Springtime in Pretoria

Sorry, faithful friends. I have been MIA for a while.  No real reason- just super busy and the blog just got shoved to the back of my priorities.  So now I am going to try to catch you up on our last two months....

Our late winter/early spring weather was very sunny and quite warm.  

Yet our pool water remains as chilly as ever.  This is as far as Maria got in the pool.  

We had our dear cousin Matteo visiting us from Italy for 3 weeks.  Maria was beyond thrilled.

Of course we had to show him our zebra neighbors!

We held about 5 birthday parties for Maria (well, not really but every gathering we hosted has been declared "MY BIRTHDAY!") This party outfit was self-selected.

Her official birthday cake. 

Visiting Rietvlei Reserve to show Matteo some rhinos!

Trampoline Park time before school officially begins.

Two realities of this photo:  (1)Yes, I am indeed really behind on this blog since this was over 2 months ago!
(2) Someone is NOT thrilled about returning to school! Fortunately he came home this day very happy about 2nd grade.  Same teacher as last year and long time buddy Nico in his class (Nico was with us in Kyiv, also!)

Maria's favorite time of day- reading with Matteo before bed.

Time to get back in the saddle.

It still stings to walk with only Bruno.  Enzo is deeply missed.  We actually had to put Bruno on some anti-depressants for a week to try to get his appetite back.  He really struggled for a long time.

Bed-time snuggles helped both of my boys with the grief.

Less than a week after Enzo died we had a scare with Maria who experienced a long febrile seizure at her school.

Her wonderful teachers handled the seizure perfectly and an ambulance got her to the ER very quickly.  

Since this was her first seizure an overnight stay at the hospital was required. 

Feeling better and ready to go home!

That weekend the boys went off to do a safari while Bruno got to have a sleepover at his buddy Walter's house (here with his brother Nico, Gio's dear buddy).  This was when we really started seeing Bruno come back to life.

Boys are back from safari, Maria's fever has passed and... "I have big baby in my tummy!"  Oh, dear.

A glimpse of Gio's gym class.

And then, less than a week after Maria's trip to the ER Gio experienced a very bad concussion and had to spend a night in the ICU himself.  Here is his video thanks to his wonderful class who wrote him a get well card....

Maria's doctor determined that her febrile seizure was brought on by an ear infection and that her tubes/grommets that were put in last year needed to be replaced.  So off we went for some day surgery....

About to wake up from the anesthesia.... NO video of those ugly 10 minutes.  Think an angry drunk in the body of a toddler.

Later that day, home with her favorite snuggler....

...and then time for a carwash...

...and some fishing with her favorite boys.

Teaching Maria how I calm down after a very stressful month....

And just when I was starting to feel quite sorry for myself, I got this photo from South Africa Guide Dogs.  Our puppy is here!  Still have a while to go before we can meet him....

Taking good care of her brother's boo boo.

Posing....

Gio's new Blue Bulls hat- a gift from his rugby coach, Gawie.

In her own awesome hat!  Maria made this one at school and has been wearing it almost daily for over a month now!

What happens when I tell Maria that she has soccer today.  Yes, she dresses herself these days!

"I ride BIGGGG horse today!"

Sand art time while Momma cooks dinner

In a continuing attempt to cheer up Bruno, my friend Karin allowed me to borrow her sweet doggies Jessie & Yogi for a fun Sunday on the lawn.

Post doggy-playdate snooze.

Sometimes I come home in the afternoon to find Nomsa and Maria having a nap on the lawn!

Maria's soccer training!

Bruno and a new friend, Daisy.

Most restaurants in South Africa truly cater to children.  This one even had a variety of costumes!

Trying out the new bed meant for our puppy....

Rugby!

Dinner friends.

Walking "Boo-Oh"

"I eat i-cream"

Two boys to wake up every morning.

Starbucks opening in Pretoria!

We Americans were pretty excited!

On our way to Cape Town!

View from the back of our amazing AirBnB in Camps Bay.

And the view from the front!

Ready for a day of surfing!

Maria LOVES her belly!

Learning a few tips from her big bro.

And they are off...

The next day we went to visit a Bernese Mountain Dog breeder.  These pups were 5 weeks old.

The proud papa!

Fun on the V&A Waterfront!

Nope, we did not eat here!

Passed out on the way to the airport.

The day after we returned from Cape Town we adopted Salt, a very sweet 2-year-old boy.

Checking out his new domain!

First meeting.  All went well.  Pepper is going to take a bit longer to adjust....

My cardio tennis group

Maria's first pedi (or, as she calls it, "toe tickles!")

One of these is our guide dog puppy!!

Fishing with buddy Finn.

Sleepover antics with Finn & Nico

Early morning fishing after not much sleep!

Adjusting well to his new home.  How will he feel about the puppy who arrives next week??