Operation: Save the Ducks

I have come to learn that ducks are not the smarts or most family orientated animals out there. I have seen mommy ducks completely abandon their ducklings and other mommy ducks do anything to save their ducklings, but the most common thing that lies in the duck gene is their lack of smarts.

The other day coming home we found a mother duck and her 8 ducklings stuck in the basement well of an apartment. A little against Ben's will, I got him to jump in and try to get them out. Every time he caught a duckling, it would jump right back into the whole - a lesson in itself for another day.

Mommy and her ducklings

Ben thought it would be a good idea to put a board up for them to climb out of. We got bread and tried to get them up it, but it was a failed attempt at rescue.

I love this picture, mommy duck is 'yelling' at Ben to stay away.

Eventually Ben took his hat off and started to try and chase mommy away so he could get the ducklings out. He chased mom right out of the well and then I helped keep her from jumping back in while Ben would grab a duckling and toss (I kid not, some did back flips) it out to mommy. He saved all 8 ducklings and mommy. Such a fabulous hero!

The terrified mommy back with all 8 ducklings running in the opposite direction for safety.

Koeksisters

Last week I made a South African treat. Koeksisters. They were nummy. Don't they just look mouth watering?

Meet Happy

We would like to welcome Happy to our little family. Happy is a little kitty cat that Cyndi got as a reward for sleeping without her binki. That's right... Cyndi is now binki free and just in time! Most nights are still hard to get her to calm down and relax to go to sleep, but everything is work in progress.

Yes that is a carrot, cheese and a crouton (we were having salad)

Cyndi loves happy. She puts her to bed on Mom's rocker with a blanket most nights. Pets are not allowed to sleep in beds/rooms with kids. I thought it was so cute how she would treat Happy like a real cat. The food she tried to feed her was a little strange for a cat to eat, but at least it got fed - right.

Zoo Trip

Last week we went to the zoo. There was a large group of us, it was Shared and his family, Ouma, Granny and Ben, Cyndi and I. I was hoping that the hot walk around the zoo for 6 or so hours would help encourage Damian to join us, but I think it just made him hide. It was fun to see Cyndi loving all the animals. I never took lots of pictures since we had seen the animals before. So here are a couple that really stood out to me.

Ouma has a cat that sleeps just like this. It was funny to see.

Daddy showing Cyndi the birds in the bird house

Cyndi got to go on the carousel. She has been on one before and hated it. So it was cool to see her loving it this time. She would wave every time she came around and yell 'Mom'

This little guy reminds me of Timone and his family from the lion king 1 1/2. I can see the song 'What was that' going through his head.

Ouma and Cyndi with the elephants. Cyndi LOVES the elephants.

I tried to get some pictures of everyone on the carousel, but I failed. Every one kept coming out blurring. So I videoed.

July 4th

July 4th we kept tradition and went to the Murray parade. Honestly the only reason why we go to that parade is because of the Jeep 'float.' Its a whole bunch of Jeeps doing little tricks. Its cool. I love it!

Cyndi was very good at learning to respect the American Flag and every time she saw one she would put her hand over her heart. She did not have to be told or anything. She saw everyone do it at the beginning of the parade and every time after that, she would automatically do it. It was so cute. There was a bag-pipe 'float' and at the beginning of the bag-pipes there was a flag. Cyndi did not like the bag-pipe sound and covered her ears while keeping her hand over her heart. She was so cute.

The JEEPS!

Later that day Shared and his family came over for a braai and we all got to hang out. It was fun. Then in the evening we went to the Murray fireworks. Cyndi had a blast. She got sparklers and glow sticks. By the end of the night she had about 25 glow sticks all over her body and she looked like she should come out of one of those futuristic movies where all the clothing is metallic and reflective.

It was a great July 4th this year. I am guessing we have more to come!

Starting July 3rd...

We decided to start the July 4th celebrations on July 3rd. Since July 4th is going to be filled with a visit from Shard and his family, a parade and fireworks in the evening, we thought it better to do a Cyndi party the night before. As always I had to make a cake for the fun. Ben really wanted to add some 'flare' to the cake, so we got some mini fountain rockets to put on top. They turned out rather cool. We also got just a few cheap fireworks that were Cyndi friendly to light.

The cake. It was a red velvet and vanilla pound with butter cream icing.

The fireworks!

Inside the cake - American flag

Cyndi loved the sparklers. But Marius burnt himself lighting the cake, Cyndi kept crying wolf saying 'I burnt myself.' Note: No Cyndi was burnt or harmed during the night!

The Family at the little celebration:

Cyndi playing with the sparklers - she had so much fun!

Ben and Cyndi playing with the sparklers.

Once we got home, Cyndi went up to Ben and gave him a big hug. She then proceeded to thank him for her party.

July 4th Dress

The dress I made for Cyndi for the July 4th weekend. I think that it is super cute on her.