Cape Town Update

Well, we finally found a place to get an Internet connection so we decided to to a quick update of our trip.
Here are a few quick details of our trip:

• 1800Km on the Car so Far
• Saw a guy laying in the street in Wellington bleeding. Looked like he was shot by the Cops.
• Dad had one to many beers and ended up breaking a glass at dinner last night.
• We have seen the most beautiful mountains and wine valleys you could imagine
• The kids will swim in blue or cloudy green water as long as they can get wet
• The Renault Grand Scenic seat 6 comfortably for 1800 Km
• The GPS isn't as reliable as we hoped and led us to a farm in the middle of nowhere
• Table mountain weather varies greatly from the weather at sea level, we hope to get up there before we leave tomorrow.
• It is easy to get the kids to sleep after long days of driving and playing
• There is a lot of Desert type land in South Africa that is boring to drive through
• Cock Roaches are 10 times the size in Cape Town than in Pretoria
• It is hard for a Sea Gull to eat a full cracker and this can also cause fights
• Lia doesn't actually want to drive, but she thinks that she is better from the back seat at it than Scott is from the driver's seat.

That's it for now. We will try to get another post b/f we return back to Pretoria on Sunday. Hopefully we will have pictures next time.

Relaxing!

Scott's Mom and Dad are having a great time. They are enjoying the sites here, they saw part of Scott's work, they enjoyplaying with the kids, but most of all they are relaxing!! Mom is always asking what she can do! She has done dishes, laundry, and made her tuna pasta salad - I didn't let her do too much (thanks Mom for the help!) It is great to see them reading thier books in the sun, sitting by the pool (and swimming), and playing Uno with the kids.

Trying to read and get a tan in the 90 degree - no clouds in the sky day (yes I am rubbing it in a little - I here it is cold back home- sorry)

Our cat Sylvester is taking a special liking to Dad.

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Maddie distirbing thier peace by doing a cannonball right next to them!! They did get wet!

We visited the Pretoria Zoo - Alex wanted to show them the sharks and Maddie was excited to show them all the exotic birds and elephants.

The Shark

photo in front of the world's largest fish

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Some curious random bird

looking at all the animals - The kids took turn driving and riding the go cart. Grandpa did a lot of pushing too!

the tiger was just fed a slab of raw meat (you can sort of see it underneath him) and he was not happy that we were watchig him - there was a moment I thought he was going to pounce toward us as a warning to stay away!

Alex gave the Day at the Zoo a thumbs up!!

Todays News

Scott's Dad was wearing his Tiger shirt today and Alex was wearing his so I had to take the photo (I had to convince Scott to also be in the picture with his Tiger's cap)

Maddie was feeling left out so she borrowed Scott's hat.

Well - we leave in the morning for our 10 day trip to Cape Town - WE ARE SO EXCITED to see more of South Africa. We are leaving at 5:00am - It is currently 12:02am - I should get some sleep. I hope to keep you updated on our trip as internet is available in most places we are going (or so they say). So keep checking and pray for us as we are traveling!!

Sorry about the typos - spellcheck will not work

Grandma and Grandpa Leenstra visit Africa!!!

We are so excited to see Scott's Mom and Dad here to visit. They had a rough time getting here, but they made it. It started in Grand Rapids where thier flight was delayed due to snow, which in turn made them miss thier flight in Detroit to Amsterdam. In Detroit (after another delay) they ended up switching to British Airlines and flying into London. Another delay in London and then off to Joberg. They were supposed to arrive on Wednesday night at 9:30pm, but instead they came in on Thurday at 8:00am. THEN the airlines lost thier luggage!!

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No fear - we took them shopping to get them by and prayed that it would be delivered soon! They found it and delivered it (on Friday night) - the day we went overnight on a game drive in Pilanesberg. A special thank you to our neighbor for collecting the luggage for us while we were gone!! The only thing missing out of the luggage was a bag of Nestle Chocolate Chips and a bag of Candy Hearts.
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Maddie and Alex gave hugs and kisses and could not get enough of Grandma and Grandpa's attention!! It is so nice to have visitors and to be able to show them where and how we live along with showing them the scenery and sites!!

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Our first trip was an overnight trip to Pilanesberg National Park. We stayed overnight at Kwamahla Lodge. What a beautiful place (besides the spider in our chalet)(Yes a big one!).

Do you like my Panoramic creation?

In front of our chalet.

A bird climbing in its nest - notice the thorns on the tree

Alex after his swim at the lodge - excited about the game drive in the morning

Compared to Krueger National Park we did not see a huge variety of animals, but we were able to see the giraffes, zebras and rinos upclose. We actually almost ran into a giraffe because we were looking far into the bush and not realizing a giraffe was crossing the road in front of us. What an amazing animal!

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There were a lot of baby zebras - so cute! This is not zooming in - they were that close to us!!

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Walking to one of the many look out points to view animals

Maddie enjoying being with Grandma and Grandpa and seeing all the animals

Scott's Dad enjoying the view

Maddie and Alex arguing whose turn it is to use the binoculars!

and of course the scenery was awesome. What amazing pictures God paints all around the world!

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We saw many more animals including a family of warthogs, 1 elephant (in the far distance), wildebeast, impala, other types of deer, a lot of varieties of birds, an ostrich, and more zebras, and more zebras.

A great trip - We all enjoyed it!!

Next post Mom and Dad Leenstra RELAXING (is it possible?!?)

DON'T FORGET TO SMILE TODAY!!!

Not sure if it is the missing teeth, the squished goggles on the face, or that she thinks she can not swim with out the goggles that makes me smile!!!

THE CAT IN THE HAT

I am obsessed with Dr. Seuss books!!


What great books for kids!!


We have found a new love in our house.


Alex's mouth is wide open when we read (he even drooled!) and Maddie is so excited that she can read some of them. It has really opened them up in using their imagination.


I recommend them!

What Shape Is Water?

Over the past few weeks we are trying to get into a school routine. So far the favorite subject is science - all the experiments they get to do!!

We are learning about water. They were asked to draw a shape on the road (no it isn't a busy road) that would predict what shape the water would take:


Then they had to pour the water out onto their shape.


Maddie's predictions and results


Alex's seemed to be a little more on track.

Overall the home schooling is going better than I thought (me and my lack of patience sometimes). I am enjoying all the time we are spending together!

STANLEY v. MOLE CRICKETS

In the right corner -FLAT STANLEY -he is 2 dimensional, yet never has any fear, has been attacked by lions, faced death and managed to keep a smile on his face (we will see if that attitude can continue)!!!

In the left corner - MOLE CRICKETS - known for annoying singing all night, can destroy a whole yard, they multipy as time goes on and they have mole-like claws excellent for digging (see if they can dig themselves out of this fight)!

To get ready for the fight some preparations are made: MAN - he sprays the fight ring with an insecticide to motivate the MOLE CRICKETS out of the ground.

The fight is on: Stanely seems to be in some rough situations - pinned down - walked on - but he always keeps the smile!

It is now STANLEYS turn - he is crushing them left and right until ......

Then the MOLE CRICKETS grow in numbers - in 25 minutes they grow from 10 to 523(+/-)!

STANLEY needs some help - good thing it is a tag team match. He tags the BIRDS and MAN with tweezers!!

Some BIRDS grab 3-6 at a time! This is a big help!

The fight goes for hours - finally the MOLE CRICKETS are defeated! STANLEY is the CHAMP!!!

MORAL: DO NOT FIGHT YOUR BATTLES ALONE!