Maria Turns 2.5, Fishing and Lots of Canine Slumber

We just finished the second week of February and happily welcomed Paolo back from his two week trip to the US.  This week he heads to Lesotho but at least we get him for a few days!

Here is the scene I find every morning when I enter Gio's room to wake him drag him out of bed.
These two never spend a night apart. 

Last weekend we visited The Farm Inn with friends to eat lunch.  Maria loved being surrounded by big girls.

After lunch we headed to their petting area where the children spent an hour with dozens and dozens of rabbits (I swear their were multiplying while we were there!).

Gio's favorite.

A bag of treats that Maria carefully parceled out to all of her new friends. Rabbits happen to be Maria's favorite creatures. Her preschool has two huge white ones hopping around on the playground, and she squeals with delight whenever she sees them out on the golf course near our house.  To be able to be among so many here was a dream come true for her.  And, yes, I scrubbed her feet as soon as we got home!

Alex (age 5) has a big crush on Gio.  He is oblivious.  

Sunday happened to be Maria's half-birthday.  We never miss a chance to eat cupcakes, so, with 2 1/2 candles on each cupcakes and a quick song we dug in!

Monday brought the return on Nomsa. We were all thrilled to have her back!

This week we had many bad thunderstorms.  Without power we tackled homework (Maria's being to eat a bag of chips!).

Pepperoni always gets the first taste of Enzo's breakfast.
 Our 60kg beast is truly a gentle giant.

Another day, another storm.
Here is a typical afternoon on our patio.

Maria is currently obsessed with being clean.  She gets upset when she sees dirt on the bottom of her shoes ("dirteee!") and regularly wants to wash her babies.  

Gio has become a passionate fisherman.  He grabs his rod as soon as he gets off the school bus and runs across the 18th fairway to the pond.  Pepperoni often joins him.

Thursday I took the boys to a local hiking trail that allows dogs off leash.  These two climbed, sniffed and wallowed in pools (well, just Enzo on that one) for two hours.  Exhausted!

Friday was a day off from school for Gio.  After a morning trip to the trampoline park in Jo'burg he headed right back to the pond for more fishing.  He is always thrilled when his South African friend Harvey is there to give him lessons and tips. 

Maria adores getting her hair cut.  She tries to drag me into every barber shop/salon we pass.  Our local fishing shop owner is also a barber so I knew when we went in to get Gio some new hooks that Maria would insist on getting into the chair.  

Her new 'do!  All ready to greet Papa who gets home today from his trip to DC!  

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!  xoxo.  Clara

Paolo Heads to DC...

Paolo left for Washington, DC, last week.  He will be back next Saturday so we have one more week without him.  While he has been away we have been quite busy....

Maria had a visit with the dentist.  She loves Dr. Iyer who has an office full of toys and fun distractions including a TV playing Frozen right above the dental chair.  It is actually hard to get Maria to leave her office!

When Enzo is unavailable Maria rides her "baby horsey."

Wednesdays are a bit crazy for Gio as he has 1.5 hours of tennis at school and then comes home to race off to Woodhill's courts for another hour. The funny thing is that all of the kids in the second group are also from AISJ. The two children to the right of Gio in this photo are twins who have just joined the 1st grade which is great fun since they are also neighbors!

Maria's ears are finally feeling better so we are back on our school morning routine which includes making a smoothie for the car ride to school.  

Maria loves to supervise but finds the blender noise a bit much!  We love our Vitamix and make many smoothies together.  Another favorite treat is to make frozen yogurt mix-ins.  Gio's current favorite is made with peanut butter and frozen blueberries. 

Maria falls more and more in love with Nomsa every day.
So do I.  She is truly a gift to our family.

Tickle time.

Maria and Gio have swim lessons every Friday afternoon.  Maria has missed a few weeks thanks to her ear trouble but today she was ready to go.   

Here they are side by side.  Gio's teacher is really pushing him and he is improving so much. He is ready and eager to join the AISJ swim team next year.  Maria's teacher is perfect for her- gentle and playful.  They have a great time together.  Maria went underwater for the first time during this lesson.  She came up with her eyes wide.  I thought she would start crying but she actually was bursting with pride!

Post swim we joined a few families for a fun night at Toni's Pizzeria.  This place has a huge outdoor deck with two play areas which meant this was the only photo I ever got of Maria sitting down (thank you, ice cream).  Gio never even made it to the table.

Yup.  Bruno sleeps with Gio every night.

How did I not make the connection that Gio's beloved Big Tom is a Bassett Hound?! How perfect is it that Gio's most beloved stuffed animal has come to life in the form of his very own dog?

This morning we woke to the sound of chainsaws as the two dead trees in our front yard were being taken down.  Sad.

Once we said goodbye to the trees and Gio was finished with his golf lesson we headed to Gio's school for "Water Day."

The campus was full of inflatables, a dunk tank, giant pool toys and a foam pit. Here Gio is in a pool bubble!

Foam fun!

Giant slides.  Maria did the one on the left twice.  She is fearless!

This slip and slide inflatable was Maria's favorite.  The water got muddier and muddier as the hours passed.  The children could have cared less.  

Gio did every activity offered but was too scared of the dunk tank.  Toward the end he decided to brave it.... 

...and loved it!! How I wished I could have thrown the ball but too many kids were eager to dunk him themselves.  Hmmmm.  Next time I will get in line!

Hour 4.  I finally extracted them.  Both are fast asleep now so I am getting a rare afternoon break.  Not complaining!

