Gilbert, Borger, The Netherlands

Michele_one_L


Posted Jan 1, 2008, 8:55 pm
Hello, My name is Gilbert! I'm a chubby little piglet who wants to see the world. I'm looking forward to meeting other TV's and people. If you would like to host we please contact my mom (Michele) and she will set everything up.

Oink, Oink
Gilbert
Michele_one_L


Posted Jan 1, 2008, 9:04 pm
I woke up this morning and didn't even know it was a new year. I must have enjoyed myself a little too much last night. Since it was a new year I asked my mom if we could go outside and play. She said no because it was snowing. I had to look for myself, sure enough it was snowing. Darn!
My uncle Piggy and I decided to watch TV since we couldn't go outside. We watched the Food Network, my favorite! I don't what they were making but it sure looked good.
Michele_one_L


Posted Jan 14, 2008, 6:20 pm
I'm so excited! Today I'm leaving for California, finally some warm weather. Mom says she's going to miss me like crazy. I told her I will be okay. Hopefully I can find a travel buddy to keep me company. I wonder if I'll see any movies stars? Here I am I'm all ready for my travel container. Don't I look cute? I'll be in touch soon. Oink Oink Gilbert
Michele_one_L


Posted Feb 2, 2008, 12:33 pm
Happy Birthday Gilbert!

We haven't heard from you since you left, I hope that everything is okay? Keep us updated! We hope that you have a wonderful birthday.

We love and miss you!
Violette28


Posted Feb 9, 2008, 9:12 pm
I have made so many friends since coming to California! Its so much fun here.

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Today Henry arrived here. He has been travelling the USA trail and I bet he has a lot of neat stories to tell!

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Violette28


Posted Feb 9, 2008, 9:17 pm
As you might know, it was my birthday a few days ago.  I didn't think it was going to be a big deal but my TV friends threw me a party!!!!!!

Here I am with all of them.

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It was a good day. I can't believe I am already 6 years old! I am getting to be an old pig.  ;)
Violette28


Posted Feb 9, 2008, 9:23 pm
Wow! It is so sunny and nice here in California. It feels like summer....


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I decided to take a trip outside and explore since it is such a beautiful day!

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They have a swimming pool, but it was to cold to swim in.

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I wonder what other adventures I will have in California... :)
Michele_one_L


Posted Feb 26, 2008, 2:42 pm
Gilbert, I miss you and hope that you are doing okay. I haven't heard from you or Violette28 in awhile. I'm worried about you!

Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 8, 2008, 7:41 pm
I arrived home today and I'm SO happy to be here! Mom was so excited to see me....I thought she may have forgotten who I was.  :thinking: Upon returning home I was surprised to see so many TV's here. Everyone was so friendly and they all welcomed me with open arms.
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 8, 2008, 7:43 pm
Today we took a little drive to visit our mom's in laws.  :rolleyes: Mom said that she doesn't like going to their house but that she goes for her husband. They live in a town called Potsdam. It's rural so there isn't much if anything to do there. At least we got to tag along...
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 8, 2008, 7:45 pm
Tonight we were going to sleep in an RV! Michele's in laws don't have a guest bedroom so it's either we sleep in the RV or in the car. Michele said she was not sleeping in the car! Since Daryl and mom weren't tired they decided to play card games. We were excited because we could play too. Muumipeikko, Bellatrix and I help shuffle the cards. Pebbels, Resi, Willy Wau and HitchaRideMo helped deal, while Mausi and TheoSheep gave you a card on your turn (if you needed one).
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 8, 2008, 7:46 pm
Finally it was morning! Mom was up early getting everything ready to load into the car. One would think that she didn't want to be at her in laws any longer.  :) We all sat on the couch in the RV and waited to be loaded into her bag.
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 8, 2008, 8:03 pm
It's been a slow and boring week for us. Mom has been trying to find a job and going on interviews so she hasn't had a lot of extra time for us.

Tonight she told us how sorry she was. To try and make up for it she gave us some ice cream! Ice Cream is pretty good but we told her that she will have to do better than that.  :rolleyes:

Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 8, 2008, 8:25 pm
Today Pebbels left! We said our goodbyes and wished Pebbels well.
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 11, 2008, 12:57 am
Today we had to say goodbye to Muumipeikko, Mausi and HitchaRideMo. Surprisingly they were all going to the same place.  :) We said our goodbyes and wished them all well.
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 2:15 am
It's been a pretty uneventful week! My mom has been searching for  a job so we've had to fend for ourselves lately. It's been okay since there are a couple of TV's here.

