One Camera. One Lens. One Photo a Day.

One last day before we head back home…

And Kate was sensing the mood, which matched the rainy, dreary early autumn day here in the suburbs of Durban.

Despite that, Granny tried to pick up her up a bit with this soap bubble maker that she purchased today.  It worked, for a little while.

And then it was in for dinner, feeling a bit under the weather, and off to an early bath and bed.  Let’s hope that she’s feeling better tomorrow…there’s a long long journey ahead and we need her in good form.  The baby is doing better — no colds (knock on wood) and if we could only get him to sleep through the night (it’s been a recurring problem during the visit….oh well, by Friday we’ll be home and sleep training, make that REtraining, begins in earnest).

The good-byes are starting…

This afternoon we had Karen stop by and, in this photograph, Robs to say good-bye to us before we head home.

I loved how Sparky just reached out to give Robs a gentle touch on the cheek as she left the house in the early evening.

It’s been simply an amazing trip for us and in a few more hours we’ll be heading back to California.  It’s a vacation that will be burned permanently into my memories as it will be for Nicki, I’m am certain.  I hope that it will be the same for Kate as well.

Kate rides in a boat on Lake Crystal at Mbona…

What Nicki and I had hoped for on this trip has come to pass.  Kate really has gotten to know and truly bond with her cousins.

Here she’s on the canoe  driven by her oldest cousin James (far left), and riding with her other cousin Lizzie (far right, who is 5).  Patrick, the middle cousin, is in the background. (Mbona,  where they have a vacation home, is about 1 1/2 hours from Tony and Moira’s home).

Kate and Liz have become the best of buds, and the boys have been so good to both her and the baby.  James is especially loving to Sparky and just spends so much time with him, carrying him and playing with him.  It’s so nice that they have forged a bond as well.

Last night Kate got to do her SECOND sleep over at the cousins and tonight had a full force meltdown when she couldn’t spend the second night in a row with them.

It was sad to see that happen (and also tough on the ears — Kate is like a midwestern tornado warning horn) but it is also sweet because underneath it is that special bond that first cousins have and so glad Kate has found it with Lizzie, Patrick and James.

The oldest grandchild holds the youngest grandchild…

At this afternoon’s “90th Birthday Party”, my nephew James holds my son Matthew by the pool at Granny Moira and Grandpa Tony’s house.

James was a junior attendant at our wedding in 2001 when he was five — he has certainly grown up since then and is on the crest of the teen years.

Time sure flies and now with having children, there’s even more reminders.

Another milestone reached today — first time in the pool.

It was stifling this afternoon and Nicki and Kate were in the pool and decided to get the boy in the water as well.

It was about this age that we first introduced Kate to the water and she seemed to enjoy it, as much as a six month old could, I suppose.

We’ll get him into lessons probably next summer (with Miss Connie, the BEST instructor) and get an early jump on swimming like with Kate.  It makes a difference when the kids love the water and it makes it a little bit less stressful (though we’re still always watchful).

Standoff…

Millie keeps a watchful eye on Kate as she eats remnants of brownie mix that Moira made for this weekend’s big “90th Birthday”.

She had a lovely day with many trips to the pool (before coming to S. Africa, she simply wouldn’t believe Nicki when she told Kate that at Granny’s house you could just walk out the front door and jump into the pool.  “No Mom.  You have to get in a car to go to the pool.”).

She is now officially spoiled.

This might be my favorite pier on the planet.

I photographed at the Uhmlanga Rocks a few weeks back and got a photo from this pier…and this evening I had another session at the location as well.

Tried to get something different from the last time — had a bright moon, low tide and no fishermen, but I think it still made a cool frame.

After yesterday’s hectic adventure, today was a quiet day around 3 Leinster Place.

Nicki, her Mom and the kids ran some errands in anticipation of the “90th Birthday Party” this weekend (this would be Nicki’s 40th and my 50th (in May) — we’re having a get-together for the SA folks before we head back).

For me, though, it was a beautiful day outside but my time was spent doing some work on the computer.

And since this is the first image I made today for the blog, I could have stopped right there after making this image of Sparky in his bouncer (but still made some more images around the house and garden).

Beauty & The Beasts…

This afternoon we went to Tala, a private game reserve about 35 miles from Tony & Moira’s.

It’s a very special place to us.

When Nicki and I were engaged, we went there for a visit and met Mandy, the daughter of the owner Stuart.  Mandy found out we were from Arizona and said:  My sister Kelly moved to Scottsdale two weeks ago, why don’t you give her a call?

Once back and Nicki was getting a bit homesick for South Africa, I suggested she give Kelly a call.

She did and we have been fast friends ever since.  Kelly’s Uncle Malcolm and Aunt Peggy were gracious in hosting  our wedding reception, and we are so very grateful for that wonderful act of kindness.

It was so nice to finally meet Stuart today (Nicki has met him several times)… we had a lovely lunch with him, Tina, his son Greg and her niece Fiona at the Reserve and it was fantastic.

After that we headed for a game drive and saw zebra, rhinos, hippos, warthogs and other animals. But seeing the giraffes is extra special..especially for a princess.

What a privilege to see Durban from this angle.

Craig Campbell-Gilles, a long time friend of ours (his wife Karen was one of Nicki’s bridesmaids in our wedding), was so kind to give me the best tour ever of Durban — from the front seat of his Robinson R44 helicopter.

We went up in early afternoon and luckily the sky was still clear blue as we worked the coast and I got to see a spectacular view of the new Moses Mabhida Stadium (lower right) which will be one of the World Cup Soccer Stadiums in South Africa this coming June (there were three new soccer stadiums built:  one in Cape Town, Johannesburg and this one in Durban).

By the end of the day when I would have normally liked to be flying, the cloud cover moved in and the light would have been bad.  So we had a fantastic flight and even better, after that we had a lovely lunch with Karen and Craig at their home in Durban.