The Perelson's Space

Jenna's Birthday Number 6

Mon, 05 May 2008 19:41:21 GMT

We held Jenna's 6th birthday party on the weekend. The theme (as chosen by Jenna) was a rainbow party. A great time was had by all and the pictures are in the album.

Andrew.

Impending puppy...

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:06:38 GMT

In 5 week's time a new addition to our family will arrive. A Border Terrier will be coming to join us.

This is resulting in a fair amount of discussion and planning and a little concern too. Where's he going to sleep? Where's he going to eat? Who's going to look after him? What's he going to chew? Where's he going to poo?

Of course, being the sort of "organisational" folk that we are, we've already started buying doggy goods, like the chew toys and the kennel(s?) and the bed(s?).

The girls are very excited, and so am I. I have never had a dog of my own, and I'm looking forward to the companionship and fun that I hope we will have.

I'll post more about him when he arrives.

Andrew.

Power to some people

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:15:11 GMT

A crisis has befallen us! On Friday, just after our power had come back on - after the regular load-shedding outage - the substation that feeds our area "blew up"! Yes, that's the technical term!

So, we have been without electricity since Friday afternoon. That's 5 days and counting...

We are camping in our own home. Battery powered lights and other stuff. Gas powered cookers. Showers at other people's homes. No hot water to shave or wash with.

Hopefully it will come back on soon - they say maybe today or tomorrow.

Andrew.

2008 Birthday Function - The Picture Perfect Pursuit

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:34:49 GMT

Last year for my birthday, I decided to do something a little different and so I arranged one of those slippy slides with the water and foam and we all took turns running and sliding down the slide - just like a kids party, but for adults as well!

This year for my birthday I wanted to also do something different, so we had a "Picture Perfect Pursuit". I asked my sister-in-law to compile a list of 10 "clues" and then each family or couple was tasked with going out and taking a digital picture of something that could be considered the answer to the clue.

It was great fun, and something we could do with the kids in tow too. Once all the pictures were taken, we met back at the house and all viewed and judged the pictures and then braai-ed (of course!)

This was our answer for "A Good Deal":

And this was our answer for "Ebony & Ivory":

Andrew.

And so it commences

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:24:52 GMT

I have now installed Windows Live Writer and it is my intention to blog family updates regularly from now on.

The girls are on holiday at the moment. It seems to be about 3 weeks that they are on holiday for and this is the 2nd or 3rd week. As you can tell, I've lost track of that!

Friends of ours are leaving for Argentina tomorrow. I predict they will have a great time! Their kids are a little older than ours. I have visions of us heading off overseas for family trips - not sure if that will ever happen though.

Leigh-Anne now has her own web site: http://www.gentlebirth.co.za - it has already paid for itself which is great.

Andrew.

Burgeoning Ballerina

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:04:22 GMT

School holidays are over and the girls are both back at school again. Jenna started her ballet lessons this week, and she now has ballet, monkeynastix & swimming! Hectic!

Kyla often starts her nap while reading...

Andrew.

Bloemfontein - is that in South Africa?

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:01:05 GMT

We went to Bloem for a long weekend from Thursday to Sunday. The trip both ways took longer than expected due to roadworks outside Cradock. On the way up it was 2 degrees Celcius outside - I really felt sorry for the people that had to man the stop/go signs.

The reason for our trip was Caitlin's birthday party on Saturday (7 July 2007). This event and the trip as a whole was thoroughly enjoyed by us. Jenna & Kyla love playing with their cousin, and it was good to see them all again.

One of Caitlin's presents was a kids karaoke set. Here is a video clip of our budding girl-group "The Perelson Sisters":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3znfE13dSQ

Andrew.

A weekend away...

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:46:15 GMT

Last weekend we went down the coast for a weekend break. We stayed at the Protea Hotel in Keurbooms and it was great.

The Friday evening we went for a drive into Plett and played on the beach for a bit. After that we bought some supplies and headed back to the hotel. We had supper on our verandah - the weather was balmy.

