Home Sweet Home

The first two days we were here in Pretoria we started house hunting. Black & Veatch is paying for our housing and gives each family a set amount of money for rent while you are here based on the size of your family. So everyone is basically on even ground when it comes to house hunting. Still jet lagged we set out to find our home for the next couple of years. We looked at four different neighborhoods and about 10 different homes, it was completely overwhelming to say the least. Since our house still hasn't sold in Lees Summit, it was very important for us to stay within the Black and Veatch budget. Though, it's very common for people to spend a little extra to get more in a home. Depending on what you need and where you want to live it can sometimes be tricky to stay in the budget. Homeowners here have caught on to the fact that there are a lot of expats in Pretoria and have started raising rent prices. We knew we wanted somewhere we could easily meet people and enjoy some of the things we loved, like golf. We narrowed our search to two homes and finally chose ours based on it's location. We had heard horror stories of people putting in several  offers on different homes and being rejected, so we knew we needed to make a quick choice, and be ready to go with our second choice if needed. The house we chose ended up not having any issues and we were very lucky. Our home came unfurnished and was under our budget so we were able to use the remainder of our budget to work with a furnishings company who could rent us the furniture we would need for the home.  So without any further build up here is our home. Also, please ignore the bars on the windows those are not common in the neighborhood.

We are nestled off the main street of our neighborhood on a cold-a-sac or as they call them here a "close". It's a nice four bedroom home with an open floor plan that we love. I like to be able to cook dinner and see the kids at the same time! All the bedrooms are upstairs so we keep all the toys downstairs so everyone is usually on the same level at all times. 

Most of the homes here have either tin roofs like ours or thatch roofs. I suppose a thatch roof would make you feel more like you are living in Africa, but I think it is hilarious to see some of these giant homes in the neighborhood with thatch roofs... they for sure are not living in a hut.

When you walk into our front door you kind of walk into the dining room table, it's a little awkward but there really isn't any other place for the table. We figured this isn't a big issue. As you can see behind the table is wall of doors that opens to the patio. I love how you can open the whole wall to the outside

 We have a covered patio with a large table, the first week we were here we had no table inside so we ate all our meals outdoors, it's really lovely.

Our backyard. It's been too chilly to swim, but we plan on using the pool a lot! I'd also like to start a small garden in this dirt patch here... it already has spinach. 

 The living room, just on the other side of our table

Just on the other side of the living room are the stairs. Under the stairs we've made a play area for the kids. It's right in front of the Kitchen. 

The Kitchen

I enjoy the built in wine rack! ;) 

Most of the homes here have a room off the kitchen known as the scullery. Some of you may know this as a Butler's Pantry. It's a multi purpose room to do laundry, dishes and it holds our refrigerator. I enjoy being able to put dirty dishes in there and not look at them until I know I have to! 

Upstairs are all the bedrooms. The boys rooms are connected by a balcony that we keep locked. There is also a gate on the balcony that you can lock so if you want to open the door and let in a breeze you can. 

Our Bedroom

Just had to show the Master bath... I haven't enjoyed a bubble bath yet, but plan on it for sure! 

The guest room is down the hall.. I'll leave it as a surprise for my guests (plus it still needs bedding) ;) 

Finally, I just wanted to show these old school keys! All the interior doors of the house lock with keys like this, we have to be careful not to lose them. 

So that it, our home away from home for the next two years! 

A Child Friendly Place

It's been three weeks since we landed in South Africa, and since then it's been very busy. We've been house hunting, coordinating furniture, and adjusting to this new amazing culture. I will talk more about house hunting and where we live soon, but I thought today I would talk about my very first impression of South Africa which I suppose comes from me being a mommy, but this place in incredibly "Kid Friendly". In America when I think of a restaurant being child friendly I think "Do they have a kids menu?" and "Can my children be loud without receiving dirty looks from staff or other patrons?" then it's a bonus if they offer crayons or cups with lids. Here they take being child and family friendly to a whole new level.

