We planned our trip to South Africa, months ago, as you know and amazingly the time dragged on as we waited for this trip and then, just like that it was over but the memories we made from this trip and the time spent with our families has been overwhelming and so so so special.
As Darian was going to be away for a full month, we took a few snaps on his last day at daycare. He seemed to take forever to say goodbye to his teachers and friends, and would not leave without saying goodbye to his new favourite teacher, Young (the only male teacher at the centre).
In the photo's below, Darian is hugging Rianna, his little girlfriend, the two of them are joined at the hip and although "Na" (what Darian calls her) is a few days older than Darian, he is totally smitten with her. And then you can see him playing outside, he took forever to play as if he knew he wouldn't play there for a while.
As this was the official last day for him in the Babies room, I had to take a pic with him and his two teachers who looked after him so well for the past one and a half years. Sam (holding Darian) is the senior teacher in the babies room and absolutely loves our little boy and we are so happy that in the time we were in SA, she was moved to the Over 2's room so she gets to look after Darian now that he has transitioned. Maylin (on the right) has been looking after Darian since he was 6 months old. I always teased her that he was more her baby than mine. He calls her May-May and she nicknamed him Dae-Dae, a name he calls himself! I'm so grateful for these amazing women who have been so good at taking care of my baby and helping him develop into the little munchkin he is today. They've taught him so much and I know their influence on him will always be imprinted on his psyche.
So, the trip to South Africa started on Thursday, 10 April with a very early start. We had a 7am flight so had to be at the airport at 5am. The shuttle picked us up at about 4:15am and in the cold Auckland weather we headed off to Auckland international Airport. Darian woke up as we got into the shuttle, and was so excited that we were on the move. It's like he knew something great was about to happen. We checked in about 5am and then headed to the International Departure lounge. Darian didn't want to be in the pram so going through security, we were the parents with the screaming child. Most were accommodating, so that was good, an old couple even stopped to try and assist me while Cameron went into a shop to get last minute supplies and gifts for home. We got onto our flight, without much hassle and Darian was so excited to sit in his seat and put on the earphones and seatbelt. He sat still and watched Peppa Pig all through take off and once we were in the air he wanted to look out the window. He was very well behaved, even ate some yoghurt and toast from the breakfast tray.
He was very well behaved on the plane and we were very grateful. He fell asleep as we moved from one gate to the next and although we thought we wouldn't make it onto the next plane, through mistakes made by the check-in clerk at Auckland International, we got straight onto the Sydney-Jo'burg flight with a sleeping toddler.
*Just a side note, the help offered at Sydney International was invaluable, without their expedient help and eye for detail we would have surely missed our flight, but I'm grateful God had his hand on us and even though Air NZ had failed to check us into the next flight and had not checked in our baggage, we managed to get this all sorted at the Transfer desk in Sydney with the help of a wonderful Qantas assistant.*
Darian slept for about 5 hours on the plane and when he woke up we gave him dinner. Then he wanted to walk around the plane a few times. He then played games and watched videos on the Samsung tablet we had bought especially for this moment and then slept another hour or two before we landed. He was amazing and we were so relieved as we were expecting him to be as miserable as he was on our last trip to Sydney over Christmas.
We got to Johannesburg airport only to find out that Cameron's baggage was left in Sydney (along with a few other passengers bags) so had to check in only Darian & my bags to Durban. Thankfully his bag arrived Saturday afternoon so he didn't have to go too many days without his stuff. We arrived in Durban and as the plane landed Darian fell asleep, to our disappointment, as we were really interested to see his reaction to everyone when we landed. But as soon as we got to everyone, Ricky (Cam's uncle) politely grabbed Darian out of my arms and carried him and he then woke up about 10 mins later, bright eyed and bushy tailed. He loved all the attention, well after he made sure we were still around, and yes he needed a little cuddle from mum first but once we were at home he was so happy to be running around and playing with everyone.
Our first night was as expected, catching up with everyone and relishing being back home. Unfortunately on our second night Cam had a few people over for drinks and sometime that evening, while Darian & I slept on one room and Cam's parents in another, someone rummaged through my stuff and stole some of my jewellery, including my wedding rings, and R800 cash out of Cam's dad's wallet. We woke up Saturday morning to discover this and, needless to say it pretty much ruined the excitement we had of being home. Cam's mum had organised a few of the ladies in the family (including mine and Shamini's mum) to attend a charity breakfast for the Feed the Babies Fund at the Hilton Durban.