Today it was SOOO hot out! Mom's husband put the air conditioner in so we didn't over heat. Since it was so hot they decided to grill instead of cooking inside. Thank goodness!  :rolleyes: For dinner mom's husband made hamburger patties and we got to watch. It was interesting....He added all different types of ingredients and sauces, it sure smelled delicious!
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 2:26 am
We didn't dare go outside in the heat to help with the hamburgers. Mom said that her husband will take care of it. Phew.... :)

Once everything was ready we gathered at the table for a bit of the burger. We were told that if you are going to eat something unhealthy then you also need to eat something healthy. The salad was okay, but the burger was out of this world!!! Mom's husband is a good cook (shh...don't tell him though).  ;)
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 2:53 am
After dinner mom's husband asked if we wanted to go outside and toast marshmallows? We really had to think about it since it was so hot but we decided that it would be fun. Boy, when you add the heat of the grill to the temperature it's unbearable! We got a little help and we were thankful! The marshmallows were warm and gooey.... It's just what you need to get your fur tangled.  :) Luckily that didn't happen to any of us.

Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 3:50 pm
As we were getting ready to go back inside we saw a little squirrel on the porch. Since Resi was the only one who could speak squirrel, we sent her to talk to him.

It took her awhile to tell us what he was saying to her. Finally after begging her she told us that his name is Chipper. She said that she's in love!!!  :thinking: WHAT? Someone yelled you just met him how do you know that your in love? Oh no! Our host asked him if he wanted to come inside so we can get to know him better. 
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 4:19 pm
This morning our host was cleaning in her spare/computer room when she yelled "OH NO!" We had no idea what could be wrong but she came out carrying a small box. She told us that she received this box a few days ago and put it in the spare room when her mom came to visit.

There was a long pause that was filled with guilt and sadness! She told us that there is a TV in the box!  :thinking: She quickly opened the box to see who was in there...... We were all expecting the worst but 2 pink ears popped up. It took awhile but finally we saw that it was Candy Cotton! Everyone was able to breath a sigh of relief. Candy Cotton was healthy and well, she told us that she slept a lot and read her travel journal to pass the time.
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 8:52 pm
This evening we decided to play Disney Monopoly. It was SO much fun! Bellatrix, Theo Sheep and I were one team and Candy Cotton, Willy Wau and Resi were the other team. We used Nemo as our token and the other team used Sully and Boo.

Sadly after a few hours of playing we weren't doing so well. We had a lot of property with traffic cones (houses) but they weren't landing on them very often. But of course we kept landing on their properties.

In the end we lost!
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 9:32 pm
For some reason it was cool out today! We aren't complaining after all of the hot weather we've experienced lately. For lunch we shared some ramen noodles with mom. They were yummy but a little difficult for us to eat.
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 11:29 pm
An envelope arrived today and we just knew that it was another TV! To our surprise there were 2 TV's in the envelope....It was my half brother's RonnieNHammie. They seemed happy to be home and we were happy to see them.
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 11:31 pm
Mom got a new job recently and today we got to ride in the car with her to the studio where she will train. It was raining out and we heard on the radio that it was supposed to rain all day.
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 22, 2008, 11:44 pm
Another envelope arrived today! We were excited to see who it could be. Mom said that had no idea who it could be. We watched as mom opened the envelope....out popped Bene. He seemed very happy to be here. Of course we welcomed him with open arms!
Michele_one_L


Posted Jun 26, 2008, 5:38 pm
Today I was leaving home on another journey! I was nervous because my first trip didn't turn out to well. Mom promised that this one would be better, I sure hope she's right. Anyhow I said goodbye to all of my friends then it was off to the post office.

Vicki


Posted Jul 9, 2008, 8:20 pm
Hello there!! I have arrived! Safe and sound, whew! That was a long trip.
I arrived together with Purple Bun and there are already two TV's here, Emil and Grape Ape. Hey, Mom, Grape Ape and I meet again!! Who would have thought? All the way down here in Southern Africa!!

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Here we are all cuddled up together on Juanita's bed. Vicki has two children,Juanita and Nicholas, and they both want to look after us all, but Juanita booked us first.

Juanita walked around showing us both the house and said we should feel at home!

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Back on the bed again to catch up on some news, especially from Grape Ape. Apparently we arrived just too late for the trip to Durban. Imagine a trip with FOUR TV's and two children. Poor Vicki would have needed earplugs, if nothing else!!

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Er, hello, I don't believe we have been introduced....

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This is Juanita's friend Lacey! Wow! What fantastic luck! Another pig! And a GORGEOUS one at that!!

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So Lacey, I'm Gilbert, pleased to meet you.....


Later mom.....


Vicki


Posted Jul 13, 2008, 8:29 am
Juanita wanted to introduce us newcomers to her friends and show us her school and Grape Ape and Emil got to come along for the ride! Here we are in the Afrikaans class reading a book called 'Blinde Sambok' by Riaana Scheepers, which is their setwork for Afrikaans. This is one of the National languages and students at Juanita's school are allowed to choose between Afrikaans and Zulu and take it as an additional subject to Gr 12.

