Holiday with the kids - Plett (December 2007)

I am writing this blog from Plett, where I am currently on holiday with my two little boys and my beautiful nieces. Thank you Brad and Lar for letting Shannon and Carla come on holiday with us. The five of us boarded a plane in the very early hours on Friday 7th December. We landed at PE Airport at 7.30 am and proceeded to Imperial to hire our car. After forcing all our luggage and ourselves into the little Chico, we realised that it only had 2 seatbelts at the back. Being the paranoid Mum that I am, I could not have one child travelling without a seatbelt and so decided to upgrade the car. The kids were very excited when we moved from the Chico to a Toyota Yaris. Having got up at 4pm, the kids all passed out in the car and I had a very quiet drive to Plett. We arrived at Plett at 11am and after unpacking the car, drove straight to the beach. Before I had even found a spot to sit at, the kids were diving under the waves and having a ball.

Saturday morning we woke to loud clashes of thunder, followed by some hail. The beach was definely out, so we decided to head for the Bird Sanctuary and Monkeyland. Although overcast, the weather was good to us and we had great fun walking through the forest. Amazingly the kids absolutely loved the Sanctuary, the overgrown forest with little wooden paths and bridges, and all the different types of birds. The birds had obviously gotten used to having people around and were not scared to come right up to us, try eat what we had in our hands and one bird took a fancy to Brendan and landed right on his head. After a good two hours in the sanctuary, we went to Monkeyland and had some lunch.

Sunday was a beautiful day and so we spent most of the day on the beach. We barely saw the kids who spent most of the time in the sea on their boards or simply jumping the waves. Jordan also had lots of fun. The tide was really low for most of the morning, so there was lots of shallow water for him to play in and roll in. The only time we got him to sit with us was when it was time for ice cream.

On Monday and Tuesday we were again blessed with beautiful weather and made sure we were at the beach nice and early, before the crowds arrived. Brendan and the girls spent most of their time in the water jumping the waves or on their surf boards. Jordan also decided that he wanted a go on the surf board and actually got it right - be it on very small waves! We try to get back to the house by 12.30 for lunch and to get Jordan down for a sleep. While he sleeps the other three giggle and mess around irrespective of the activity they decide on. Whether it is colouring, cars, Uno or reading books they simply cannot keep quiet and I don't have the heart to break up their fun! By 3pm we are generally back at the beach for another 2 hours of walking, swimming and climbing.

Brendan turns 6

My little boy turned 6 in October. I can't believe how time flies and how independent he has become. At the beginning of the year, he still always wanted to be with me and carried a photograph album with him whenever we were apart. When I dropped him at school, I had to stay until the teacher was in the class and when I fetched him from aftercare, he would be holding his photo album. In the last two months he has grown up so much, his photo album stays in his school bag (unless I am out of town) and if I fetch him too early from school, I get moaned at. He is, however, still very gentle, sensitive and protective of me.

His birthday was a great success, despite terrible weather. It rained the whole day before his party and all morning of his party. The grass was sodden and very muddy and I thought about cancelling the party several times. At the end, I decided we must just have the party, clear out the lounge and be flexible. Luckly the weather cleared for the afternoon, and the party was lots of fun. Brendan had insisted on having his party at home and wanted all the traditional games that we played last year - ie pass the parcel, musical chairs and musical statues. Despite the cold weather the kids all decided to have a few goes on the slip and slide - including Jordan who had a ball. I then proceeded to line up all 22 kids and put them in a hot shower. They thought this was lots of fun! All in all a really great party loved by all - except maybe my garden and the house.......

Plett Holiday - Jan 2006

2006 was a year of holidays.

Our first holiday was in January 2006, when I took the two kids on an aeroplane down to Plett to spend time with my Mum. Jordan was only six weeks old and Brendan was 4. The holiday did not start well. Bad weather meant we could not land in George, so they flew us to Cape Town, back to George and finally back to Jhb. After ten hours in the plane, we were back where we started and had to try all over again the next day. Not a great experience when you are flying alone with two small kids. The rest of the holiday, however was really amazing. Mum used to keep Jordan for three hours every morning - in between breast feeds - and Brendan and I used to go to the beach. It was just what Brendan and I needed. We built castles, played games, swam, walked and talked. Some really really special days after six weeks of chaos after Jordan was born. Brett and Natalia were also at Plett in January. Brett was really great with Brendan and spent lots of time playing with him and taking him out on his board.

Looking back at 2006

Looking back at 2006




2006 was a year of change for me. I changed my car - which I really don't do often (only my 4th car since getting my licence) . I changed my job - also something I don't do often. And finally my life changed as I adapted to having a second child. 2006 was also a year full of fun, friendship, challenges and lots of holidays.






I was on maternity leave for the first three months and took advantage of all the extra time. Nicole and I went to Mums and Babes which was a first for me. It really was lots of fun - even though our kids were quite small and not always up to all the activities. It really helped me bond with Jordan after all the stress experienced before and during his birth in 2005. Nicole and I spent lots of time together which was great and she got me hooked on scrapbooking which was something I thought I would never do.











Brendan started at "big school" - Grayston Preparatory. He was so ready to go and so excited - but after only a week decided that this was not where he wanted to be. He had a terrible first term where the teacher had to pull him off me crying hysterically every morning. It was a really stressful period and I thought about pulling him out of the school on several occasions. We sent him to a therapist to try understand why he hated school so much, but it turned out to just be a really bad case of separation anxiety. He just wanted to be with me all the time. I bought him a little photo graph album with photos of me and him together and the rest of the family and that really helped. To this day - over a year later and 3 albums later - he still takes his photo album to school and is usually holding it when I fetch him in the late afternoon. He also had a really great teacher who he got to really love and feel comfortable with and in the

second term a new class member Steven joined the school and the two of them became really good friends.

One of my favourite photos for 2006, was this photo of Brendan and Jordan taken in March 2006. Jordan was almost 4 months old and loved playing with Brendan on the bed.

In April 2006, I had to go back to work and Jordan started going to the Nedbank Creche. Amy was also right there with him, which was really great. Jordan also started solids at this time which was really messy. Brendan was starting to see the benefits of a little brother - especially when Easter came along and he got to find and eat Jordan's easter eggs.

My Boys

An updated picture

To get you started

To my dear friend,

I hope this is the start of something you can keep up to date.

Love

Nic