girls were even lucky enough this year to attend each other’s shows, and Vaurn was here for Sara Gail’s performance, or at least most of it. That was really important to me, and Sara Gail, this year with it being her last performance at this wonderful school.
Sara Gail did an amazing job with her show, she really seems to be getting over her stage fright and shining on stage! Abigail was so talented too, she even got to announce the show with her friend! The costumes, all made by the teachers, were just so adorable for Abigail’s class level! It was so heartwarming to watch both girls perform, they are becoming the brightest stars!
In addition to these beautiful little shows, Sara Gail also had her own graduation ceremony. I don’t usually subscribe to these graduation ceremonies from Preschool or Kindergarten, it was certainly never something I did when I was that age. My Kindergarten class wasn’t even part of the school when I was attending it! But, it felt a bit different with Sara Gail, not only is she my child, but she will be leaving this school - this small, safe environment. She will be moving up to a much bigger school with a lot more kids, who will be much older than her. So, it just felt right to have this commemorated at the school with her classmates and teachers. And I was a mess crying most of the time, it’s just such an indescribable experience to watch your children grow right before your very eyes! It seems to just happen, or at least hit you, all at once. For the longest time they are beautiful little babies, driving you crazy with all their various needs that they can’t tell you about yet. There are sleepless nights, struggles to get them to eat, and plenty of dirty diapers! Then it’s the toddler years with more communication, mostly in the form of tantrums and screaming. Finally, before you know it, they are 6 years-old, not only succeeding along with their peers, but thriving! And moving on, moving up to a bigger school and out of the safe, comfortable environment that they are used to. This isn’t a feeling that Sara Gail alone was experiencing, it’s something that hit me really hard too, and still is to this day! We moved here to this new, strange country three years ago, and enrolled her in this wonderful little school. She’s made friends here, and had to say goodbye to friends, experienced the upheavals of COVID, and hit major milestones, all while attending this school. I know Abigail will still be there for the next 2 years, so I will have plenty of connections to the school myself, but it’s still hard to see Sara Gail have to leave because she’s outgrown this environment. I was so happy to be able to attend her graduation though, it was the perfect way to mark this major milestone in her life, and in our journey here in Accra.
Bike-a-thon
Before the school year ended, I had a major project to work on with the school’s PTO. The principal had asked us a while back for ideas for a fundraiser, so I had suggested running a Bike-a-thon and now it was finally going to come together.
The pants don’t fit her perfectly, but I had l lfrom the trim that I’ll use as a belt. It’s a work in progress, but I think it’s turning out pretty well!e to come. Even though most birthday parties here in Accra seem to be becoming bigger events, Varun and I wanted to scale it down a bit, otherwise the amount we would pay for the party would just be astronomical. So, Abigail agreed to a smaller pool party. We just invited a few of her close friends from school to come by the pool for a while, and we hired a lifeguard for the party, so we didn’t have to worry about either us or the other parents watching their kids in the water instead of socializing ourselves. I was a bit ambitious with the snacks and sweets that I wanted to make for the party, but I still think I did a decent job on the rainbow chocolate cupcakes. I tried my best to make them into a unicorn shaped like the number 4. Abigail seemed plenty happy with it, and it was a fun surprise to bite into a rainbow! Varun and I had a greatleleftoversleftime catching up with our friends too!
Since the event was still a bit of a mystery, there were other tables set up to try and draw more donations. There was a bake sale, so I had to bake a bunch of cookies to contribute! We were able to recruit a few kids from the high school to volunteer to help out for the day. There was also a raffle and a bring-and-buy table for children’s toys and books.
We even saw a few familiar faces from the school staff who came by to show their support for the event and the cause.
Overall the event was a success, we were able to collect enough donations to really make a difference at school we chose to support. And there were definitely a few people who were very happy about winning some prizes in the raffle. The best takeaway, though, is now the staff and parents fully understand what a Bike-a-thon entails, how much fun the children have, and the potential this event has to raise significant funds for local charities. So, next year I will be ready to jump right in and get this event even bigger for everyone involved!
Abigail’s Birthday Party!
Since Abigail’s birthday is during the summer vacation, when a lot of ex-pat families travel back home, we decided to have her party early so that her school friends would be able to come. Even though most birthday parties here in Accra seem to be becoming bigger events, Varun and I wanted to scale it down a bit, otherwise the amount we would pay for the party would just be astronomical. So, Abigail agreed to a smaller pool party. We just invited a few of her close friends from school to come by the pool for a while, and we hired a lifeguard for the party so we didn’t have to worry about either us or the other parents watching their kids in the water instead of socializing ourselves. I was a bit ambitious with the snacks and sweets that I wanted to make for the party, but I still think I did a decent job on the rainbow chocolate cupcakes. I tried my best to make them into a unicorn shaped like the number 4. Abigail seemed plenty happy with it, and it was a fun surprise to bite into a rainbow! Varun and I had a great time catching up with our friends too!
I still can’t believe how fast these girls are growing up, but I’ll reflect on how Abigail is already 4 years-old in my next post about July.
Soccer
Abigail is still continuing with her pursuit of soccer. I’m happy that she has her own activity that she can do afterschool. She has this interest all to herself, because Sara Gail isn’t interested, and she has a few classmates that join her for the soccer practice. I do really love the coach too, he’s great with the kids and he knows how to make it fun for them too. But there are still plenty of practices when it’s hot outside that make Abigail lose her motivation to keep running and scoring goals.
Hopefully she’ll stay excited about soccer so she can keep practicing and getting better!
Sewing
This month I was determined to work on Abigail’s Halloween costume. I know I still have plenty of time before she’ll need it, but my time is going to be very limited in the next few months. Plus, I can’t get very far on Sara Gail’s costume until we visit the US because half of the pattern I need is at my mom’s house. So, I present to you, the beginnings of Abigail’s Raya costume for this year!
The pants don’t fit her perfectly, but I had leftovers from the trim that I’ll use as a belt. It’s a work in progress, but I think it’s turning out pretty well!
Hair
As we keep leading up to our trip to the US in the fall of this year for my brother’s wedding, I’ve been trying out new hairstyles to decide what I’m going to do for the wedding, since the girls will be flower girls! So, here are my experiments for this month – it’s so fun to have such beautiful little models with the most gorgeous hair ever!
They’re not always the most patient, but the end results always look perfect.
Hangin’ at Home
As always, we still had plenty of time to spend together at home. And no downtime at home is complete without some pool time! Of course, Sara Gail is now combining her gymnastics skills with her swimming skills and making me incredibly nervous as she summersaults and cartwheels into the pool!
For food, the girls were happy to have a taco night this month, as was Varun. This is one of the family’s favorite dinners, though it’s not the easiest for me to put together because I make almost everything that goes into them from scratch. But I’m always happy to see how much everyone enjoys the meal!
And finally, the girls are plenty happy to just sit around and play together. They are still closer than two peas in a pod and I absolutely love to watch their relationship grow more and more every day.
And thus ends another month of our stay here in Accra. The posts have been so delayed due to my own academic ambitions: I’ve decided to go back to school myself and get my MBA in Project Management. I’m determined to find a job more easily next time we move, or at least by the time we go back to Houston. So, the graduate level courses have been taking up a lot of my time and I have a lot of catching up to do on our adventures here in Ghana. Come back next week to read about our summer and month of July in Accra!
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