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I am sure I can get the hang of this...

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Here we are at break, soaking up the sun, chatting and making new friends!

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Juanita dropped us at Vicki's art class (Vicki teaches in the Primary School) and we helped the Gr 6 students to finish off their carnival masks, great fun!

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Er, guys.... please mind out for that glue gun!!

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As Vicki said... another busy day at the office!!
Vicki


Posted Jul 19, 2008, 9:46 am
Vicki strapped us all up with the safety belt in the car, we were going visiting.

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Our first stop was Mrs C's house. Vicki told her that it was Emil's last weekend visiting with her so Mrs C gave him a surprise farewell party! We had a lovely time chatting and telling stories of where we had been and who had hosted us.

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We were sad to leave, we had enjoyed our visit with the TV's Mrs C was hosting too but Vicki said we were visiting a children's home called 'Footprints'. Here we all are sitting on the sign.

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When we arrived, most of the children were still having their morning nap. They looked so cute lying there sleeping peacefully.

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Here are the ladies who care for the children, preparing their lunch.

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The children were playing out in the front garden, it was very cold though.

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These two were kept entertained for a long time with this trolley!

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They have the beginnings of a farmyard and here is the cheeky goat called 'Clyde' who wants to head-butt everyone! And the cutest little pigs called 'Crispy' and 'Bacon'.

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Juanita was introducing us. (At least I am clean and pink and not so smelly!!) But we made friends, they were great fun and we had a good time. Bacon kept biting everyones shoes!

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One of the children really liked me and held me tight. We went for a ride in the wheelbarrow. (Vicki, please don't leave me here!!) 

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We kept the children company while they had lunch.

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Juanita propped us all on the statue of David in the front garden and the children laughed!!

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Vicki and her children visit often and take clothes and toys  which they collect from anyone who is willing to give. The Gr 9 classes at Juanita's school all collect toiletries on a regular basis to donate to the home.We said our goodbyes after having a lovely time.

We drove back home past the Zandspruit Squatter Camp. Vicki hates to see all this poverty. Some 'entrepreneurs' are selling their wares on the side of the road.

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It was a really gloomy day and these Glossy Starlings sitting in the tree were complaining too.

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When we got home, Ken had made a lovely log fire and it was so warm, we all sat around chatting and watching tv.

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Vicki


Posted Jul 19, 2008, 11:02 am
Sunday was as gloomy and miserable as Saturday.

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Vicki had to catch up with marking test papers, so we hung around and watched.

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And then moved on to sit with Nicholas cuddled up watching tv.

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Juanita had to study, she is busy with examinations at school. We helped Vicki wake her up.

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We helped Vicki mark some of the student's art work too.

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Wow! This desk is a mess!!

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We had a relaxing day. Hope the sun shines tomorrow!
Vicki


Posted Jul 27, 2008, 9:48 am
Vicki introduced us to Abeeku, the new TV that arrived! Now there are four of us again!

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She also showed us some of her children's art. Grape Ape had told us about it.

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We went to school with Vicki again, she told her students about us and explained about toyvoyagers and we helped in the Art class again. Grape Ape decided to stay at home and relax, he wasn't in the mood for Art again!

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When we got home, Vicki served up some delicious strawberries!! Yum!

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Vicki


Posted Jul 27, 2008, 10:03 am
Another quiet day, we took a stroll around the garden, Vicki promised things would get more exciting as the holidays were coming up in a week's time. They all finish school on 1 Aug and are on holiday for one month!! Yay! Juanita has also promised to draw my portrait, which is one of my missions and I am very excited about that!!

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I sat on the swing, Vicki's children don't use it much anymore but other small children that visit really enjoy it. Did you see the 'Stag Horn Fern' that is growing in the Pepper Tree?? It's huge!

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It was good to get some fresh air outside and chat with Purple Bun. I have been visiting with Lacey, a bit too much maybe!?!

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Grape Ape and I also had a bit of 'catch up' time.

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This is a metal crocodile that is made as a garden ornament. He comes from Zimbabwe.


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Vicki


Posted Aug 2, 2008, 5:15 pm
Hi Mom! Just a quick hello!
Vicki saw that one of my missions was to 'ride in a Louis Vuitton purse or something similiar' and wondered if a 'Guess' bag, or two, would do?? I had the pleasure of being escorted around in each of these bags for the day...

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Quite a luxurious ride!
Vicki


Posted Aug 31, 2008, 11:54 am
Hello again after soooo long. Vicki feels bad that she hasn't updated for so long, we have a lot of catching up to do!! Here are some pics from before we even went away...
Juanita took some photos of me to help her draw the portrait...

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These are some of the beautiful flowers that Vicki was given by her students before breaking up from school for the holidays. And the whole gang posed...

