Birthdays!

March has come and gone without a post, so April it is! Fall is in the air, the trees are starting to change, and it's very cool & dark in the morning. But, the sunny afternoons can still get warm. We aren't getting as much rain which is good since our roof is still leaking. The one unfortunate thunderstorm we got last month fried our router, lightning hit either near our house or our rod, and our internet speed has been even slower ever since. Could have been worse!


Miranda is still enjoying school and is a very good reader. Her 6th birthday was spent at Yeesh again with most of her kindergarten class. Jackson loves playing soccer at school and playing with his trains at home.



The first week of March was spring break at Miranda's school, so we packed up the car and headed to Ballito which is just north of Durban (about a 7-8 hour car ride). Since none of the other schools were on break and it wasn't a holiday, the roads were clear and the beaches were empty. Our condo was right on the beach and we spent 3 glorious days playing in the sand and waves. Poor Jackson got sick, again, so we had to make a trip to the local doctor. I got sick the day we left and ended up at the doctor myself. 11 rounds of antibiotics in less than 2 years. I am broken.


Good Friday and Easter Monday are holidays in this country, so we took advantage of the 4-day weekend and had a 'stay'-cation. On Friday we drove to Hartbeespoort Dam and visited the Bush Babies monkey sanctuary. This is a protected area where you can walk around with a guide. The kids liked it until a monkey jumped on me and then down onto Miranda who proceeded to scream and cry. Next we headed to the chameleon village for some lunch and shopping. There was a massive warehouse packed with booths of very persistent people selling their goods. It was a bit overwhelming, but I'm used to it by now, and I was able to find a big wooden bowl I've been looking for (and other goodies, of course). Saturday we went to Montecasino for their 'Easter Beach Party' for kids where they enjoyed face painting, jumping castles & slides, an obstacle course, playing in the sand, and Miranda got a manicure. We were up early on Easter Sunday to hunt for eggs and go to church. It was a relaxing day and I managed to make us quite a dinner feast of crock-pot gammon, sweet potato pie, grilled green beans & caramelized onions, deviled eggs, Mac & cheese, and crushed cookies with custard for dessert. Monday we headed to Fourways Mall for a few rounds of miniature golf.




It was a busy weekend with a birthday party on Friday at Avalanche for one of Miranda's classmates -- it's like sliding down a snow hill on an inner tube, except the hill was made of little white plastic 'grass' that was easy to slide on. Saturday was 'Family Fun Day' at Miranda's school where she spent the morning on water slides and jumping castles & slides, as well as big trampolines and games and face painting. Last night Rusty and I celebrated my birthday at Montecasino where Jersey Boys is currently showing. It was really entertaining, it must be hard for a bunch of Afrikaans to do a New Jersey accent for 2 hours!