Do You Hear That? Neather Do I!

On the evening of January 11th after a very busy day, Greg and I dropped the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa's house for 6 days away from the craziness. We had planned a trip to Charleston, SC to spend some time with friends and to take part in the Charleston Riverfront Festival Half Marathon. We got home that night and packed since we had an early flight out the next morning. We arrived at the airport on Wednesday the 12th at 7am to find out that our flight had been delayed 2 hours. While trying to rebook our connection in Atlanta we found out that our flight out of Louisville had in fact been delayed 4 hours. Turns out Delta did not have a crew fro our flight. We sat in the airport playing with my new iPhone and reading. The airport was cold and after a while gets very tiring. We finally made it to Atlanta just in time for our connection. We boarded the plane and then sat and sat and sat. 1 1/2 hours in fact we sat before we left the gate to head to Charleston. Our short 4 hour trip had become a 9 hour trip and will forever be etched in our minds as the day we decided not to fly Delta anymore. We arrived in Charleston, but our bag did not. Yes they lost it in Atlanta somewhere and were not sure if in fact it was even there. Of course Delta vowed we would have it that night. We did indeed get our bag at about midnight. One we arrived we got our car and headed for the condo. Once inside the quiet of the car I turned to Greg and said, " Do you hear that?" His answer as it always is was, "no!" I said, "neither do I!" It was quiet and peaceful in the car without the children. Just a taste of what was to come the next 5 days. We love our children dearly, but some peace and quiet on occasions is nice. While driving to the condo we happened upon one of our favorite restaurants from our Charleston days and stopped to eat. The Mustard Seed was just as good as I remember. We checked in and got to bed early. Thursday we slept in which is very rare for us. We got a slow start and the went to meet Chris and Laura at the airport. After picking them up we headed downtown. Laura has never been to Charleston and visiting has been a dream of hers. We did all the regular touristy things over the next few days. We walked on the Battery, saw Rainbow Row, the slave Market, Boone Hall Plantation and Angel Oak. We ate like Kings and Queens and had a tome of fun. We laughed hard and relaxed a lot. On Saturday in record low temperatures Greg and I braved the cold to do our half marathon. Chris and Laura were our faithful cheering team. I PR'd by 8 minutes and overall had a good race. I ended up 35th /100 in my age group and 268th/868 overall.
We were very sad to see the end of our time away, but happy to get to see our kids again. since we have been back life has once again been a whirlwind of activity interspersed with several snow days. Life is good.

Josiah Turned 6

While we were in South Africa Josiah turned six. I can't believe my little boy is getting to be a little man. We had a small family get together to celebrate and he got a few extra gifts this year. He had so much fun getting a new DSi and Super Mario Brothers game for it amongst other things.

Durban - My Home Town

The day after we got back from our weekend away we drove 10 hours to my brother, Neville's, house where we spent a week. He lives in Durban which is the town I grew up in. We had a wonderful week letting the children get to know each other and just having fun. Neville and his wife Melanie have 2 beautiful daughters. Aimee is 5 and Emma is 3. Josiah and Naomi got along with them very well. While were there we spent a morning at the beach (yes it was the middle of winter, but we had to do it anyway!). We also went to UShaka Marine World were we saw a dolphin show a seal show and many marine animals. The kids had a blast. I was surprised to find out the Gambit, one of the dolphins that did shows when I was a little girl, was still performing. Neville and Melanie were in the process of selling their house so we had to quickly clean the mess that we had trailing us for a last minute showing. We also spent time looking at their new house which is going to be completely gutted and rebuilt on the inside. Can't wait to see the finished product.

A Weekend Away

The first weekend that Greg was with us we went away with my parents and my sister's family. We stayed at a vacation rental place in Hazyview and had so much fun. One of the days we went back to the Kruger National park and the other days we shopped and spent time at the cabins just enjoying the sunshine. My sister, her husband and her 2 kids and our family stayed in one cabin. My Mom and Dad had their own cabin so that they could enjoy a little peace and quiet from time to time.

Daddy Arrives

The first 2 weeks of our time in South Africa the kids and I just hung out with my parents. It was a wonderful time for Josiah and Naomi to get to know their grandparents and for Mom and Dad to love on them. Naomi developed a very special bond with Grandpa and Josiah enjoyed reading about African animals with Granny. The time was a very special and the children talk about South Africa all the time. After 2 weeks, my Dad and I drove to Johannesburg to pick Greg up from the airport. Luckily his flight arrived much earlier than ours did so we got to bed at a reasonable time that night. The kids were so excited to see Daddy the next morning. We spent the first few days that Greg was there laying around and walking through the beautiful gardens around the property where Mom and Dad live. Here are a few of the pictures I took of the kids those few days.

The Waterfalls and God's Window

The first weekend that we were in South Africa my Mom, Dad, sister and her family and myself and the kids went to see a couple of the places that I enjoyed as a child. I fully expected my children to be in awe of God's creation, but unfortunately kids are kids and loved playing in the rocks and sand instead. Perhaps when they are a little older they will see the beauty in the waterfalls and the vast scenery. We saw 2 falls: Lisbon Falls and Berlin Falls, both of which bring back very fond memories of growing up in South Africa. Josiah loved looking at all the trinkets and wood carvings at the roadside stalls and asked every time we stopped if he could buy something. Naomi loved spending time with Granny and Grandpa and did not want to go see the waterfalls again. For lunch we ate at Harry's, our favorite pancake place. Eating there was one of the only requests that Greg had and so we knew we were going to have to go back when Greg arrived.