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Vicki


Posted Aug 31, 2008, 12:25 pm
We went up Northcliff Hill to the top of the ridge to see Johannesburg and it's northern suburbs from there.

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This is the view to the south of Johannesburg and the CBD, but most of the business has moved to a more upmarket area called Sandton.

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The buildings in the distance are the Sandton CBD.

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Lacey was allowed to join us on this trip and here we are with the famous Northcliff Water Tower behind us. Very romantic all this scenery!

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Here's the whole gang again...

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Lacey and I managed to just sit and chat for a while, taking in the gorgeous views. (It was a long way down...!)

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We drove around and saw the mine dumps that are dotted around Johannesburg. This is the waste, left over after removing the gold from the rocks. With improved technology though, these mine dumps are being recycled and even more gold is being removed from them.

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Back at Vicki's house, this is the view of Northcliff Ridge, (where we had just been), from Vicki's back garden.

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It was such a glorious day that we all sat at the pool, soaking up the sun, except for Grape Ape who was complaining that he was getting too hot!

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We even jumped on the trampoline with Juanita! Wow! What fun, just had to watch that we didn't knock heads!

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And finally the same view by night, and Vicki's garden too.

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Vicki


Posted Aug 31, 2008, 1:20 pm
Great excitement!! We visited Gold Reef City. http://www.goldreefcity.co.za/home/index.asp

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This is Johannesburg's theme park, which is tiny compared to American standards but none-the-less, it has rides which the visitors enjoy and the park is built around the mine shaft and old gold mining town.

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We had so much fun on the rides with Nicholas and Juanita and their two friends. You can see one of the rollercoasters behind us in the photo.

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We wet on the 'Dreamboat' too!! Nicholas' face was white as a sheet!

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This was about the only ride Vicki went on. She's a bit of a 'ninny' when it come to rides and said she would hold the cameras, cellphones, jackets, etc. And besides, someone had to take photos!! Good excuse Vicki!!

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The view from the top! And the theme park map.

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We weren't allowed on the River Ride because Vicki said we would get wet! Well look at the drowned rats that stepped off the River Ride!

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The Runaway Train was cool though....

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We had to catch our breath after that!

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We sat with all the toys that the children won knocking over skittles, etc.

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When we had gone on every ride that was open (some twice!), Vicki said it was time to go home!

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What a fun filled day, exhausting but great!





Vicki


Posted Sep 3, 2008, 8:01 pm
Well it is the holidays and we're off on another adventure....
this time a visit to the Origins Centre. Origins Centre

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All six TV's went along together with Vicki's children, Mrs C and her children and Mrs C's 6 TV's too!!!
Here we are sitting on the map of Africa.

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The museum was very interesting, all about the origins of humankind and concentrating on the San people (Bushmen) of Southern Africa and other early tribes found here.

There were many examples of rock art and rock engraving.

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There were replicas of the engravings on the concrete floor of the museum.

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The Eland is an antelope which has strong significance in the beliefs of the San people and the 'Trance Dance' was inspired by it too. The San danced themselves into a trance, for rain and to get strength from the spirits.

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Many philanthropic people tried to help the ancient tribes and record some of their history as they saw that the European settlers were busy exterminating them. Ms Lloyd and her uncle were such people.

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All the sad tales have been recorded so that people may learn from this history and not let it happen again. One of the insciptions says 'I am the wind that blows away the footprints of the dead...' ,very sad!

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We had to keep our eyes on Holiday Harry!!

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This is a replica of a burial of a young girl, she was buried with shells and necklaces.

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Well this was all very interesting but a little depressing and I sure hope the next stop involves a bit more 'fun stuff'!!






Vicki


Posted Sep 5, 2008, 3:33 pm
Today we visited Mrs C to fetch Jubilee Bunny. We were going on holiday and she was coming with us. We all posed for a group photo! Can you see me?

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Sooo many toyvoyagers visiting in South Africa at the same time, it's great!
Vicki


Posted Sep 5, 2008, 4:09 pm
We packed our bags, there was great excitement, everyone talking together.... we got on the plane and almost two hours later we were in a town called George, situated on the beautiful Garden Route in the Western Cape.

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Our first stop was the Wilderness Beach. It was beautiful but unfortunately the water was very cold!

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Nicholas and Juanita took us to feel the water which was freezing! We decided to sit on the car bonnet and admire the scenery rather.

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Sputnik and Holiday Harry were getting up to there pranks again!! Hope Vicki doesn't drive off now...

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This is the view from the top of the hill. Just hold on tight Juanita please! It is a looong way down! A really pretty place though.

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Around the corner, the river joins the sea and the railway bridge crosses over the Keurbooms River.

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Sitting by the toasty fire at Vicki's step sister, Melinda's, house. It's quite chilly outside.

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I could just doze off right here....
Vicki


Posted Sep 5, 2008, 6:30 pm
Woke up to this beautiful view of the mountains.