More news from Pretoria soon.  For all of my US friends-  Enjoy the Superbowl (or the ads!).  Paolo is excited to actually be in the USA for the game.  I had to ask him who was playing....

xoxo.  Clara

A January Summer Update

Well, whatever happened to January I have no idea.  Somehow we have been back in South Africa for a month, and I have not written a thing.  So what follows is a LOT of photos to update you on the Bellis.  

We are in the height of summer here.  Hot days with the sun rising long before 6 and cooling afternoon thunderstorms.  Gio has been very busy with school, tennis, golf, swimming and his newest passions: fishing and biking (no, not at the same time).  Next week he heads to Jo'burg with his class to meet Julia Donaldson, the author of The Gruffalo.  For anyone not familiar with this wonderful book, get yourself to the library.  It is my favorite picture book of all time!

Maria has been learning a new word or two each day, singing and battling a nasty ear infection. She 
continues to enjoy her preschool, takes swimming lessons twice/week and loves doing puzzles and changing her shoes.

Bruno, Enzo & Pepperoni?  The usual.  Sleep. Eat. Repeat. 

 I am working on my golf game (today I learned how to chip!) and enjoying some new freedom now that our housekeeper has moved in. I will write more about wonderful Nomsa in a future post. 

And Paolo?  He is traveling like mad.  In the last few weeks he has been in Zambia, Zimbabwe and is currently in snowy Washington, DC.  Without further ado, here is a month's worth of photos and videos.....

Back in South Africa after Christmas in Italy.  Good to be home.

As soon as we got home from the airport and picked up the boys at the kennel we changed out of our winter clothes and hit the pool.  It felt good to wash off the airplane grime.   

And the next morning Gio was off to school fully equipped with his swim bag, backpack and Italian cheese for his teachers.

Pepperoni was very happy we were home.  He escaped from a second floor window the day we left for Italy so instead of being at the kennel with his big brothers he spent 3 weeks roaming free on the golf course.  We left a cat door open for him with 10 pounds of food in the house.  We were so grateful to find him waiting for us when we returned.  This cat is rapidly using up all of his lives!

Maria's school would not begin for another week so she and I enjoyed many days of outings together.  She always prepares herself well for days on the town (backpack was packed with Legos- clever girl).

We returned to South Africa just in time for a week-long heat wave (40C/104F).  Enzo spent nearly every waking (and dozing) moment in the pool.

Maria and Enzo love their outings with Paolo before dinner.

Inseparable.

These two adore one another.

No one knows how to relax quite like Enzo.

The only time Enzo and Bruno are apart? When Bruno decides to take a nap in the sun.  Enzo draws the line at that.

Doctor Maria.

Always a willing patient.

Our heatwave ended with a massive storm one Monday night.  At 3AM I awoke wondering why Paolo was taking a shower.  Turns out the noise I was hearing was a massive flood in our playroom with a huge cascade falling from the ceiling of the playroom.  Paolo and I emptied buckets for 4 hours until the storm finally passed.  Turns out it was all caused by clogged gutters.  Note to self: clean them out next year!!

Look who slept through the entire thing.  Big helps.

Post storm walk....sans pants.

Modern father duties include manicures.

Popsicle on Enzo.  Nothing better.

Gio's first time on ice skates at a birthday party.

While Gio made his away around on the ice with his friends...

..Maria and I hung out in another part of the mall
at an indoor water park.

Cake with a friend.

So much to learn from big girl buddies.

Midday parties lead to major naps!

Weekend errands with Papa.  Maria knows how to enjoy them!

Sunday afternoon frolicking.

Another thunder storm panic for Enzo...
...more therapy dog duty for Bruno.

Fishing before dinner.  This is the pond directly across the 18th hole fairway from our house.  Gio spends nearly every afternoon here.  He is learning to fish from older boys who hang out here with him.  They are so generous with their time and patience.

Maria and Gio have begun swim lessons at our gym.  

Who needs swim lessons?
Wallowing was mastered long ago by this Belli boy.

Time for a bike ride.

While we were riding around in beautiful warm sunshine the East Coast was being slammed by a blizzard.  

Like I said, never apart!

Sunday afternoon is time for relaxing....
as is every afternoon for Enzo!

Here is a glimpse of wonderful Nomsa, who began working for us at the end of January.  I will write more about her in a future post.  Maria and Gio (and the dogs!) took to her immediately.  

Last week Maria came down with a bad ear infection.  Thanks to her ear tubes this infection did not make her as sick as they have done in the past.  Still, it meant days off school and a few outings with me including this coffee shop where the baker gave her her own dough to knead.  Brilliant!

Friday evening on the driving range.

More swim lessons.  This time only for Gio thanks to Maria's unhappy ears.

Butterfly!

Paolo was in town for only 24 hours (back from Zimbabwe but off to USA the next afternoon).  We did some exploring just outside of the city center and came upon this creature...

....and his friends.

A fun reminder that we live in Africa!

Catching up on some emails before his long trip to DC.  Enzo, as always, is catching up on his beauty rest.

As many of you know, Maria has a speech delay.  So imagine our delight when she began breaking into song recently....

Walking her best friend.

Consoling ourselves once we said goodbye to Papa
 for two weeks by enjoying pizza night with Netflix.
Yes, Bruno gets his own puff.

Maria now selects her outfits every morning.  This was my favorite of the week.

Check back soon for February updates.  I will try to write more consistently!  

xo.  Clara