Madikwe with the Pleva Grandparents - Easter Fun

Our trip to Madikwe was over Easter weekend. This was Piper's third easter and we wanted to do the fun kiddie easter traditions - coloring easter eggs for the easter bunny to hide. We brought six boiled eggs and some food coloring with us and Saturday afternoon we had some colorful fun!

Piper's grandparents also brought Piper some "magic jelly beans" which she and her Grandpa planted in the evening. The following morning some amazing magic had occurred and the jelly beans grew into giant, colorful lollipops!

On Easter Sunday when we returned from Piper's little bumble safari drive, we discovered that the Easter Bunny had visited! He had left Piper an Easter basket with some goodies - a book about a cat that helps the easter bunny, a fuzzy bunny, and a harmonica. He had also hid all the eggs, the colored ones and some plastic ones with treats and stamps inside. She had a ton of fun finding all the eggs and surprises!

More adventures to come!

Other posts from the Pleva Grandparents Visit to South Africa:

- Madikwe with the Pleva Grandparents - Animals on Safari

- Gramma and Grandpa Pleva visit South Africa

Piper's First Easter

We got to celebrate Easter twice here in South Africa. The weekend after arriving (which was the weekend before Easter) the US Embassy put on an Easter egg hunt and party for the kids at the American Community Center in Pretoria. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, quite different from the cold weather we left behind in DC.

Piper was very excited to wear her bunny ears and participate in her first egg hunt! Okay, maybe I was the more excited one, but she was just too cute!

This was the first time Piper ever had her little toes in the grass! She definitely enjoyed that and being outside in the warm weather playing with other kiddos. This is where she met the 10 year old Piper who told us that Pipers are funny, smart and awesome people. We agree.

Piper was a great little egg hunter and found two eggs, a purple one and an orange one. Okay, I may have helped. She was more definitely more interested in chewing on the egg so we shared the goodies from inside with the older kids. She also met her first easter bunny but wasn't too sure about him...

Coming Soon...Easter morning dress up and brunch with the birds!

Easter Egg Hunt in South Africa with the Grandparents

We did Easter morning the friday of Easter Weekend since we were going to be on safari on Easter day. Gramma had prepared a cute easter basket with a fuzzy bunny, bunny book and little wind up bunny and chicky, which were a big hit!

Paul and I hid 12 big plastic eggs in our garden. She caught on really quick to finding the eggs, especially since they had poofs in them. It was so much fun to watch her look for the eggs! I bet next year she'll be a pro!

Easter 2014 in South Africa!

Our second Easter in South Africa! Beautiful weather yet again, I love it here!

The weekend before Easter, the US Embassy had an easter egg hunt at the American Community Center. Piper could actually walk and collect a couple (2 - one for each hand!) eggs this time. But as soon as she saw the slide and swing set she lost all interest in the eggs and wanted to head over there. 

Piper was in a friendly mood and shared her poofs with her buddy Alia! Two cute girls in their floppy hats!

Our easter egg hunt at home with the grandparents is coming up next!

Easter 2016!

Our Easter 2016 Pictures! I'm a bit behind in dealing with photos these days, work has me swamped!

We went camping over the actual Easter weekend, so these pictures were from a week before the actual holiday. Piper got to wear her new easter dress, which is too cute!

We went to the community center for an egg hunt and Piper won a neon cupcake. The picture makes it look like she wasn't enjoying the cupcake, trust me, she was, her look is more a look of "don't get near my cupcake mommy, or I will bite your hand off!"

I'm Five Months Old Today!

- Moved to Pretoria, South Africa

- Was a very good girl on my first international flight (18 hours direct, whew!)

- Got my first passport stamp

- Rolled over for the first time a couple weeks ago and am now a champ at the rolling

- Getting really good at tummy time

- Went to my first Embassy Easter Party

- Met my first Easter Bunny

- Had my toes in fresh grass for the first time

- Met another Piper!

- Went on my first safari hike and saw Giraffes and Zebras!

- Visited my first US Embassy and had my first security briefing (I slept through it)

Here are a couple of outtakes from her 5 month picture!

From left to right: One of the many times she fell over, Getting very excited and then immediately falling over again, Getting tired of picture taking and then immediately falling over again!

Madikwe with the Pleva Grandparents - Animals on Safari!

Over Easter weekend we took Gramma and Grandpa Pleva to Madikwe for a fantastic easter safari! Three beautiful days of safari drives, watching the animals at the waterhole, and relaxing. It was another amazing visit to the Bush House. We managed to see all of the big five except for the elusive leopard.

Piper isn't old enough to go on the main game drives, but our awesome ranger, Carine, took us out during the mid afternoon break on a little bumble drive. Piper wasn't so sure about this safari at first, she was concerned about the bumpy ride and the wind, but as soon as we came upon some zebra's she was very excited. During her game drives she saw zebra, giraffe, impala and kudu. What an adventure!

Back on our main drives we saw four critically endangered white rhinos. There are very few rhino's left in the wild, every year over 1,000 of these amazing animals are poached for their horn and unfortunately the birth rate is barely keeping up with the death rate. 

Wild Dogs are also critically endangered. There is an estimated 2000 wild dogs left in South Africa. Last year in Madikwe there were 50 dogs, this year there are only seven left due to an outbreak of rabies. It is a devastating loss for the global wild dog population. We were lucky enough to see the remaining dogs (5 adults and 2 pups). 

Another little bumble drive for Piper!

 Safari selfie :)

Our last evening we had dinner in the Boma underneath the stars. What a way to end a fabulous weekend!

More Pictures from Madikwe coming up!