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We were off to Oudtshoorn for some sightseeing. First stop the swing bridge. Nicholas was shaking the bridge as we walked across and making it swing and Juanita was shouting at him, we were all laughing.

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Went to buy ostrich biltong for Vicki's stepfather. Biltong is a dried meat that is eaten all over South Africa as a snack and here it is made from ostrich meat. This meat has become very popular as it is cholesterol free. It tastes very nice too.

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Oudtshoorn is full of beautiful old buildings built during the ostrich feather boom.

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The weather in Oudtshoorn was glorious and we drove through the Outeniqua mountains to get back to George, through the clouds.

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We stopped at a viewing point but it was so cold nobody wanted to venture out of the bag. We were all cuddled up and warm!

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Abeeku, the teeniest of us all, couldn't see a thing out the top of the bag, so he volunteered to come out and see the view.

And what a stunning view! Whew! Pity is was so misty and cloudy, you couldn't really see George in the distance. The dirt road is the old Montague Pass road which was the first road made to cross over the mountains. I am still glad I didn't venture out of the bag...

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Vicki


Posted Sep 6, 2008, 3:59 pm
We loaded up the car and together with Vicki's mom and Juanita and Nicholas (the men had to stay behind and work!), Vicki drove us along the Garden Route to the Sunshine Coast and Port Alfred.

We drove over many rivers with beautifully designed bridges. The Storms River Bridge is one of the famous ones with it's deep gorge below. The story goes that the Italian architect who designed the bridge commited suicide by jumping off it because when the two sides were lowered they didn't meet exactly in the middle, there was a gap of a few centimetres!!

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We finally arrived (500km later...) at this most beautiful hotel. It was called the Fish River Sun

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Here we are getting some fresh air and admiring the fish pond at the entrance of the hotel.

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This is where we were staying for the next week, yay!! I could manage this luxury, I was sure!!

Vicki


Posted Sep 6, 2008, 4:35 pm
The Fish River Sun is actually 27km away from Port Alfred, so we took the little drive (after yesterday's 500km, it was little!!), and went to Port Alfred to do some sight seeing.

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The whole area is very picturesque! And Vicki took lots of photos...

We drove down the East Bank and the West Bank of the Kowie River, which the town is built around. Hey! The beach!! Stop! We want to get out! I bet this water is freezing too...

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Vicki did some fancy photo stitching. This is the beautiful marina. There are five islands with stunning homes on them and people get around by boat.

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Vicki said she could get used to this life, she wishes she could win the Lotto.













Vicki


Posted Sep 6, 2008, 5:18 pm
What many people don't know about Vicki, is that she is CRAZY about lighthouses! (And windmills but that's another story...). So here we are visiting the Great Fish Point lighthouse. South African Lighthouses. Lighthouse Adventures.

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Once again, we held on tight (what is it with these people and heights!?) and went up the 58 stairs to the top. This is the shortest lighthouse in South Africa. The guided tour was very interesting, the lighthouse keeper even showed us the original clockwork mechanism that was wound up every four hours. Now everything is automatic and generator driven.

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The view from the top. Wow!

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On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a little town called Bathhurst, which was established by the 1820 settlers who came from Britain to settle in the Cape. Here is the church that was built by them. The whole area has been declared a national monument.

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Enough for one day.... 'Home James'!

Vicki


Posted Sep 6, 2008, 5:38 pm
Aaaah! A beautiful sunshine day and we get to sit on the beach and feel the sand between our toes / hooves / paws, etc.

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Holiday Harry pulled out the towel and sunglasses and caught quite a tan!

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We walked down to the water and looked in the rock pools. The beaches are pristine, white, clean and untouched. Lots of shells around too.

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The hotel estate had its own nature reserve and a guide took us for a ride around on a tuc-tuc to see the animals, etc.

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Vicki's Mom couldn't help but feed this poor Vervet monkey. It didn't have any hands, poor thing.

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After the beach, we came to relax at the pool. The pool was heated, wooohoo!! We all had a lovely swim (and rinsed off the salt and sand!), even Vicki!!

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Vicki


Posted Sep 6, 2008, 5:57 pm
Time to say farewell to Fish River Sun and Port Alfred and move on.... we will miss you, what a lovely stay.

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Vicki told us all to stop moaning about the driving in the car. 'South Africa is a big country guys, if you want to see the places, you have to travel the distances!' That's what she said, and it seems her children know the drill, they said nothing! Anyway today's travelling wasn't too bad, only about 250kms! We stopped along the way and bought pineapples, they were huge!
Twelve pineapples for R15! Now that's a bargain!

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Another stop in Port Elizabeth to visit the small oceanarium they have there. A bit disappointing but the dolphins were very friendly, they wanted to play with the ball all the time. Vicki says the Ushaka Marine World in Durban is much better to visit.

