Snow!

We would not have guessed that moving to South Africa we would experience snow in the winter.  While it gets pretty cold and windy here, and there is no central indoor heat, snow is pretty rare.  Winter this year has seemed much more mild than last year, or else we have acclimated more than we realized!

In mid-July, we were enjoying a Sunday afternoon pizza picnic with a couple other missionary families.  We turned around to see what all the kids (all boys except one) were doing and discovered they had taken the empty pizza boxes and turned them into sleds!

While the grass sleds were a great discovery, we did get some snow flurries just a couple weeks later, while Aden was at school.  You can almost see the flakes falling if you look closely at the brick wall behind Wiley and Noah . . .

Later, however, after Aden was home and while Noah was napping, the snow started falling harder.  In some areas near us they had a couple of inches of accumulation; we didn't see any stick to the ground at our house, but the boys were thrilled with the adventure of it.

By the time Daddy came home from the office, and everyone else in the city was also coming home cranking up heaters and making dinner, the city power was overloaded.  In a massive load-shed, our power was cut off for several hours.  We weren't able to make dinner, so found a nearby pizza place with a generator and enjoyed a hot meal to help us warm up.  It all became part of the adventure, as the power was off and on through the meal; the boys watched the traffic jams out the windows; and they enjoyed Mommy's latest creation: cardboard building discs to keep them entertained in restaurants and airplanes.  (Click on the image to view full-size.) 

When we arrived back at the complex, there was yet another element of excitement - the backup battery for the gate had died, so we sat outside with about half a dozen other cars waiting to get in until we were able to contact someone who could disconnect and open it manually.  We put all the boys in one bed and piled on duvets and blankets, to help them stay warm.  About the time the boys crawled into bed, the power was restored, but we let them sleep together anyway since we didn't know if the power would go off again in the night.  Thankfully, everyone stayed warm, which made the adventure a positive experience (enough that Aden decided to include the story in his autobiography which he works on from time to time). 

Ballito

One of the places we've been wanting to visit is the eastern coast of South Africa.  We wanted to see the Indian Ocean coastline, and the popular holiday spot of Durban.  We decided to stay just north of Durban, in the Mediterranean-style holiday town of Ballito where we found a good deal on lodging.  Instead of going during a busy school holiday, we pulled Aden out of school one Friday and took a long weekend to hit the beach, also celebrating Daddy and Mommy's eighth anniversary.  Even though it was the end of July, in the South African "winter," and the water was cold, the weather was pleasant enough to enjoy the outdoors.

Everyone enjoyed the drive down, exploring new territory.  By mid-afternoon, after an early, exciting start to the trip, the boys seemed to be growing weary and Aden and Wiley both nodded off in the backseat.  Meanwhile, Noah found a second wind, singing at the top of his lungs and drumming on his backpack.  He never missed a beat and never even hinted that he was tired until we crashed in our beds that night.  Having a new "home" for the weekend was quite exciting as well, and the boys rushed from room to room immediately on our arrival, telling us all about what was in the ocean-front apartment we had rented for the weekend.

On Saturday morning, Mommy heard little voices just after six.  She peeked in the boys' room and found Aden and Wiley sitting on their beds, which had already been made, and reading by lamplight.  She took the boys and some blankets out to the deck to watch the sunrise over the ocean, and brought out binoculars to watch for dolphins and whales.  We were able to enjoy our breakfast on the deck, listening to the waves crash on the beach below and watching for sea animals.  We really just wanted to get away from the city and have a change of pace, so didn't plan lots of activities for our brief holiday.  We spent most of the day walking the Ballito boardwalk, looking for shells, and everyone at least touched the waters of the Indian Ocean.  We enjoyed fresh fish for lunch, and then were pleasantly surprised to find a frozen yogurt bar for dessert. 

Aden and Wiley testing the water - a small tide pool - of the Indian Ocean

Noah:  I touched it!

Looking for shells

We checked out of our room Sunday morning, so it was our last chance to spot any sea animals on the Dolphin Coast. Wiley especially had hoped we would see something; sure enough, as we were eating breakfast Aden noticed a dark spot in the water, and we watched a small pod of dolphins swimming along the coast!  After breakfast and checkout, we headed back to the boardwalk for "family church" on the beach.  We explored a bit more, the boys getting braver and jumping on the rocks, before we piled back into the car and headed back home to Jo'burg.  The highlight of the trip home was stopping at a rest area with camels (both Bactarine and Dromedary), one of Wiley's favorite animals. 

Aden jumping the rocks