A week before we left on holiday, we were surprised by a pair of ducks that took up residence in our pool for a few hours.
There was great excitement & after getting
the dogs inside (which they were chuffed about) we managed to get a few pictures of them & even fed them some bread from the bedroom window.
They eventually flew off, but we are hoping for another visit from them soon.
We spent Christmas at the Lodge, & the first week we were there, we planted close on 100 trees & plants on our property. Aaron got sunstroke on our 3rd day from spending the day in the sun watering new plants as they were put in (we had spent the day before at the pool and he got a bit burnt then so I am sure that added to it all).
Although they are small now, in a few years time they are going to look awesome. We planted yellow woods. wild olives, stinkwoods, wild parsleys (a tree believe it or not) and acacias (sweet thorns) to mention a few. Under the house we planted wild iris and clivias - all indigenous, you will be please to know.
We took the boys to the diesel pool (new name after my sunglasses were lost after being pushed in& we spend 20 minutes dredging the bottom looking for them, only to find out that Aaron had already found them !) for a swim as it was just so hot. It is still our secret little place that no one else at the reserve has found yet (well we have never seen anyone there so I am hoping its because they don't go there to swim) & we just love it there. The boys bum slide down the rocks & jump off rocks into the pool - even I have started jumping in, but I definately don't go as high as the boys do !
Christmas eve we had a true lowveld storm, which was great as we sat under the patio for dinner watching the amazing lightening storm that I have only ever seen at the Lodge.
Christmas day we went to the clubhouse for a traditional Doornkop Christmas lunch, which obviously included trout on the menu. The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing around the house, the kids playing with all their Christmas presents, and others reading or sleeping, as it was cold & rainy.
One of the "highlights" of our time in Doornkop was finding a scorpion in the boys bath ! There were lots of shrieks & screams from all 3 boys ! Aaron managed to catch it & put it into a bug box Campbell got for Christmas - he was very quick to duc tape the lid on to prevent an escapes. We took it down to the clubhouse for them to identify & release it & they said that it was the biggest scorpion they had seen ! Not very reassuring !
Thought of you Di, & was very glad not to have the same experience as you did !
After the folks & Tanya left, Nadine, Rory & the boys joined us for a few days, & to see the New Year in. Again in true Doornkop style, it was a quiet one, but fun, as everyone ended up at the clubhouse for a braai 
& fireworks.
The boys swam and J boarded right up to new year & were finished the next day !
We were supposed to stay an additional week there but with the continual rain we decided to make our way back to JHB. As they say, there is no place like home and we were all glad to be back at home.
Apart from lazing around the house (again) we decided to take a trip out to the Lion & Rhino park. It was absolutely fantastic - we went to watch the lion, wild dogs and cheetah's being fed, and although it isnt natural, it was a great opportunity for the boys to see these animals up close. Only when a lion is a few meters from your car do you realize how majestic & powerful they are.
The boys & I decided that a wild dog would make a good pet & we thought up ways of getting one and names - until we smelt them ! No wild dog pets for us thanks. After the feeding, we went to the restuarant for the boys to have a quick swim & some lunch before heading off again. While we were having lunch, the boys watch a snake show (I chose to sit else where) & after the snake show they brought out Eddy the cheetah.
What an amazing experience - this was the same cheetah used in the ad with Brian Habana. The boys got to touch him & Campbell even hugged him. I volenteed to raced him. Now before you all fall off your chairs - Eddy won as I chose to run behind him (not becasue I was slower or anything !) but because although he may have been hand reared, a wild animal is still a wild animal & I was scared he might have been keen on some rump ! (well thats my story and I'm sticking to it)
We headed o
ff to to the Wonder caves which are in the reserve, & stopped at a watering hole to watch 5 rhino's cooling off. At the next bend in the road was a herd of buffalo & we sat there trying to decide if it was safe enough to follow the road between them - a younger buffalo made up our minds for us as she stood up & lay down in the middle of the road, & there was no way we were going to challenge her, so we 
turned around and chose another road !
The caves were absolutley amazing - we went 60m under ground & the cave was filled with stalicmites and stalictites - some a couple of hundred thousand years old, according the guide. The climb down & up out of the cave was at 45 degrees so we were finished when we finally saw the light again. The picture below is "Mother and child", which is a stalictite. The picture next to it is also mother & children holding on tight ! I was very nervous in the cave (as you can see) as it was dark & I was terrified of the boys falling, so they spend the tour with mom close by and clutching their hands very firmly !
They run through the whole history of the cave, from when it was discovered & worked by the Italians, to when it was found again by a farmer 60 years after the Italians left, as well as the temperature & humidity etc. Facinating stuff.
Just before heading off home, we went to the hippo pools where we got to meet & touch the zebra that starred in the movie "racing stripes". He was very sweet but cheeky as well and tried to nip us on a few occasions.
When we left the park, there was a statue of an elephant & we just couldn't resist the following pictures...................
The rest of our holidays have been spent watching movies, going out for family suppers, getting the last of school stationery and uniforms, & swimming at home.
Schools start next week Wednesday & the boys are scheduled to have their hair cuts on Monday, which is long overdue ! They are excited to get back to school & their friends & their sport. They have already planned what they are going to do & I think we are going to need to include Saturday & Sunday into the school week to fit it all in !
So we started this year off quietly and relaxed & hope that the rest of 2009 is similar.
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