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And pengiuns...

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Back on the road again, not far to Cape St Francis.

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Hooray! The end of the road for today....




Vicki


Posted Sep 6, 2008, 7:39 pm
Off to Jeffreys Bay, one of the famous surfing sights of the world!! Only the weather is a bit miserable and there don't seem to be too many waves to talk of. Not a surfer in sight!

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We had coffee and walked around the shops and then came back to our house which was called Anchorage. St Francis Bay, Port St Francis and Cape St Francis all make up the greater St Francis area. We are staying at Port St Francis, it's real pretty!
Vicki


Posted Sep 6, 2008, 8:31 pm
Another day, another lighthouse!

This one is the Cape St Francis Seal Point lighthouse!

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This time there were 157 stairs and Vicki made it almost half way and turned back. The stairs were too narrow and too steep. She gave the camera to Juanita who carried on up to the top but we came back with Vicki. Here's the view from the top though. The lighthouse is the highest concrete structure in the area.

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And the narrow stairs...

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We walked on the rocks beneath the lighthouse and collected some shells.

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There is a penguin rehabilitation centre next to the lighthouse but it was locked up and we couldn't go in, we saw the penguins through glass windows and a fence.

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This was the view from our room at our apartment in Port St Francis. Anchorage is made up of various apartments and has a mediterranean look.

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This was the view from the balcony with the sea and the beach behind us, we could watch the boats come into the harbour. Vicki's stepfather (he met us in Port St Francis) went and bought calamari (chokka) from the fishermen and cooked it for us. It was deeelicious!

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Here's the harbour which was a short walk away from our apartment.

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Vicki's stepfather collected mussels off the beach too (yes, you have to have a licence and for collecting shells too!) and they cooked and ate them too. They weren't bad tasting but I prefered the calamari.

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Vicki


Posted Sep 7, 2008, 6:58 am
Our last day at St Francis, aaaaahhh! We were having a fantastic time. Relaxing on the beach (they had a pool here too but it was not heated, brrr!), taking walks, taking afternoon naps (yeah!), playing cards, etc.
With Vicki around, we had to get some sight seeing done too! She found out that we missed visiting a lighthouse in Port Elizabeth (when we went to the oceanarium), and was most upset!
SO we decided to visit the Seal Point lighthouse one more time, at night time to see what it looked like in the dark!!

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Really beautiful!
Vicki


Posted Sep 7, 2008, 7:34 am
We packed our bags and back into the car (argh! Oops hope Vicki didn't hear that!), we drove back along the Garden Route to George. Luckily we stopped along the way to stretch our legs and see the sights!

First stop was the famous Bloukrans Bridge, apparently the world's highest Bungy Jump!! Not for me thank you! But Holiday Harry was keen. Vicki said that there was an age restriction, you have to be over 18. Thank goodness, because Juanita was dying to go and Vicki's Mom said if she was 20 years younger she would have done it too!! Poor Vicki!!

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We watched a few people jump and my stomach jumped too!! It was exciting to watch though.

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We drove through the Tsitsikamma Forest and the next stop was Plettenberg Bay. Vicki drove us to Robberg Beach, (she knows the area well because her family used to come to the Beacon Isle Hotel for holidays when she was young), and there we saw a whale!! In the shallow waters rolling around and playing. Not easy to get a photo of though!

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In the car for the last stretch, remembered not to grumble!! We drove past George onto Mosselbay. I was confused, weren't we going to George?? Another very picturesque town. Vicki decided since it was only 40kms from George, we should get to see it too!

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And then we discovered why Vicki thought it was a good idea to see Mosselbay.....

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ANOTHER LIGHTHOUSE!!!
That makes it three in one holiday!! And Vicki reminded us it could have been four if we hadn't missed Cape Recife in Port Elizabeth! Juanita said she wasn't getting out the car!! I agreed, before we were volunteered to climb to the top and take photos! Unfortunately (or fortunately!?) we arrived too late and the lighthouse keeper had already locked up.

We did get out and walk around a bit, more beautiful vistas...

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There were Rock dassies everywhere. They lived in the rocks around the lighthouse.

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Back home in George, we had supper and prepared for the journey back to Johannesburg on Saturday. Vicki was not keen to go back to the 'ratrace', she was happy to keep on driving, looking for more lighthouses.... nobody commented!







Vicki


Posted Sep 8, 2008, 6:54 am
Safely back home and I have a lovely surprise! Juanita finished my portrait!

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So what do you think Mom?? I was thrilled! Vicki said she would send it back to you because it might get damaged travelling around with me.

Spring has sprung in Johannesburg!! We are all sitting in the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow bush (or Brunsfelsia) and the smell is glorious! Can you see all eight of us?

