There was so much excitement in our houses about the opening of the King’s Castle. It had been a LONG time coming, with so many hidden expenses we thought it would never happen.
Sarah, Anne-Marie and Natasha had arrived in Kenya ready to celebrate the big day. We thought we were the VIP’s but not at all!
Three weeks before the day Sarah got a VERY exciting message from Constance Hall to say it looked like she would be coming with her husband Denim and her baby son Raja. I cannot tell you how excited and anxious we all became! Our Queen was coming to Kenya and we needed to make sure everything was perfect for her! It was beyond our wildest dreams; would it really happen; would they get their visas ok; would Constance’s anxiety allow her to actually come! The stress of visiting Africa for the first time, and bringing your tiny baby with you – what a brave loving and kind Mama!
To say that our kids were excited when they heard that Constance was coming is like saying Niagara falls sounds like a tap running! They screamed and clapped and danced. They simply couldn’t believe it. The energy in the houses was electric. They through themselves into practising a welcome song for Constance. They danced morning noon and night and they chatted continually about what she might wear; what her voice was like; how tall was she – why would she come all this way to see them! That was the question they couldn’t answer. They didn’t get that she loved them without ever having met them. It was too unbelievable for them to think.
So the preparations went into overdrive. Queen Constance was coming to Rafiki Mwema. Doesn’t get any bigger than that for our family!
The days past; we had news that Denim’s sons were coming with them – we watched clips of them and their amazing skateboarding – our boys were so desperate to meet them and learn some skills. We heard that Cons friends and her baby brother were also coming – a party of eight. Now I went into panic – would the house be ready for them; would the beds be delivered in time!!!!
I can’t tell you the excitement of going to Nairobi to meet them from the airport! Sarah, Peter and Anne-Marie stood for hours watching folk appear but not them. Our hearts were pounding; we kept being told not to climb the ramp to look for them; we kept climbing the ramp. We couldn’t keep still – we were manic with waiting.
And then they came. I’m pretty sure there was a halo around Con as she walked towards us. It was pretty full on emotional. I think we all shed a tear. Who knew that from the facebook campaign 2.5 years ago, Constance Hall would be in Nairobi coming to meet her family. EMOTIONAL!
All photos by the amazing UAVISUALS
