Spur Day Out!

Hello All!

So, today was our special day out for the kids. All of them turned up mega early with their uniforms on, except Chris and Percy, who let the team down by showing up with regular clothes. It would be those two!

Anyway, we woke up and first thing we did was go out and take some pictures of Donna with her favourite animals Chloe, Cade, and Charlie. Tomorrow is her last day, as she leaves mega early on the Wednesday morning to catch her flight. So documentation of the memories were completed! Thankfully it didnt rain, but the sun could have shown up for an hour or too, we arent asking for a lot here weather! I cant believe the three weeks in which Donna has been here is almost over already! I feel the same as when Uli was leaving! Where has the time gone! It is just crazy how it is flying by !

After the chores I was sitting with Grace, Siyabonga, and Oupa on the mounting block, and they totally knew something was up. I heard Grace say something in Zulu about a “trip” and I asked what she was saying. She said “mam, we, we go, on trip, yes”. It was so cute, their faces were so expectant and eager. I just shrugged, smiled and said “well, I dont know, maybe”. As we gathered everyone together we set off for our Corporasie kids and finally shared the news with them that we would have no school today, and we were actually going to town. The looks on their faces is something I will never forget. They were just so excited. I have never seen kids so excited to go to town before haha. Charlotte especially was deliriously happy as she has been begging to come with us on our town trips for groceries for ages!

On the way in, we stopped by Johnnie and Lindies business so we could sing to them. We went through “Hey, Hello, Bonjour, Guten Tag”, “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star”, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”. I think everyone was impressed with how well they sang. Lindie was so sweet with the kids as well, asking them all their names, haha, it is amazing how shy they got! Lindie and Johnnie are really special friends of the school and to us, they already have actual presents to bring to the kids for Christmas all ready. These are not donations, these are new presents for the kids. I dont know if I have said it before on this blog, but if I have it deserves being said again, that the Welgemoeds are honestly the sweetest, most wonderful family I have ever met. They are so giving, caring, and kind, I really didnt believe people like them existed any more, and when I grow up, I want to be like them!

As we left, we went to Otees, the bulk buying shop in town. The lady who owns the store has shown a great deal of interest in the school and always asks about the kids when Ali goes in. We did another rendition of the songs for her, and all the customers. Although, our song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” was a lot to be desired for as during the song, she brought out chocolate, so that was it, the kids concentration was out the window and running for Mexico haha. While we were at Otees, we also had the pleasure of bumping into Sara’s Grandfather. He never gets to see his grand daughter, and it was so sweet to see him so happy at seeing how big she had gotten. He gave her twenty rand, and it was nice to see that no matter where you are in the world, Grandparents are always at hand to spoil and indulge you!

After all the singing, it was time for the main event ! Spur! As we stopped and got the kids out, I couldnt help but notice that everyone all day had been doing little double takes at us. It seems like a novelty that white people were out with black kids! So strange that this is true, but we were definitely a spectacle! We were seated downstairs at the play area and oh my goodness, the kids went mad! They couldnt believe that they were there and all you could hear was screams of laughter as they went up and down the slides, discovered what a bouncey castle was, and climbed the climbing wall! Donna, Ali, and I were just smiling and laughing ourselves at how happy they were! It was truly a wonderful moment! The kids were all served with drinks, and later they got ice cream, which unfortunately gave many of them brain freeze! They were in absolute heaven!

One of the funniest moments of the day was taking the older girls, Sara, Maggi, Grace, and Charlotte to the swanky Spur toilets. They had never seen a hand dryer before, and when I showed them, they immediately left the mirror which they were dancing in front of, to begin repeatedly washing their hands and drying them. They seemed to get as much joy from the hand dryer as they did from the playground. It just goes to show how completely separate worlds can be!

It was such a wonderful day, and as we were driving back, most of them were konked out in the back fast asleep. Except for Grace who was clearly hyper and singing at the top of her lungs all the way home haha. I think we can definitely count this as a successful school trip outing, and I think the kids had the time of their lives. Really special day <3

This evening, the rain is coming down and a storm is coming in! Donna is currently trying to get her pumpkin soup cooked before the power inevitably goes out, and we are plunged into darkness! I am on the veranda with Natasha drinking champagne and eating carrot cake. This is the life. It really doesnt get much better than this. Good night everyone, Lekker Slaap xxxx