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I was saying a quick goodbye to my friends (Lacey and I had a few private moments! I will miss her, had some fun times together!)because I was going to spend some time with Mrs C before leaving South Africa.

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I am sure I will see you one last time before I leave the continent though!?

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Good bye to all and to Vicki, she has tears in her eyes... always so emotional... thank you for the lovely time we spent together... Bye!
MrsC


Posted Sep 9, 2008, 10:13 pm
Well here we are in the car again! Fi and Vicki decided to take us to Museum Africa so see what it was all about...

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Wow! It is pretty huge in here, three open plan floors... the building used to be a fruit and vegetable market in the Old Days (you know, when Fi was a kid!)

Well we found some old suit cases, guess we are going on a journey...

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The Museum has all sorts of interesting thinks about South Africa on display, like clothing from the REALLY old days (ie. even BEFORE Fi!) like this...

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Here is what it says about that display:

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There is a huge hall dedicated to the 'Treason trial' that was held in the 1960s at the height of Apartheid. There are pictures of all the accused. One of the most famous:

Nelson Mandela

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This is what he said about it in his book...

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Each of the accused has a little red book under their photo that people can write comments in... Mandela's is handled so much that it is falling apart... it is filled with words of love and admiration.

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There was a lot more to that section but it was all very political so I won't bore you with it.

Next up: life in Johannesburg, before it was Johannesburg...

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This is a replica of an Iron Age Tswana house, impressive...but hey they were smart enough to smelt iron (iron melts at 1100°C / 2012°F) over half a century ago!

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This is what the smelt looked like, it was made from mud. It was quite a mission to melt the iron and required the efforts of at least ten people just to make one spear blade. It was always done outside the village because it was considered spiritual and mystical.

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From the Iron Age to the Gold age! Johannesburg is a gold mining town, still to this day and the mines go down several kilometres/miles.

The managers lived in fancy big houses and ruled with an iron fist. (we are talking late 1800’s to early 1900’s)

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The mine workers lived like this...

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Pretty shocking, hmmm? They worked long hours in terrible conditions, way underground, then came up and lived in quarters that were almost as cramped as the mines. They were not allowed to leave the property without a 'pass'. Because the miners came from so many different tribes and even other countries, and the bosses all spoke English or Afrikaans - they had to develop a new language called Funigalore so they could understand each other. It is still spoken in the mines today.

Also around this time, shanty towns were developing. One of these was called Sofiatown - it was the birthplace of modern South African music. Sofiatown was raised to the ground; all of the people who lived there were forcefully evicted, to make way for new developments.

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Here we are in a replica of a Sofiatown Shebeen (house where alcohol is sold illegally)

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This is the back room - see how it is lined with cardboard? This is still how it is done today, I'll show you in a bit...

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This is what the outside would have looked like...

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Then we moved on to a section which shows you how the shacks look today. THIS is how MILLIONS of people live in this country; often there is no running water or electricity.

The shack is built from 'found' items, usually corrugated sheet metal. Sometimes it is plastered with mud or old boards. It is then lined with cardboard from packaging boxes for insulation. Sometimes this is decorated with 'wallpaper' - old newspaper, adverts, sheets of uncut food canning labels... Cooking is done on a primus stove (fuelled by paraffin). These shacks are TINY and Fi felt very claustrophobic in them. Often you will find the whole place crowded with people living in there...

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The good news is that government is (very slowly) building houses for these people, with running water, electricity and other amenities. There is a huge, huge housing project just up the road from Fi called Cosmo City - proof that it is happening.

Now I am sure you have heard of Ghandi (kind of the Nelson Mandela of his day...)

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Well he lived in Johannesburg for a while, and the terrible suffering he witnessed and suffered from led him to start a movement for peace, called Satyagraha, which had a massive influence in India, the USA (with the African American Civil Rights movement) and locally.

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There were a lot of other exhibits but we were running out of time as it was a long journey back to fetch children from school. Also housed in the museum, is another museum! Called the BenSusan Museum of photography - Fi said that was for another day, but she did let us have a photo taken...

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Here we all are signing the visitor’s book...

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MrsC


Posted Sep 9, 2008, 10:55 pm
Well, after we left the museum, we went across the road to the Gauteng Tourist Information Centre (Gauteng is the province that Johannesburg is in).

Fi went to pick up some brochures of nice places to take ToyVoyagers...

Look who had also popped in! Hi Madiba! (Madiba is the nick name Mandela is known as in South Africa)

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And that is the president, Thabo Mbeki, in the middle photo.

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MrsC


Posted Sep 9, 2008, 11:00 pm
Well, I was supposed to be travelling off to The Netherlands, but I am squeezing in a very quick stop over with Fi as something special is happening this weekend apparently.

Wow, I thought there were a lot of TVs over at Vicki's house... there are just as many here!!!

