Shopaholics

Today was the big day: we spent our Vilakazi money.

We stopped at SuperSpar and Pep and bought the following:

* 20 toothbrushes

* 20 tubes of toothpaste

* 16 pairs of rain boots (every pair that we could find)

* 12 or so soccer balls

* 6 months worth of vitamins

* 3 cricket sets

* 2 basketballs

* 2 rugby balls

* 2 books

* 1 awesome puzzle

We couldn't find everything on our list (namely no raincoats and sun hats) but it was so exciting! We spent money on toothbrushes, toothpaste and extra vitamins. I took a picture of one of our shopping carts. It was awesome!

We - and by we I mean Leigh - drove seven hours from Joburg toward Coffee Bay, and we'll leave tomorrow morning. Hooray! On a side note, I forgot how absolutely crazy awesome rest stops are here. This isn't your regular truck stop with a drive-through restaurant on the side. We stopped at a place with a playground, trampoline yard and a petting zoo (that was unfortunately closed by the time we arrived). Check out the coolness:

Pilansberg National Park

Our day at Pilansberg National Park was one of the most exciting of my life. It was something you dream about your whole life - something you read about in books or see on TV. Leigh, Alfie, Mia and I saw some of the largest, most impressive animals in the world. We saw things that would get me wound up just to see in the zoo. We were within maybe 10 feet of bull elephants and watched a baby elephant split a tree in two. We stared a rhino in the eye. We saw yawning hippos, bouncing springboks, kicking wildebeest and running giraffes. The best part: we heard a lion roaring. Mia roared back from her car seat. The nature reserve was spectacular and stretched for miles. I don't think it ever set in that it was really the wild. Nothing in the park was fed or bred. They survive on their own in the endless expanse of plains and mountains. It was like Kruger National Park. I haven't been uploading photos because it takes a lot of time, but this is something that requires a few. Here are my favorites of the, oh, 450 we took.

When Tanya and her friend arrive, we've decided we have to take them back. This is something everyone has to see.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Coffee Bay. We'll stay there Tuesday and then return to Joburg on Wednesday. Then we leave for Cape Town the next day. Who knew vacation time could be so busy?

Elephants, please!

We're leaving this afternoon for Pilansberg - a game reserve about two miles northwest of Joburg. Alfie, Leigh, Mia and I are camping. (Unfortunately Carin has to work all weekend.) Tomorrow we'll go on a drive-through safari. It's the real deal. We're camping in a protected area, but when we go tomorrow, there won't be anything between us and the wildlife. (Sorry, mom - don't be scared! Alfie has done this before!) Pilansberg is home to all of the big five - lion, elephants, rhino, water buffalo and cheetah. Fingers crossed we see them all! I'll blog again when we get back and before we go to Coffee Bay. All our love!

Bafana Bafana!

Last night Alfie, Leigh and I went to see the SA team defeat Colombia in an international friendly a Soccer City.



The stadium was absolutely amazing. I took a million pictures and shot video, but nothing does it justice. It's just amazing. It reminds me of the Bird's Nest in China.





Bafana Bafana (The Boys, The Boys) won 2-1, so the entire game was ridiculous. If there's only one game I got to see, I'm glad it was this one. Things I learned:

1. Everyone uses vuvuzelas the entire time. Vuvuzelas are those long, skinny plastic horns. The sound is deafening. Don't even try to talk to anyone because you can't hear, even in the upper bowl, because the vuvuzelas are going the entire time. Seriously. The entire time. Before the game, during the announcements, during half time, during substitutions, when bad stuff happens, when good stuff happens, after the game, all the way back to their cars and even while inching back home through awful traffic. I didn't use the bathroom, but I'm pretty sure vuvuzelas are used in there, too.

2. After the game, parking lots turn into disorganized parking lots. There isn't really any driving for about an hour.

3. After a goal, you will be hugged by everyone around you, whether you know them or not. Just be careful that you don't accidentally go to second base.

