King Andrew

Andrew was King for the day as he celebrated his 3rd birthday with classmates. Way to go Andrew ... hip hip hooray!

Farewell to the Fergs

The Fergs enjoyed a few days of game viewing at the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, and then flew home to Virginia after spending another night with us in Durban. We had such a fantastic time with them ... our first visitors from North America! Thanks Nancy, Mark, Ashley and Rachel for making the long journey to spend such a memorable vacation with us ... we miss you already!

Andrew's Big Day

We celebrated Andrew's 3rd birthday at a fun restaurant in the Midlands called Lavender Trout. We were joined there by friends from Durban: Andrew, Michelle and Emily Ralph. Andrew's birthday theme was Batman -- his favorite super hero! The Ferguson girls (including Nancy) entertained him with their animated singing of the Batman theme song.

Fun at the Beach

On Thursday, July 17 the Fergs and Schroeders flew east to our home in Durban where we spent the day at our neighborhood beach, Umhlanga Rocks.

Hermanus

On Wednesday, July 16 we made a side trip to Hermanus -- yet another beautiful coastal town known also as a great whale watching venue. We didn't see any whales, but we had a whale of a time anyway visiting this jewel of a town!

Franschhoek

On Sunday, July 13 we made the drive back east to Franschhoek, a beautiful wine-producing village surrounded by mountains and full of wineries, vineyards and great restaurants and shops. We stayed in a charming cottage and enjoyed 4 relaxing days of great scenery, company, food and wine.

Knysna II

Knysna is a beautiful coastal town known for its stunning mountain/ocean views, lagoons, oysters, forests and festivals. On Saturday, Mark F. and his friends Bill and Tim all competed in a marathon. They said it was a scenic and well-organized race, and they were all pleased with their times. We had fun celebrating with them afterwards!

Knysna I

On Thursday, July 10 the Schroeders, Fergusons and new arrivals, Bill and Tim (Mark F.'s friends and fellow marathoners from Vga.) made the 6 hour drive eastward along the scenic Garden Route to Knysna. We arrived during the Knysna Oyster Festival so there were many attractions in town to keep us busy -- like face painting!

Cape of Good Hope

Cape Point

On Wednesday, July 9 we drove along the coast to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. The morning was rainy, but after a few hours, we enjoyed sunshine, blue skies and some awesome scenery which included wild ostrich, baboon and zebra!

Vacation with the Fergusons

On Tuesday, July 8 we boarded the plane for our long anticipated vacation with Judy's sister's family, the Fergusons. Nancy, Mark, Ashley (14 years) and Rachel (11 years) flew to South Africa from Virginia and met us at Camp's Bay in Cape Town. We were so happy to see each other as it had been over one year since our last meeting. We all marveled at how much the kids have changed since then! We spent our first afternoon together doing some wine tasting in the Constantia area of Cape Town.

Helping in China and Myanmar

In the wake of the recent cyclone and earthquake which devastated Myanmar and China, I would like to draw your attention to some relief and rebuilding efforts going on in these countries. Please check out these websites if you are at all interested in learning about these programs and/or in possibly contributing to the work going on: www.asiaheartbeat.org and http://onehorizon.org/fund.htm. We can vouch for the credibility of both of these organizations as they are headed up by long-time friends of ours from Kentucky.

Holiday

The boys have had a busy holiday so far. We have had lots of play dates with friends, and James got to go to his first South African birthday party. It was pretty similar to the birthday parties we go to in the States. The birthday boy was Justin, a friend from James' class. The little blonde boy, Ethan is also from James' class.