That morning I had woken up and started getting my things ready and although I noticed my suitcase open, didn't think twice of it as I though, "oh I must've left it open". But when I started getting my jewellery out I realised my rings weren't where I left them and then panic set in. I searched the whole suitcase (upturned everything) and Cam's mum moved the bed to look under it and found one of my earrings, then I realised that a few of my earrings were also missing. When she checked Cam's dad's wallet and we realised money was also missing, we knew then that it wasn't just me having a lapse in memory but rather that someone had taken it. We went on with the day nonetheless, me holding back the tears and smiling through it all. And that evening Cameron and his dad went to the Police Station to report it. The worst part was that Saturday was our 6th Wedding Anniversary, needless to say, the saddest one we've had.
Our First week was somewhat uneventful, we spent most days trying to get Darian into a routine. The jetlag did get to him as he was sleeping at all odd times and although he would go down for a nap, he would sleep for like 3-4 hours during the day and then at night would sleep between 11pm and midnight but at least we got a bit of a sleep in as he was sleeping til 9am! We did manage to do some shopping and visit our old favourite place to be, Gateway Theatre of Shopping and also managed to visit Suncoast Casino, where we had gone for lunch on Pam's (Cam's aunt) birthday on Monday the 14th. Darian had a grand ole time playing at the kids playcentre at Spur Restaurant at Suncoast.
As Darian and my dad share the same birthday (April 16th) we had to have a celebration with the two of them together, so we headed off to Wimpy at Windermere Centre for a birthday breakfast. Darian really clicked with dad, this was the first time they had ever met. We had a really good catch up and after breakfast said our goodbyes and headed home. It was a rainy day but still so humid, so although all the Durbanites were wearing boots, scarves and the like, we were in shorts and tees... to used to NZ weather!
Dad & Darian at breakfast on April, 16th - celebrating their shared birthday
At Gateway Theatre of Shopping
At Suncoast Casino
Back home, my mum came over and brought Darian his gifts, a race car and a semi-truck with a boat on its trailer, and he was totally thrilled with it (thanks mum). We then spent the day just relaxing and enjoying our little 2 year old. Darian and Granny (my mum) played a new game which became the game for the holiday. He would stand at one end of the drive at Cam's parents place and mum would say "Ready, Steady, Go" and he would jet off, speeding down to the other end of the drive. He would do this over and over and over until he was exhausted. But every time, my mum said "go" he would laugh with delight and then take off. He soon learned that granny wasn't the only one who knew this game and he would "teach" everyone that came over, his new game.
Playing "Ready, Steady, Go" with Granny
We then had dinner and Cams dad brought home a cake for Darian so we got to sing "Happy Birthday" to him and have some cake.
Singing Happy Birthday to our now 2 year old
Having some birthday cake
That Thursday I headed off to the hair salon (my old hairdresser) who happens to now live & work out of the house I lived in when I was in high school. So it was surreal going to the house and being in the place where I spent my teen years. Colleen (hairdresser) gave me a semi-new look. For those who don't know, I've been natural for a few months now. From the age of 6, I've always had my hair chemically straightened (or relaxed) and late last year I decided (after heaps of research) that it was time to see what my natural hair looks like. So I cut my hair into a shoulder length bob, cutting off all the relaxed parts and as it never really had a style, I decided to go further and do a BIG CHOP. And thankfully I had Cameron in my corner, motivating me to "do something different". Colleen was so keen and grateful that I had decided to go natural, she says she's trying to get all her clients to go natural but I guess it's not easy, it's hard to change a mindset when we've been taught that straight is best and curly aint! So we did the big chop and then decided that the next week I would come back for a colour.
This is me after the Big Chop.
And me after the colour (done about a week after the cut)
So we went into the weekend, getting ready for Darian's big birthday bash. That story deserves it's own spotlight so I'll have to do it's own little post.
Stay tuned!
Corrinne
1 comment:
Yay for blogging again. I am trying to get caught up on mine but with a newborn its a little more challenging!
Loved the videos. Darian so stinking cute. And your hair ... wow what a change. You look great!
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