Family Holiday at San Lameer

We are currently enjoying a very relaxing
holiday with Christina's family at San Lameer on the South Coast of KwaZulu Natal. The days are warm, humid and balmy and the evenings very nice and cool. Since our last visit here 2 years ago, a beautiful swimming pool with gorgeous views of the Indian Ocean and Trafalgar Beach has been added to the house. Needless to say (and as can be seen from the photos), we are thoroughly enjoying the pool.

We've also already been to the beach several times and Aiden and Zack are really enjoying the big waves and the lagoon. Our nights are spent braaing on the deck and enjoying some of SA's finest wines. We are also partaking in a favorite South African tradition of watching test cricket (5 day matches). South Africa is playing India. It is currently the 1st test and SA is teaching India a lesson! Jacques Kallis (probably the best all-round cricket player in SA history) scored his highest score ever today... 201 runs not out.

Feels like vacation...

We can't believe that it is already December and that we've been back in SA for over a month already. In many ways it feels like we're still on vacation... We've just had our first weekend where there were no prior commitments and we could sleep in a little and do just what we wanted. On Saturday we visited a few kid-friendly wine farms... Kanu, Welmoed and Skilpadvlei. Sunday morning Christina went for another swim at Clifton while Gavin took the boys for a two-and-a-half hour hike through th vineyards and up a hill above Jordan winery. The views were spectacular, but it was a bit of a windy day so we were glad to get back indoors.

Other photos are from last weekend when we visited Noordhoek for Nicola's 15th birthday and we went for a walk on the beach. And a few weeks ago Gavin wento to a SA vs USA soccer match at the new soccer stadium in Cape Town

New Wheels!

It's been a busy first month for us back in South Africa, but we've made great progress getting things sorted out. We now have a car (photo: Peugeot Partner Grand Raid 2L Diesel), a house in Somerset West as of 1 Jan, a pre-school for Aiden starting in Jan and SA credit cards. We're still living on the farm with our friends and when the weather allows we spend a lot of time outside and in the vineyards. A highlight for the boys was when a CAT digger spent a whole week digging up a section of the vineyard where new vines will soon be planted. We took them for a close-up look one afternoon.

Ahhh... Africa!

Well, we've been back in South Africa for 10 days now and it has been an absolute blast! The Harvett boys (and mom & dad) all adjusted well to the time zone change and thankfully we have all managed to stay healthy. The flights from San Francisco to London and then on to Cape Town all went smoothly and the boys were super stars. Most of the toys, games and bribes we had acquired for the trip were not even needed.

We've spent some time with grannie and cousins but still have many more visits to go. We're staying with our good friends Nico & Annerie in their house on a wine farm about 10km outside Stellenbosch. The views from here are spectacular and there are 3 winery tasting rooms within easy walking distance. Enough said :-)

We still don't have a car and our money is still tied up in the US, but hopefully these matters will get resolved this coming week. We're also starting to look at rental houses tomorrow. Lots to do, but we're enjoying it all very much!

Saying goodbye...

It was Josh's 6th birthday party on October 16th and we could not miss a party which included a visit from the Lizard Lady! She showed us the most amazing snakes, lizards and even a 65 year old tortoise. Josh, as the birthday boy, could hold each reptile and the other kids could touch them. Super cool. The brown "snake" Josh is holding, is actually a legless lizard...because he has eyelids and ears...and an x-ray shows about 10 legs that disappeared over time.

The baseball playoffs are still in full swing and Gavin's team, the San Francisco Giants are still in the running...so Team Harvett was dressed in Giant's gear to show support (on Gavin's insistence). Yes, even I am the proud owner of a Buster Posey t-shirt, and yes, I know who he is!


We were able to visit the Svendsens on the way home, to say goodbye. The boys are super cute.

It feels like Halloween!

