Day 6: The Lion Park

It was another beautiful day in Joburg today!  One of the first things we had put on our 'to do while in Joburg' list was to go to the Lion Park.  Let me say, AMAZING!!!  It's like nothing we would ever see in the U.S. and the set up reminds us of the movie Jurassic Park.  Beautiful animals, roaming freely....standing within feet of your car.  Only a door panel separates you from some of the most amazing creatures I have ever seen!  "N" has been to the Lion Par before, so I don't think he was quite as excited as we were, but we had an awesome time.  Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

This lion was within 10 feet of the car!

White lions.....beautiful!

Can this possibly be real?  Looks like it came out of National Geographic!

Moooom! :)

No wonder they move so fast!  Look how long their bodies are!

After the Lion Park, we headed to another one of "N's" favorite places.....McDonalds. :)  We grabbed lunch and headed back to our guest house to eat.  After lunch, we went out to the garden to play for a bit.  Dad and "N" played some soccer and wrestled around for a bit and then we headed back inside.  "N" got a lion at the Lion Park today, which he first named 'Simba' but then changed to 'Chocolate'.  Chocolate got into a heated battle with Dino and Lightning McQueen and received no real help from the red Power Ranger.  Let's be real, Dino and Lightning never had a chance :).  

We also headed to the grocery store this afternoon.  One thing that we have noticed in Africa, is that most all foods are made with far less preservatives, which means that they don't last very long.  Milk says you should drink it in 3 days.  All vegetables say to consume in one day.  Juice, 3 days.  Bread, I believe, said it needed to be consumed within one day.  I will say, the food does taste fresher.

One thing we are working on is trying to be more planful about organizing our schedule for meal times.  We have been eating lunch late, then consequently having a late dinner.  I am happy to report that we ate dinner at 5PM tonight. :)  And it felt odd to have so much time to hang out after dinner before bed!  We did some school work with "N" - we did math flashcards, spelling, and reading.  We may be biased, but "N" is one smart guy!  After schoolwork, we had a bowl of ice cream (also tastes fresher and more flavorful as well) and watched Cars.

While at the grocery store, I picked up some braaipap (which makes the traditional SA pap dish I mentioned in a previous post), so tomorrow will be my first attempt at SA cooking.  We'll see how it goes! :)

Tomorrow we don't have an agenda.  We're going to lay low around the guest house and see what the day brings.  Every day here is such a blessing.  To have no responsibilities other than to bond with our son is an amazing gift.  We are praying that it doesn't go by too quickly.  And with regard to prayer requests for "N", thus far he has not woken up coughing, so thank you for those prayers!

Good night!

Laura and Kevin