Memorial Day Weekend

Another productive week has drawn to a close, as we edge closer to the midpoint of the year! As mentioned in the title, it is Memorial Day weekend here in the USA. Therefore myself, and my fellow Americans have the day off on Monday! This is also considered the unofficial start of our summer season in the USA.

I didn't mention this last week, but the long road to potty training Nathan has begun. We have bought him a musical potty, that "magically" plays a musical ditty when it has been used! Now, we have a policy of not forcing Nath to use it, so imagine our delight when before his bath one night, an electronic melody emanated from the underbelly of the new potty! Nathan had made his first wee into this contraption!! Unfortunately, the device has remained silent since, but we will not give up hope :P

During the week, I took my colleagues on a treasure hunt. The treasure would only be found in an Indian grocery store, and we mapped out a number of them around our workplace. On our second outing, I found my "holy grail", Nestle Milo!! It is much more fine than the South African Milo that I am accustomed to, but the taste is very similar! I can now sleep peacefully, knowing that there is Milo within reach, and sold in Cleveland!

Liesel hit the garage sale circuit for the second week in a row and again made an economic killing! She bought a playhouse for Nathan complete with door and window shutters for $15. She also sourced an adjustable kiddies basketball hoop and stand for $5! Then there were the virtually brand new Thomas the Train books with buttons that made various sounds for 25c each. She basically filled up her SUV with dirt cheap purchases that I am now battling to find free space in my garage to store them!

This week, we were experiencing temperatures in the 30's C (while SA is in the grip of its coldest temperatures - MUHAHAHAHA). Nathan, Liesel and myself made our first appearance of the season at the apartment's heated swimming pool! The water was divine, and Nath enjoyed splashing his dad! For safety, Liesel and I bought Nathan a life jacket type vest with removable floatation blocks. We are hoping that Nathan will gain some aqua-confidence with his new jacket!

Finally, this weekend, we went to our Bible Study's cookout! It was a great time getting to know each other better, and to watch Nathan interact with the other children and adults! The hamburgers and hotdogs were delicious, and I enjoyed the Coconut Cream Pie for dessert! Nathan became the life of the party when he believed that he could turn lights on and off by clapping his hands (with the assistance of the home-owner conveniently located a the light switch!)




We still have no official plans for tomorrow (memorial day), but I can definitely see some swimming in the forecast, and perhaps a visit to the beach!

Hi, my name is Liesel and I am an addict!

Yes it's true, my wife is a self confessed garage-sale addict. I guess in terms of addictions, it's one of the better addictions to have! This week Liesel ventured into the dark corners of the garage-sale world, and returned triumphantly! Then on Saturday, she managed to talk me in to attending a neighborhood garage sale event! It was quite fun, as we drove slowly by the houses, to see what wares they had to offer. All of a sudden, in a scene that you would expect to find in an Amazing Race episode, Liesel yells "Stop the car!! I am getting out!!" and before the car comes to a stop, she has jumped out! unfortunately on that occasion, the sought after item had already been sold, but I must admit that Liesel has saved us hundreds of dollars with the other stuff she has hunted and bought. For example, she bought Nathan a Little Tikes car, with a handle for us to push, valued at $70 for only $4. She also found a Little Tikes tricycle that sells for $40 new, for $2!! All I have to say to her is: "You go girl!" Of course Nathan is the big winner in all of this, as his toy inventory is growing steadily, with cars, bikes, books, trucks, tables etc!


After a frantic morning at the neighborhood garage sale, and a well deserved nap for Nathan, we went to the Westlake Recreation Center with Nathan's new "red wagon". Finally, we ended the day with a delicious Mexican meal from a local Mexican restaurant!

On Sunday we went to Church, and then stopped at a couple of shops on the way home. Later that afternoon, Nathan and I headed for one of his favorite playgrounds! For some obscure reason, Nathan seems to prefer my CR-V to Liesel's Rendezvous! So every opportunity he finds, he asks to go in "Dada's H-car (Honda)." So this is my way to brighten his day. I also let him sit on my lap and drive around our complex. Today though, after I put him on my lap, he promptly told me that I should sit in the passenger seat while he drives........ He is growing up so quickly!

a SWEET Mother's Day weekend!

We have been very fortunate to experience another beautiful weekend in Cleveland! On Friday afternoon, after getting home from work, with the temperatures hovering in the upper twenties (Celsius), Liesel, Nathan and I headed to the beach! This was a time I wished I had my camera with me, as on this day, the sky was exactly the same color as the lake! There was no horizon, the sky and water seemed seamlessly fused together! The water seemed to go on forever. It was actually quite eerie (pun intended)! Nathan seemed to love playing in the sand and the icy water. This was evident by his slow, but steady progress deeper into the water. AT first he stood at the water's edge and dipped his hands into the lake. A few moments later he was standing ankle deep in the water with his sandals immersed. Finally, he decided it would be best if he lay in the water on stomach! Boys will be boys!

