Seder Meal 2019...

We celebrated our Passover and Seder Meal with good friends on Good Friday, 19th April. This has become an annual tradition for us here, having first started in 2017, continuing in 2018 and then again this year. It is always interesting to learn about how the Jewish Passover points to the coming of the Messiah - and how the prophecies in the Old Testament were fulfilled by Jesus! It's probably one of our favourite events of the year.

 The Passover plate. The chicken bone is standing in for the lamb shank.

 Riaan had fun colouring a picture of the plate.

My yummy supper. It was a lovely evening! :)

East Side Park fun...

We went to the East Side Park on a warm April day last month. Riaan had a lot of fun playing in the play area. There is a pirate ship jungle gym that he loves exploring and turning the ship's wheel. He also likes to look for buried treasure. He has such a fantastic imagination! We then went and had a lovely walk around Baumert Lake. The flowering pink trees growing along the path were beautiful!

 He was very excited to play in the pirate ship!

 He walked the whole way around the lake!

 The flowering trees were beautiful! :)

McCormick's Creek State Park in the early spring...

We visited McCormick's Creek State Park on Saturday, 13th April. It was a somewhat chilly day, but we still had a lovely time.We did both indoor and outdoor activities and thoroughly enjoyed our day!

We went to the Nature Centre and took part in a Natural Dye Workshop, where you learn about plant pigments and dyes and then create artwork using the natural dye found in plants. it was really interesting. Candace, Riaan and myself all created beautiful artwork.

We then walked down to the waterfall and spent some time down there. Both our kiddos loved dropping stones into the river. We then went to the Canyon Inn for a lovely lunch before visiting the Stables and then heading back home. It was a great day!

 Siblings photo at the Nature Centre.

 Black rat snake.

 American toads.

 We built a bridge.. And then knocked it down again!

 Different plant pigments.

 With some of the completed artwork.

 Hungry squirrel at the Nature Centre.

 Red-bellied woodpecker.

 Eliza was ready to get outdoors and explore!

 And they're off!

 Pretty flowers.

Canyon Inn.

 Walking down to the waterfall and river.

 All boys love throwing rocks into a river!

 Family photo with the waterfall behind us.

 View through the Stables.

Horses grazing out in the field.

City Street Sweeper...

Riaan enjoyed watching a city street sweeper at work on our street recently. It's quite a fancy-looking machine! The Street department have been doing some work on the roads over the past few days - sealing up cracks and repairing some potholes. We're thankful for the work that they do! :)

City street sweeper rounding the corner.

Longfellow Park...

We walked to Longfellow Park, an open park area in the neighbourhood, several weeks back. They have some super-cool outdoor gym equipment, which have become quite popular throughout the world. Riaan even wanted to give the stationary exercise bike a go - although his legs will need to grow a little bit longer!

 Information board about some of the exercise equipment.

 Candace and Riaan both tried out some of the equipment...

... And then Riaan tried out the exercise bike! :)

Ford Flex...

We recently found a used vehicle to give us a little bit more space as a family. We were quickly outgrowing Candace's little 2005 Toyota Corolla, and so we were able to find a good deal on a 2011 Ford Flex at a local dealership here in Washington. I've already personified it with my South African flag number plate and a ZA sticker on the back! :) We've nicknamed it Madiba, the isiXhosa clan name of Nelson Mandela, (1918 - 2013) South Africa's first democratically-elected president.

The back of our new (to us) vehicle.

Coconut Cutting...

Riaan has been reading some old Usborne Puzzle Adventure books - which I read when I was much, much younger - and his favourite characters are Agent Arthur and his dog Sleuth.

Riaan was particularly interested when Agent Arthur was trying to open a coconut in one of the books. And so I went and found a coconut at the local supermarket and I showed Riaan how to safely cut open a coconut. He was quite concerned that I would "cut [myself] and end up in the hospital like Grandad"*, but we managed to open it without incident. We then drank the milk and also enjoyed eating the meat inside the coconut - although Riaan was certainly not a fan!

*This is a well-known true family tale. It was Christmas 1996 and I had just received a Swiss Army Knife for Christmas, and my dad decided to show us how to open a coconut. It was Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, which is a public holiday in South Africa. (Now known as the Day of Goodwill.) While the details of the story are a little bit hazy, in my mind my dad cut through the coconut, delicately balanced on his leg, and into his thigh muscle. There was no blood, but the cut was very deep into his muscle and he required several stitches from our family doctor - who just happened to be in his practice on a holiday. We actually used the very same Swiss Army Knife to cut the coconut some 22 years later in 2019 - thankfully, without incident! :)

 Draining the coconut of its milk.

Cracking open the coconut.

 The fleshy meat on the inside.

Riaan was not too impressed! :)