2011 Koga Family Reunion - Palm Springs

Last week we had our annual Koga Family Reunion. SO MUCH FUN! We rented this cool house in Palm Springs and just hung out at the pool, played games, ate tons of good food and did puzzles all weekend. I just love our family. I mean seriously, what other family would have paper airplane flying contests, make their own IRON CHEF competition and play pin the tail on the donkey all to win a coveted KUP made out of an old coffee maker??

I think Cole was a little overwhelmed with so many people around. He was a little clingy and didn't sleep very well. It was kinda nice though because on 3 of the 4 nights we brought him into our bed when he woke up in the middle of the night and he actually fell asleep. Cole has never been a cuddler and he has NEVER felt comfortable falling asleep lying next to us. So it was kind of nice to have him sleep next to me even though we were getting up in the middle of the night and waking up super early. I hardly took any pictures but here is what I have...

Cole with cousin Maya

Apples to Apples - seriously one of my favorite games!
(Auntie Cheryl, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Curt, Mom)



Cole playing with Great Grandpa



Puzzle 1 completed.



Iron Chef Koga - Brother vs. Brother
Secret ingredient: OPO??



The winning team (Dad and Tommy)



The close runners up (Uncle Curt and Bobby)



In 60 seconds, blow the cotton balls into the cups that are laying down, then bounce the ping pong balls into the other cups - AWESOME GAME! Dad apparently finished on time.

Cole getting help down the step from cousin Kalia



Grandma and Grandpa with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.



Grrr... I mean this year's Koga Kup winner. Congratulations Tommy!



Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ben and Auntie Midori



Auntie Midori, Uncle Ben and Jan



Puzzle 2 completed...just in time to check-out



On a different note... my goodness do the diapers pails stink!! Last year around this time when it was hot, I was still nursing Cole and he was not eating solid foods. I think you get the picture...

Anyways, speaking of solid foods, here are some latest pics of Cole eating.

Yogurt!

 

Rice, Chicken and Broccoli!



Homemade raspberry popsicles!

 

OK, maybe raspberries wasn't the wisest choice...



I'm still relatively new at this... lesson learned.



So we've had this toy for almost a year now. When Cole was really little the dashboard came off and we put it on the floor for him to play with. But it's been a little scooter for at least 7 or 8 months now. And Cole has finally figured out that he can sit on it. Needless to say, he's pretty stoked on his new toy.





June 2011

Well, Cole and I have been super busy since we got back from our trip (I guess that was almost 2 months ago now so I'm a little behind...). But we've been meeting with our moms group a lot and Cole started swim lessons. We did some fun stuff with Lucy and Hugh before they left for the summer and Vere was gone 14 days in June so Cole had a lot of mommy time :)


Cole is really starting to communicate and understand stuff! Here are some funny things Cole has been doing...

• I guess whenever I ask Cole where something is I put my hands up and out, like "where is your milk?" Well, Cole uses this hand gesture all the time now -when he drops something, when he can't find something, when he wants something he can't reach, up and out go his hands. It's getting a little out of control...  
• He has also mastered the sign language for milk and more. Sometimes he uses the more sign when he just wants a snack. But I still think it's pretty good.
• Whenever Cole hears an airplane, he stops whatever he's doing and puts both his arms up and looks up to the sky.  
• We also bought Cole this remote control car. He doesn't use it yet but likes us to drive it around. When he wants to play with it, he gets both the car and the remote, hands the remote to me and puts the car on the tile since it doesn't move on the carpet! He seriously amazes me!

 OK maybe I've created a little bit of a monster with this "where is it?" thing...

Here are some pics from June...

Strawberry Fields with moms group. It's funny because Cole is always destroying any plant life that he comes into contact with. And here he had an opportunity to pick strawberries and he wasn't that into it.



More strawberries...



Fiesta del Sol in Solana Beach with Lucy and Hugh

 

Lucy was brave and went on this ride twice by herself. I circled her so you can see her.