Our first night here we got off the plane, unloaded our luggage and we were taken to a restaurant just outside the gates of our neighborhood. The restaurant is called Papachinos and it is top notch when it comes to being a family restaurant. Not only do they have a great kids menu, but kids can run around the place freely. The restaurant has two playgrounds with large play structures on either end. You can get a table right next to the play structure so that you can sit enjoy your meal and still see your kids running around. However, if you don't have a table near the play structure don't worry, because they have "Play Attendants" at each playground to not only help keep an eye on your child, but to play with them too. It's been hard for Chase and I just to let our children go play, but we are easing into it. The restaurant also has a "Make your own Pizza" area where children can put all their toppings on their pizzas and watch the staff put them into the wood burning oven. My first thought was well this place is great, we will probably be here a lot, and we have. However, I quickly found out that having a playground at your restaurant is a common theme. Almost every restaurant we have been to so far has had some sort of play structure or a bounce house. Bounce houses are everywhere here, if there is any sort of special event you will see a bounce house.  We love that our children can have fun at a restaurant and we can enjoy our meals without constantly messing with the kids, but I am pretty sure we are going to have trouble eating in America when they have to sit at a table again.

Just a few pics of our favorite restaurant... Papachinos. 

Restaurants are not the only child friendly areas either, the mall has a special play area just for kids too. For 45 Rand (or $4.50 in America) you can drop your children off in the play place for one hour. For multiple hours it cost more. The play area has several Little Tykes, Fisher Price play structures, different cars for the kids to drive, building blocks, and of course a ball pit. The place is very clean and always has at least two play attendants. They lock the door so you have to be let in and out, and they take down your name and phone number as well. I have also seen moms sitting in there checking emails and drinking coffee while their children play. I have used this place once while I ran into the bank real quick. My children were the only ones there, not sure how I would feel about dropping them off there if it was busy, I would be a little concerned for their safety.

Much like Kansas City there are many things to do with your children if you are looking to get out for the day. We have been to an outdoor play area already called Cedar Junction it had a couple play grounds and a train for the kids to ride. There is a place across the street from our neighborhood called The Farm Inn, where you can interact with Animals, Play on the playground or bounce house, and take a Game Drive.  I will talk about all the Animal interactions soon, but as far as I can tell there aren't many rules when it comes to interacting with animals.

Finally, a few other things we have noticed so far safety may not be taken as seriously as we take it back home. We see children and adults constantly riding bikes, and scooters with out helmets. There aren't any car seat laws either, or if there are they aren't enforced. We have seen young children climbing in backseats, sitting in the front seat, and even sitting in the drivers lap! Finally, children here are constantly bare foot everywhere. My kids have picked up on this quickly and are always kicking off their shoes, but I draw the line in stores, restaurants, and especially bathrooms! Being an active family we love how much there is to do here, and want the children to experience as much as possible.

First Class Travel

On Tuesday morning we loaded up Chase's mom's mini van with our luggage and headed off in two separate cars to the airport. Our luggage had to ride solo because there was quite a bit. Black & Veatch really does it right when you move over seas. For mobilization and demobilization they provide your family with  business/first class tickets and pay for 1 extra bag for each person. Chase also has silver status with Delta so we each received a free checked bag as well. So our luggage looked some thing like this: 10 Rubber Maid Action Packers, 2 large suitcases, 3 small suitcases, 1 duffel bag, 4 backpacks, and 1 set of golf clubs. We had 14 checked items and 7 carry-ons, plus two car seats and a stroller which we also carried on. We were quite the site getting through the airports. It took us a bit to get checked in at Kansas City, but the lady helping us seemed like a pro and had us going in no time.

We first had to fly to Atlanta, the flight went well. We took off right at noon so the boys hadn't really had any lunch. Spencer's only meltdown of the trip came during this flight. He didn't like being confined to his seat and being hungry didn't help. However, I had packed a large variety of snacks and apparently in business class things really are better because the minute he started crying the flight attendant ran to him and provided him with a basket of treats to choose from,  she also did everything in her power to make him laugh so that he wouldn't scream. I was trying to decide if she was really that nice or if she was trying to make the other business class passengers happy.

Mitchell thought it was pretty awesome to sit in the captains seat! 

Once we landed in Atlanta our first mission was to find food. We found the food court and everyone seemed to be a little happier. Since we had the first class tickets and because of Chase's silver status we had access to the Delta Sky Club. We thought this would be a great opportunity to sit down and let the kids stretch out a bit prior to boarding the 15 hour flight... we were wrong. The sky club was a quiet bar like atmosphere with lots of world traveling business men who didn't seem to appreciate my children's Kung-Fu moves in the middle of the room. Someone came up to us at one point and said "Mam, we CAN'T  have this here!" I was tired and grumpy and wanted snap at him and spit out something about having every right to be here and there being no rules about children, but my better self held it in. Instead I spent the time trying to engage the kids in quiet activities with no success. We finally gave up and headed to our gate.