Sleeping arrangements were minorly complicated by the single roomed hotel room. We worked out a system (not flawless!) where the girls went to sleep in our bed so that we could have the lounge in the evening, and then we moved them onto their mattrasses when we went to bed.

On the Saturday we went to Keurbooms beach and spent a while there. The sea water was cold but I still had a swim. There was also quite a strong back-current. Except for one guy fishing, we were the only ones on the beach. It was idyllic and also a lot of fun playing with the girls. After the beach, we washed off the sand at the hotel and headed to Plett to do some serious shopping. In the afternoon, Jenna tried to convince us to get into the hotel swimming pool, but it was so cold that my feet ached, and there was no way I was getting in!

Sunday we stopped off at the "Birds of Eden" and went bird spotting. There are an amazing array of birds there. I had a far too close encounter with one of the large parrots and I've decided I really don't like them much! The trip back home was quiet as everyone had a snooze, except me...

Andrew.

Facebook

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:03:13 GMT

Hi all,

Just a quick note to apologise for not having any news recently! And also to recommend a social networking website that we have started using called facebook (http://www.facebook.com). It's great for keeping in touch with people all over the world, and for finding long lost friends. Both Leigh-Anne and I are on the site.

We're going to Plett for the weekend and I promise to post pictures on our return.

Andrew.

Shavuot was last week

Thu, 31 May 2007 20:03:48 GMT

Last week, Jenna's school celebrated Shavuot. There was going to be a concert on the Tuesday, however, due to very bad weather, it was postponed to this week Wednesday. This concert represents Jenna's stage debut, as it is the first time she has appeared on stage.

In the concert, she was a hen. The white hen to be precise. Her friend Britney played the black hen (Jody played the brown hen). I tried to get some pictures, but we need a new camera with better optical zoom... She's the child with the large yellow arrow pointing at her!

At one point during the concert, it was their turn to stand up and sing their song. Well, Jody has her chicken mask covering her face, and Jenna & Britney just chatted through the performance!

See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3BdTEtJm44

She told us afterwards that she sung the words "in her head"!

Andrew.

Autumn is here, but it's hot!

Sat, 12 May 2007 15:48:15 GMT

Well, as can be seen from the photo, the leaves on the coral tree are falling off and onto the lawn. Pretty soon it will be ablaze with bright orange flowers. It's really beautiful in full flower, but the leaves are annoying! Of course, being autumn, it should be getting colder. However, the past week or so has been just as hot as summer. The only indication of autumn being the falling leaves and the cooler nights.

Leigh-Anne & I are off to see Spiderman 3 tonight, on our own. Kind of like a date...

I'll post a review (of the movie, not the date) on one of my review sites (apmovies2c or apmoviesnot2c).

Andrew.

PS. The flickr copy of the photo is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/perelson/494903429/

Jenna's Birthday Party

Sat, 05 May 2007 14:27:51 GMT

Jenna's party was held at our house this morning from 10am. There were about 20 kids and 10 parents at the "fairy" themed event. Parties have changed significantly in the past 30 years, when I was 5, we never had party boxes, jumping castles, or even themes (not that I can recall anyway). Now a party takes many hours of preparation. A jumping castle is compulsory. Party boxes are the norm. Some parents seem to try and out-do each other in the battle to have the best party ever - we just try and make sure that the girls have fun.

We even had a treasure hunt this time with the idea being to find the hidden fairy treasure. At the start of the hunt, the kids got to dip their finger in the fairy dust and lick it for energy (it's sherbet, btw)! They loved it!

Leigh-Anne did a great job - I'll encourage Jenna to appreciate her more!

Video of the candles being blown out can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8aD6DjHcaQ

For those of you having trouble with the photos, they are also available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8129958@N03/sets/72157600179673952/

Andrew.

