Short and Sweet and Not Enough

Spring Break AISJ - Victoria Falls on the Zambia side. Its funny when you mention to anyone that you are going to the Falls they immediately tell you whichever side they have visited is "the better" side to go to. We stayed on the Zambezi river in a lodge and it was spectacular. The Falls are REALLY WET - not Niagra Falls wet - like strolling through 100 sprinkler systems that are on the soak setting. We also went up in a helicopter over the Falls. The kids and Jeff thought it was fantastic, I was having a hard time not barfing and feeling like if I do the entire episode will be on video since they have a camera installed in the plane to sell you after! I wasn't going to give my family the satisfaction of torturing me with that for the rest of my days! The Falls trip consisted of visiting the Falls during the day and hanging at the lodge in the afternoon and then fishing on the river until sunset. Anna and I learned how to cast a fishing pole, none of us caught anything--and who would with a large piece of chick as bait? -- but it was amazing to be sitting in a small boat and be a couple feet away from hippos. You would here a loud breath and then they would just pop up, very cool. It was also pretty incredible to be on the river looking at the giraffes walking by. Sundowners on the boat on the river, the vacation bar is getting set higher with each trip!
We then flew to Capetown to meet up with Jeff's sister Loren and her son Matt. Stayed at the Cape Grace (my favorite hotel ever) and had a fabulous time. We ate great food, toured a little, and just hung out and had a good visit. It was really nice to be with family. The kids were very happy to see their Aunt and cousin and of course felt it was too short! From Capetown they went to safari and we went home to await their return. They arrived back in Pretoria on Friday which was the same day Stacey was arriving.....
Jeff and I anxiously awaited at the arrival's terminal for Stacey - at one point we thought maybe she packed some meat in her suitcase and got stuck in immigration. Then we looked up and saw a woman with a doo rag on her head and we felt like we were back in SF and it hadn't been months since we had seen each other! She looked fabulous actually - after 27 hours in coach I would have looked like a wild dog got to me! We collected all of her very large suitcases, got her to the house, threw her in the shower, dressed her, and went to a yummy restaurant for dinner with Jeff's sister Loren and her son Matt. It was amazing that she was 100% coherent.
The following day I woke her up around 9:00, we scooted out of the house in our rental SUV, grabbed a cup of tea and coffee, got Stacey's armpits waxed and set on the road to the Botswana Border (approx. 4 hours away)
We arrived with no major bumps - 1 slight wrong turn that was immediately corrected and a lot of screams from the passenger that isn't comfortable with the right hand driver.
We checked in at the lodge and immediately had a nice large cup of tea and then chilled in the room until we needed to meet for our night drive. Conversations on the Jeep:
Do you have the camera? no I brought the battery. You mean to tell me I am on my first safari and I forgot the camera but brought the battery? Yes, but I have mine but I don't know how to zoom or turn on the flash! When did we become our Mothers?
Stacey at the lion den: Do we really need to be this close, I am really freaking out.
Stacey: Does that man have the biggest herpe you have ever seen? That is NOT a cold sore, its a herpe!!!!
Stacey hugging the sundowner kit - she was so happy to see a full bar in the middle of the bush!
We didn't mind waking up at 4:30 each morning and were happy to be told what to eat when and where. We were also happy to have someone make all the other daily choices for us.
On the drive home I hit a bird. I am sure you guys are like yeah? who cares? Well I think this bird actually flew into the hood of the car and was stuck on the grill. We didn't realize where the bird was after we hit it. We also got pulled over for speeding. We got pulled over and I totally forgot that we don't have to stop. Problem was that we didn't have our car with the Dip plates so the police man didn't know and then he didn't understand my ID. Long story short (too late I know) I received a ticket and there was a dead bird stuck to my grill. We drove home with the bird "cooking" for over 2 hours and parked in the supermarket lot and drove home, proudly!
The rest of the week was a lot of Passover. I think Stacey could pass as a Jewish mother after that week. She also caught a bug, and was insisting that she had malaria. (malaria can only happen in malarious areas of Africa, South Africa is malaria free).

*I would have loved to add more photos but either I have lost the brain cells to figure out how to upload more than one photo (very likely) or something is going on with the connection (slightly possible) If you would like to view photos of Stacey and my safari I will post it on facebook, as well as the family trip to Victoria Falls.

Ok - I've heard you and I will take the blog out of retirement and do at least one more until I go away for the summer. And I guess that the fact that my password has changed since the last blog, it truly has been too long. The problem was 1) nothing that interesting has happened [besides what's become the usual strikes, riots and large animal sightings] and 2) Jeff has been asking me to update the blog (some things never change!).
So, really the only reason I have jumped on today was I received email from a writer- friend that is so dedicated to her profession/art that she writes every day. I mean if she can write daily, I sure as hell can write monthly.
Jeff is doing great - still working for the Feds, still enjoying it. His travel schedule has picked up but I am much more comfortable at the house so it hasn't been an issue.
Henry is also doing great, too. I do see some few signs that he has changed from this experience. He has become much more aware about his surroundings. He doesn't just walk lazily to the car but very purposefully. He locks the car doors immediately and is just generally much more aware. He has also become really confident and a lot more independent. He can't wait to get back to SF so he can jump right into Boy Scout Camp and then SkyLake.
Teddy - doing great, three. He has decided to thrown himself an early birthday party this Saturday. He let me know a couple days ago that he checked the calendar and Saturday night was open so he invited a couple of boys for a sleepover party. That's Teddy taking care of his own business. Gotta love a boy that takes the initiative to get what he wants.
Anna, aka Nanny McPhee, Snaggler, Goofy, Oh That's Gross, has been losing her teeth daily. We are now down to one in the center which also remind us of the Mad Magazine guy. Still working hard at trying to keep up or beat the boys.
I've been working at the shelter, baking a ridiculous amount of cookies, entertaining Peace Corps boys, and riding my horse Blue Bell. The PC boys come into town for meetings and then they crash at our house so they don't have to stay at a hostel and they can have a home-cooked meal. They are young, optimistic, smart, and fun to hang out with. Blue Bell is my 20 year old retired race horse turned school horse, blind in one eye, horse. I have gone from walking with a leader to jumping over small jumps and even cantering. I am having a great time but I don't think you can bounce a quarter off my ass yet! (Dime maybe).
There are only 13 more days until we are in the States - believe it or not I haven't been counting down but there has been a World Cup (soccer match that seems to be a big deal) daily count down for the last 200 days.......