The boys being boys in the Sky Club

We boarded the big plane about 5:30pm Atlanta time and I immediately started getting anxious. The way the first class is set up on these planes is that everyone has their own pod. The pods include a seat the reclines fully into a bed, your own TV, a soft pillow, and blanket, as well as a tray for meals, and of course your own lights.  The pods are angled and the pods in the middle angle out toward the sides and the sides angle in toward the middle. So essentially there are four pods across with two aisles on each side. Well, when we got on the plane the first thing that hit me was that Chase's seat was supposed to be in the middle facing toward the opposite wall so he wouldn't be next to me facing and the boys. I started getting stressed, I had visions of the boys having break downs in the middle of the flight, the surrounding passengers getting irritated, and Chase not being able to be much help. Chase asked a gentleman if he would change seats with him, and at first the man said no. I could feel my anxiety build and as we started getting settled the flight attendant asked me about snacks for the kids. I then asked her if they had kids options for dinner and she said "didn't you order it?" " You have to special order the kids meal". This did occur to me earlier in the week, but in all the bustle of packing I totally forgot to call Delta. That's when I lost it and the tears just came. I was tired, I had been packing like a made woman all weekend and I just wanted to get to Africa already. She was very nice and helped calm me down. She said she would send someone out real quick to pick one up. I of course immediately became embarrassed and tried to back step the tears. I didn't need everyone around me thinking I was having a mental breakdown on the plane. The gentleman beside me finally gave in and told Chase he would switch seats after all, he assured me that my tears had nothing to do with it, he simply said he couldn't separate us, and if his wife knew he had refused to switch she would be very upset. I thanked him and we then found out he was a fellow Black & Veatch employee and we soon all started chatting about South Africa.  My anxiety soon subsided and we were finally ready for take off.

Once up in the air things went amazingly well. Spencer fell asleep immediately, and Mitchell just LOVED the first class treatment. He was amazed by the seats, the TV, and loved his cheese pizza. He even got an ice cream Sunday at the end of his meal and got to choose his toppings. Chase and I both enjoyed our food and a glass of wine helped take the final edge off for me. Mitchell fell asleep shortly and both boys slept through the night. Spencer did end up in my seat with me during the night, but I expected that much.   We had one lady even come over after the second meal and complimented the boys on doing so well. I am sure most of the surrounding passengers weren't thrilled to see us board in first class... and I am pretty sure I heard a passenger even say "Well, that's a waste!", but I was happy they proved the other passengers and myself wrong.

Mitchell loved his TV and complimentary noise canceling head phones! 

Spencer snug as a bug in his car seat strapped into his pod seat

Once we landed in Johannesburg we had the task of getting through passport check and picking up our ridiculous amount of luggage. We got all our bags without a hiccup and had several nice gentleman help us out the door to meet our party. Chase's bosses picked us up in a shuttle bus and we came right to the guest house we are staying in temporarily. They then scooted us off to dinner, which sounds like a lot after that long flight, but it was good because it helped the kids burn off some energy so they could sleep through the night. Over all the trip over was pretty smooth, and though we have had a busy couple of days getting settled, everyone has been more then helpful and we are doing great!

Almost There

So here we are one week away from departure. It's been a crazy whirlwind of a month, lots of "see ya later" festivities mixed with packing and visiting our favorite KC places. It's been crazy, but I believe that's been a good thing, because now I am so tired that I am just READY TO GO!
Two weeks ago I quit my job of 6 years, it was surprisingly hard to let go of that part of my life. I am a Child Life Specialist. Just in case you want to know what this actually means here is the formal definition: I provide developmentally appropriate support (social and emotional) to patients and families in the hospital. Basically, I help children deal with the hospital setting, procedures, and illness in a way that they understand. I do this in a variety of methods using play, preparation, and coping techniques. I had been fortunate enough in the last several years to work part time so that I can be home with my kids while they are young. It's been great, I worked three days a week, and kinda felt that I had the best of both worlds. I love my kids and I think only the highest of stay at home parents (my mother was one, and my sister, and two of my brother in laws currently hold this title), but having my job brought a good balance to my life. I felt challenged daily and enjoyed meeting so many new people. I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support I felt from my coworkers at the Hospital. I received a couple of incredibly thoughtful gifts that I will cherish and of course will be bringing with us to Africa. I am hoping in a couple years if there is a fit I may return to the world of Child Life, but right now I have to focus on our future in Africa and try not to get caught up on the "When we get back" statements.

My adorable Child Life co-workers! Love these girls and for sure going to miss  these faces. 

