Sweet Dusty...

Our canine family member brings such joy and humour to our household - like in this photo, where her back legs have seemingly disappeared. Dusty has a unique personality and is fiercely loyal to all of us. I'm so thankful we adopted her back in January last year. 

Such a calm, relaxed dog.

"Say cheese, you three!"

Grandpa's Birthday...

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday on the day that we headed to Belle Isle State Park. Once home from that adventure, we rested and then ate birthday cake. Later in the evening, we played board games together. It was a great time of family connection.

Belle Isle State Park...

We took Candace's parents to Belle Isle State Park on Saturday, 21st March. We enjoyed walking through the aquarium and the conservatory, which houses plants from all over the world. We then made our way to the Nature Centre. It was a great morning out on this small island located in the Detroit River between the United States and Canada.

Mbu pufferfish from Central Africa.

Ocellate river stingray from South America.

Garden eel swaying gently in the water.

Sea anemones.

Clownfish in their tank.

Eliza and Riaan check out the piranhas.

The large glasshouse housing the conservatory.

Pretty fountain scene.

Storytime in the conservatory.

The arid semi-desert region.

Our three children in the Nature Centre.

Detroit city skyline on the drive home.

Waste Management...

We love watching the rubbish trucks coming to collect our waste from our garbage bins. Most of the vehicles that serve our neighbourhood are really modern and very clean.

Making Amish Noodles...

Candace's parents visited us for several days last week. The children loved seeing their grandparents again and we made lots of fun memories. On Friday morning, they made Amish noodles with lots of eggs, flour, and hard work. The children really enjoyed it! 

Amish noodles are a simple comfort food, often cooked in chicken broth and enjoyed alongside staples such as mashed potatoes, corn, and green beans.  

Our three bakers.

Feeding the noodle mixture through the noodle/dough roller machine.

The flattened dough waiting to be cut into strips.

Thicker noodles drying...

Along with thinner noodles. So much fun!

Postcard from Overseas...

It's always exciting getting mail from overseas. Our children clustered around this baby animal postcard that arrived from Granny and Grandad. :) 

The South African Postal Service can be somewhat unreliable, so my parents ask friends and family travelling to the UK to post items to us here in the United States. This postcard took quite a while to get here, but we were thankful that it did actually arrive. 

Cycle Tour Sunday...

Sunday, 8th March, marked the Cape Town Cycle Tour, the annual 109-km route around the Cape Peninsula. For many years I cycled this event - the largest timed cycling event in the world with 35,000 entrants - and I even rode the virtual version during the Covid pandemic back in 2021. 

Nowadays, I try and go for a bike ride on Cycle Tour Sunday to commemorate the special event down in Cape Town, which my parents and brother still cycle annually. This year, the weather was gorgeous, although some of the roads were still flooded from several rounds of storms that week. I rode 1/5th of the distance, but it wasn't too bad being my first ride of 2026. :)

The swollen Rouge River in Dearborn.