 

Cole wanting to go in the bouncy castle with the big kids.

 

Us at Fiesta del Sol



Legoland. Cole was trying to save Lucy and Hugh from the castle lock-up.

Dare devil Lucy climbing the burning building at Legoland.



Cole playing with legos in Duplo playtown.

Part I: This was funny. Vere, Lucy and Hugh did this competition at Legoland where they competed against 3 other teams to race across to the burning building, squirt water on it and then race back. They are the second truck (white) from the front. 

Part II: Apparently there is a lever that has to be pushed in order for the truck to move when you pump it. But in all the excitement, Hugh neglected to push it all the way.  It's been over month now so I think Vere may finally be getting over the loss...

Sealife Aquarium at Legoland (Lucy, Hugh, Cole and Vere)



Hugh inside one of the aquariums.



Lucy petting star fish.



Cole and me at swim lessons.

Some other funny pics/video of Cole...



Cole with a piece of macaroni on his head. I was mad at him because he wouldn't eat the mac n cheese or drink out of the new sippy cup. So I didn't tell him he had food on his head.



At pool party with moms group.



I was getting ready in the morning when I found Cole like this. Those are Vere's boxers from the dirty laundry pile. And I've found him like this 2 more times since.

 Cole has also been working hard to use a spoon...although he hasn't quite mastered the technique yet.

About 10 minutes later...



UK and South Africa Trip - May 6 - 28, 2011

So Vere and I are crazy and decided to take Cole to the other side of the planet on a 22 day long vacation to visit Vere's family in England and South Africa and to visit some of the youth development programs that Kits for Africa has been supporting. It was a great trip! The long haul flights however, not so great. We booked red eyes for all four of the 10-11 hour flights because we thought Cole would just sleep since it would be night time and he would be tired. We have never been so wrong!

The first part of our trip we visited Richard and Diana in the New Forest in the southern part of England. During our flight out, Cole took a few long naps which panned out to about 4 hours total. At the time, I didn't think it was very good, but that would turn out to be one of our best flights. Cole and I were also getting over a stomach bug the day we flew out, which we gave to Vere the day of our arrival :) Lucky for Vere, Cole slept a record 14 hours straight that first night and didn't wake up until 11 the next morning. And the stomach thing was pretty much a 24-36 hour bug. We really just relaxed on this part of the trip. We went into Portsmouth to visit the Historic Dockyard and toured the HMS Victory. We ate at lots of pubs, visited the horses and hung out in Richard and Diana's beautiful garden. 




HMS Victory

 

Cole with Daddy and Grandpa Richard

 

Cole with daddy on the Victory



Cole and Vere at The George on the River Avon



Me, Cole and Richard in front of the chalet at Richard and Diana's that we stay in.

 

Vere and Cole in the garden



Cole with Grandma Diana


Our next stop was South Africa to the Barker's house where Lucy, Anthony and the girls live in Gordon's Bay. I think Cole slept about 90 minutes on that flight. Vere and I, maybe 30 minutes. But once we got there, we had the best time! And Cole loved it! I seriously think Cole thought that that was his new home. We were there for 10 days and the Barkers could not have been better hosts! - THANK YOU! 

We were so busy during this part of our trip, I think I will just post all the pics and write captions...



The amazing view of False Bay from The Barker's house. 



Day 2: We took a drive to Hermanus.



Town of Hermanus



Cole with his Auntie Lucy!

Vere, Anthony and I at the Tavern. Lucy graciously volunteered to babysit. I guess you could say we had a good time. Anthony wanted to be the guy in motion and I thought it was very funny...

 

Vere and Charlie (one of our board members) with the kids from the Western Province Rugby Clinic. This was our first stop to visit the kids we've been supporting and it was the best experience. There were probably about 200 kids there and they did this whole presentation where different leaders in the community got up to speak encouraging words to the children. They even had Vere go up and say a few words.



I love this pic. Cole just thought he ruled the place. Cruising around not even caring that there were hundreds of big kids around.



