SPRING!!!

Looks like I forgot to post in August.  Whoops.  But it was very busy, so I'll use that excuse.

August was the month for school.  Miranda had her last day of preschool on Friday, August 3, and then her first day of kindergarten the following week on Wednesday, August 8.  She gets picked up at our driveway at 6:45am and returns around 3:30, except on Wednesdays she is home by 2:00.  Poor thing was so exhausted the first day and then came down with a fever, so she had to miss her 2nd day.  But she enjoys riding the bus, likes her class, and is making new friends.  Right now her class has 9 students with one more starting soon, and there are 4 kindergarten classes.  Her teacher is American but has been teaching internationally for 20 years.  About half of the class is made up of American students which apparently is high for a normal class.  She has all the traditional 'specials' such as PE, Music, Library, Art, and Spanish.  I have to pack 2 snacks and a lunch each day which after only 4 weeks is already getting difficult.  If I could pack peanut butter every day I would, but unfortunately is has been banned from kindergarten.  Jackson has been in preschool for 3 weeks, although he was out the whole 2nd week due to a high fever.  He has adapted well and didn't cry at all when I dropped him off today.  I am enjoying having a little bit more free time.  His language is really starting to take off and he is becoming quite the dare-devil.  Jozi is as crazy as ever and is getting really big.  Her favorite thing to do is dig holes in the garden and chew on the roots of all our trees, bushes, and other plants.  We don't have any squirrels or rabbits in the neighborhood so she will be excited when we move back to KS.  

We have been preparing to have more family visit in October which is the perfect time to be here.  We will be traveling into Kruger park which is about a 5-6 hour drive north of here.  Since it is a malaria area we can't take the kids, so hopefully we'll spot that leopard!  We'll also be traveling back to Cape Town for another visit, this time exploring the wineries, hiking, and taking in some cultural history. 

The weather has definitely changed for the better, spring arrived about a week or so ago.  It's hard to believe that just 3 weeks ago it was down in the 30s at night and even during the day, plus that crazy day where it was snowing on and off for about 2 hours.  I heard they hadn't seen any snow since 2007, and the last time they saw any accumulation was in the 1980s.  Every flake that hit the ground melted immediately, thank goodness.  After the winter we had in KS right before moving here, I would have been happy to not see a single snowflake for a couple of years.  But now it's definitely spring and we are in shorts and t-shirts every day.  A bird built a nest in the little birdhouse outside and now we have two baby birds to keep an eye on.  Just waiting for the rainy season to start so all the junk in the air can get washed away!  My lemon tree only has about a dozen or so lemons this year that will be ripe and ready in about a month.  Luckily my neighbors have trees as well!  I've been so spoiled here, I'm going to have to actually buy my lemons next summer?  Shame.  Happy Labor Day!  We don't celebrate that here.  Double shame.