Safari kids (And travel kids too!)

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We have been in Kruger park for exactly a month and I'm amazed at how well the kids have done on safari. We have spent so many hours driving in the car that I thought they'd be thoroughly bored, but they have impressed me no end by continuing to point out animals. They have started to use the real names now too. For example, instead of pointing out deer, they say, "Look, impalas!" or "I see a kudu!" Instead of pointing out monkeys, they say, "Babboons!" They are also starting to understand and notice things around them, for example, Kyla pointed out a bunch of vultures in a tree and knew that it could indicate big cats eating meat below. We recently found ourselves driving with elephants on both sides and Kyla announced in a very serious voice, "Oh man, we are between the herd, and that's bad!"



However, on days when we have big stretches with no animals, they do get rowdy. I finally caved in to my own fears and let them have iPads. I'd always resisted them at home, instead wanting to encourage creative play, but I'd bought them both one for this trip, figuring we may need it on long bus journeys and scott and I could use them after the kids were in bed. I'd been holding out on letting them know they contained games as of course there's no going back, but I thought now was the time. They'd earned it, and we still had over a month left in the park. As I expected, it was like crack cocaine and had them instantly hooked! I can't quite decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I guess time will tell!



The other thing that I've been glad to see is how well kyla and Jake have adapted to life on the road. While we haven't moved a lot in terms of staying in the national park, we have moved camps and rooms quite a bit. I'd suspected they'd get used to it and it would become their normal lifestyle, but I have to admit I'm relieved to see I was right. When they talk about going "home" they are always referring to our current room. Kyla definitely remembers home in Santa Barbara but I'm not sure Jake really does as he never talks about it. We have tried to keep a connection by sending postcards to their friends from time to time but I'm sure they'll forget their old life as time goes by. The important thing right now is that they have each other and their mommy and daddy. We are each other's stability. The only constant possessions are their pillow cases and favorite stuffed animals (which make any bed instantly recognizable as their's) and a small drawstring bag of toys each. They are quickly learning to make pretty much anything they come across into a makeshift toy, and it's so fun to watch! Let's face it, most kids in the world have few or no toys, but they don't need them to have fun. In western countries, we scramble at every birthday and Christmas to accumulate more and more toys for our kiddos (and we were certainly guilty of that, the house looked like Santa's grotto!) but in reality they need very little. I'll be interested to see what happens when we get home, whether we will fall into the accumulation game again. My guess is we will, but for now it's kind of nice to have a simple life!



The only thing I miss in terms of possessions is books. At home they both had quite an extensive library of all sorts of books and we'd generally read two to three every night. Here, I have about eight paperbacks I bought especially for the trip but they are already getting bored of them. I wish I could find a used bookstore outside the park, but the chances are slim. I could probably find some new ones but at $10 or so each, it quickly mounts up, especially considering we'd have to give them away after a few months.



Speaking of possessions, I'm already wondering what to do about Christmas presents. If they were older I'd give them money and iTunes gift certificates, and maybe tickets to somewhere special close by to wherever we were at the time (a water park for example) but at only two and four, they just want things to open. I'll definitely give them several books each, but I'm not sure what else. Whatever we buy must be able to be used up (bubbles?) or small enough to be toted around. Ideas, anyone? As grandma and grandpa (my parents) are coming to meet us in Thailand for Christmas, I might have to do a bit of Amazon ordering to them and have them bring out a few things along with wrapping paper! At the end of the day, though, we all know they'll be more interested in playing with the wrapping paper than anything else!



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