Well, I wonder what we will be getting up to...
MrsC


Posted Sep 10, 2008, 11:44 pm
Threadbear and Eloise managed to keep a secret from us all until the last minute...

We thought we were just helping keep all the bears in order for a group photo before they left for the Teddy Bear Clinic...

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There was much giggling and chatting as everyone jostled for good positions. Threadbear eventually managed to get them all to calm down and then made an announcement.

He welcomed all the guests and thanked them for travelling from both near and far to help him on his quest. The he said that he had some good news, he and Eloise had recently gotten engaged! There was a ripple of excitement through the crowd and a few whistles and cheers from the rowdy section...”but”, he said, “we wanted all of you to be guests at our wedding before you leave for the Teddy Bear Clinic so... if you look at the end of the aisle, you will see the most beautiful, kind hearted bear I have ever laid eyes on...”

There was a very loud gasp as we all realised that we were at their wedding!

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Buttons walked Eloise down the aisle to give her away, Pinky Bearand Fiona were bridesmaids. Hector did the honours of best man.

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I could tell how happy Threadbear was as she walked closer and closer...

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The officiating bear asked who gave the bride away, and Buttons stepped forward to do the honours.

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Then they exchanged vows...

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Eloise said 'I do'…and Threadbear said 'I do'. (I heard a few sniffles in the crowd...)

The ring bear-er passed over the ring... well really it was a bracelet as bears have paws not fingers...

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The crowd gave a collective sigh...

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Then it was time for him to kiss the bride!

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Oh….that was lovely!

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They walked back down the aisle as bear and wife...

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We showered them with petals...

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Oh that was amazing! Everyone congratulated them
We went inside to have some wedding cake - Vicki brought a chocolate cake because that is way nicer than fruit cake....

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The bears preferred to have honey and large pots of it were provided. We had a whale of a party, we danced and chatted most of the night away...it was quite a whirlwind of an evening.

Soon, however it was time for them to leave. They climbed in the car...we had snuck out to decorate it…

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We gathered around to wave them off.

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Eloise threw back her bouquet...

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Pinky Bear caught it!!!


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And they were off...sigh…that was so romantic….

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MrsC


Posted Sep 11, 2008, 7:36 am
Well, I was supposed to be on my way to the Netherlands last week but Fi kept me for the weekend and now we know why!

As I was saying my goodbyes and getting ready to climb in my envelope she said, "hang on, I have something for you!"

Ta da! Just so I don't get cold on my travels in Europe....


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Ha ha ha! I love it - it matches my hair!

Thanks Fi, bye!

PS. Mom, I sent you a piggy postcard!

Marjolein


Posted Sep 16, 2008, 1:39 pm
Hello mom,

I arrived in The Netherlands! Wow that was fast! And I am very glad Fi made me my wonderful jersey, 'cause it's very chilling here! Meet my new friends:

Count, Hinz + Kunz, Ambrosius and Mulalu and of course my old friend Chompers.

Hugs
Marjolein


Posted Sep 24, 2008, 9:58 pm
Hello mummy,

I went to the party of Marjolein's grandparents today! They are married for 55 years! Wow that is a very long time!! I got a very nice invitation just for me! We ate cake and drank coffe and after that made a boottrip, on the Paterswoldsemeer. That's a lake near Groningen.

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After this we ate lots of food! Very, very nice food! And that wasn't all: they had cake! Mmmmm it was very nice!

Hugs Gilbert
Marjolein


Posted Jan 17, 2009, 11:58 am
Merry Christmas!!

We went to the zoo today! It was the Noorder Dierenpark in Emmen.

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I was very much fan of the penguins, but they wouldn't look at me!

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Marjolein is planning a trip to another zoo in The Netherlands in January!

Gilbert

Marjolein


Posted Jan 17, 2009, 12:14 pm
We went to the Hunebedden Center in Borger today. A hunebed is a grave made by prehistoric people from really big stones. You can't find them in the Dutch province Drenthe. And that's where we where. They have the largest hunebed in the world here.

But we really went here because they have a Celtic exibition, with all the Celtic treasors ever found in Europe (with exeption of Great Britain because they kept the treasors for themselves).

This is what a hunebed looks like when you dig it up.

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And it looks like this on the inside.

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These are some examples of the treasors found in The Netherlands.

These are jewellery, called torques. They Celts wore them around there neck.

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This is a little rooster made from emaille and sacrefished to the Goddes Arcanua.

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They also had a wishing tree.

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I also dressed up as a Celt!

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After this I was tired so I took a nap in some wool.

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I can show you a photo of Sunnie with the largest hunebed.

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A photo of me with the hunebed!

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c162/marjoleinaneth/IMG_0944.jpg

There is also a photo of me with the Celtic King of Oss on the internet! I am on the first photo! (Marjolein is on the second and third if you want to check her out.)

Gilbert

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