Leenstra Travels

Today we did some more touring of the area around us. There is an area called DinoKeng (meaning place of rivers). It covers 281,000 hectares in a place of sacred water sources. There is game viewing, restaurants, hiking, bird watching, jewelry, museums, watersports, festivals, traditional culture and places of historical interest. We like it because it is low cost, close to us, and it will take a while to see all of it. We will be marking off our map little by little (you know how much kids love maps!). Today we visited the area of Cullinan (bottom, almost center of map).

Cullinan is a quaint Victorian and Edwardian village which is famous of the mine which produced the world's largest diamond - 3106 carts. Cullinan features a working diamond mine, historic buildings, tree lined avenues, guesthouses, restaurants and shops. Here are the pictures of us experiencing more culture.

The trip there was a hoot - we had to drive about 15 minutes on a road that had issues - it would be paved - then gravel with huge dips, paved, a new round about - pretty much in the middle of no where.

every once in a while you would see a village

Looking at the diamond mine from a far

First Stop

The open-air museum. It shows all the equipment used at the diamond mine there. Very fascinating. It was weird because there is a sign that says museum and then there it is in the open. The kids liked playing with all the gadgets and seeing the big machinery.

The Town

The street of the shops and restaurants - very cute.

art made of tin (pop cans, sheets, bottle tops, wire)

Having Fun

a painted wall in the town - very cool

Of course every little tourist town needs a candy shop

The Cullinan Big Hole View Point

The BIG HOLE - from a distance (a diamond mining hole -1 km long, ½ km wide and ½ km deep)

Here is a better picture I found on the website - we were not able to get that close.

Another learning day!! The kids will appreciate this someday! Find out next Saturday where we go next on our map.

If you had an extra 15 minutes.....

Do you ever feel like you are on a merry-go-round and you just can't get off. Ten million things to do, hardly anytime to do them. You have a list of leisure activities you want to do, or phone calls you really want to make, or emails you need to sit down and write. If only there were 15 extra minutes you could .... change the world? How would you spend your extra 15 minutes?

Me - I made our family into magnets on the refrigerator!!

and then I added pieces to change the look

And here we have Grandma and Grandpa Dieleman with Maddie & Alex

Grandma and Grandpa Leenstra & kids

Grandma and Grandpa Veenstra and kids

And Alex asked for Uncle Johnny

Do you think I have too much time on my hands!!??? Do not be surprised if I add all the other friends and family members to our magnet collection.

I have so much time to do things, I do not know what to do. I think a lot, read, sit in the sun, play with the kids, go to bed early, watch TV, oh and clean and cook. You think - I must be lucky - But it is very lonely and I am sad that I am not able to quick run to mom's, go to the office to do investigative work with Dad, talk to siblings on a daily basis, go out for lunch with friends, go to a great church, go to target or Meijers at night, do GEMS, be involved at Dutton Christian, being around family, just calling someone on the phone to talk.

I am very homesick!!!

- therefore I started making magnets of people we love to remind us that we are loved and thought of.

I miss the busy life - Is that wrong? Am I to be at peace? Am I ungreatful? Will this get easier?

EXPERIENCING AFRICA

Well on Thursday August 9 it was National Women's Day - I was thinking it was like a Mother's day or just a date on the calendar - I was proven wrong 9 August: National Women's Day On this day in 1956 some 20,000 women marched to the Union [government] Buildings in Pretoria to protest against a law requiring black women to carry passes. This day is celebrated as a reminder of the contribution made by women to society, the achievements that have been made for women's rights, and to acknowledge the difficulties and prejudices many women still face.

So on Thursday we began our day as normal - We took Maddie to school at 7:00am only to find out there was NO SCHOOL - OOPS and it is a big deal here. It is even a bank holiday. So we eventually figured out that Maddie had a long weekend holiday. We took advantage of it and did a few things on Friday to experience Africa.

We started at Tamboti Lodge and we went on a Game Drive on 4 wheelers through a huge area of land. Here is our adventure:

We arrived at Tamboti Lodge after lunch - the kids were very excited!!


The first animal the kids saw was a head of a lion. Alex thought it was the coolest thing and to him the trip was very successful. Maddie was a little scared - I assured her it was not alive.

You can stay in lodges here and one of the options is a tent cottage up on stilts. When you sleep at night you can hear some of the animals walking around below you. When I say animals - I mean warthogs and porcupines and the bushbuck, gazelle and kudu can be grazing around it. They also have a stray leopard that comes around.

Here is maddie and mommy getting read for our drive

Here is Alex and Daddy getting ready with Maddie in the background thinking she is going to drive the 4 wheeler by herself.

The kids are looking down into a huge hole occupied by a family of porcupines. The kids were able to collect a bunch of porcupine quills.

Oh and a nice family picture! Derrik (our guide) wanted to take a picture of us - in what we thought we were standing on top of another hole occupied by a porcupine. After he took the picture he informed us that we were standing on top of a 4.2 meter Rock Python Snake!! Like the one pictured below!!

This python in this picture just ate an impala ewe whole! If your stomach can take it check out this website (http://www.bushveld.co.za/pictures-python.htm) and they have cut open the snake to show you. Makes us feel real great that we were standing on top of his home!!


Here the kids are in the bush observing - if you look closely there are about 20 bushbuck in the background - as we went a little further there was a HUGE Kudu - Scott had the camera and was not able to capture the leap he made over the path right in front of us.



Picture of the bushbuck in the distance.

After the dusty ride and viewing of animals the kids were able to pick oranges, grapefruit and lemons off the trees at the lodge.

Scott juggling - one of the many things I have learned he can do while living in Africa

A take away bag of fruit!!


