Sheikh'n It With The Shenkirs

We set off for a trip of a lifetime two weeks ago. I still haven't digested the fact that we just got back from South Africa! We had the most amazing time.

First, though we had to get there! We flew Emirates and had a fabulous flight to Johannesburg where I was very excited to see this beautiful small packet of cookie butter in my lunch.

Our next flight was quite small! I'm pretty sure I drank this entire bottle in about five minutes.

We landed safely after a long 14 hours of traveling on planes!

Claire fell asleep as soon as the shuttle bus started moving.

This is my nervous face on the small plane.

We saw the most amazing animals on the drive. We saw baboons on the side of the road! There were giraffes, elephants, and monkeys! It was surreal.

We arrived to our lodge. We opted not to stay in the tents for obvious reasons...however, we were in-thatched houses?! They were much nicer inside than I had anticipated! However, it was more like glamping. =)

They served us a quick lunch and then we were off on a very first safari ride!

We brought our old cameras so the girls could take pictures. When we took them off of the drive, we realized that Claire is a huge fan of selfies.

The evening game drive lasts about 3 hours. Right away we saw some magnificent elephants. We were so close you could reach out and touch them.

There was also a quick stop for ice cream in the middle of the African Bush!!

The impala were everywhere you turned!

Our first night was a success! We saw two of the big five! We were ready for dinner, wine, and bed!

After the morning drive, we would come back to the lodge and have a delicious breakfast overlooking the river.

There were lots of board games and other activities for the kids to do!

There were monkeys all over our resort. One day one stole Claire's cake right off of her plate! She was very upset and now does not like monkeys. The workers had sling shots they would walk around and shoot them with because they were really out of control. They have taken peoples wallets right of their purses.

Lots of warthogs on the property!

The girls made pizza with our guide, Frank.

In the afternoons you can nap, play games, and have a light lunch. You go out on your afternoon game drives around 4:30.

You have a cocktail hour on your drive too! They find a safe spot to get a drink and snacks.

This night I was not happy to see this milk snake crawling around outside our room! I had to get Josh to get the guys to move it along its way.

Elise was so excited to finally see some zebras and she had the perfect shirt on for the day!

Claire slept right through it! I have forgotten to mention that EVERY single car trip she fell asleep for the majority of the rides. =)

They had a small pool the girls got to swim in one afternoon.

Another ice cream stop!

These are African dogs and apparently they are an endangered species and it's very special we got to see them. I would have had no idea. When we went to Cape Town a lot of people asked us if we were able to see them. They were quite stinky and just slept.

This was our most exciting night and the pictures don't do it justice. We got to see a leopard running from hyenas! It was hiding in this tree. We followed it for several minutes as it was just trying to hide.

Cupcake making with Mr. Frank!

Some lions had just eaten this animal and we were still waiting to finish it. It was interesting to see this because we got to see the whole circle of life. Not too far away were all the hyenas and vultures. They are waiting for the lion to finish and when he leaves they will go and finish.

Exploring with Mr. Frank

Having our morning coffee!

The safari was a trip that will be very special to us. These pictures don't do it justice. The kids had so much fun and I hope they remember everything from it!

Just like that we were heading back to Cape Town!

Since it was Easter weekend we decided to rent a car and drive out to Stellenbosch to visit the wineries. Stellenbosch/Frankshoek/Paarl really blow Napa and Sonoma out of the water! I was amazed at how beautiful it was and how family friendly most of the wineries were.

We stayed on the Spier Wine farm and had a fabulous time.

We set off for our first winery! Vergenoegd is known for their runner ducks which they use to keep the bugs off of their vines.

They have a daily duck parade which was a lot of fun to watch!

They had a really cute Easter egg hunt that took the kids all over the vineyards.

Claire eagerly looking for her chocolate!

They had bounce houses for the kids!

Ice cream at a winery!?

We set off to Warwick winery where we had a blast!

They had an egg hunt also--their Easter bunny was a bit creepy!

Girls woke up Easter morning to some surprises from the Easter bunny!

We had an amazing Easter breakfast!

Claire found this wonderful stick that she had a hard time letting go of!

We dropped the kids off at kids club and Josh and I went on a Segway tour of the Spier Vineyards.

We had time to squeeze in a quick wine tasting, too!

We got the girls from kids club and then headed out for another Easter egg hunt!

In South Africa they hide chocolate eggs and chocolate candy.

They got amazing face painting!

We got back in our miniature European car and drove back to Cape Town!

We went to the grocery store to get water and snacks. The girls loved seeing all of these bunnies! You can tell we don't get out much.=)

The Westin was awesome and gave the girls Easter bunny treats when we arrived.

Our first official day in Cape Town we set off to explore the waterfront area. The weather was perfect.

Elise and I sure do miss our daily cappuccinos and hot chocolate. Claire always got "cold chocolate."

There was a cute Easter dance party on the waterfront!

The girls begged us to do the Cape Wheel! I think almost every big city has one of these things!

We never get to go to Target or anything like that. So, when they saw the toy story they were so excited. We let them pick out a small toy to play with for the trip.