Ukutula Lion Park

Yesterday was a South African holiday and day off of school, so we took advantage of the great weather and headed to the Ukatula Lion Park.  We have heard great things about this place but had never been.  Our expectations were definitely not disappointed.

First, we stepped in to an enclosed area where the four of us got to pet, hold, and play with lion and tiger cubs.  We have pet cubs before, but never have we had so much interaction with them.  The girls LOVED this part of the day.  The lions were so mild and tame and loved to have their bellies rubbed.  The tigers, on the other hand, were a bit frisky and a little too playful for young children.  They liked to leap on to the girls and were really strong, so the guides held them off for a while so that we could enjoy the lions.

Next, we went in to the 1-2 year old lion pen to sit and pet the next age up of lions.  These lions were definitely not as tame as the cubs and stalked the girls a bit.  We had to hold them while petting the lions which was difficult because the lions liked to gnaw on fingers and clothing.  So after a little while, I took the girls out of the pen, and Justin stayed in to get some good pictures.

The cheetah pen was next where we went inside and pet one particular cheetah that was rescued when she was a baby.  Our girls were not allowed inside this pen, so Justin and I just took turns.  Taelyn was quite disappointed that she couldn't go inside too, but she knew that it wasn't safe.

The day ended with the mature lions.  We walked alongside their pens which really stirred them up a bit because they wanted to go after the girls.  They jumped at the fencing from time to time and paced back and forth.  The girls thought it was a little funny (and scary too) because they knew that the lions wanted to eat them.  One of the pens, however, was very calm because a female had just given birth to five cubs seven days prior.  Three females and the male were laying down together with the cubs in the middle.  They were adorable.  They had their eyes open but couldn't see yet and could barely walk without stumbling.  Kaelia especially loved these cubs.

Top O' the Morning to Ya!

St. Patrick's Day is not just a holiday in our household.  Justin absolutely loves this day and ensures that it is celebrated at the highest level possible.  This does not mean drinking green beer and wearing gaudy green.  Instead, Justin looks for more traditional fare such as Celtic singers and good old Guinness.

Unfortunately, Justin has been sorely disappointed with South Africa's version of St. Patrick's Day.  That is why this year he decided to throw his own party and do it right.  We rented a clubhouse at a friend's complex on Saturday and brought in some decorations from the US.  Then Justin bought a keg of Guinness with a real Guinness tap like you would see in any bar.  To top the evening off, he hired Highland and Irish dancers while a few people sang some traditional Irish songs.  I even performed a little Danny Boy with a friend.  Justin also hired a bagpiper to come, but sadly he fell ill and was in the hospital that day.  He also had a hard time booking a traditional band, so he made his own mix of music that included nothing but Irish, old and new.

One of the best parts of the night was Justin's attire.  He surprised everyone by wearing a kilt and even showed off his dancing skills with a little Irish jig later in the evening.

On Sunday, the actual St. Patrick's Day, we also continued the festivities by going to a local brewery.  There we shared some great Irish local brews while relaxing in the grass in front of a mountainside.  A guy performed traditional music in the background  and a band of rock bagpipers made an appearance to play a few rock Irish songs.  It was perfect because whatever Justin could not pull off at his party was there the next day.   It really was a great weekend, and St. Patrick's Day was finally "done right."

Here is Justin showing Taelyn how to do an Irish jig.

Vacation in Kenya

For our Spring Break this year, we travelled to Kenya and had a fantastic vacation.  We started in Mombasa for a safari experience where we saw Tsavo East and Tsavo West.  This is where the movie, The Ghost in the Darkness is based on, when many people were attacked and killed by lions when first building a railway in Kenya.  And it was not hard to believe that such an event could happen because we saw lots and lots of lions.  At one point, there were five lions following the scent of some water buffaloes, in hopes of a good lunch time meal.  This hunt was early in the morning, though, so we were not able to see the kill, and I'm not so sure we would have really enjoyed seeing that anyway.

Elephants crowd the water hole just
outside our room at Tsavo West.

The highlight of Tsavo was by far the game lodges, though.  We stayed in a resort lodge right inside the game park.  We took advantage of the beautiful scenery in the room, at the restaurant, the pool, and the cliff-side bar that overlooked a watering hole just 10 meters away.  After our first game drive, we spent some time at the pool with many elephants just below us, and at sunset, we hung out at the bar, watching the migration of hundreds of water buffaloes passing through.  Four of the water buffaloes actually gave birth that evening right in front of the bar, but unfortunately, we were in our room at the time taking care of some potty breaks. We apparently missed the births by only 10 minutes.  We did get to see the little calves amongst the herd, however.  They were simply walking on all fours along with the crowd.  It was amazing.