4. You will be smacked on the head/shoulder/back/legs with flags/vuvuzelas/flailing fans throughout the game.

5. South Africans call "the wave" "the Mexican wave."

6. Beer costs $2 in the stadium yet people weren't ridiculously drunk.

7. Pockets of people start dancing randomly and everybody knows the moves.

It's hard to describe the energy in SA this time. Everyone is so keyed up by the World Cup, and signs are everywhere. Everyone has SA flags on their cars. The stadium rumbled with excitement during certain parts of the game. I had goosebumps the entire time.



Walking through Soweto, I realized that we were in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. If there was ever a time to be scared, this was the time. But I didn't feel afraid at all. South Africa wants the world to see the good things happening in this country. Just since I was here three years ago, infrastructure has improved significantly and businesses have popped up left and right.

South Africans - and all Africans, I think - want the world to see more than crime and AIDS when they look on a map. People here have achieved so much since their first free election in 1994. South Africans are proud of that, and they should be.

Granted, there is still a long way to go. The Colombian team was robbed by two SA staff members at their hotel when they arrived after the game. But Soccer City and the atmosphere of the country shows that Africa is a complicated place. Like everywhere in the world, there are problems and hope. The World Cup seems to be a beacon of hope for nearly everyone here, and it's exhilarating to be a part of it.

Deliciousness and dates

Today was a day of food and organizing - two of my favorite things, one of Leigh's favorite things.

We had breakfast at Wimpy, which is one of Leigh's favorite restaurants here in SA. It's like Denny's but with baked beans as a side for every breakfast meal. The waitress dropped an entire glass of ice water on me as she brought out our food, which required us to go home for a change of clothes instead of visiting Pretoria as planned. We met Alfie for lunch and enjoyed one of Eskom's (the national electric company where Leigh's dad works) famous R7 lunches. That's about $1 for lunch! We had curried beef, baked chicken, veggies, dessert - everything! Fabulous! And Alfie had the best time showing Mia off to his coworkers. While we were eating, Alfie pointed out that women love babies. We all believed him, but he announced, "Watch my experiment." He carried Mia over to a table of women, who all immediately went gaga for her. They were all carrying on - Alfie, one baby and about eight women - until everyone said, "Aww - shame!" at the same time. Alfie turned around and Mia was crying in full force. He hurried back to the table and handed her over to me at once. Though his experiment ended abruptly, he proved his theory, which was all believed in the first place. It was hilarious.

We bought Mia some food today at one of the local grocery stores. I picked out all the flavors I could find that I figured we couldn't get her at home:
*Vegetables, lamb, peaches and apples
* Butternut, chicken and barley
* Guavas and yogurt
* Baby marrows, peas and pasta
* Carrots, semolina and honey
Mia hasn't tried them yet, but I'll be honest: I have no idea what a few of those things are.

This evening we grilled indoors. Admittedly, that sounds ridiculously dangerous in the company of a small child, but it was fine. Alfie cooked ostrich sausage and kabobs on a grill the size of a TV tray. It was my first time with ostrich and let me just say it was FANTASTIC! The sausage wasn't really for me, but I could eat the kabobs every day for the rest of my life. I'm a picky eater, so that is saying a lot.

Enough about eating.

We roughly planned the rest of our trip:

May 28 to May 30 - camping and safari in Pilansberg, which should be SPECTACULAR!
May 31 to June 2 - Vilakazi stuff in Coffee Bay, which will make me cry I'm sure.
June 3 to June 6 or 7 - visiting family in Cape Town, which will involve lots more eating.
June 7 or 8 and after - staying in the Joburg area, which will be all about the WORLD CUP!

I usually don't condone exclamation points or unnecessarily using the capslock, but this is AWESOME! AWESOME!

Tickets and the swing

We got some good news and some bad news yesterday about World Cup tickets.

The bad news first: I won't be going with Alfie to see America play Slovenia. The category of tickets he bought require South African ID for each individual ticket - not just the purchaser as we originally thought. I almost cried but it's OK. There will be several games before this one to see if the rule is actually enforced. If not, Leigh and I will go. If so, it's OK.

The good news: we bought tickets to other games today. Leigh, our friend Tanya and I will see Algeria play Slovenia on June 13. Leigh and I will see France play Mexico. We don't know who to cheer for, so we plan to wear gear supporting the U.S. and Bafana Bafana.

