Chandler's Overseas

Harrison has been on the move for quite some time with him accomplishing rolling at 4 months and progressing to leopard crawling around 7 months. Over the last couple of weeks he has mastered crawling. Barriers are on the stairs and running shoes on! Watch out... Harrison is on the move!

Exploring under the table during our lunch! Harrison loves his new quilt from his Great Granny Can you believe they make Haviana's this small! Harrison is kept trendy with this pair from our Joburg friends. Harrison has perfected taking his toys wherever he goes! The early stages of crawling... getting there! His determined look! Coffee & portugese tart atVovo Telo- Harrison didn't think either was too bad!

Jen's parents, Jackie & Stu, couldn't resist the urge for another visit to see Harrison. The last time they saw Harrison was in September when he was still a little baby. Five months later Jackie & Stu are now experiencing a little boy who is crawling, eating and constantly expressing himself. Harrison is spoilt with the extra attention once again with Stu resuming bathing duties and mum being a wonderful entertainer. It is always a race to see which grandparent gets to sit next to Harrison in the car! Today we visited Kragga Kamma Game Reserve which is a small private game reserve on the outskirts of PE. It was a surprisingly good game reserve and a bargain at R45 p/p (AUD7!). Being within such a close proximity to the elusive cheetah was a novelty, even if they were in an enclosure. Gran & Pa reading a story to Harrison Harrison showing off his new crawling skill to Pa More fun story time with Gran A small antelope at Kragga Kamma Game Reserve Big yawn... tough...

We had no plans for Saturday so thought we should go for a drive into the countryside and explore some new terrain. We drove via Vovo Telo's (our favourite bakery/cafe in South Africa) to collect some supplies for a picnic lunch and then headed west along the coastal hugging road. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at Beachview, a tiny village which has spectacular views of the ocean from each house. The village was eerily quiet, especially given it was a Saturday and still summer. The nearby Maitland beach has enormous sand dunes and a beach that appears to stretch for miles. The road continues inland over the rolling hills and small passes to Van Stadens River Mouth. This area felt like real 'red neck' territory- we felt as though time had been frozen over the last 30 years! The river mouth was busy with people frolicking on the waters edge and numerous visitor's having braai's. In June & July Port Elizabeth will be hosting some of the World Cup soccer matches. With th...

Pete has been selected to compete for the Eastern Cape Team at the upcoming South African triathlon championships- Go Pete!! Whilst Pete performed admirably in the pre-selection a week ago, he by no means participated to gain selection in the team. As it was, it was the first time that he had raced an olympic distance triathlon. One of his fellow Eastern Cape team mates in the 25-29 age group is James Cunnama, a professional triathlete who came 2nd in the Ironman Austria. Pete's not feeling the pressure at all to perform for the team! Tonight he came home from work and went for a long run immediately. He is still undecided whether we will make the trip to Germiston (in Gauteng) for the South African championships however is some what shocked that he has been selected for the team.

The weather was beautiful yesterday. So good in fact that we were able to open all doors and windows in the house all day- this is somewhat of a rarity when you are living in windy Port Elizabeth. Like the majority of PE, we decided to go to the beach after Pete had finished work. Jen and Harrison went for a run along the busy foreshore and then met Pete at Hobies Beach after he had finished work. We had a swim in the ocean (yes, Jen too!) and enjoyed soaking up the last rays of the day. What a way to finish the day! Harrison spotting Jen as she finishes swimming Loving playing in the sand Our cute blond little boy- his hair seems to be getting lighter by the day Playing with Mum at the waters edge ... and now with Dad!

On Sunday Pete competed in his first Olympic distance triathlon. That meant a 1500m ocean swim, 40km bike ride (no drafting from other competitors allowed) and a 10km run. It happened to be the selection trial for the Eastern Province Triathlon team, with some of South Africa's best triathletes competing, however Pete didn't let that get on his nerves too much!! As Pete was racing to the transition area after the swim leg he spotted his #1 supporter in the crowd, so ran over to Harrison and tickled his feet. The smile of excitement on Harrison's face as he recognised Dad racing towards him was priceless, and momentarily distracted Pete before he commenced his bike leg - a precious moment. After a relatively comfortable swim leg, Pete got settled into the 40km bike leg to Schoenmakerskop and back, battling against the 50km/hr winds. Riding in his biggest gear for the majority of the cycle was a bit demoralising, however a testament to the rediculously windy and exposed cycli...