Best Friends and Their Babies

Since we were gone for three weeks beginning Christmas Day, the girls came home and had Christmas all over again. They reunited with all their toys they either forgot they had received or were dying to see again. Abby's baby Bazissa (pronounced "buh-zissa") was one of the toys Abby missed for the entire three weeks we were gone. She named her only an hour or so after we got her out of her box and was completely attached to her.

Abby puts Bazissa in Sammy's high chair daily to feed her a bowl of water. Bazissa then wees it all out into her little nappy. She even came with a potty which kind of freaks Abby out. However, she insists we store the potty in the bathroom which is kind of annoying.

Sammy now has to have a baby as well. She has adopted Abby's old baby, Jessica (I named her). She must do everything with her baby that Abby does with hers.




Just since Christmas, Abby has shown this most unusual "talent" (I guess you'd call it) of coming up with the most interesting and unheard of names for her dolls and animals. I am so amused by everyone she has come up with. We started with Gazilla (pronounced "guh-zilla"), Avery (named after her friend at school) and their dog Jumpy-okey just before Christmas. Then came Bazissa and now we have a pink stuffed cat named Kalinda (pronounced "kuh-linda") and a doll named Rhondiya. Abby is very particular about the pronunciation of the names too.











































Abby ready for school

Abby and Sammy play really well together now. It is so nice. They can also communicate quite well with one another because Sammy is speaking quite a lot these days. They follow each other everywhere i.e. under the table after every meal, driving the pretend-car under Sammy's high chair, feeding their babies, reading books, twirling to their favorite music and much more. They love their heart pull-overs from Auntie Gertrud and wear them everyday, even when they are in their pajamas. Also, Sammy loves to "cheese" for the camera now too.

After Sammy's nap one day, Abby was laying on the floor. When I came out of the room with Sammy, I asked her if she wanted to cuddle Abby. She said "yum" (her word for yes). She laid on top of Abby and they cuddle for quite a while. Abby loved it. It was so cute I had to take a picture.

South African Hooligans

This year we got to spend our Christmas and New Year holidays in South Africa with our good friends the Hodgskins (Clinton, Bronwen, Bella and Emily). This is our second visit to see them this year! This visit however we were also privileged to see other friends Martin and Kate Clark and Braeden and Sam Clark. It was like a big reunion. We first flew down to George (on the southern coast about two hours or so outside Capetown) and stayed with Bronwen's parents in Knysna along the garden route. It was such a gorgeous area of the country. We really enjoyed it. The picture above is the view from Bronwen's parents' back porch. This is what we woke up to for a week - complete silence except for an occasional baboon...


Later on in the week, the nearby horse farm brought up seventeen horses to graze on their land. It was definitely a highlight for all the kids.



Sammy feeding the horses with Grandpa Jeff


New Year's Eve




We had several opportunities to relax at the beach. Sammy was always covered the second her feet touched the sand. She ate sand covered crisps and biscuits the whole time and didn't complain.

New Year's eve we had a BBQ (the first time I have ever done that this time of year) with some neighbors.


Abby and Bella after a day at the beach


New Year's Day



On New Year's day we went on a hike with Sam and Braeden Clark (along with the Hodgskins). We hiked the most beautiful route right along the coast. On the way back we even saw a school of dolphins jumping out in the ocean. It couldn't have been more perfect!









It started out as an easy leisurely walk...


but it soon turned into quite a difficult hike especially with two infants and two toddles on board.



We hiked for an hour and a half or two hours and ended up at a cave. This is a photo with Braeden and Sam Clark and their family when we all reached the cave.



This is the sign we saw AFTER we finished the hike...




The following day, we met up with Martin and Kate Clark who stayed with us for a few days. Above is (from left to right): Bella, Emily, Hailey, Abby, Sammy, and Payton - six girls!


We went on a boat the next day with them. (Martin is in the foreground, Kate is in the jean shorts)



Here are the three friends all born in London



typical Africa





After a week at Bronwen's parents' house Charles and Clinton took off on a "guys only" or a"manly" roadtrip (really they had to drive all of Hodgskins stuff back to Jo'burg). Bronwen, I and the girls all flew back a few days later. As compensation for leaving us with the kids for several days, Clinton and Charles surprised us with a visit to a spa (pictured above). I got several hours of a body scrub and steam capsule treatment as well as a head massage, and full body massage. It was heaven!

Emily and Samantha

When we got back to Ermelo where Hodgskins live (two hours outside Johannesburg) we went on another trip up north to the Mpumalanga region. We stayed at a resort in Sabie.

a picture taken from the car while driving around the mpumalanga area

shanty town

Pilgrim's Rest - a recreated mining town

monkeys in Pilgrim's Rest

God's Window in Blyde's River Canyon Nature Reserve

Charles and Clinton with all the girls at God's window

We went on a hike in Blyde River Canyon and while hiking we went through a rain forest. It was amazing upon entering the forest how the temperature dropped by at least 20 degrees. It felt so good.

This is about the time when our camera batteries died. We continued on and explored a cave but it was too dark for pictures anyway. We had a great three weeks. Charles and Clinton are already talking about what we will do next time...

Back Among My People...

Dubai, U.A.E.

On our way to South Africa we were privileged to spend two days among my people in the Middle East. I have not been back to the Middle East since living in Damascus in 2001, so it was very exciting for me and felt like coming home in some ways. It was also a great chance to introduce Charles to my obsession. I was so excited as we drove through the streets in our taxi (driven by a woman) to see all the Arabic signs, the old men hanging out doing nothing in random places along the streets, hearing the call-to-prayer, seeing the millions of satellite dishes on the buildings and just being back.

On the first day, we hung out at the hotel pool while we waited for our room and caught some sun (something we haven't seen in ages since we live in London). Then we ventured out and decided to explore. We ended up on an abra (a boat) cruising up and down the main waterway and seeing the city.

Here is the port where the abras left from. It was quite busy because many are used for public transportation like a bus. For some reason, we ended up on a private one without realizing what happened, but it was nice not to deal with the crowds.

Here we are with our old man boat driver

View from our boat

This made me feel right at home...

This was a little tourist attraction in a re-created bedouin village. I tried to get Charles to ride the camel there anyway just for the sheer entertainment it would be but he said he would rather do it in Egypt or somewhere better. My reply: Ok, and when are we going??? I'm ready!

a random mosque

We went to a public beach that looked pretty close to the famous sailboat hotel (a 7 star hotel, costing $2000 a night). We thought we would just walk to the hotel from the beach. It ended up being a very long way and we never actually made it to the hotel.

Sammy walked almost the entire way on our journey to the sailboat hotel (a good hour or two). It was so hot but it was a nice way to pass the time. Abby slept in the buggy the entire time. What different personalities they have.

Other highlights:
--We walked around the spice souks which were tiny in comparison to anything in Syria, Egypt or anywhere else but it gave Charles a good idea of what it was like.
--We ate at a Tex Mex place near our hotel which turned out really good much to our surprise. It was the LAST place we wanted to eat while in Dubai but a Lebanese place was too far away and the Indian place was not open so we had no other choice especially with two hungry little ones.
--Charles drank coconut milk straight from a coconut. The man who sold it to us, took a knife and carved off the top and popped a straw in it. It sounds better than it actually was but at least we now know.
-- Our female taxi driver who picked us up from the airport in her pink taxi wearing a pink uniform, started flirting with another taxi driver as we sat at a stop light. This was very unusual for me to see but amusing at the same time. Gotta love Dubai, baby!


Pictures of South Africa still to come....