South Africa: New World Foundation

Before all the crew arrives, Leigh and I had the chance to stop by a prospective beneficiary for our 2014-ish trip. We visited the New World Foundation, which is in Lavender Hill, a Cape Town community where several of Leigh's relatives live. His grandparents lived just across the park from each other. He would walk from one grandmother's house to another while they both would watch to make sure he made it all right.

It was really special to visit this preschool and see this community. The children were wonderful. They were so happy and friendly. They sang songs for us, and you could see how proud they were to perform. It was so, so sweet.

This little boy stole my heart.

This year, we asked New World Foundation what some short-term needs could be met. The answer was so simple: toys. They have very limited resources, and they focus on educational needs. But problems arise because there are so few toys for about 100 students. They asked specifically for toy cars and some stuffed animals. This boy's reaction to one of the stuffed lions was the absolute best. What a difference something so small can make to a child.

The director, Juna, also took us on a tour of the school, which is part of an umbrella social services group. They kind of partner with other agencies to help families. It's wonderful. Juna used to teach with Leigh's mom back when she taught in South Africa, so it was so cool to meet someone with a history like that. Her school was tidy and efficient. So lovely. The school had access to a lush, green soccer pitch right next door, but Juna told us the children couldn't play there because of the gang gunfire. It broke our hearts. But it was so good to see Juna and her colleagues working to give them a safe, loving place inside that school.

South Africa: Hello there, Cape Town

So we're starting our trip to South Africa this time by staying in the hotel where Leigh's best friend works as the purchasing manager. It. Is. Incredible. But seriously. It's amazing. Nicholas even had this waiting for Leigh when we arrived: 

It's a cold six-pack of his favorite beer. Look at the beautiful view and the beautiful room.

We had an incredible time seeing Jade and visiting Pa, who lives with Jill's brother Michael and his family. We haven't seen all of them since Ma passed away, so it was really special to spend time with Pa. He is hilarious and still has jokes. The food was, of course, incredible, as is always the case when we are in South Africa, and the company was, of course, even better.

Uncle Ralph

My uncle Ralph passed away. He's my Aunt Lee-Lee's husband. He was diagnosed with a rare form of blood vessel cancer 40 days before.

The last thing I did with my cellphone before we left the U.S. was text my Uncle Kelly to ask how Ralph was doing. No change. We had hoped to go up to Milwaukee to visit him, my aunt and my cousins before we left for South Africa, but we just couldn't do it. Zoe was supposed to be with us on the trip, but she stayed home. Thank God.

My dad told me, and it's the worst feeling to be so far from your family when all you want to do is be with them. I couldn't sleep. I just cried. I felt so guilty: how could we do anything in South Africa while I knew the whole Coppernoll family was hurting so much? But I took a new look on it. Maybe we could do all of this for him.

So this trip is for him, for Zoe and for Aunt Lee and Joshy.

I love you, Uncle Ralph. The world was better because you were here.

Jolly good!

We are on our way to South Africa! After endless - seriously, endless - planning and preparing, we are on the way. We had an eight-hour layover in London, which might have been enough time to get out and run around town for a bit if it wasn't for the fact that we were there on the opening day of the Olympics. So we decided better safe than sorry when it comes to international plane tickets; we stayed at the airport. Leigh has been to London before on more than a layover, anyway. We'll come back another time when we don't have to take pictures from the bus.

Before our trip, my stepmom pointed out that the airport would be crawling with celebrities and athletes because of the games. So true! Look who Leigh spotted!

It's Stephen Merchant! He's a comedian who co-hosts "An Idiot Abroad." If you have not watched "An Idiot Abroad," you must do so right now. It's seriously the best. You're welcome. He also co-wrote "The Office" - the original British one. Leigh spotted him walking through the crowd, which was pretty easy considering he's 6-foot-7. He was browsing in the super-fancy camera shop and was so nice to take photos with us. He was also kind enough to squat down ridiculously low so that my face would be near his in the picture.

Other than that excitement, the layover was really fun. Everything was bustling because of the Olympics, and the entire airport ran so smoothly considering we were there on the busiest day in the history of Heathrow. We each took a mini-nap - Leigh to acclimate to the time change, me because I love naps of all kinds. We also bought some postcards and mailed them to Mia. It was so easy to find international stamps, which was lovely compared to not being able to find regular stamps at all for postcards to send during our layover in Dallas. Look at this amazing mail box! Get it together, America.

We had plenty of time to shop around and find a great pub for lunch or dinner or whatever you call it. We saw a Gordon Ramsey restaurant but decided we'd rather have our first experience at one of his restaurants where boxed meals weren't the main meals. Here's Leigh's token picture with beer.

So I made him take a picture of me with my favorite drink: water.

Then he happened to take this picture, which he said captures a face I make at him every day, multiple times a day.

When I nearly killed someone

Mia's hair was making her look like a homeless hippie, so we took her to get a haircut before we take our trip to South Africa. I love, love, love her curls, so I get a little protective about them. This is the conversation I had with the lady cutting Mia's hair.

Me: "Is it true that if you cut off a baby's curls they won't grow back and the hair will always be straight?"

Her: "Yes."

And that's when she cut off all of Mia's curls.

And that's when I wanted to sue SuperCuts.

But I'm focusing instead on how adorable Mia is - curls or not - and not how much I wanted to strangle the haircut lady. Maybe it will turn out to be an old wives' tale. We'll see.

I took pictures of Mia:

So she took pictures of me:



Delicious

I think we can all agree that Tucker's Onion Burgers are super delicious. I would eat them every day if I wouldn't immediately have a heart attack. So we went out to have supper as a family on a lazy Sunday evening, even though we weren't sure if Mia would go for onion burgers. (That's really all there is on the menu - onion burgers and fries.) So I cut a wedge out of my burger, like a pizza slice. Mia pointed at the rest of the burger and said, "Want that one." So I gave her that one.

The burger is the size of her head.

Well, fine then

So we were driving down the road and Mia made an announcement from the back seat.

"I don't WANNA otter!"

Well, fine then. You don't get one.