Jenna's Birthday

Thu, 03 May 2007 18:52:33 GMT

Today was Jenna's 5th birthday. It started with some presents - you can see from the picture that it's still dark outside! She went to school this morning and at her school they celebrate birthdays with something called a "birthday ring". This is an event where a number of activities take place (singing, mostly) and the brithday girl is the star of the show. Parents, siblings and grandparents are invited. After the show, ice cream cones were given to the class (I had one too!).

This evening we went off to the spur for supper where the spur staff did their singing bit for her and brought a sparkler in ice cream. The girls eventually went to sleep at about 8:30pm!

Saturday is the party - it should be great fun for the kids and a lot of work for the parents!

Andrew.

Russian ballerinas do it in the air...

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 22:20:31 GMT

We went to the ballet tonight. The St Petersburg Ballet Theatre put on Swan Lake. The sets and costumes were a sight to behold. I was amazed that they could transform the stage in such a spectacular fashion. Both the ballet and the dancers were excellent. It was held at PE's oh so humble Opera House. Showing its age now, and in need of an upgrade, the Opera House has a small stage which saw some of the ballet a little constricted!

Andrew.

Back To School

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:00:47 GMT

This week saw the girls heading back to school after a two week holiday. Of course "holiday" is a relative term because this period of time invariably leaves parents exhausted. Jenna is slowly re-adjusting to her friends and Kyla is at playschool 2 days a week again, although she might start going for more days in a week soon.

I took the day off from the metro today to attend to some other things and ended up buying a new hard drive and re-installing my notebook. I am looking forward to the fresh installation of Windows, and the extra space the new hard drive will give me.

Leigh-Anne's practice is going well and she now has many patients choosing her gentle birthing choice.

Andrew.

Family History

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:26:08 GMT

I have an interest in where I came from, my genealogy to be precise. This often results in me spending hours trawling through websites on Eastern European Jews. Today I discovered that my Great Grand Father came to South Africa on a ship owned by the Union Castle Lines. The ship's name was the "Grantully Castle" and it arrived on the 2nd of November 1924. From what I can see it more than likely sailed from Southhampton in England to South Africa. I would like to find out more information one day.

Andrew.

Jaiku, that's who

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:21:41 GMT

There's now a jaiku that has feeds from the Perelson feeds:

http://perelson.jaiku.com

A sort of "one-stop-shop" for Perelson family info...

Easter Sunday

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 09:00:46 GMT

The easter bunny has spent half his life savings on easter eggs for the family. The other half was spent on his travel costs from his home on Easter Island.

We will be eating chocolate for days, well at least until lunch time.

Kyla has the right approach, she opens and tastes each item, but doesn't finish it. This way she gets to see what each item tastes like but doesn't fill herself up.

Andrew.

Sharon & Caitlin Visit

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 21:51:16 GMT

Leigh-Anne's sister Sharon and my niece (and niece to be) have come to visit for a few days. The girls are all having a ball and not getting to sleep until way after their bed times!

Today they went off to see the play at The Boardwalk Amphitheatre - Puss In Boots. They all enjoyed it and even the young girls sat still and watched.

Andrew.

My Birthday

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:20:42 GMT

Today is my birthday - I won't mention my age, but suffice it to say that I feel only 26...

We had a fantastic day. Invited friends around - Grant & Lisa with their two boys and Karel & Audrey with their daughter. We had a braai for lunch and besides that we all had a complete ball of a time on a slippy slide. I rented the slippy slide for the day and we all had turns going down the slide through the foam and splashing into the pool of water. It was a very hot day, so the splashing into the pool was quite welcome.

See the pictures for more details...

Andrew.

Photo Album: 2008 05

Mon, 05 May 2008 19:41:53 GMT

2008 05

Jenna's Sixth - Rainbow cake

Jenna's Sixth - Ballons and cake

Jenna's Sixth - The kids had to decorate their own cupcakes

Jenna's Sixth - Aunties provided make-up services

Jenna's Sixth - Delta loved the attention

Jenna's Sixth - No jumping castle, but the trampoline was fun

Jenna's Sixth - Delta getting more attention

Jenna's Sixth - Wall flowers

Jenna's Sixth - Taking a break

More Photos...