And he just LOVED the rugby balls.



He spent forever just trying to pick one up. This was a proud moment.




obsessed...



At the end they presented Vere with some wines from their local winery as a thank you for our support. It was very cool.



Out next stop was to meet with Western Province Cricket Union. Here we are on the pitch.

 

This is us driving into one of the townships where the Kuyasa school was located...and we were all a bit nervous...




But then there was this awesome school that this amazing couple, Cassie and Jenny built.





Charlie with some of the Kuyasa kids.



The school was not only for kids but also adults to learn different trades. This guy was showing us how he makes brooms out of old plastic soda bottles.



I just thought this was so funny that Lucy called it "just a baby". Then proceeded to catch it in a jar and let it go. But I guess killing it would have been like killing a small rodent...




Drive to Franschhoek

 

View of Franschhoek from our drive.



Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek

Cole playing the drum with cousin Charlotte

 

This was the start of our crazy day where we decided to take a drive along the peninsula. Here is St. James beach in Muizenberg.




More Muizenberg



Top of Cape Point.



Cape Point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are supposed to meet.

 

Vere and Charlie at the top of Cape Point



Cole found his toes on the long drive...

Us in front of the beach of Stangkop. Vere and I took a picture in this exact spot about 5 years earlier.

 

Stop in Hout Bay for lunch.



Up the gondola to Table Mountain...



Cole on top of Table Mountain

Us on top of Table Mountain

View of Cape Town from Table Mountain



Table Mountain from the V and A



Us in front of Table Mountain at the V and A. Cole was such a trooper that day. We seriously took him on a crazy little road trip.



The following day we went great white shark cage diving. And Auntie Lucy once again babysat for us. Here we are in our seal suits.

 

One of the 8 sharks that were circling the boat that day.



Another...

Underwater camera pics...



Vere and I in the cage.



Another pic of the view from Lucy and Anthony's. Here is Charlie celebrating his 30th birthday with a cigar.



This day we visited the Helderberg football academy in the Nomzano township. We donated 30 boots and 8 kits (shirts, shorts and sock for 8 teams) for this group.

 

And once again Cole thought it was one big playground.





Pic from our drive through the Nomzano township.

Jack and Amber during their busy day.



Yup, 10 days with these two... GOOD TIMES! Thanks Lucy and Anthony for an amazing trip!



On our last day, we had breakfast with one of Vere's best friend, John and his family Justine, Leo and Joshua.



Then lunch at Blues Restaurant to celebrate Jessi's birthday!



 

Cole started dancing during the trip and hasn't stopped since! Here is a little taste...



Cole with his beautiful cousins Charlotte, Katie and Jessi



 

The following morning we headed back to the UK. Cole was coming down with a cold that he eventually passed on to Vere and I so we were sick in England once again. Cole hardly slept on the plane and Vere and I didn't sleep at all. In fact, Vere was feeling so bad when we got there that I had to drive from Manchester airport to Stockton-on-Tees on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car, driving stick... with zero sleep. Somehow we made it in one piece and managed to get a lot of sight seeing done in those four days. 



Views from the top of tower at Durham Cathedral



Cole with Gran in front of Durham Cathedral



Crathorne Hall (where we stayed) has the most beautiful gardens and Cole was enjoying taking a walk and pulling up all the flowers.

And eating the pine cones...



And just running around!




I thought this sign was funny...seriously? We passed this sign every time we drove from our hotel to Eva's house.



York Minster pics...

Town of York



Clifford's Tower in York



Dinner at Crathorne Hall (from top left clockwise: Me, David, Rosemary, Vere, Eva, Emma and Russell)



Cole, Vere and Eva at what remains of Hadrian's Wall




Hexham Abbey



Hugs from Gran!

Here are some nice pics Lucy took from our trip...

Oh ya... Cole fell and scraped his nose. And then 2 days later he fell and scraped the scab off. Poor guy!