A Wild Party

Evan had a wild party Saturday! He invited 6 friends and their families over for fun and food. We rented a jumpy castle for the backyard, we had games set up around the yard to keep the kids going. We also had a fun wild animal treasure hunt and a cute sand art craft for everyone to do. Of course, there was lots of food and drinks and laughs had by all.

The animal cupcakes..

A sample of the sand art

Evan getting a ride. He loves the Stout girls.

Evan and his shyness.. didn't want to blow out his candles.




A funny story.... we almost didn't have the party. On Thursday evening after the boys bath I noticed a red bumpy rash on Evan. Evan having a rash is not unusual.. he seems to get little rashes occasionally. Then Friday morning is had spread a little and was brighter red so I figured I better take him in and find out what it was before it got any worse. The doctor examined him completely and said that it was definitely a viral rash but she was worried it could be a mild case of measles! I was not expecting that!! She was especially concerned since he was having a party on Sat that he didn't spread it to everyone. So the only way to confirm is a blood test..so brave little Evan laid completely still while they took blood. She expected the results by that evening. So I went ahead and continued for the party... I was pretty sure he didn't have measles he didn't have any of the other symptoms (even for a mild case). Of course, Fri evening she didn't get the results back for the measles test. It wouldn't be until Sat morning....So Sat morning at 8:30 she called to give us good news.. thankfully the party was a go!!! Nothing can ever go smoothly!

Evan had a great time and completely enjoyed his 4th birthday!!

Gardening Gurus...

Three days this week the boys have been busy at a gardening club held at a local farm. They had a great time digging in the dirt and learning all about plants. The first day they planted potato plants, and some other green leaf plants according to Aiden. And then they made potato men. Very cute. Day two they planted some beetroot and tasted some beetroot juice. They had a snack of fries from the potatoes they had from day one. They brought home a couple cuttings to plant. And we stayed to pet and feed the animals. Day three they learned about weeds and identifying them and brought home some potato seeds to plant. It was a great time and they loved it.

The Potato Men.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVAN!!

Well I am definatley feeling old today! My baby is 4!! I can't believe it has gone by so quickly. We had a fun filled day.. he started off at a local farm for the holiday gardening club him and Aiden are going to (more on that in another post), then we fed the animals at the farm, had lunch and then met some friends at reptile world. We had a special dinner of his choice tonight (spaghetti) and had cupcakes...yum! (these were my practise for the big party) His birthday party is on Saturday. He is having a Wild Animal Safari party, so look for some more fun posts about that later in the week. All he asked for was a puppy... well he didn't get one but has decided that when he turns 5 he needs one. At least that went well, I was afraid of a melt down. Enjoy the photos...

Again Happy Birthday my baby boy! We love you!!!

The Boys at Reptile World.....




The Wild Animal cupcakes...

Make a Wish!

Shamwari Game Reserve

We spent an AWESOME weekend at Shamwari game reserve which is about 1 hour and 1/2 away. (awesome seems to be the new word of the week for the boys)
Shamwari is a very exclusive reserve that caters to international guests (mostly from England). It is a fabulous reserve. It has lots of lodges that cater to all sorts of travelers.. only a couple of the lodges accept children.. We stayed at Riverdene lodge. It was gorgeous. I really love going on game drives, it is so relaxing just riding in the wind and looking around for animals. We saw a lot and had a great time! They also really catered to our kids... they got a backpack, hat and a fabulous book that the kids could fill out and learn. In the books they collected dried elephant dung, and both black and white rhino dung (actually it doesn't stick at all!) They are so excited, they can't wait to take their books to school and show all their friends. Our ranger Fred was great with the kids and had so much info to share. It amazes me that every game drive we go on I learn more about the same animals. It was an Awesome experience!

The lobby..

Our Room

Sites around lodge

The boys are posing with their new Shamwari coats we got them.

Ready to go...

Here are the boys in front of the fire, reading books with their new friend Rory we met there.

Elephants are always such a joy to watch..how quiet they are.

Look below the female elephant, you can see the baby who is only 2 weeks old under the mother. Beautiful.

I love this photo of the giraffe... Such graceful animals.


