Kaelia's Swimming!

Today was a big day for Kaelia: she finally decided to wear arm floaties in the pool!  We have been encouraging her to do so for a little while now, but she always said no.  Today, however, we were at our friend, Kris's house, and he made an effort to get Kaelia swimming.  She did not give him much resistance at all - I think this is because she feels comfortable enough to yell at us that she doesn't want to wear floaties, but she probably doesn't feel like she can do that with Kris.  So he successfully got her to swim with her floaties.

Afterwards, I asked Kaelia if she wanted me to buy her her own special floaties, and she was very excited about this.  She, of course, asked for some Cinderella floaties.  Needless to say, I picked some up for her later on in the day.  We will see how well she does on her own now.  For today, though, I am so proud of my little girl!

Happy Smiles after Swimming

Birthday with the Lions

I had a wonderful birthday this year with my family and the Rhino and Lion Park, just several miles down the road from where we live.  The park is a small game park with primarily lions and various cats inside.  The first animals we came across were the lions; they were massive and amazing.  A male and two females walked right in front of our car.  Then Justin looked in to the rear view mirror and saw the male walking straight towards us.  It actually brushed past the windows on the passenger side of the car.  The lion's head was just as big as the window.  Later on during the drive, we also followed a cheetah that was walking beside our car.

After the drive, the girls and I sat down with some lion cubs and got to pet them.  They were pretty sleepy, but one of them opened his eyes enough to say a quick hello.  They were all adorable and gentle.  Taelyn was actually tugging on one of the lion's ears for a while.

The girls also got to pet and feed a giraffe, and we walked through a reptile house at the park.  It was a fantastic morning.

That night, the girls played at a friend's house while Justin and I went out for a steak dinner.  It was delicious and the perfect ending to a great birthday.

Belated Christmas

Because we were in Egypt on Christmas, we celebrated the official festivities when we got back to South Africa.  The girls were so excited that Santa was coming, and they couldn't wait to see what he brought them.  But more importantly, the girls learned that Christmas is about giving and not just getting.  I took each of them out shopping individually so that they could get each other a gift, and they both really put some thought in to what they wanted to buy their sister.  Kaelia came across a Disney princess puzzle and immediately wanted to get it for Taelyn.  She knows how much Taelyn likes princesses and how much she enjoys putting together puzzles all by herself.

When I took Taelyn out shopping, she knew she wanted to get her sister a Dora the Explorer book because Kaelia loves Dora.  We went to several stores, however, and none of the books were what Taelyn was looking for.  Instead of settling for one, Taelyn asked if we could keep looking and go back out to the stores after her nap.  That is exactly what we did, and Taelyn found the perfect book then.  It is a Look and Find Dora book kind of like Where's Waldo.  Taelyn even paid for it with her own doggy dollars.  She brought her wallet to the store and handed her doggy dollar to the cashier. It was adorable and completely her own idea.

As Christmas drew nearer, both girls told me on separate occasions of gifts that they wanted to get for their daddy: Taelyn wanted to buy him a special beer, and Kaelia wanted to get him flowers.  We were not intending on having the girls get us gifts, but I was so impressed by their giving spirit that I took them shopping again to get more gifts.

Christmas morning was actually on December 30th, and the girls ran to our bedroom bright and early to ask us of Santa came.  The girls and I all waited together as Justin went out the living room and put on Manheim Steamroller's "Deck the Halls" to let us know it was time to come out.  The girls came running out and were so excited to open the many presents under the tree.  But the first presents they chose to open were the ones from each other.  Taelyn turned to her sister and said, "Kaelia, just wait and see what I got you.  You're going to love it!"  And love it she did.  If you ask Kaelia now what she got for Christmas, she will tell you a book from Taelyn.  Taelyn loved her puzzle equally as much, and the girls gave each other a great big hug afterwards.

Next, the present extravaganza took off as the girls unwrapped the rest of their gifts.  They got Disney princess Barbies, princess dresses for dress-up, baby doll clothes, and a velcro baseball glove and T-ball set.  That's when we announced that Santa had brought one more present for them.  The girls looked all around the room and couldn't find anything, so we told them to check the playroom.  To their amazement, they found a huge dollhouse there for their new Barbies.  They absolutely love the dollhouse and play with it nonstop.

Aside from the girls' Christmas experience, Justin and I had a wonderful time too.  Justin bought me a massage at one of the resorts in Egypt and a new camera (which never made from the US - cross your fingers!), and I bought him a home brew kit to make his own beer.  He has his first batch brewing right now, and we can frequently hear bubbling coming from his closet at night!

To complete our Christmas, we all went to the movies later on that day and saw Rise of the Guardians in 3-D.  It was a great movie for kids and adults, and the girls loved getting their kids combo of popcorn, Smarties, and a Slush Puppy.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and we are so thankful for the giving spirit that we saw this year.  Kaelia, by the way, was so excited to give her daddy his flower that she continues to do so every day now.  Whenever she sees the flower on the table, she picks it up and runs it over to where ever Justin is and says, "Merry Christmas, Daddy!"  It is very sweet.

On another side note, when we all first sat down at the Christmas tree on our Christmas morning, Taelyn looked around at all the presents with a quizzical look on her face and said, "I think Daddy did all of this."  Her Santa Claus days may not last for too many years.

Here are some pictures of our Christmas morning.

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