Well, here we are again, with only 41 days to go until Christmas. I say it again... where does the time go?! I'm sure I'm not the only one who's feeling demotivated and tired - it's to be expected I guess?!
I have to say, it came at just the right time... our weekend away this past weekend, to celebrate my Mom's 60th Birthday. She seemed to have a lovely day on friday and enjoyed the weekend away. It was great to all be together as family - I think my folks really enjoyed spending time with Anna and Jordy and on occasions, they distracted the kids with activities to give us a break.
We actually went to San Lameer for the weekend (all 8 of us) and we had a wonderful time. We took a slightly extended weekend, arriving there on friday afternoon and only leaving on monday morning to come home which was great as that extra day/night made a nice change from the norm. We stayed in a 3-bedroom villa with kitchen, dining room and lounge all part of the set-up, and of course, our verandah/deck was right on the little lake which was beautiful, but a bit of a concern because Jordy thought it was a swimming pool and a few times tried to climb over the little wall on the verandah. We opted for the self-catering route, as it works out to be more cost-effective, as much as we'd have all liked to be in the hotel part (wishful thinking). We had a lazy (spelt a-c-t-i-v-e) weekend, given that Jordy in his toddler stage can't keep still for 5 minutes (unless he is sleeping) but we all had a good time and despite it having been windy on saturday, we had wonderful weather so we were able to catch some rays and change the purple hue of skin, to a more healthy looking tan, which was good. Mark played a round of golf, and Jason took his mountain bike to explore the place, but the rest of us just chilled out, doing as little as possible when we weren't running around Jordy. The beach was beautiful and there was a lovely rock pool which Jordy enjoyed. He seemed not to like the waves too much, which surprised us because he loved playing in the waves the first time we took him to the beach?! Anyway, he made up for it when we took him to the pool near the hotel, as he frollicked about for hours in the pool - with our assistance and his arm bands on, but he was so happy so splash about and is gaining confidence all the time. Needless to say I noticed a huge improvement when I took Jordy for swimming safety lessons yesterday, which is a bonus! He really is growing up so quickly and has learnt to say 'no' which is amusing at times, but also spells the challenging time ahead. None-the-less we will get through it and enjoy this time since the time goes quickly and before we know it, Jordy will be starting school.
Of course, as with all good things, they must come to an end, which found us all reluctantly making our way home on monday, to face another week - all the while keen to stay on a few more days at San Lameer. Ce la vie. At least we have the Christmas break to look forward to - albeit that we are going to be home and aren't going anywhere, but at least we don't have any hectic agendas - other than cathing up with friends and family over the festive season. Mark's mom arrives from the UK in 2 weeks' time so we'll no doubt spend some time with her too. She's out in SA for 6 weeks, but staying at her place at le domaine.
Other than that, no too much news to tell but I will post an entry again in 2 weeks with any news and pics we have. Oh... just a small snippet of news... we've decided not to do building extensions on our house, but rather to improve the areas that need work and thereby spending our money more wisely. We had our house valued recently, and while we were surprised that the value exceeded our expectations, we don't want to over-capitalise. I have to say, I am relieved, as I was not looking forward to all the mess, but Mark had all these ideas so he's a bit disappointed, though we've agreed on the plan forward so now it's all go for what we want to do... and the list is long.
Phew, it's almost past my bedtime, so I will sign off now, but I will keep you posted with any other news we have.
Take Care and drive carefully - this is a bad time for speed traps and road blocks!
x Robs
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
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