In an earlier post I have talked about the two different types of Rhinos..We got an absolutely wonderful explanation and great photos of each... the color has nothing to do with the differences.

White Rhino are much bigger, they have one large horn in the front and a smaller horn in the back. Their head is large and oblong. They are grazers on grass and for this they have a squared mouth that allows for the grazing.

Black Rhino are much more aggressive. They have two large horns, front and back. Their head is smaller, easier to hold up because they are browsers that eat leaves and twigs from trees and bushes. Their mouth has a hook lip that allows for this type of eating.
White Rhino....

Black Rhino...


On the second morning, we saw the most amazing pride of lions! It had just started to rain when we pulled up so the photos are sort of fuzzy from the rain and soon they were up and on the move.These animals are just amazing. There a male and lioness with 4 cubs (around 1 year old) in the pride.





Also on the Shamwari Reserve is the Born Free Animal Sanctuary. Here is a place that was created to house animals that have been inhumanely treated. These cats that have been declawed or abused and can never be released back into the wild so they are kept here in beautiful surroundings and treated very nicely. Below is a leopard that is absolutely beautiful.





Part of the reserve is the Shamwari Animal Hospital. This is where they take animals that have been injured by human contact and interventions. They rehabilitate them and then release them back into the wild. It was amazing to see the animals. As soon as we got there they had a baby zebra whose mother had died. We were able to pet her and after a short video presentation on the hospital, the boys were able to feed her. We also saw some baby warthogs, a baby buffalo and the most famous resident the baby elephant Themba (which means hope). He will be released soon, and he was adorable.
The baby Cape Mountain Zebra.

As we went inside to watch a short film, she wanted in too and kept banging on the door.

Here is Aiden feeding her a bottle and the other boys petting her... Her fur was very soft.

Themba the baby elephant

Gorgeous Flowers

Well this is not a greatly exciting post.. but the national flower of South Africa is a Protea. They are gorgeous flowers! I just wanted to share them with everyone.

Jefferys Bay Shell Festival

Thursday was a South African holiday, so we headed out to Jefferys Bay which is only about 45 minutes away for their annual shell festival. It was really just a blocked street with people selling stuff and lots of food but it was a really nice day so it was great to be outside and enjoy the sunshine. They have a mini golf course there, so of course that is the first thing the boys wanted to do. We did get some shell souvenires. After we got back, we headed to the Wolf residence (another US family here) and had a great night. They hosted a Mexican fiesta. Mexican food is not readily available here, so it is something we have all craved at one time so it was alot of fun.

Jefferys Bay Beach.....

Here we are at the mini golf course and out at the distance is the ocean..

The boys golfing.


Our shell goodies.

Update

Well September is flying by... The boys only have 3 more days of school until the end of the third term. We have been busy as usual. We had a good week, and then this weekend Scott played golf with his buddies and I took the kids to see a show. The Opera House here in PE put on a children's production of Alice in Wonderland. Two of our American friends were in the production and did a Wonderful job! The boys loved the show and Evan said he wanted to see it again. :) Below are some photos of the boys at the show and of Aiden at cricket lessons. Aiden loves any sport so it has been fun for him. We just hope it doesn't mess up his baseball swing.

Cricket... Here are some of Aiden in the net batting and bowling. In Cricket you swing low sort of like a golf swing and bowl straight armed and overhead. Very interesting..





Here is a photo of the boys with the Stout boys and Hunter in front of the Opera House after the great show


Here is an interesting headline I thought you might find funny.. We usually don't buy the paper on a regular basis but this headline caught my eye and I had to buy it....


Here are links if you would like to read anymore local news.
The Times...http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/
The Hearld...http://www.theherald.co.za/

Have a great week. We will be busy with the end of school, a mexican party at friends, shell festival in Jefferys Bay and next weekend we are going to a luxury game reserve in the area for a night. It will be fun!!

Happy BIRTH Day

We wanted to wish a big Happy Birth day to our newest family member!

Kierlin Orion Duncan. He was born September 13th at 1:12 am. Weighed 7lbs 9oz and was 19.5 inches long!

Congratulations to my brother Brent and Sister in law Monique! He is adorable!

To celebrate we baked a cake and sang happy birthday. The boys are really excited about having a new cousin. Can't wait to meet him.