So Blessed

Can't believe that we were swimming on Sunday and sweating from the heat, and today, two days later, we are freezing! What the heck is going on?? (Not that I complain, I prefer winter).











Zander loves water! I took this photo on Sunday.

The past weekend I had my best friend and my cousin over for a visit. Chris made the suggestion that we all go to Klipdrift dam on Sunday for some fun with the boat. Chris has a rubber duck.


We had a lot of fun and all in all it was a lovely, fun filled day. We had people fishing just a few metres away from us, and two of the guys asked Chris and Chris' friend, Abrie, to tow them on the half pipe. (A 2-metre big blown up tube thing) The guys were big and I would guess each weigh at least 150 Kg, which meant that should they fall off, they would have to put in a lot of effort to get back on the tube from within the water which means that we were eagerly waiting in anticipation for Chris to throw them off the half pipe!

The next moment, exactly that happened and we were cracking ourselves, imagining how those to blocks of men are going to battle to get back on, and it's too far away to swim back. What we didn't see was that the whole boat has tipped over as well!!! When I saw it, I looked again as it was like I didn't want to see what I was actually seeing. I was horrified at the sight. I didn't care about the boat, but it was too far for me to see if everyone was ok. First thing I thought was how I'll have to raise Zander on my own.

My cousin and I immediately got into my car and went to the shop close by to find help as we didn't yet saw anyone else with boats on the dam that day. The owner of the resort promised to come with his boat within a few minutes and I sped back to the dam. I was informed that it seems like everyone is fine from the side. The people next to us had binoculars and could see all four men, trying to swim (pull) the tipped rubber duck out.

I was relieved that Chris was ok, but inside I was also very angry with him for some unexplained reason.

The men and a lot of other fishermen managed to turn the boat around once the owner helped to pull them out to safety. The boat is fine, and so is everyone else. I thank the Dear Lord for that.

It could have been so different...

Zander said his first word last night! Chris and I looked at each other to confirm that it wasn't our imagination after Zander looked up at his daddy and said "Mamma", which is Afrikaans for Mommy. It was such a beautiful moment, which we will cherish forever. This morning he was talking a lot and said "Mamma" and "baba" (baby) over and over, confirming that it isn't our imagination. He's such a delight!


Zander will be 8 months old on 18 November 2009 and seems like he wants to start crawling. We're holding our breath in anticipation, as we know when he starts crawling the hard work for us will start! We already started baby proofing our home in a way, but still have a lot to do. We've put plastic plugs in the plug sockets, plastic corners on the glass tables' corners and we also got a playpen. There is still a lot we have to do.

We have to move all medicines and cleaning products to safe places and we also have a big problem with our swimming pool. I would like suggestions on that, as we are very worried but also very confused as to what to do regarding the pool. The pool is fenced in, but that unfortunately means nothing. My best friends' baby girl, Dominique, climbed over their pool's fence a few years ago and drowned. Dominique was 2 1/2 years old. :-(

Our pool is way too big for a safety net, and shaped in a club form. We thought about electrifying the pool fence, arguing that we'd rather let him shock, and learn from that, than drown. It's a bit harsh though and any other suggestions will be very much appreciated. What would you have done?