Swallowtail Transformation...

I was walking in the back garden early one morning, and I noticed that one of the butterfly chrysalises had hatched into this beautiful eastern black swallowtail! It even let me carry it from the butterfly cage to a flower, as it was rather shy of flying. :)

Eastern black swallowtail caterpillar on dill, one of its host plants.

Delicately perched on my fingers.

I left it on a milkweed flower, where it could prepare for flight.

Family Zoom Meeting...

My parents recently visited my sister and her family in Scotland. I was able to join a Zoom call with my other siblings, where my Dad shared about Tristan da Cunha and his "Potato Stamp" postal history exhibit. Although I missed most of the presentation itself, it was great to see the whole family on one screen, spread out over three continents! My Mom is on the left and my Dad is on the right in this screenshot here. :)

Cleaning the Planet...

The girls are making us so proud. They wanted a trash grabber tool so that they can make our neighbourhood a little bit cleaner. On a couple of our family walks, they've already picked up a lot of litter from the roadside! It's so important to keep the planet clean and even if our efforts don't seem to be making a huge difference, every bit counts. :)

Like Peas in a Pod...

Our garden has blessed us with plenty of tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers this season. The children saw these baby tomatoes and quickly declared, "Why, they're just like peas in a pod!"

We've enjoyed daily meals with at least one fruit or vegetable from our garden, and my favourite is the cucumbers. Sliced cucumbers on toast with a little bit of mayonnaise is the best! 

The one thing about the cucumbers is that they're very good at hiding. We found an absolute monster cucumber hidden by all the leaves at the back.   

It's longer and thicker than Riaan's arm!

Morning Walk...

A lovely walk with my favourite dog. :)

Another South African Passport...

After applying for it at VFS Global in Chicago at the end of June, Riaan's new South African passport arrived here safely in the middle of August. I was really happy (and super impressed) to see it arrive here, after an exceptionally quick turnaround of just six weeks from when we submitted the application. Great job, VFS Global in Chicago and Home Affairs in Pretoria! :)

Visiting Family in Grabill, Indiana...

We drove down to Grabill, Indiana, to visit family on Saturday 8th August. Candace's aunt and cousins (on her dad's side) live in this area just northeast of Fort Wayne, and Candace's parents were visiting. It's a little less than two-and-a-half hours' drive, and so we drove down in the morning and home again in the early evening.  

It was good to relax and spend time together. The children also enjoyed seeing another part of Indiana Amish country. After an afternoon of laughter and fun, we said our farewells and drove back home to Detroit.

A short family ride on the driveway.

Riaan having a blast in the wagon.

Lots of laughter and games.

You know you're in Amish country when there are signs like this.

Driving back through Toledo - the sunflower silo.

And a ship loading its cargo.