Saturday, April 25, 2009

A New South African President.....

Well the big news here this week has been the presidential elections for South Africa that happened on Wednesday. The main party in SA is the ANC, and of course the ANC candidate (Jacob Zuma) is the front runner by a long shot. There has been many things that have gone on since we have been here.. more than I can explain or even understand, so I won’t try to … but here are some articles I have found that give you some info (if you are interested)

Some history about Zuma.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/194586

Another Article about Zuma and the ANC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30355164//

Here is an article about the election and results
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30391215/

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Easter Bunny Arrived

Well when we arrived home on Sunday the Easter bunny had arrived and left the boys lots of goodies! Exactly what they wanted... Evan wanted a chocolate egg or bunny and Aiden wanted a DVD. Boy that Easter Bunny is smart!!





That night the Easter bunny hid glow in the dark easter eggs in the backyard for a fun hunt! We grabbed our buckets and flashlights and off we went! What fun!!


Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Our Weekend

Well since we had a long weekend we headed out for a few days. On Friday we went to St. Francis Bay which is only about an hour away. It is on the coast and it gorgeous. St Francis Bay sits on a canal system that leads to the Kromme River and then out to the ocean. We stayed at a B&B right on the canal with a small private beach. All the houses in St Francis are white with thatched roofs...it is soooo cool looking! It amazes me how a straw roof can protect you from the elements! We also headed down the road to Cape St Francis which is right on the ocean. We saw the lighthouse and the Penguin Rehabilitation Center that is located there. Very cute! For lunch we ate at the Port which is a small marina in between St Francis and the Cape. After we got back to the B&B the boys had a chance to run around the yard and play with the owners grandkids that were in visiting for the holiday weekend. They had a blast with their new friends. Then later in the afternoon we headed out on their boat for a canal cruise. It was so much fun being on a boat and cruising. We headed out to dinner and had a great evening!

The next day we headed out to Jeffreys Bay which is only about 30-40 minutes from our house. It is a beach community and the big attraction is the surfing. I believe they call it the Surfing capital of SA. We just toured the town and site during the morning. We stayed at a B&B quite close to the beach..in fact if our room had faced the back we could have seen it from our balcony. So the afternoon we spent most of it at the beach collecting shells, playing in the small tidal pools and watching the surfers. After a long day we headed back into the town and played putt putt and had a late lunch/ early dinner. Then a relaxing evening in our room enjoying the ocean air.

That about sums up the short vacation. We had a great time and are planning more weekend get aways as I write! Stay tuned!! The weather right now is so great that I want to take advantage.. it is warm during the day mid 70's and gets cool at night (need a jacket) perfect Fall weather... but it lasts so much longer here!

Ok - here are the pics of the weekend... enjoy!



On our way to the B&B we saw a couple little monkeys hanging out in the trees... cute!

Here is the Seal Point Lighthouse. I am sure the view from the top was amazing, but we could not go up with children under 6.



The Penguin Rehab center. This center caters to African penguins.







Sites from the canal cruise.....






A view from the back of the B&B looking out onto the canal


The kids playing with their new friends... for the night anyway!


Surf Museum at Jeffreys Bay




Surfers at Jeffreys Bay




The Boys checking out the tidal pools



Thursday, April 9, 2009

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Fun Week

Well we have had a fun week.. we played at home on the jungle gym, drew pictures, went the the farmyard and feed animals and rode the pony, we went to the beach and explored the tidal poles for fish, little crabs, seaweed etc and today we went to see a movie. Tomorrow we leave for a short weekend away. Here are some photos of our adventures this week!





Monday, April 6, 2009

Update...

Well I just wanted to update everyone on is happening here. The boys are out of school starting today until the 15th. So we are getting ready for Easter and colored some Easter eggs todays. This was fun for about 5 minutes and then they were bored. Tomorrow will be out and about to the farmyard to feed some animals and have some lunch.. don't think I took my camera last time so I will take some pics and post this week. We are also headed out on a short trip to St Francis Bay at the end of the week. It should be alot of fun... we drove thru the area awhile ago and it is beautiful. Lots of houses along some canals that lead to the river and out to the ocean. We are staying at a house on the canal. It should be a good few days. Then back for Easter Sunday and then we will be going to a cricket game on Monday.

Friday we went to the McCarty's for an adult Easter party.. it was fun! Lots of good food and great people! Other than that it was a quiet weekend. The official Ironman Triathalon was run this Sunday. It was hot!

So a few weeks ago I went to this African store with some friends.. they sell all things that are made here is SA as well as some neighboring countries. All handmade and so cool! I got lots of stuff but my two favorites are the wooden carved giraffes I got ... check out the pics!


They are taller than the boys.. and I paid less than 200 for both! All handcarved out of one piece of wood and painted. GORGEOUS! There are many more things.. I will take some more pics and post them.

And this weekend we got a new gardener.. check out his outfit! A little flashy but he is comfortable working in it!


I am sure one day he will beg me not to show this to anyone!!!

I guess that is it for now... here are some photos of the Easter egg fun! I will post more this week and weekend!