Por Por and Kung Kung

Mom and Dad left on Tuesday afternoon.  They’re in Atlanta right now until Friday.  Mom is attending a tradeshow, fits in perfectly with the trip.  They’re staying at a 5 star hotel, so really ending their trip off on a high note!

Since I started typing this, mom and dad have left Atlanta, and now safely back in South Africa.

As I said in my previous post, it was really wonderful having mom and dad with us.  Good to catch up, altho with Skype and email, we’re pretty much caught up….just nice to be able to give your folks the hugs you don’t get to give, and just spend time together, have tea together, eat together…  With the kids tho, you don’t realize how often your chats are disrupted, always up and down.  You start chatting at breakfast, then at lunch you get to continue….if you remember that is.


one of many trips to the park with Por Por and Kung Kung

Sadly Em doesn’t seem to be too phased that Por Por and Kung Kung have left.  Too young to really understand I guess, also with Rods travels she knows you always come back!  The morning of my folks leaving I took Emma to my parents room and showed her the suitcases and told her Por Por and Kung Kung are leaving.  Em’s response, “Bye Bye!”  My mom just laughed.  Em couldn’t wait to get to the airport, just because she would get to see the airplanes take off.  Later that evening when I asked where Por Por and Kung Kung are, she said, “South Africa”.
Seeing my folks saying good bye to the kids was really heartsore, but we hope to make a trip to SA in December, so before we know, we’ll be seeing each other again.

Just like yesterday they arrived, Dad down on the ground playing with Emma right away.  And Addi stealing another part of his heart.  Addi was very content with her Kungs.  Dad would hold her in a certain position which she just loved, no matter what time of day, she would fall asleep within minutes.  We called her a little leopard resting on a branch.  Addi really spoilt by all the arms.  So used to it that she refused to nap in her room, she would only nap in her swing which is in our living room, seemed like she liked to be where the family was.  We now have her sleeping in her crib, so that’s all sorted now.

playing with Kung Kung straight away

One of many gifts from Por Por and Kung Kung

Kung Kung got smiles just as he arrived





our little leopard

Mom pretty much bathed her every night, so that was good bonding time with Addi, she obviously loved it, giving us good stretches at night.

loving bath time with Por Por

 

Our last weekend with mom and dad was perfect outdoor weather.  Friday, mom and dad played one last game of golf at Duke Washington Golf Course, then Saturday we spent a wonderful day at Pullen Park.  This was a new found park for us and turned out to be a great find!  Something to look forward to visiting in the spring/summer.  This park has a train, carousel, boat rides, swings, climbing equipment, bridges and all other fun things to see and do.  Because the weather was so great around 20 degrees, the park was really busy, the lines for the rides were pretty long too.  So Emma only managed to ride the train and go on a boat ride.  The food was a bit of a disappointment, at least we know for next time to rather pack a picnic basket.

Emma had been wanting to go on a train ride for a while,  so the train at Pullen Park was a great surprise for her.  Such fun to ride with Por Por and Kung Kung.  Just the other day she saw a picture of a train and got all excited, saying, Por Por and Kung Kung took her on the train.  So sweet that she has that memory now.   As soon as we entered the park, Em saw popcorn, of course Por Por had to get it for her, so they got to enjoy a box of popcorn together.  Another sweet moment. 

on the caboose with Por Por

Kung Kung on Addi duty

Rod and I were waiting in line for the boat ride, we let Em sit with my mom and snack on the popcorn, when it was time to go on the ride, Em quickly grabbed a handful of popcorn before leaving, too funny.  We’re trying to teach her that the food is not going to run away, and that she has to finish chew before grabbing the next bite….not sure if this is just Emma, or all kids go thru this??  My mom just loved watching her munch away on the popcorn!

Emma now knows her Por Por and Kung Kung’s name, so wonderful that she’s at an age where she can remember most things and talk about it.  On Friday my friend Amy was going to visit with Ella, I had told Emma someone special is coming to visit, can you guess who?  Emma’s response was, “Por Por”, I then said, No, want to guess again?  She said “Kung Kung”.  I’m glad she knows that her Por Por and Kung Kung are special to her.  We miss you Por Por and Kung Kung – Thank you for everything you did for us!  Can’t wait to see you soon!



Forest Hills Park with Por Por, Kung Kung and Saamie

It’s been a week now of just us and the girls.   So far it hasn’t been too bad.  With family in town, it had given me time to evaluate things and how I would go about my day with the kids.  We seem to have a nice routine going right now where Addi is up around 6am, feeds and goes back to sleep, Emma is up but thankfully will stay in her room until we go and get her around 7:30am.  We have until about 10am with Emma then Addi wakes again, then it’s lunch and play, then naptime for the girls, they overlap for probably an hour, but of course just when I think I can put my head down for just a few minutes, something happens that I can’t, Addi decides to wake, needs a feed and by the time that is done, it’s almost time for Emma to wake up.  Rod gets home for work, and straight away it’s dinner, short time for play, then bath time and bedtime.  We’re all done by 8:30/9pm, and then it’s out rest time…by this time we’re just ready to collapse on the couch and veg, but you look at the kitchen and see all the dishes to be washed up and toys to be packed away.  You try get an early night, but our early seems to be anytime after 11pm!  It’s real busy busy these days, but when you hear Emma jabbering away asking all her questions, and Addison crying for attention or giving out a little “eh” kind of laugh to join in the conversation, you forget about the lack of sleep and just can’t believe how lucky we are to have such two special girls!  Life is good!