A trip to Wonder World and the IOM

The morning after our family left, CT and I left with David, our body guard/driver, to run some errands to get organized for the next couple of weeks while we remain in Uganda. After naps, we headed off to the only amusement park in Uganda, Wonder World. We tried to go to the Christmas celebration last Sunday, but the kids were sick, so we decided to give it a shot. Wow! What an experience this was. When we walked in we were three of 45 people in the whole park, with 30 of them being the men and women who are controling the rides. I would have assumed there would be more people there, but David, said most of the parents have to work, even during school holidays, so this type of place would only be busy on weekends.

CT did not know what to think and seemed very overwhelmed. Most of the rides required him to ride them himself or he was too young for them, so our options were slim. The first ride we picked was the Mono Rail Train. Once we were on there, I started to wonder how safe these rides were.....Opps, did not think about that until we were moving...

And then David informed me that this was his first time ever at an Amusement park. I was shocked and so excited that he got to spend his first time with us. Wow! What I take forgranted...

So I made him find something he would enjoy...

CT was not amused...at all....he was scared to death..

I am sure he was thinking...where have you taken me?

He tried to run away several times...but I kept trying to show him how fun it was...he was not convienced...

Then some of the rides required three or more people to ride on them...like this octopus..


We finally found a group of guys who would ride it with David...

While we watched David ride the octupus, CT discovered how much fun pushing a "trolley" (stroller) is...so much more fun that these rides. Funny, how we as American parents think we need to give our children the biggest and grandest gifts, but they are really just happy with a box or a stroller...And for a child like CT, his little brain cannot handle too much stimulation, it makes him shut down...

I'm learning a lot from this kid...

 And he enjoyed watching the Octopus too. He made his arm go up and down to imitate the tentacles...

After David felt sick, we realized it was time to go check out the playground and head home...

Come on CT...can you give us one smile???

He loved going down the slides...considering this is probably his first time on a playground, they are hard to find here, unlike our 50 parks inside the city limits of Atlanta..

Such a sweet boy..

Look...there's the smile...

 When we got home we enjoyed dinner with the other family who is staying with us. Their cousin Emily is a marvalous cook. Then once it gets dark...its time for bed...

CT wakes up around 6:30 am and just plays in his bed for an hour without any toys, while I go back to sleep. This morning I pulled him over to my bed around 7:30 and let him play while I got ready to go eat breakfast. I gave him the Iphone and put it on Veggytales app that I downloaded...It was so cute, he started dancing to the music! The first time I have seen him do that. So neat to see him feel more comfortable with me.

Before we made our way downstairs we looked out our window to see this view on such a clear day...for Kampala....

...Then to find birds in our yard below. Uganda seems to have the biggest birds, compared to our small common birds in Georgia. These birds below could possibly be a variety of stork, but I am not sure..I just discovered that Kampala is often called "The Bird City"..

David picked us up at 10:00 to head to the IOM to get CT's TB test read. Charles Tucker seemed to have a much better time at the doctor's office than the amusement park..go figure!

He has really grown to love David...

The TB test read "positive", so we ventured over to get an x-ray to make sure he does not have TB. Most of the time these children in Uganda are often exposed to TB, but might not be infected. The doctor seems to think he is fine and there will be no problems, but it is important to know for sure, so he can be treated. The doctor also said, CT was very healthy otherwise! Praise God!! Please pray that the x-rays are clear so we don't have to do more tests.

We were gone a total of five hours before we started heading home from the doctor's office and the x-ray office...He is a great sport and an easy traveler...he even took his nap in the car...So different from what I am use to! God knew I needed a child like this...



Once we got home, CT jumps out of the car by himself and praces in the house like he owns it. I love that he feels so comfortable at our guest house. He is really able to be himself when we are there, I guess it is safe for him. Tonight, he really came out of his shell even more. As I was cooking in the kitchen, he proceeded to hang on my legs, while he laughed histerically, while I almost fell with each step I took. I could not bring myself to make him stop, he was having the best time. I even found myself talking over him to Emily and thinking to myself, wow, he is loud! Well, maybe he is more like my biological kids than I think...

***Daddy, Henry, and Mary Taylor arrived at 9:00 last night. So glad they are safe and sound! Please pray that they get adjusted back to Georgia time quickly so they won't give my parents and sister too much trouble. Thank you guys for taking care of them while I am gone! I seriously don't know what we would do without you! Last night I told CT that Daddy was in Atlanta, Mary Taylor was in Atlanta, and Henry was in Atlanta. He repeated it like this, "Daddy Lanta, Taylor Lanta, Hery Lanta" Just precious!!