The next evening, we stayed in a lodge inside Tsavo West.  The watering hole here was even closer than in Tsavo East, and there was a branch beside it where the management attached meat at sunset each night to bait leopards over.  We sat on the front deck waiting to see if any would show up, and sure enough, we saw two leopards that night.

After our safari experience, we headed for the beach and stayed at Turtle Bay Beach Club.  Turtle Bay was amazing for everyone in our family.  We spent most hours of the day swimming and relaxing beside the pool while the girls also took advantage of the kids club.  Every day from 10am-9pm, the kids club posted different activities for each hour, so the girls would pick 1-2 different ones that they wanted to go and hang out with other kids from the resort.  They ended up making some friends that are the same age and played together as kids club and at the pool.  One really nice feature of kids club for us was that they had movie night every night just as the adult dinner was starting.  So we would get the kids some dinner just before and drop them off for the movie while Justin and I had a little date night for an hour and a half each night.  At Turtle Bay, we had the perfect combination of family and personal time.

We also went on a couple of day trips from Turtle Bay. First, we went to a falconry and crocodile farm.  At the falconry, the girls got to ride a tortoise that is 130 years old.  He was friendly and awesome!  It was amazing to see how prehistoric he looked.  The girls also got to hold a bird on their arms and pet a very old, blind owl.  Taelyn loved the tortoise experience; she kept talking about how squishy he was, and Kaelia was fascinated with all of the owls - especially the smaller ones that she thought were the babies.  At the crocodile farm, the girls also got to hold smaller turtles as well as view various aged crocodiles.  The most intimidating part was the fully grown crocodiles; some of them were captured from rivers because they were too problematic.  The crocodile with the biggest resume had eaten five people prior to being captured!

Another trip we took from Turtle Bay was to a local orphanage where we spent time with some orphans and donated money and kids' items.  The girls even picked out quite a few toys that they don't play with any more to give to the orphans.  We had a great time playing with the children, but it was also very sad to visit the orphanage.  It is located in a rural area of Kenya, and the orphans do not really get adopted.  Instead, they usually stay there until they are 18, and then leave and start their own lives.  We spent a good amount of time with the 2-4 year-olds, and they were desperate for our affection.  Various children immediately ran to us and wanted to be held.  One little boy wrapped his arms and legs around me and wouldn't let go the entire time we were in the room.  Taelyn had a nice time playing with these children too.  She ran around with them which turned in to a little game of chase.  Later on, we also visited the babies, and Kaelia and I fell in love with a little 4-month old named Abby.  She was full of smiles, and Kaelia really liked holding her hand.  To end the trip, the girls each brought a toy over to the owner and asked her to give them to the orphans.

The rest of our trip was spent mostly in the pool and on the beach.  We liked going crab hunting on the beach and also finding crabs throughout the resort when they lost their way off the beach.  Taelyn also started to learn how to swim without her arm floaties.  In the beginning of the trip, she finally had the courage to jump in to the pool on her own with arm floaties.  But by the end, she not only would jump in without floaties, but would them pop her head back up out of the water and start swimming (or more like doggy paddling).  Justin even taught her how to jump in and then turn around and swim to the ledge as a little survival tip if she ever accidentally fell in a pool.  Kaelia also loved her time in the pool, and spent a lot of time swimming with her new friends from kids' club.

Our trip to Kenya was the best family vacation that we have taken so far, and it was really hard to leave.  The girls were devastated when the time came.  On the plane ride home, Taelyn asked if we could turn around and go back.  Then we were in our own beds in South Africa that night, she said she was sad that we weren't in Kenya any more.  It will be pretty tough to top this vacation for the girls, but we will do our best to give them many more fantastic vacations!

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Happy Birthday, Meeka!

We celebrated Meeka's 1st birthday today, and I say celebrated, because she doesn't technically have a birthday for four more years.  Yep, that's right, Meeka is a leap year dog.

The girls, of course, wanted to throw Meeka a big birthday party where they could invite all of their friends and have cake and presents, but we were able to talk them down a notch.  Instead, we sang happy birthday and gave her a small present: a bag of bones.  Meeka loved all of the attention and, of course, the bones!

Taelyn's 4th Birthday

The birthday extravaganza began on Thursday this past week as Taelyn celebrated the big 4 years at school. Her and I made cupcakes together the night before, covered in pink frosting, sprinkles, and hearts.  At school, Taelyn's teacher put together a big birthday celebration with her classmates.  Her teacher even invited two kids over from another class (Luna and Rafi) because they are Taelyn's closest friends at school, and she plays with them every day on the playground.  Justin and I actually got to pick Taelyn up from school that day and found her sitting at lunch in a great big birthday hat with her two classmate buddies, Michael and Kale.

