Grant turns 1!

Last Friday on May 15th, my little buddy, Grant, turned 1 year old. 

 To celebrate the occasion we had a birthday party with our South African family.  13 kids, who out-numbered the adults, joined us this past Sunday at our home for a few hours of food and fun.

Missing Adalyn and Grant because neither wanted to take a picture and their buddy Owen.
 Pretty good to get 10 out of 13 I guess. 

I rented a bounce house for the older kids to play on (which amazingly you can get in this country from Friday-Monday for only $50!).

The littles enjoying time together.

 After some fun we all enjoyed the Dr. Seuss themed food such as









Roast Beast Sandwiches.

Green Eggs and Ham, Poodles with Noodles, Truffula Fruits,Assorted Greens and Other Things, Hop on Pop-corn,and One Fish Two Fish crackers.

  

Grant was scavaging the table for left over food, the boy can eat.

It is so nice to have Pinterest to put your party together for you.

Opening gifts was next and I was delighted all the kids were into giving their gifts and helping Grant to open his.





We have such a wonderful South African family here, I know the kids so well and it warms my heart that they all genuinely care for each other.

With torn wrapping paper everywhere I put Grant front and center so we could sing "Happy Birthday" to him and give him a mini cake.

I knew that he would not eat the cake as we had a smash cake photo shoot earlier in the week and he was only interested in smearing the icing around.

smash cake which looked more like an Easter cake to me

It was a wonderful day celebrating Grant and enjoying the company of great friends.

Clearly someone is not happy it's not her birthday

Grant enjoyed his party despite his poor teething as his 4 canines are coming in, 3 already through the gums and one left to go.  So a grand total of 11 teeth by his 1st birthday.  Grant has had his 2nd hair cut, not enjoying it much the 2nd time around.  He is in 12 month clothing, and enjoys eating everything in sight.  Current favorites includes grapes, yogurt, biltong, nutella, lasagna and pretty much anything we are eating.  He has mastered the sippy cup, but prefers to drink water rather than milk from it.  Grant is still nursing but I am hoping to transition him fully to whole milk soon.

My once pudgy little boy who would sit and play with toys happily is now mobile, crawling and cruising all over the house.  He loves to climb the stairs, and walk holding onto our hands.  He loves taking walks, filling buckets with toys then dumping them out and repeating, bath time and any water activity.  He does not enjoy having his clothes or diaper changed.  Taking him away from what he wants to do leads to high pitched screaming (probably got that from his sister).  Adalyn is constant entertainment for Grant and she loves to make him laugh.  He always has a smile on his face and his eyes are the most majestic blue color.

We love our little buddy and it's bittersweet to see him grow up turning into a toddler and less like a baby each day.        

Visit to Swaziland

For a long weekend Mark and I decided to take the kids to Swaziland.  Originally we were going to travel the 4 hours to Swaziland for a one night stay on our way to Mozambique but Grant’s doctor would not write a script for Malaria medication and advised against going to a Malaria area, though it is quite common for the locals, so we skipped the Mozambique part and spent 3 days in Swaziland.

We left mid-day and it only took 3 hours to reach the border of South Africa and Swaziland.  It took another 45 minutes to get through customs and pay our fees, like other aspects of Africa we have experienced, there was no method to the madness of chaotic people and procedures at the borders.  We received our passport stamps and made our way into the little country the size of Connecticut.

With the Drakensburg Mountains on one side and rolling plains on the other, it was a picturesque country.  It was easy to see that the country was quite a bit more remote and poor than South Africa but had sufficient roads to get us through and still maintained good stores and places to eat. 
Only an hour into Swaziland was our destination outside of Malkerns.  

We booked a bed and breakfast that is situated in the middle of a pineapple plantation called Umdoni.  Our wonderful host, Jane, made us feel right at home in the 2 bedroom cottage on her property.  It was a beautiful piece of land with huge trees, manicured gardens, swimming pool, tennis court and even a batting cage.  We spent our first afternoon just discovering the property.

On our first night we went to a local restaurant that was quite eclectic with shops, an art gallery, an amphitheatre and many statues.




Not realizing several restaurants in the area do not open for dinner until 6, we ate some take away sandwiches from their kitchen and enjoyed the view while Adalyn and Grant got to explore the sights.

The next morning we headed to the Swazi Candle Factory which also has an assortment of shops to peruse and a restaurant on their property.  We watched a local candle craftsman hand carve candles and Adalyn requested a butterfly which he completed in a few minutes.


















 I was happy to pick up a few gifts and a handmade bag by some local ladies and Adalyn was happy to pick up another cat.   

In the afternoon we went to the Swazi Cultural Village to take a guided tour of a traditional Swazi settlement and watch a 45 minute dance presentation showcasing a local tribe.

 







A waterfall down the road was up next and we enjoyed a little hike through the woods to take a look at it.  

Adalyn made a friend as usual, even though he did not speak any English.

After a great pizza dinner (which is always surprising given I am constantly comparing them to what I can find in the US), we headed back to the pineapple plantation for the night.

Before heading back to South Africa the next morning we walked through the rows of pineapples, Adalyn posing for pictures and even taking my camera to test her photography skills.  







We learned about planting and harvesting pineapples, these shown were planted in October and will be hand picked in one year.  The first time a pineapple is planted, which consist of just ripping off the top and sticking it into the ground, it take 2 years to harvest the first set of crops.  That first year will yield the largest pineapples then each year after the pineapples will grow back smaller.  A typical pineapple plantation will let one pineapple plant grow 3 pineapples before plowing the entire field and starting over.  Adalyn and I enjoyed searching for the largest pineapple and thought the baby ones were quite cute, with their purple flowers around the base and vibrant colors on the spikes.  

It was a very relaxing weekend and I am glad we got to experience another country on this continent.  With so many countries in Malaria areas that you cannot visit when pregnant/breastfeeding/or with small kids, it was nice to venture out without the worry.  I highly recommend Swaziland for a visit, there is tons to do that we did not even get to experience, the landscape is beautiful and Umdoni could not have been a better spot to relax.