Today was a nice, lazy day - a real vacation day. We slept in, played with Mia and grilled dinner when Alfie came home from work early.

I still haven't acclimated to SA time. I'm battling jet lag, but everyone knows I give in easily to the need to nap. Leigh is doing well.

Mia hasn't quite been herself on this trip. We aren't sure what's going on, but we think she isn't feeling well. She is normally a very happy child; she rarely cries, even if she's wet or hungry. But since we arrived she's been crying often and getting brief fevers. She might be teething or she might have an ear infection. I talked to the maid, Sonja, and she said she might just be feeling under the weather a bit. She said she and her son feel sick for the first few days they visit home in Zimbabwe. I felt this way when we came to SA in 2007. Hopefully this is the problem. Mia had some very good times today, so hopefully those will get longer and longer.

Speaking of feeling under the weather, Sonja's son, Bradley, was sick today. She told him he wasn't allowed to be around Mia until he felt better. He cried often because of this rule. He is so sweet. So instead he spent time with his mother. He pretended to iron clothes with a small toy iron while she ironed clothes with a real iron. He asked to help her carry things. He is a good boy, and I felt so bad when I told him not to cough on Mia. He would be so sad. He loves her so much!

Tonight Leigh grilled while Alfie and I sat outside in their patio area. It's beautiful and the weather was perfect. Mia was happy and giggling and smiling at everybody. Then Alfie decided she needed a swing. To be honest, I wasn't sure how this was going to shake out. But he managed to hang her car seat from a tree with a rope. Mia loved it! It was great!



All our love!

Joburg calling

We arrived safe and sound last night at the Joburg Airport, which is absolutely beautiful! The renovations since our last trip in 2007 are amazing. It is such a good welcome for the city and the country. Because we're all one family now, the three of us went through the South Africa line through customs. It was a breeze.

South Africa truly has World Cup fever. It is contagious! We cannot wait! We plan to go to an international friendly on Thursday (I think) - South Africa v. Colombia in Soccer City. Even if it's not a World Cup game, it should be a raucous good time. (Tickets are only R40 - that's only about $6!)

Mia did beautifully on the flights. She slept through takeoff and landing both times, and she was a real sport on the 14-hour trip from Atlanta to Joburg. People on both flights oohed and aahed over her, which is always fun. The only time she cried was when she was pulling herself up to standing and then toppled onto her formula canister. She bonked her head and cried for a bit.

Mia was a little cranky last night but has warmed up to Carin. She saved her first smile for Alfie until this morning.

She had a rough night last night and cried for several hours. We suspect either teeth (finally) or some kind of stomach upset. Either way, she is fine today.

The maid's son, Bradley, was born the last time we were here, and he turns 3 on June 14. He is adorable and just adores Mia. He follows us everywhere and is just a cutie.

And Leigh discovered his father's "pellet gun." And I put "pellet gun" in quotes because it is a pellet gun technically, but it looks like a sniper rifle. I took pictures. It's insane. Alfie uses it for shooting birds about the size of geese that eat the dog food.

This morning we hope to go to the bank to exchange our money and buy WORLD CUP tickets!

I will update as often as I can while we're here.

All our love!

Goodbye, America

This morning we leave for South Africa!

Mia will finally have a chance to meet her family on Leigh's side. We are so excited! I plan to update the blog maybe a couple times while we're there, just to let everybody know how we're doing and that we haven't been kidnapped by baboons. Look for us on TV at the World Cup games! (I'll be the one wearing face paint and a Hog Hat.) See you in June!

Mia goes digging

Mia has taken a keen interest in her toy basket. She's figured out it's a reservoir of awesomeness. The other day we put her in it and JACKPOT! My mom's parents gave her that basket when I was a baby. They really knew what they were doing because apparently all babies think this basket rules.

Hanging out with dad

South Africa, here we come!

Our ol' pal Bryan Dean passed on this key information: South Africa is one of the 10 best places to drink for non-locals. Here's what USA Today had to say:

South Africa

Lamprey enjoys a homemade beer called umqombothi. Although it's best home-brewed, you can
buy it in cardboard cartons at stores. "I went to Cape Flats shantytown and
drank with locals and had a great time." Another surprise: Klippy and Coke, a mixed
drink with local Klipdrift brandy and cola.