Photo Album: 2007 07

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:26:35 GMT

2007 07

Kyla naps

Painting outside 001

Painting outside 002

New ballet clothes 034

New ballet clothes 001

New ballet clothes 007

New ballet clothes 009

New ballet clothes 011

New ballet clothes 013

New ballet clothes 019

More Photos...

Photo Album: 2007 05

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 04:08:35 GMT

2007 05

Shavuot concert 004

Shavuot concert 008

Shavuot concert 019

Shavuot Concert Close-Up

Shavuot concert 023

Leaves Fallen on the Lawn

Balloons

Birthday Cake

Party Boxes

Party Table

More Photos...

Photo Album: 2007 06

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:49:15 GMT

2007 06

Holiday in Keurbooms 001

Holiday in Keurbooms 004

Holiday in Keurbooms 010

Holiday in Keurbooms 017

Holiday in Keurbooms 019

Holiday in Keurbooms 027

Holiday in Keurbooms 035

Holiday in Keurbooms 036

Holiday in Keurbooms 038

Holiday in Keurbooms 039

More Photos...

Photo Album: 2007 04

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 22:34:12 GMT

2007 04

St Pete's Ballet - Swan Lake 1

St Pete's Ballet - Swan Lake 2

The Grantully Castle

Easter Sunday 007

Easter Sunday 010

Easter Sunday 011

Easter Sunday 013

Easter Sunday 016

Easter Sunday 022

Easter Sunday 025

More Photos...

Photo Album: 2007 03

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 22:01:57 GMT

2007 03

Fun at the party 1

Fun at the party 2

Fun at the party 3

Fun at the party 4

Fun at the party 5

Fun at the party 6

Fun at the party 8

Fun at the party 9

Fun at the party 10

Fun at the party 11

More Photos...

Photo Album: 2006 11

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:18:43 GMT

2006 11

Caitlin's visit 006

Caitlin's visit 012

Caitlin's visit 011

Caitlin's visit 016

Caitlin's visit 059

Caitlin's visit 033

Caitlin's visit 024

Caitlin's visit 029

Caitlin's visit 032

Caitlin's visit 041

More Photos...

Photo Album: 2007 01

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:42:06 GMT

2007 01

First day of school 009

First day of school 010

First day of school 012

First day of school 013

Bath time fun

Jenna going to swimming

Jenna going to swimming 2

Photo Album: 2006 12

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:30:07 GMT

2006 12

Happy Days concert 002

Happy Days concert 010

Kyla's birthday 025

Kyla's birthday party 009

Kyla's birthday party 014

Kyla's birthday party 016

Kyla's birthday party 021

Baby in the cot 008

Uncle Jumbos 010

Uncle Jumbos 014

More Photos...

Photo Album: 2007 02

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:18:45 GMT

2007 02

Jenna's swim cap 021

Princess Kyla 012

Princess Kyla 029

Princess Kyla 038

Blog list: Blog list

Thu, 01 May 2008 19:46:10 GMT

Steve's Sightings
Andrew's brother Stephen Perelson - this is his blog of interesting things...
Sad World
The world can be a very sad place. This is a blog of news items that illustrate this fact.
The End Is Nigh
Global warming will get us all! A blog of topical news items pointing out the ever-present climate change events occurring around the world.
Gentle Birth
Leigh-Anne Perelson, private midwife in Port Elizabeth. A gentle birthing choice.

Book List: L's recommended books

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 06:09:28 GMT

L's recommended books

Ayelet Waldman: Love and Other Impossible Pursuits
Coping with a 5 year old step-child... it was refreshingly different to our usual subject matter. It also made me want to visit Central Park in New York City.
Jodi Picoult: My Sister's Keeper
My favorite of Jodi's - she is rather hot in the book club at the moment!