TSHEPO YA BANA
After the game drive we went down the road to Mark and Chris Hardings orphanage, Tshepo Ya Bana - meaning hope for children. It was formed in 2003 and it aims to provide a loving Christian family environment for unwanted or abandoned children. All children under three years of age are accepted regardless of state of health or background.

This picture was taken in January 2007 - we visited the orphanage back in April and most of the same kids were still there. They had 13 kids when we visited in April and now they have 15 kids. They also have a lot of volunteers. There are 6 girls who have come to help from Holland and Belgium right now.





These are some pictures of the kids - I am not even going to try to spell their names because I am not sure. They are so full of life. Maddie and Alex were excited when we got there - then Maddie was bitten by one of their dogs and then Alex peed his pants and then he "hit a brick wall" so we had to cut our stay there very short. I was not able to visit long or take more pictures. (On a side note - maddie's arm was ok from the bite and Alex settled down after about 30 min - but we had to leave. We will visit them again soon. They are a very nice couple and we obtain a lot of information from them regarding our stay here.

Then on our way home we witness a huge bush fire!! The next day we found out that 1,000 hectares were burned (that is 2500 acres). What an amazing and scary site. You could look out for miles and see the fire burning. There was one time on the road back where it was so smokey it was hard to see driving.


Well that was our fun filled adventure - experiencing Africa day.

INTERNATIONAL FUND RAISING

Well, we have sunk to a new low. We are hitting up family and friends for help to raise money from half way around the world. Maddie’s school is having a fund raiser and they are requesting that all the kids raise money from their family and friends. The problem is, that all of Maddie’s family and friends live a long way away and she can’t swing over to Grandma’s house and give her the puppy dog eyes while asking for a donation to her school. So, I am asking that you close your eyes and picture Maddie standing in front of you asking for a donation.

Each year, Maddie’s school has a big soap box derby and the kids sell parts of the cars to raise money. A complete car costs R 250 (that’s not in dollars, it is in Rand). It comes to about $36 for a complete car. I will translate the car costs into dollars to make it easier.
· Wheels: $3 each ($12 for 4)
· Axle: $2 each ($4 for 2)
· Seat: $4
· Frame: $4
· Steering: $2
· Body: $10

If you are willing to help, please send us an email (there is a link in the blog) to let us know how much you are willing to help with. We are a bit late asking for this, so by the end of next week we will make the donation to Maddie’s school. I think that the best way to make this work is for us to pay the school and have everyone pay us. You’re going to have to trust us. We will email you back to let you know where to send your donation.

We hope that this does not seem too weird. We are trying to make Maddie’s days at school as normal as possible in the beginning here.
We hope all our friends back home are safe, healthy, happy and are trusting in the Lord especially during the good times.

Scott, Lia, Maddie, and Alex

I'M A BIG KID NOW!!!

IT IS OFFICIAL

ALEX IS A BIG KID NOW!!

Alex flexing his muscles to show how big he is

He also wants to show off his Transformer Shirt (his prized possession)

This blog is for all of those who know I have been struggling with fully potty training Alex. After a year of many hours in the bathroom, bribes you would not believe, taking away of toys and snacks (snacks is a big one for Alex), many doses of Milk of Magnesia, many accidents and the fear of giving up - Alex finally gets it. This comes shortly after my emails to friends and family on more advice on what to do!! It was very frustrating. Scott and I are so proud of him. He will be turning 4 in October. As my dad said as advice to me - He won't be getting married in a diaper!!

It is amazing how much he will eat now that he is emptying all the blockage in his stomach. He is eating beans, hot dogs, and he will even take bites of foreign food. HOW AWESOME!!

He is growing up so fast here in SA

Well thought I would spread the news - you can laugh at me all you want - I am so HAPPY!!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

notice the small spec way up the road - that would be Maddie

We are offically on the road again with new bikes – what great smiles and fun!! Alex is so excited that his bike is just a big as Maddie's. The kids took them for a spin to the park and of course they couldn't pass the park without some fun on the trampoline – Then off again on the bikes. The speed bumps in the road were great for the kids - well maybe not alex - they slowed him down alright by tipping his bike over - he had a few spills - scrapped up knees, tears - the works.

Look at this rental beauty – a 2007 VW Citi - we had to bring our car in to get the last things fixed at the dealer for free. So, Scott came home with this beauty – No power steering, you really have to push on the brakes and there is no air conditioning (it reminds Scott of his parents 1973 Chevette that he learned to drive on)– a lot of fun to drive. This is the the size car that most people drive here. I took it for a spin to the grocery store. After my shopping I put the key in to unlock the doors and the alarm went off. When I finally figured out how to turn the alarm off, I tried starting the car and the darn alarm went off again. What a sight in the good ol parking lot. I have laughed at myself so many times with me and these cars and driving. Just when I will get used to it – I will be home for Christmas and I will definitely be driving myself to TARGET!! and I will have to figure out how to drive all over again.

On Sunday we went to yet another church down the road – Service started at 9:30am and we got in the car to go home at 12:33pm. What is it with long services!! Anyway, It was a great experience. When we first got there there were only 6 people in the church. By the time the church service ended it was a full house!! Picture being shoved into a trailer – tin roof – and having the music pumping loud and everyone dancing and swaying their hands in the air. Alex was getting into the groove. It was great to hear praise songs in both English and Zulu. I enjoyed it. You went home just a dancing away. The kids on the other hand – could not contain themselves for that long. We will definitely visit the church again, but for a permanent church home probably not. So our search continues again.

Here are some updated pictures of us (just in case you forgot what we look like)

Notice: Maddie lost her second tooth in Africa - Thanks to Grandma for the book "I Lost My Tooth in Africa" - In the book the girl gets a chicken - Maddie keeps asking us for a chicken. I hope the tooth fairy can accomplish that one!!