The Cactus...and Hannah

The Cactus Won :(

There is not much more else to say other than Hannah met a cactus for the first time and decided to see what it would feel like, on BOTH hands.  Poor thing was miserable. We tried to do the tape trick at my friend's house- by the way, DON'T do this!! So when I googled some ways to get the thorns out, it specifically said...DO NOT use tape!  The following is however one of the ideas they came up with.  Honestly, didn't really seem like it would be that better better of an idea. I was trying to get the glue to dry so I could then slowly peel it off (where it would supposedly take the thorns out), but the poor thing fell asleep while we waited.  I ended up taking the glue off with a wash cloth while she slept and surprisingly it only had a few thorns attached. Go figure. So, when she woke in the morning, I carefully pulled out each of the thorns with a magnifying glass and tweezers and finally, the problem was solved.  She probably had well over 50 teeny tiny thorns. :(

Poor Hannah ...

Gaudy Insects!

The African Bush Grasshopper was found in my yard the other day and I could not have been more amazed. We saw it flying across our heads with rainbow colored wings and I thought...what in the world? A flying grasshopper?  Anyway, it turned it to be this, a Green Milkweed Locust (Phymateus viridipes).  They belong to this family; Pyrgomorphidae, which means...Gaudy Grasshoppers.

Kind of funny. Ha

I thought this was the only one until I found about 60 of them congregating on this one bush.  Crazy! So, it has now been my daily ritual to go and check out these amazingly, awkward, kind of creepy...but seriously cool Locusts. 

 

Since coming to Africa over four years ago, I started to become somewhat of a Birdie, as embarrassing as at is. I just can't help but be amazed by all the different birds you see here! But now I must say...I might now be into insects? What??? Honestly, that is really kind of Gross!!!

 

Praying Mantis
In South Africa, they are seen as Gods.  I mean, you never know, right? The people here also think that mermaids and goblins are real, so you never really know what they are thinking when they
see these things. Ha Honestly, I'm afraid to ask!!!

Do you see how big this worm is??

Hope you enjoyed some of my GAUDY pictures. :)

Ryder Cup at Leopard Rock

A few weekends ago, the kids and I joined Tom for a golf tournament, a mini Ryder Cup at Leopard Rock Golf Resort. (Princess Diana went here! ) It was great!  The US Embassy played the Brits in what was a, down to the last put, 3 day tournament, where unfortunately the Americans lost.  Tom however played brilliantly (as the Brits would say) and the scenery was well worth the trip and absolutely breath taking.  It certainly made me what to take some golf lessons after that trip. How could you not want to play golf on this BEAUTIFUL course???

We rented a golf cart on the last day and watched Daddy shoot some seriously nice shots!

The kids enjoyed it, the golf cart was fun, although we had the PETROL cart (not the silent one).  You certainly knew when we were headed around the corner- which was stinky!  We had one fun story where we went down a extremely large hill (not sure if that was for the golf cart or not), Hannah was screaming and Chase was saying Wooo Hooo! It was actually kind of fun until we landed plop in front of one of the teams putting. Hannah started crying and Chase yelled, lets do it again!!! Ooops!

 Daddy, look at that ball go!!!

 The kids and I also went on a hike while Daddy played golf.  It was hot, the kids were exhausted, but I think it was fun. And Chase got pretty close to some zebras- kind of cool! :)

You may not be able to tell, but these are both TOTALLY FAKE smiles! It was almost as if they knew how to say some bad words and were doing it right there through their teeth. 

Oh, my little angels.

Chase, doing his usual. Why not go up to the Zebras, I mean...what's the problem, Mom?

Hannah's friend from school, Isabelle, was also there. This made for much easier entertainment for Mom...thanks goodness! Her Dad played for the Brits.

The 2012 Ryder Cup Teams

Happy Birthday Chase

...and Hannah too!

It was the POWER RANGER and BARBIE Party!

We decided to go with the combined birthday party this year. One that was WAY over the top, but as you will see below...FUN!!!  Hannah and Chase both wanted parties with their friends this year since they are now going to school full time, so..that is what we did.  And since Hannah will be gone this summer in Atlanta, we decided to just put them both together. 

It was a beautiful day with about 50 kids and parents too!  We had lots of food, about 75 cupcakes and 3 bouncy castles! Oh, and there was a clown, but we had to make him take off his costume, Chase was too scared. :( So, the random African guy chasing all the kids is actually...the clown. Ha

 Lets not forget the face painting and tattoos! Over the top? Absolutely! This however will NOT happen again...but it was a Super Fun party and hopefully a memory that will last ... well, for a little while. :)

The Birthday Boy and Girl

3 Bouncy Castles...Oh My!!

Power Ranger Chase and Barbie Fairy Hannah

Chase put on his new power ranger costume on at 11 am, with all the sweat, bouncing around and heat, he kept it on ALL day until he went to bed.  Since the party last Sunday, he has put it on immediately when he gets home from school and wears it while he watches the NEW 1995 Power Rangers movie.

Lots of kids to enjoy the fun and sing Hannah and Chase ... Happy Birthday!

Hannah and Chase loving their individual cup cakes. That was so fun to make!

Mommy and Daddy trying out the bouncy castle

Daddy in his power ranger shirt, borrowing Chase's mask..and pretending to have a good time. Ha 

This picture is from our "actual" celebration- ha ha, yesterday- his birthday. We had a simple day with donuts for breakfast and a nice lunch out with a brownie and ice cream for dessert.  We opened a few special presents and had dinner at our neighbors. All in all, it was a fun day. I think Chase would have been just as good with that day than a 3 bouncy castle party, but its ok.  They all had fun and seemed to of enjoyed the festivities immensely.  Lets Hope!! :)

Happy Birthday Hannah and Chase...We Love You!!

Easter Weekend .... Fun!

Let me just preface this blog by ... it should have been a we got out of town for Spring Break blog, but that did not happen. Chase got croup and an ear infection two days before we were supposed to take a trip to Lake Kariba and we decided not to go. Luckily, we did not because as a family always does...the sickness spread and spread all the way down the line.  Hannah got sick, then Dad .. and then Mom. I mean I held out for at least 3 weeks, I thought I was golden. However, Mom finally got it.  Anyway, it was still a nice relaxing week and even though we did not go out of town, we still had a great time.

Lion and Cheetah Park

On the Friday, before Easter, we decided to go about 20 miles out of town to the Lion and Cheetah Park. We also went here when Mom was here, but Tom did not get the chance. It was nice to get out of the house and enjoy a beautiful day.

Balancing rocks (what Zimbabwe is known for) and some warthogs checking us out at the car.

Checking out the Zebras!

A Tortoise over One Hundred years old!!

  Below: Our car picnic while watching the animals. Pretty Cool!

We spent Saturday of Easter weekend at the DCMs house, enjoying food with friends and watching the kids go on an Easter Egg Hunt.  They had a blast, but mostly they just enjoyed beating each other up, throwing each other down and chasing one another.  Such a pleasant Easter thing to do. It was a beautiful day and I think everyone had fun.

 

On Easter Sunday we got invited to my friend Julie's house where we enjoyed a big Ham, a big Turkey and anything and everything else you could imagine for Easter Brunch/Dinner.  We normally can not enjoy that kind of food here in Zim. It was so wonderful!  The kids played all day and night and so did the adults. The adults ended the evening with a fun game of charades. I am sure you can imagine how that turned out. Ha

A beautiful rainbow for Easter dinner

 

It was all in all, a LOVELY weekend.

Chase- so exhausted from Easter.  Army men in hand (with one still standing) and completely passed out on the floor. I think he had a pretty fun day!