Back in CA!

Just a little note to say we arrived safely back in CA. Nicholas gets an A+ for his behavior during the trip. Given a reasonable handicap for a few toddler outbursts, he did great. We've lost count now, but his number of flights is certainly more than his age in months - that's 22. I don't know how long we can keep it up.

Week-end in Knysna

We spent the week-end in Knysna, a popular destination along South Africa's famous Garden Route. We got to visit Monkeyland and an elephant sanctuary. We also hit Adventureland (a small water park) and tried some oysters.
The apartment we rented was on Thesen Island and we had fun in its swimming pool. Here is Nicholas and Dadda having a bundle of fun doing roley poley and leg splashes.
But that all ended when Momma came up lookin' for a kiss. Yes, he is truly my son, he can't resist giving Momma a kiss!
The longest suspension bridge in South Africa in Monkeyland. Nicholas was so mad at me because he wanted to walk by himself, but I made him hold my hand all the way across.

Playing with Animals

Nicholas likes to play inside with animals. He's got over 15 different ones and can identify all of them correctly if you say, "show me the springbok" (fill in the blank with whichever one)
Nicholas also likes to play outside with animals. Here we got to touch and feed elephants.
Carrie and Nicholas even got to give this one its bottle. It sucked it down in like 3 seconds.
Nicholas giving sticks to a monkey. I think it thought it was getting some food. After trying the sticks, it probably thought "what a crock" so it tried to bite Carrie on the toe.

There's nuthin' wrong with fairy tales

I've just been finishing a book called Marley & Me about life and love with the world's worst dog. It got me thinkin' about Cheerio. He's such a part of the family and I miss him a lot. Carrie says she wonders sometimes whether I love him more than Nicholas. Of course, that's not true, but this is where the fairy tale part comes in. I'll admit that I secretly hope that one day Cheerio will become a real boy. It's silly, but it makes me feel good, so ha! I can think whatever I want!

We Did It!

After six months of hard work (well really about 5 years of training and 2 failed training attempts), we can finally cross running a marathon off our list! As expected, Carrie ran like the Energizer bunny - she just keeps going and going and going.
I barely survived, having to deal with cramps in both legs from mile 19 on. For me, just finishing was a major victory and it was really special having Carrie cheer me across the finish line. I had to choke back tears a bit after having fought the good fight and seeing Carrie there waiting for me. Made me think of what it must be like for couples to finally be reunited in heaven after fighting the good fight here on earth.

Our Sweet Boy

Nicholas, Jen, and I went to Kirstenbosch gardens the other day, and we couldn't resist this photo opportunity. I'm sure the sculptor didn't have that in mind, but we thought it was a perfect Kodak prop.
Whoever invented washable markers is a genius! As you can see, Nicholas loves coloring...himself : )

Nicholas is into putting shoes on at the moment and anyone's will do. One day after a dip in the pool, he disappeared into my closet and came out in my flip flops. Oh, he's such a joy!!

23 and counting

We finished our 23 mile run today, the last long run in our training program before the marathon in 3 weeks. Carrie did pretty well, while I was hanging in there by a thread. Why are we doing this?!? Okay, it's because we're stubborn, this is our 3rd attempt and we need to get this off our to-do list.