Aiden's Big Day

I can't believe my baby is 5!! And I haven't aged a bit! haha.. He is getting to be such a fun little boy. He had a great day. We celebrated on Sunday so he would have a whole day to be his. We had cake, presents, he swam in the pool, and played Wii. What else would a little boy want for his birthday celebration. On Tuesday, the class had a birthday party for him. He wears a crown that the teacher made for him, they have snacks and all the kids draw pictures for him and then it is given to him in a book at the end of the day. It was very nice! Below are the photos of the crown and book the kids made him. This coming Saturday will be his big Race car party with friends, so I will post more then.

Update

The first week of school went by quickly and with no incidents! Evan was a very big boy and did not cry at all. Aiden of course took off the first day and didn't even say goodbye. In fact, the second day he wanted me to drop him off at the gate so he could go to his class by himself.

We had a birthday party to go to today for a little boy in Aiden's class. It was nice getting to talk to some of the other moms and see the kids play. I think it will be a fun year.

We are also preparing for Aiden's big day on Tuesday... Aiden turns 5!!! I can't believe it has been 5 years. Boy time does fly! He is getting to be such a big boy and he is so smart (if I can brag!) We are actually going to celebrate tomorrow (Sunday) instead of waiting until Tues because we have a school meeting on Tues evening, so we won't really have time to have a good day for Aiden. His party will be next Sat at an outdoor playplace. He is having a race car theme...I am making a race track birthday cake (made from cupcakes), and I am making drivers license for all the kids as thank you cards. It should be fun. The trend here is to invite all the kids in their class to the party.. Aiden has 22 kids in his class, so it is a good thing it isn't at my house!!

Both boys are going to start music classes that are given right after school one day a week and I am in the process of signing Aiden up for Golf lessons and both boys up for swim lessons once a week. So we will be busy running around every week but it will be worth it to get the boys involved in something other than fighting with each other!

That is all that is happening now. I will update soon with photos of Aiden's birthday celebrations.

Hope all is well with everyone back home!

First Day of School 2009

Well the day has finally come!! The first day of school. The boys were excited to get back to school and see the friends they met last year. Aiden has moved up to the Senior Noah's Ark school, he is in the Giraffes class. Evan is in the Little Leopards class. They both had a great morning and were excited to tell me about it.

Here are some pics of the exciting morning!!

Lions, Oh My....

We revisited the Seaview Lion Park over the weekend. We had gone before and usually they have cubs you can pet... they did but they were too big for the boys to pet and interact with. So now they have new cubs. They were 8 weeks old, two girls Kyra and Amanda. Very cute! They also had three cubs that were three weeks old but were not allowed to be touched. So after the boys got to pet the cubs, Scott and I were taken down to the "cubs" that were 9 months old... they were HUGE! He estimated they were about 120-140 lbs. And they were only about 1/4-1/3 their full grown size! These were white lions. Most, if not all, white lions are in captivity and there are know to be around 350. The Seaview park has 15of them. Check out the photo collage below.. you should be able to click on the collage to see the photos larger.



I am always amazed at the things we see and are very thankful for this experience. I just hope the boys remember it... if not we will have this blog, photos and video to boost their memory!

Update.....

Well we have started a new year! On new years we went out to dinner with the kids and friends and then headed to an impromptu party at the Stout's. It was a great way to ring in the new year. Scott had a birthday over the weekend and we spent it with friends.. we went out for an adult dinner and had a great time! Dinner, drinks, friends what could be better. Then the dreaded day... Scott had to go back to work on Monday :(. So the boys and I are left on our own. I am trying to keep them busy.

I didn't make any resolutions... I ususally don't! I just want this year to be better than the ones past. I want the boys to be happy, healthy and remember the exciting life we have now. I want my family and friends to be happy, healthy and to come visit :). I want to enjoy and experience everything South Africa has to offer. Well that is as close as I get to resolutions.

If there is something you want to see or hear about the life here, let me know. I have been asked to give some more info on everyday life.. So I will try my best with photos and stories to give you all a great view into the life here.