Since leaving work two weeks ago we have been trying to do it all. We have fit in a bounce party, a trip to Deanna Rose, a trip to the Zoo, and a few dinners with friends. Then on top of that we have been finishing up packing. The house is a complete disaster and I have actually been happy that we haven't had any house showings (even though that means no one wants to buy our house) at least I haven't had to worry about cleaning up. On Tuesday of this week we had a fabulous day with my parents and said a final "See you later" to them and our dog Dottie. Dottie is a 9 year old beagle/ border collie mix and though we would love to take her to Africa, we fear the trip and time in quarantine would just be to rough on her. So, she is going to be well taken care of by our good friends the Sadowski's for two years.

Mitchell and friends at his Bounce Party! 

Mitchell and his teachers from Bright Horizons

Mitchell and his cousins at Deanna Rose

Deanna Rose

with friends at the KC ZOO

Love our Miss Dottie

I am sure that there will be more tears to be shed, but right now I feel a little cried out which is probably a good thing. I am ready to get the rest of our stuff out of the house and get on the airplane. We have the moving truck rented for Saturday, we are selling my car on Monday, and then we are off to the airport on Tuesday.  My next post will be from South Africa and you all can hear all about the awesome 15 hour flight we had with our two and four year old!

It's not "Goodbye" it's just a "See you later".

Here we are three weeks away from our departure date and I feel like this last month has been nothing but one good bye after another. We started off the month with two packed weeks in Columbia, MO with my family. My sister Margaret and her family came into town and we got to do lots of fun things together. We made it over to Lego Land here in KC, took the kids swimming at the ARC, celebrated Spencer's birthday, had lots of play time with Grandma and Grandpa Utterback, and even spent a day at the State Fair. It was a packed couple of weeks, and we are so happy the cousins had some extra time together. Just look at these cute kids!

One of the things I really wanted to do before leaving the country was visit with my Grandparents. I won't be able to make it to North Carolina to see my Grandfather Mitchell, but plan on calling him soon. My Grandmother Utterback, however, lives in Hannibal so we packed up and headed over for a day to visit with her. My Grandmother is 90 years old, and couple of years ago she moved from her farm home to a small assisted living apartment. We had five of her great grandchildren with us plus myself, my sister, her husband, and my parents. So all 10 of us went to visit Grandmother in her one bedroom apartment.  She was probably overwhelmed by the whole lot of us, but over all she looked well, and seemed to enjoy seeing all the children. It was hard seeing her in a place that is not the house we all remember visiting as kids. I felt emotional about the visit, I was never extremely close to my Grandmother, but seeing the way my children are with their Grandparents on both sides makes me wish I had been. She's a beautiful woman who has really had an amazing life.  I am happy that we went and I know she was happy to see her grand children and great grandchildren.

The following weekend my parents hosted a going away party for us with some of our close friends and family. At the party we drank, talked, and enjoyed great food while the kids ran crazy through the yard.  Many of our close friends are people that Chase and I have known most of our lives. We have all grown up together and have been there for many of each other's big life moments. We cherish these people and know that we will miss them dearly over the next couple of years. Surprisingly, I wasn't too emotional at the party. I wasn't really upset until I had to leave their house a couple days later.The home my parent's live in is the house I grew up in and after living in KC for almost 7 years, I still call that house home. From the moment I walk in the door I start to relax. My parent's cook great food, they love being with the grand kids, and in the summer we spend the days on their deck relaxing in their small, but perfect pool! It was really hard for me to drive away from the house last week, especially after being showered with love from so many wonderful people.

Grandma Hartz with Spencer

Spencer, Grandma, and Natalie

Just love this sweet picture

Me, My Sis Margaret, Kiowa, and Chase - the jump shot had to be done!

Bildners = Love: our take on a slightly awkward family photo

Handing off  our dog, Dottie, to her new Foster Family, The Sadowskis

We are dressed freakishly alike.... the boys have Cardinals and Royals polo's.... No wonder we are friends!

Going to miss Liesl and the whole Stevens clan, Love this Lady

Now, as I mentioned in post number one I haven't lived more than two hours from my family my entire life. Even when I went to Denver for a semester I lived with my sister. So, this move though temporary, is a big deal for me. I know we are truly lucky and fortunate to have this amazing opportunity to experience another country and culture but, the thought of being away from the people that truly love and support us through everything in our lives is difficult to handle. Thankfully, we live in the age of technology! With Facebook, Facetime, iMessage, and this Blog, I don't really have to say good bye to anyone. As Chase keeps reminding me this adventure is not Good Bye it's a very simple See You Later.

My Mom and Dad. Two AMAZING parents. Love them.