Friday was Taelyn's actual birthday, so she opened her presents from family members that night.  Some of  the presents that she got are arts and crafts supplies, a Fancy Nancy book, Birthday Barbie, an Ariel Barbie, and an Ariel slip-n-slide.

Taelyn's birthday party was then on Saturday.  Her two best friends, Arianna and Rafi, came over to enjoy the festivities as well.  We rented a bouncy castle with a slide that led to a pit of balls, and we set up Taelyn's new slip-n-slide.  Between those two activities, the playroom, and the pool, the kids were pretty excited and busy for several hours.  Taelyn was a perfect little hostess and had a wonderful time with her friends and family.  At one point during the party, she told me, "That was so nice of my friends to give me birthday presents!"

After the party was over, it was too late to take a nap, so the girls huddled on to the coach to watch The Little Mermaid.  But in no time at all, Taelyn passed out from too much fun and too much birthday.  What a perfect end to the day!

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Taelyn - 4 Years Old

It is amazing how fast time flies by and how Taelyn is not a baby or a toddler any more.  She is officially a big kid and reminds us of her big girl accomplishments every day.  She is no longer interested in wooden puzzles and absolutely loves to complete jigsaw puzzles.  She will even skip recess at school if she is working on a puzzle and is not yet done.  So far, she has worked up to 56 pieces and is eager to take on a larger puzzle now.  Taelyn has also started to write her own name and learn the phonetic sounds of the letters of the alphabet.  She struggles with this a bit, but is coming along.  Sewing and threading is another task that she loves to do at school.

At home, some of Taelyn's favorite activities include painting with her watercolor paint set, reading Fancy Nancy books, singing and dancing, swimming, and watching movies.  She his following a behavior reward chart right now, and whenever she earns 15 stars in a week, she gets a popcorn and movie night.  She absolutely loves this special treat - almost as much as she likes going to the movie theater.  She is also still quite the entertainer, constantly putting on new dresses and showing off a dance or song.  Just recently she started doing a booty-shaking dance that is hysterical to watch.  Some of Taelyn's favorite TV shows and movies are currently The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, Dora, Doc McStuffins, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  With all of these shows, Taelyn frequently acts the storylines out with her sister.

Taelyn has also developed some closer friendships.  Her best buddies in her class at school are Michael and Kale, and she talks about them every day.  They often play in the sand pit, play "school" where Taelyn is, of course, the teacher, and they play "Duck Duck Goose."  Outside of school, Taelyn's best friends are Arianna and Rafi.  They both are expats that we work with and live close by.  Just the other day, Taelyn told me that she and Rafi are going to get married.  When I asked her why she was going to marry Rafi, she told me, "Because he's my best friend!"  It is so very sweet to see her interact with her friends and enter an imaginary world with them as they play together.  During this play time, Taelyn still likes to be in control but is learning that she's not always the boss and that she must share not only her toys, but decisions too.

Taelyn is a very loving little girl as well.  When she is not fighting with her sister, she will give Kaelia hugs and kisses and will show her how to do "big girl" things.  Just the other day, she was very sweet in showing Kaelia how to sew, and Kaelia adores the attention from her big sister.  One of our favorite times of day is when we are saying good-bye to the girls as we leave for school, and Taelyn showers us with affection.  We give hugs and kisses over and over, and when we head for the door, she runs over to us and says, "Just one more hug and kiss."  It is priceless.

I think it goes without saying that Taelyn is also obsessed with Ariel and loves anything that is related to The Little Mermaid.  It is with that in mind that her slideshow below is to the tune, "Under the Sea."

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The Little Mermaid Has Taken Over Our Children!

Within the past few months, the girls have been enamoured with watching The Little Mermaid.  I would even go as far to say that Taelyn is rather obsessed, and of course, chose that as her theme for her birthday party this weekend.  Each week, however, the girls constantly want to watch the movie and the TV show on Disney Junior and then re-enact what they saw afterwards.   Sometimes this drama production takes place in the living room or bedroom, while at other times they "play" the Little Mermaid in the pool or bathtub.   We recorded a few of their Ariel moments to share below.

Taelyn sings "Part of Your World."  Both girls actually know this entire song by heart, although Kaelia refuses to sing any time we get the camera out.

Taelyn and Kaelia act out parts of the movie: first Eric (Taelyn) meets Ariel (Kaelia) on the beach and finds out she can't talk; then they are on the boat and Eric tries to guess Ariel's name; finally, they are about to kiss on the boat when the eels tip the boat over.

Taelyn dances to "Under the Sea."