We are making the most of a few weeks of Fall before we return to South Africa and the start of another summer. We visited Apple Hill with friends and had a great time eating apples, apple pie, running through the maze and picking out the perfect pumpkin to take home and carve.
Just look at Aiden's funny faces - it seems to becoming an art form for him....trying to make a different face each time we take a photo.



Gavin made his best pumpkin carving to date! We were all very impressed!

Alcatraz, Science, & Giants!

It's the end of a hectic but enjoyable weekend spent in San Francisco and Mountain View. Christina swam the "Alcatraz Centurion" event on Saturday. A ferry takes the swimmers to Alcatraz and then they swim 1.3 miles in the Bay to San Francisco's Aquatic Park. Fortunately the sea lions stayed away this year and let the swimmers do their thing without distraction. Christina really enjoyed the event and it was a memorable conclusion to her very busy summer of open water swimming.

Afterwards we met the Pollocks at the California Academy of Sciences in the Golden Gate Park. The boys really enjoyed every minute of it and Aiden even got to see the worlds biggest and most advanced planetarium show... Mind blowing graphics and simulation of how the sun, stars and supernovas formed.

In between all the weekend activity we kept our finger on the pulse of the last 3 games of the regular season for the San Francisco Giants. On Sunday, in the last game of the 162-game season, they beat the San Diego Padres to win the National League West division and make it to the playoffs. Aiden and Zack were thrilled that "the good guys" won! We showed our support by wearing our Giants T-shirts!

Aiden's 4th Birthday Weekend

We celebrated Aiden's 4th birthday in perfect California weather. Saturday's highlight was the pool party at home for Aiden and his friends. Christina made an orange dragon cake of which all the kids, especially the birthday boy, approved! In the weeks leading up to his birthday Aiden spent a lot of time in the swimming pool and he is now an official swimmer. His favorite pool trick is when his dad launches him into the air and he lands with a huge splash in the pool... then comes up for air before swimming off to the side and getting out for more. We are very impressed!

On Sunday we went to the California Capital Air Show only about 10 miles from our house. It is a huge show with many US Air Force, Navy, and commercial aircraft on display. Aiden and Zack are both fans of fighter jets (Top Gun is in their top 5 movies), so they thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits and the aerial displays that were put on. Tomorrow Aiden starts his second year of pre-school.

What a weekend!

We took the boys on their first train ride this past weekend. There is a light rail train that runs from Folsom to Sacramento and on Saturday morning we took the train to the local farmers market. The boys loved the live music and balloon swords and Gavin got so inspired with all the fresh local veggies that he made us a fantastic dinner on Sunday and decided to start a cooking blog for dads...We will keep you posted!

Hot August Chill

The Harvett Four returned to Donner Lake near Tahoe for another open water swim event Christina competed in. This one was appropriately named "Hot August Chill"... it was not very summer-like up in the mountains. We had a great camp site that backed up to a creek and shaded by huge redwood and pine trees. While sitting around the camp fire we received frequent visits from squirrels and chipmunks much to the amusement of the boys. Another favorite was the bedtime story by flashlight inside the tent. We took the scenic route back over the Donner Pass from where there is a spectacular view of the 2.7 mile long Donner Lake below.

Camping

We camped at Donner Lake, near Truckee, a couple of weekends ago. It was amazing to see how dirty Zack could get and loving every moment of it! Here he is, eating a lollipop and enjoying the afternoon. Aiden is in full "funny face" mode, every time we point a camera at him.

Beginning of August was a big transition for Zack. We continued the tradition of throwing the pacifier into the American River after the second birthday. Unfortunately, going cold-turkey with the pacifier coincided with Zack getting more teeth and it was rough couple of days. He did not want to nap and would eventually fall asleep in front of the TV....I thought we broke our good sleeper, but after a rough week, we are all good. Zack loves being a big boy, sleeping in his big boy bed and most importantly, napping each afternoon and sleeping through the night. I think we survived! At least he still has his blankets.