Snow

The decision to go to the coast on holiday and use the time to think and consider our options proved to be interesting. Fortunately the good news that came out of the ‘holiday for contemplation’ is that there is no immediate need for further surgery. Prof Taylor in Cape Town reviewed my case thoroughly and determined that given my excellent development a further intervention is not needed. There appears to be some balance in the fistula drainage and brain drainage of blood, which is also news worth knowing. So for now we are going to gather information from other doctors and see what the Pretoria doctors come back with. I still face the usual daily risks associated with my condition. Until I’m cured these remain ever-present.

Getting back to my holiday, I had an awesome time at the coast, despite the weather being a little poor on a couple of days. Monday I started the day by smearing Granny’s lipstick all over my Prof Zee from Cars 2. I then spent longer trying to clean all the lipstick off of him. We then walked up to Umhlanga Sands Lifestyle Resort from our Resort to have breakfast at the Spur. It was so nice and quiet and I practically had the play area all to myself.

The mandatory visit to Joyland followed breakfast where I played up a storm on the arcade machines and rode on all the rides and won a bunch of redeemable tickets from the machines. Walking back to Cabana Beach Lifestyle Resort it started raining! We got pretty wet, but enjoyed the adventure. I hoped into a hot bath at our ‘holiday home’ to get warm.

Tuesday morning the weather was still poor, but I insisted on a beach visit. There Dad and I played in the sand building sand castles and my new favourite beach construction – bridges. It started drizzling so we took cover under on the beach stage. While we were waiting there Dad started telling us that our friends back home had started spotting snow. This sounded exciting, and I was hoping to get to see some.

It was clear the rain on the beach wasn’t subsiding, so for the second time in as many days we bolted to our ‘holiday home’ in the rain. We spent the afternoon at The Gateway Theatre of Shopping which is a super stunning mall, and most of all, it’s got the best Toys-R-Us ever. There I found a toy I’ve been wanting for ages – the Alien Claw from Toy Story 3. The adults relented. I also know that they’re pretty weak, so pretty soon we left with bags of new toys for me.

By Wednesday the weather was starting to improve in terms of the rain, but now it was really cold. We discovered that for the first time in South Africa’s recorded history all nine provinces had had snow simultaneously. I still hadn’t seen any. We headed back to The Gateway Theatre of Shopping where Dad and I spent close to four hours play at Mr Funtubbles which is a huge indoor play area with lots and lots of rides, including some really big ones like a swing ride, a rocking tug boat, race tracks, aeroplanes, bumper cars and lots of ticket dispensing gaming machines. We had a ball!

We were back on the beach on Thursday where it was actually quite hot in the sun. When it was too hot to stay on the beach we headed to the pool at the resort where I swam. In the afternoon we played some ‘tennis’ and I exercised in the gym. In the early evening we all took a pleasant stroll along the promenade to see Umhlanga Lighthouse and head out onto Umhlanga Pier.

Friday we started at the pool and then spent until lunchtime playing ball on the lawns. We took a walk to Umhlanga Sands Lifestyle Resort to have lunch at the Spur. Once again a really good option. A quick walk to the Lighthouse and Pier later in the afternoon to say goodbye, as we were leaving the next day.

It was sad Saturday morning having to pack all our things and check out of our resort, but we all knew that we’d back again. The drive back to Jo’burg started with the grand plan of passing Mandela’s Capture Site outside of Howick, on the R103 and then heading along the R103 to Mooiriver in search of snow. Unfortunately we missed the off-ramp for the Capture Site. Instead we took the Nottingham Road off-ramp much further up the N3. There was major excitement in the car as en route we saw the white peaks of the Drakensberg.

Success! Just before Nottingham Road we discovered heaps of snow on the side of the road. We pulled over, climbed a fence and played to our hearts content in the frozen white. I found walking in the snow curious, and I slipped and fell a few times, which is all part of the deal. Daddy made some snowballs and managed to nail Mommy with them. We eventually had to leave the snow and head home. The rest of the drive wasn’t as exciting, and I managed to snooze much of the way.

It was really cold at home, so Sunday we decided to not even leave the house. I reacquainted myself with my toys and played up a storm.

Sadly tragedy struck while we were away. Although Mommy and Daddy haven’t told me, and I haven’t asked, three of our cats were killed on Tuesday. It was a sad string of unfortunate events; because of the icy cold Mom and Dad asked the maid to keep the dogs inside with her. When she left, she left the dogs in the house, and because of the cold, she closed all the windows. What happened between then and when our house sitter got home was that Shatzi, Sonic and Milo were massacred by Lucy (the dog we’re fostering) and Roxy. Robin came to help the house sitter with clearing the scene and took care of things so that I didn’t have to see the carnage.

RIP Sonic, Shatzi and Milo.

Love,

Jarrod

Playing in the Snow – Video 1 and Video 2

Playing at Mr Funtubbles – Video 1 and Video 2

Photo 1 Getting lipstick off Professor Zee

Photo 2 Mom, Granny and I spider stomping

Photo 3 Yay! Tickets

Photo 4 Pilot Jay-Bee

Photo 5 Happiness

Photo 6 Doing my makeup

Photo 7 Racing with Mom

Photo 8 Mom and I on the balloons

Photo 9 Barney and I on the swing ride

Photo 10 Loving it!

Photo 11 Swiiiiiing

Photo 12 Some basket ball

Photo 13 Time to fly

Photo 14 Solo racing

Beach photos . . .

Photo 15 Exercise time

Photo 16 Wheeeeeee

Photo 17 The locals

Photo 18 Me on a time-out

Photo 19 Hiya with a light sabre

Photo 20 Hectic day poolside

Photo 21 Swimming

Photo 22 Playing ball

Photo 23 Reaching out

Photo 24 On the Pier

Photo 25 Umhlanga Pier

Photo 26 Umhlanga Lighthouse

Photo 27 Being cute

Photo 28 Until next time!

Photo 29 Snowman time at Nottingham Road

Photo 30 Snow walk

Photo 31 The Drakensberg

Photo 32 Pit stop

Photo 33 Although we missed the snow in Jo’burg, this is my favourite snow photo – a lion at the Jo’burg Zoo (republished with the permission of Lorna Fuller)