Is It a Left at This Mango Stand?

Directions to Swaziland:
Take the N14
Make right at highway
Make left at mango stand
Follow signs for Oshook border
cross border and follow signs to hotel

Ok, I might be exaggerating but it isn't far from the directions that were given to me. Each person I spoke with said how easy of a drive it is and not to worry. I am not sure if anyone understood who they were speaking with! Anyhow, I decide to go for it and the first 2 hours were smooth, the 3rd hour between not seeing any of the above signs/landmarks, huge pot holes, and street signs that actually say "High Car Jacking Area" had me a bit rattled and I ended up driving up and down a few wrong streets before calling a friend who had a map out and ready and she walked me through the next part. A 3 1/2 hour car trip took us 5 hours but we made it and the kids didn't pick up too many new words!
Swaziland is absolutely beautiful - rolling hills, cool art, lovely people.
A friend of mine with her 2 boys surprised me by showing up at the hotel a couple hours after us which was great to have someone to tour around with. My favorite place we visited was this place called the House of Fire - it's an art gallery, music hall, bed and breakfast. They have their version of burning man in April or May - I am hoping to go next year, anyone in?

Another day in Africa

Am I becoming desensitised?
Elena," should we go to apple and deal with our computers?"
Tammy,"let's go next week"
Elena,"ok, gosh we haven't been there since we were shot at" (there was a shoot out at the mall while we were there over Xmas)

This is the strangest place:
crazy things happen daily - car jackings, in home invasions,,,, no one gets caught
My friends drove to Durban and didn't stop at a stop sign and received in the mail a beautiful high resolution photo of their car with a moving violation.... Moral of the story, one can get away with murder but make sure you follow the traffic rules.

Have a great weekend!

Holidaze

This year we spent the holidaze hopping around South Africa. We did a couple nights in an amazing reserve called Phinda - outside of Krugar National Park. It was pretty magical - the rooms were completely glass (all 4 walls) and you were surrounded by nature. The reserve has no fences which means that the animals can come right up to your room. Fortunately we only had run ins with bright blue balled monkeys (which fascinated the kids) and impalas. We were really lucky on our drives and were able to see all of the big 5. (please email me what the big 5 are) Teddy even spotted the toughest one on one of the evening drives.
Once we were finished with the animals we drove 3.5 hours outside of Durban to go to a beachy kind of resort. The place was beautiful the service was painful. Highlight there was Henry was kidnapped out of his room by 2 of his older cousins at 11:30 on new years eve while the rest of us were fast asleep and partied like a true rock star and brought in the new year for the rest of us lame sleepy heads. Henry is making us very proud!
After Durban we caught a plane and headed to CapeTown where the highlight again would be Henry - but this time being chased by a baboon after Jeff insisted that he get closer to it for a better photo op! The baboon actually at one point had his leg but he was able to get away and Henry will be returning to the states with both his legs! If you are wondering where the photo of Henry and the baboon is Jeff dropped the camera once he realized the baboon was not in the mood for a photo.
We arrived back in Pretoria on Friday the 8th and I had some funky looking bites on my ankles that made my ankles look actually more like cankles. Well, as luck would have it I was on day 3 of African Tick Bite Fever which is hideous and ran through my body for the next 6 days. I was blessed with high fever, sweats, insane headaches, stiff neck, and disgusting lesions on my ankles (we have photos but I think I will spare you). I am sure Jeff would like all of you to know that after 4 days of this he did finally diagnose and start treatment. Today is actually the first day I am up and about even though the lesions are limiting my foot wear selection!

Welcome to your Blog - perhaps you should have read the directions!

Ok, I owe all of you whom have sent in comments, a heartfelt apology. Both Jeff and I have been commenting on how few comments we have received (oops, I had that setting shut off). It was very exciting just a few minutes ago when I discovered all the your comments. Thanks for participating and please keep the comments coming!

The Worm

We've been in SA now for 5 months - we've had colds, a possible case of pig flu, and mild case of the itchies but we've finally made it into the big time..... Teddy has a worm in his foot! We were at a friend's house and the kids were running in the yard barefoot and a few days later Teddy had a major case of itchy foot - which turned into a funky looking rash on his foot - thank goodness for Jeff - he was able and actually administered medicine and Teddy is on the mend. A funny thing about that party is another family with 2 boys was also there and the mom ever so nonchalantly announced ," Niko has lice, i treated it right before I came so hopefully I got it all." I look over to locate my 3 immediately, only to see Anna (who has not bonded with any children at these parties) is HEAD to HEAD with this boy in the hammock! Thankfully no lice found on any of my chilldren but we all scratch our heads each time we say hello to that MOM. (fortunately she has a good sense of humor)