This home brew? We've had it. Ladies and gentlemen, Exhibit A:

It taste kind of like a white wine milkshake, which actually tasts kind of good. It's called beer, but unlike actual beer, I think it's tasty. You can find it at any local underground bar. Here's the bartender from our cultural tour at Coffee Bay. He poured the carton - worth about 50 cents - into this empty coffee can and passed it around the room. Small children partook. Good times.

What the hail?

Sunday night we had monster hail. One guy called it Hailaggedon. Our part of town was spared, thankfully, but HUGE hail fell in other places of the city. One of my editors at work showed me this video. (Be sure to watch at least halfway through - so crazy.)

What we have

Today I couldn't stop thinking about Mia.

Someone I know through work lost his son, who was only 11 months old. He had ear problems and epilepsy, but from what I can tell, his death was completely unexpected.

Sometimes I worry about what has to be done, what has to be finished or accomplished or completed by the end of the day. Sometimes it's hard for me to pause.

Just this week Mia has learned to wave, started crawling fast and began moving from sitting to crawling. She pulls herself up, wants to be held when she's coughing and laughs in short, loud bursts. She is a joy. She smiles at everyone. When we took her to have her picture made with two of her grandmas, she smiled in every photo.

She's so smart. She was crawling toward my laptop and Leigh snapped her off the floor before she could do any damage. He put her down far away, facing away from the computer. She immediately turned around and headed back to the laptop. Last week, I learned that she knows between 10 and 20 words right now. Say Mia and she'll look at you, knowing you want her attention. She knows grandma and oma and daddy. She's working on mommy.

She's so brave and interested. She's curious. She's loving and friendly. She rarely cries, even when she tumbles.

I love her so much.

The death of that sweet little boy made me pause today and think of how grateful I am for Mia. She's healthy and happy, and - I thought it was trite before I became a parent - nothing is more important than that.

Ridiculous grandma love

So Leigh and I had the best idea ever! We decided that we'd take Mia to have her picture taken with my mom and his mom Sunday. It was a surprise to both of them, who were pretty ticked that we didn't tell them ahead of time. That's what photo softening is for, ladies! But once they saw how great the pictures turned out - because Mia did wonderfully! - they weren't miffed any more. Mia smiled every time. I'm serious - every single photo. The only ones the photographer deleted were ones where the grandmas weren't looking or had blinked. Mia was a completely champ.

How adorable was it? How adorable do you THINK it was? My favorite photos:

Other grandparents, you are being put on notice! The next time we get together, you will be photographed with this child.

Just sayin'.

Go try, grandmas

How many grandmas does it take to dress a baby? Obviously more than two. But Mia doesn't care that her onsie is inside out and backwards. She said to think of the tag as a tiny, tiny bib.

Sip, sip, sipping

This weekend we discovered that Mia could sip through a straw when she perched her little face over my frozen coffee and sucked some of that sweet stuff up. Yikes! A baby with chocolate and coffee can't be good, right?

Mia always lets us know when she's ready to do things. It's like she's standing around, waiting on her parents to hurry and catch up. So we gave the sippy cup from Aunt Connie a try.

Of course she was all over it! We absolutely love this sippy cup. It was part of the maternity pictures taken by our pal and supermom, Lindsay Laird.

Connie even gave Leigh his own sippy cup so he wouldn't feel left out.
So eventually eating time was over and we had to take the sippy cup back when it was empty. Mia was not pleased. It was hilarious and reminded me of one of my favorite pictures of Mia.

Tunnel vision

RSV-free

So Mia came home sick today with a horrible cough and cold and a mild fever. When Leigh picked her up, her daycare folks gave him a handout on Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). It's bad news for babies, and apparently some kiddos at her daycare had it. Oh no! Our doctor tested her and she's negative, so that's good. My mom was coming this weekend for the Wine for Wickets event for Vilakazi, so now she's just coming a day early to take care of Mia. Mia can stay home and hopefully recover from the nasty cold she has and avoid any RSV yuckiness at school. Let me just say: tiny coughing is the saddest coughing.

