2010 in pictures!

I got this idea from Wendy, a friend of mine from Connecticut, she writes a blog as well. And she is a funny writer, so check out her blog here. Thank You Wendy for the idea!

Here comes our year in pictures, although these are many pictures, it is not even half of the activities we have done... there were still so many more moments which I could have shared, but it just gets too much for 1 blog posting....

JANUARY

The year 2010 started off with a BANG! My Bday is on the 31st and we had a WILD party!! With me dancing on the table, but I will not show you that picture...

Here the beginning of the evening, just the girls.



Then more towards the end of the evening, Dirk getting wild with the girls :-)



FEBRUARY

It's summer, so the girls are all the time in the pool.



Valentine's trip to the bush, we could bike here and just run into giraffes, kudus, ostriches... so much fun!







MARCH

Another trip: Mountains & Beaches









While we were lounging at the pool at a nearby restaurant, some friends joined us!! A new for us.. zebra's hanging out with us!



APRIL



The girls are 8!



Queen's Day celebration at the Ambassadors house in Pretoria.



A real wild Cheetah visiting school! His name is Byron



Cleaning cars for Byron the Cheetah, a good cause, so other children can also visit the wildlife center.



MAY

A camping trip for JJ & Jezz's Bday, with 11 girls sleeping over in the bush - so exciting!!







World Cup in South Africa, but also at school. Each class is another country and they play against each other!





JUNE

SA was in the ban of the World Cup Football, Dirk enjoyed 11 games AND the final! He had a blast, while we were soaking up the sun on Koh Samui.



6 weeks on Koh Samui, just me and the girls, while Dirk is enjoying all the football games in SA!



My father also stayed with us for a while.







JULY

The last 2,5 weeks Dirk joins us and we travel to Pattaya, Bangkok and Hua Hin. Here with Namphet our good friend!



AUGUST

A lot of our friends meet for a BBQ/Braai at the Lion & Rhino park to have some fun at a Sunday afternoon.



A big ugly bird joined us...



SEPTEMBER

A camping trip in Limpopo with 3 other families, we just LOVE the BUSH!!





14 years married!



OCTOBER

A school trip for the moms to Pretoria to see the blooming Jacarandas.



JJ and Jezz finally learned how to bike!



Mid-term break ~ A week to 3 of the 7 Emirates: Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah and Abu Dhabi, what a mysterious world!



Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, can hold up to 40.000 worshippers at one time! One of the largest mosques in the world.



Aquaventure waterpark in Dubai, the girls could have stayed there for the whole week :-)



NOVEMBER

Dirk, Luciano and Candice celebrated their Bday with a great party AND a Belly Dancer!



Our annual trip to the coast of Durban during the Thanksgiving break, this year we went to Zimbali.





The annual Parade of Nations at AISJ ~ the girls in their national dress.



Went to the wedding of our friends Lionel & Olimpia. A fun fest!



DECEMBER

A month later their first child was born, a handsome boy Gabriel!



Xmas eve: dinner by the pool.





While the adults are enjoying the 5-course meal the girls are unwrapping gifts in between bites.



Fire crackers for the kids at the New Year's Bash. We celebrated with 33 kids and adults, a fun fest again!



And a dip in the hot tub for the younger girls! FUN, FUN, FUN!



So many great moments, so many things to be thankful of, such a fun year! I am looking forward to 2011, already a lot of trips planned, Bdays to celebrate and other fun activities to look forward to. Can't wait to share them with you!

I hope your year will be fun filled, adventurous, and full of happy moments!
Mireille

March vacation ~ Mountains & Beach

So back from our March trip, which was amazing!! We went to 4 locations.

The first stop was Clarens, which is situated in the Clarens Valley is in the Eastern Free State Highlands about 20 km's from Golden Gate. It's an artsy town with cute little galleries and we stayed at this adorable B&B Millpond House with its beautiful gardens on the foot of the mountains.

(Click on the images to see them larger)



Just one night since we were on our way to Umngazi river bungalows. Situated on the magnificent Wild Coast, close to Port St John. We stayed here for 3 nights. A beautiful location directly on a river, then a bit of sand and HUGE dunes and then the ocean. Just a magical spot and the girls particularly LOVED it because they went SAND DUNING, how fun was that!! Really so much fun to slide down these huge dunes on a plastic board.... It went fast but the girls were PRO's, they showed all the other kids how to do it!! Really a nice stay, although the weather was only sunny 1 day, so a bit unlucky there, but we still had a fun time!! Going for boat rides and sand sliding, the girls were in heaven!



Then up to Willowdale lodge, a real working farm. Over 120 years old, this Historic Farm Lodge is situated right on the N2 mid-way between KZN and the Eastern Cape. The girls were excited to stay here, since we could do some cow milking!! Well, we tried it but the girls had a hard time getting the milk out, so the farmers had to help us! But the location and the farm house was just magical, between the hills and valleys we had the most gorgeous views in the mornings when the sun came up and the mist was hanging in the valley, just breathtaking!! The farm house had huge gardens with apple, pear, fig and persimmon trees which we could help ourselves as much as we wanted. Juliet and Jasmine were so happy to play with all the doggies they had, and we did lots of reading and hiking in this area. Very relaxed stay, and the food was so delicious, we really loved the ambiance of this little guest house!



And then last but not least, we went to the HIGHEST mountain lodge in SA!! Spectacular location!! In a remote region of South Africa, three mountain ranges meet – the Drakensberg, the Witteberg and the Maluti Mountain Ranges. In this spectacular place lies a very special hideaway, where the hand of man has brushed - but lightly. Tenahead Mountain Reserve is hidden in over 3 500 hectares of unspoilt mountains, valleys and streams. It holds a treasury of flora and fauna and it is the perfect place to experience romantic mountain hospitality. WOW, this was such a gorgeous drive to this beautiful lodge! We had to drive for almost 2 hours on a gravel road to reach this very special place, but it was so worth it!!



We did horse back riding, but I mean horse back riding to a different level!! We felt like the cowboys and Indians riding on our horses with several WILD horses joining us, running besides us while we were on top of the world. Only mountains and valleys, little streams and huge rocks, birds galore and the sun shining. Nothing else than pure nature at the height of 2580 mtr./8500 ft. This was an amazing experience for all of us!! We all did some horse back riding, but you ride some circles or small rides into the forest, but this was just US in the mountains, as far as you can see nothing, we were away from society and the rest of the world for HOURS driving. It was magnificent!!



(Candice, you have to go here, Leo will absolutely LOVE it!!)

We hiked, read magazines and books, sipped some wine on the deck overlooking the mountain ranges and also the girls and Dirk did some fly-fishing while I was photographing the flora and fauna, which is really beautiful and so different than the bush veld we are used to.



The lodge was so contemporary and Eco-friendly decorated, I love that style! It was only build 5 years ago by this Dutch couple who wanted to go and live there themselves but then couldn't handle the high altitude and got sick from the thin air. So they turned it into a 5star lodge, with only 7 bedrooms and sold it to Nadine en Leon who were our hosts. Very intimate and we got every night a 5-course dinner, which was delicious. We felt spoiled to be in this special location!! AND in winter they will get over 2 meters of SNOW, so we can come back and ski!! Wouldn't that be fun to ski in AFRICA?! Tenahead Mountain Reserve lies in an area of Southern Africa that receives more snow than anywhere else in the region.

AFRICA full of surprises!!

All in all, we had a GRAND vacation, with lots of driving, in total 2500 km/1500 miles in just 8 days, but FUN, FUN, FUN!!

Now back to 'normal' life, school, work, and for me all my activities to keep myself busy!!
Have a wonderful day!
Mireille