Photo heavy post

I have been writing all kinds of blog posts in my head recently but somehow they never end up here. Sigh.

So I decided to put up a few picks from our recent trip.

Ewan "teaching" Phil how to play mini-golf.

Tongue out and deep in concentration.

We had great fun playing numerous games with Ewan as there was no charge for playing. It took about ten games to convince him to start at the begining of the hole not five cm away. The standard game involved watching him putt for a few minutes then get frustated and drop the ball in the hole. Super cute and lots of laughs.

On the Tuesday we packed my car full of chairs, drinks and picnic goodies and headed to Cape Vidal.

It's a bit hard to read but that sign readsLevy R5

Adults R30

Children R20

Car R40.

Ahem. I would just like to point out that I do understand changes need to be made in South Africa as to how conservation is managed but iSimangaliso just pisses me off. That sign means that for a family of four you will pay R160 to get into the park for the day. The park is a mess with bad roads, areas full of alien plant species and facilities that don't work. At the beach only 1 of the 8 outdoor showers worked. The showers and nearby ablutions are very well designed and must have cost a fortune but no maintence has ever been done. It was just a bit depressing. Hopefully they put the high fees(much higher than Kruger) to good use and start fixing the place up.

We did have lots of fun at the beach. You can see the intent in the photo:)

Followed by a picnic with some friendly banded mongeese and some not so friendly samango monkeys.

The monkeys stole the remainder of our lunch. Sad as it means they so obviously associate humans with food and that shows that someone has fed them. They were very aggressive.

On the way back to the gate we had two great rhino sightings. This was the best pic of them all. Such magnificent creatures and so sad to hear that we have now passed 500 rhino deaths this year.

On a happier note it is now 65 days and 10 hours(thanks Virgin Atlantic for the countdown) till our flight takes off from O R Tambo. That isn't the countdown I am excited about though. I am working on 66 days and 12 hours till we land in Miami. I look forward to the holiday not being trapped in a tin can for twenty one hours.

So today I finally got Ewan's countdown up on his door. He and I have been working on it for an hour or so a day since Sunday. It's not much but I love that he enjoys things like this and I think its pretty good for a three year old.

The countdown worm.

We did this last time as well after a suggestion from a mom on one of the Disney Forums. It worked well then but now almost 18 months later I think it will be exactly what we need. He keeps asking how long until he can go on the rides. The kid is hugely excited not just about seeing his favourite characters but also because he is now 42 inches tall so he can go on most of the rides. I told him he still needs to grow a bit and it has been a great way to make him eat his veggies:)

Here are a few pics of Ewan's room. I have always loved how it all turned out. This is his cupboard with wooden animals bought over the net, elephant handles from Treetops and the giraffe painted by my Mom.

The wall next to Ewan's bed also painted by my Mom. We had lots of arguments about scale and what the blue and yellow dragonfly/butterfly was but now I adore it. Ewan pats the elephant good morning most days.

The lovely toddler bed my Dad made for Ewan. We put him in it just after his first birthday and he has slept through the night since. I think the poor kid was getting too tall for his cot. He loves his bed and the fact that he can climb in and out of it by himself. I keep trying to convince my Dad to make these to order but he reckons there will be no market in the modern world of plastic. What do you think?

So enough pics now.

Enjoy today.. its almost Friday.