Leigh saw a tornado

Tornadoes tore up lots of neighborhoods in the city today, but thankfully we were OK. Leigh took these photos outside his office - yikes! It dissipated before it made it to his building, thankfully. He's not even from Oklahoma and he thinks it's a good idea to go outside and watch instead of take cover. He's fully assimilated.

Mother's Day

A list of fantastic firsts this weekend:

• Mia's first grits.
• Mia's first time to crawl into her Pack-n-Play and continue crawling, smashing her forehead against the side.
• Leigh and Carrie's first escargot.
• Everyone's first trip to Canton, Texas.
• Mia's first swim.
• Our first time to meet my parents in the DFW area, which is midway from our house to Victoria, Texas. Excellent idea!
• Our first Mother's Day as a family.

Nancy plans to email me pictures from all the fun stuff we did. In the mean time, I found my camera in time for our Mother's Day dinner at Luigi's in Ardmore. Some photos and videos:

The art of Dallas

This weekend we're hanging out with my parents in Fort Worth, and we spent today checking out the CityArts Festival at State Fair Park. Leigh was quite sad to learn that Big Tex was not there. There were only regular Texans, whom we will call Little Tex individually.


(Nancy took more photos. I had technical difficulties.) While we were walking around, the pool water show came on with Aaron Copeland's "Hoedown," which is a fantastic piece of music. Mia interprets:

Cocktails on the Skyline

We've been before, but it never gets old. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art's Cocktails on the Skyline is fantastic. It coincided with the opening of Sketch to Screen: The Art of Hollywood Costume Design. (It was a FANTASTIC exhibit!) And as if it wasn't cool enough, I got to meet Deborah Nadoolman Landis. Yeah, so who is that? Well ... ONLY the person who designed costumes for Thriller and The Three Amigos! Be impressed.

The night was beautiful. The skyline was beautiful. Fabulous.

Sad news

I am still working, but some friends weren't as lucky today. Please pray for everybody who's affected.

You're showing in the middle

I wonder when the dividing line is. Maybe 20? At some point it's bad that you grow out of your clothes. But for now, it's adorable. (Look at how much bigger she is in just the past five weeks.)

That burger is huge!

Mia got to go to her first El Reno Burger Day yesterday, despite the fact that she still doesn't have teeth. She was excited about the prospect of having some sauce from our cheese fries. Here we are heading to downtown El Reno.

Burger Day is always a delicious, eye-opening affair. It's the only place in America that Coke and Pepsi haven't conquered. Unfortunately, no moon pies were to be found.

While standing in line for a drink, I spotted this classy biker's jacket. Seriously, when I die some day, I hope I have friends who love and miss me enough to put my name on their jackets. However, I hope that patch doesn't describe me as fallin', though maybe that might be appropriate right now. And I hope my memorial patch isn't next to patches like these:

Aside from that weirdness, we had a lot of fun. Mia enjoyed the live music.

Leigh and I enjoyed the friend onion burgers. I'm a big fan of the big burger - a 750-pound monster that is absolutely delicious. Normally I don't condone mustard and pickles, but this is an exception. It's so good! I also gave this nonsense a try:

Leigh was a little leery, but I talked him into trying it. The Oreos were fantastic! The Twinkies - meh. As we walked out we saw this on display at the car show:

I'm pretty sure it was a sign from God to never go to back to Burger Day. In the end, it was an exhausting day with Leigh carrying the baby and me limping around. But Mia was the first to conk out.

Peek-a-boo

Apparently Mia's days in her ouma's crib are limited. She stayed the night with Jill on Friday while Leigh and I went downtown to cheer on the Thunder. Since she was little, Mia has slept in this cute crib at Jill's house. But Friday night she made it clear she was ready for something bigger. After sleeping for a few minutes, she peeked over the side to see if she could find her ouma.
We visited Jill today, and we tried to recreate this phenomenon. It worked. After putting her down for a nap, she flipped over, flipped around and poked her little head out the bottom end of the crib. She's ready for something bigger.