Saturday was our productive day! We began by buying Nathan a musical potty, as part of our new drive to potty train him. This potty senses if anything was "done" in it, and if so, plays a nice melody as a reward for you! Well, that's the theory anyway, we will see how well the practical application fares.... Our next store was one that I could have literally spent a number of hours comfortably in! It was a mattress store - and there were about 8 different types of beds for us to test doze! The beauty of these shops is that you are encouraged to climb onto each bed, move around and get comfortable, and then lie there for a while! Something I could get very used to! After about half an hour, Liesel and I settled on a bed (pun intended) and ordered it! We are looking forward to taking delivery of it tomorrow morning!

That afternoon, I took Nathan to the local park, while Liesel stayed home to try her luck at making a South African favorite dessert, koeksusters! She received the recipe from a South African friend in South Carolina. Upon our return from the playground, we were just in time to help finish off the koeksuster creation process! They were absolutely delicious, and I think they may be fully responsible for the extra 5 pounds that I have put on ;-)

Then came Mother's Day! Nathan and I were very happy to give his mama some gifts in the morning, which she loved! Nathan gave her a beautiful charm bracelet, with little charms that say "#1 Mom", tiny hearts, a little boy and girl, and some others!
Later in Church, as a tribute to Mother's they showed a whole number of answers that kids in the Sunday school gave, when asked why they love their moms. It was a wonderful surprise, to see the answer a certain Nathan McCarthy, aged 2, said: "I love my mom because.. 'she always comes back for me!'". When we got home from Church, we made numerous free phonecalls worldwide, thanks to Skype! In honor of Mother's day, they gave all people in the USA with Skype, 200 minutes to speak to anybody in the world, absolutely free! We always love talking to family and friends, and being able to do it all in one day was extra special!

As the day drew to a close, we had the idea to go and buy some delicious slices of cheesecake from the American Cheesecake Factory for dessert with our dinner. Liesel had her favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake, while I went with the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake! We savored these rich, decadent treats, and decided to stop halfway. We, of course, gave Nathan a couple of bites as all good parents would. However, Nathan seems to have inherited his insatiable desire for chocolate from his father, as he helped himself to a huge helping of my cheesecake behind my back. The next thing, Liesel and I notice that Nathan is not looking too good anymore, and it looked to me as if Mount St Nathan's was about to blow! I picked him up and as I carried him towards the bathroom, he erupted with a thick chocolaty lava all down my front. As a true, good husband, I ensured that Liesel's Mother's day outfit was left unsoiled, as I took all of Nathan's dessert upon myself ;-) And that is how my weekend came to its end.....

The McCarthy Gang with their newly acquired Denim jackets

Another week has jogged past us. This week has been a rather hectic week at work, with a minor crisis rearing its ugly head midway during the week. Thankfully we got past that and hopefully the coming weeks return to normal!

On Friday, my mom wired me some of my money from South Africa. What I found fascinating, that if I transfer money between 2 local banks in the USA, it takes 3 days for the money to appear in the account. But when money is wired from a different continent, in a different currency, it arrives within minutes! Go figure!

Our weather has been good, very similar temperatures to what Johannesburg is currently experiencing in their autumn. On Saturday, we all headed down south to Lodi, where our closest Outlet mall is. We all needed some clothes and this is proably the best place to buy, since they have most of the name brand stores there selling their clothes at factory prices. The mall also has a playground with a number of slides, so Liesel and I played tag team. While 1 of us watched Nathan, the other went shopping, then we would swop, and so on. Both Liesel and myself got ourselves a pair of Reebok running shoes for gym. Liesel got some clothes for Nathan, and got both her and Nathan a denim jacket. After lunch we headed home for Nathan's obligatory nap!

That afternoon, I found that my CR-V's battery was dead! I managed to jumpstart it and then bundled Nathan in and took him for a 32 mile drive up and down the highway to charge the battery again! Unfortunately, my radio has an anti-theft device installed, so it cannot be operated without entering the manufacturer's code (which I had in the apartment). SO poor Nathan had to listen to my renditions of "Old MacDonald" and "I may never march in the infantry" for most of the trip. He was probably wondering what he did to get this punishment ;-)

On Sunday afternoon, all 3 of us headed to the Westlake Rec playground. While Nathan braved the high slides, I launched our kite successfully in the field. It was very breezy and didn't take long to get the kite dancing a few hundred feet in the sky. Unfortunately, Nathan was having too much fun experiment with gravity, to take any notice of his old man. But I had fun anyway! later that evening we had our Bible study, which we always enjoy (I have to say that in case Tom reads this ;-) ) Seriously, Liesel, Nathan and I love getting together with the folk in our flocks group and fellowshipping together on a Sunday evening. As an added bonus, it was our leader's (Tom) birthday yesterday, so we had some delicious cake too! Happy Birthday Tom!