Monthly Archives: January 2015
Order in the chaos
We’re busy tidying up this afternoon, and Grace has been bringing a whole lot of her kitchen things back to the playroom after they were moved to Eli’s room (for who knows what reason). She then sits at her kitchen and starts packing things away…and then begins to talk, kind of to me, but kind of to herself too.
“These things are such a mess. I need to make order in all these things. We make order, but then life just makes a mess, and once it’s a mess then it’s just a mess, and we can’t make order any more.”
5 year old philosophy.
Andrew, Ava and ice cream
What better way to spend a hot summer day than swimming, playing with friends and eating ice cream? Eli and Grace seem to have great fun with Andrew and Ava, and everyone had a blast when they visited yesterday.
Let sissie tell you a story….
Grace sits down next to Eli while they are waiting for friends to arrive, puts her arm around his neck and says, “Eli, let sissie tell you a story…”
“The one day, Andrew, Ava and I were playing outside and Andrew decided to throw sand and it went in someone’s eyes. Andrew, Ava and I got into trouble. So remember, when you go to school and play with your friends it is important to be kind to your friends…okay Eli?”
Eli listens to the story intently, focussing on her face and once she was done gives a solemn nod. Got ya, sissie.
Grace the face painter
Grace decided to try her hand at face painting after having her face painted at the Spur a little while back.
Let’s turn Eli into a bunny…
Now my turn
This is a bunny diver (according to Grace)
Froggy sleeps and warm days
It took some time, but eventually Donné convinced Eli that he wasn’t dressed appropriately for the 30° weather outside
The little sleeping froggy
Chocolate tempering
Making some chocolate hearts and learning about tempering chocolate (although the wait for it to cool was quite difficult for a 5 year old)
Walks in the rain
While we were on holiday Grace had her first proper walk in the rain. We took a long walk to a park, spent some time playing there, and it started to rain just before we left. So off we went along the beach with Eli in the Ergo and Grace walking along. She didn’t seem to quite get the joy of walking along with the rain slowly seeping through your clothes….maybe wellies and an anorak next time. That way she can stomp through the puddles with great abandon (which she would definitely love).
Gogo, Gramps and the puppies on the far side of the walk
Back to pool
Yesterday I was swinging Grace around in circles and then letting her go so that she flew into the lagoon with a big splash. Today, back at our pool she doesn’t even want to put her eyes in the water. Something regressed in her brain when we took a break from swimming lessons during our move and she lost her confidence (and moves) in the water. It may also have been related to the shock of jumping into a cold pool in October after only knowing heated swimming pools.
But then while we were enjoying a swim today, something clicked over in her brain. She dived over a pool noodle and ended up with her eyes in the water, in her words, “My eyes went in the water, but I kept them totally closed!” (said with great enthusiasm). In in about five more minutes she was swimming head in the water, eyes open, with beautiful kicks and nice big circles with her arms…something we haven’t seen her do since her last swimming lesson in the second term of last year. And then it was full steam ahead – jumping in and swimming to the step, being thrown to the other side and swimming back. She had a blast today, and a super boost of self confidence.
Eli decided he wanted to try and collect a diver from the bottom of the pool, and did that quite easily and happily (with me helping him get down), and then just wanted to carrying on with that over and over again. He even fetched one from the bottom of the deep end.
The flying Gracie
Catching up with Gogo and Gramps, and making sure they don’t miss us too much 😉
Fruit cake and biltong
We’re travelling back today as our holiday comes to an end. There has been lots of playing with Gogo and Gramps, plenty of biltong and droewors consumed (thanks to Gramps!), many visits to the beach, books read, movies watched and plenty of fun playing in all sorts of ways. A good, relaxing holiday.
A HUGE thank you to Gogo and Gramps for everything they’ve done for us while we’ve relaxed and recovered from the year.
Fruit cake and biltong – after beach snacks
Family fun
We had a good day today connecting with our greater family. Grace always enjoys seeing Robyn and Chloe, and Eli had lots of fun with them too. It was great to see and enjoy our cousins and their families on our last full day of holiday in J-Bay.
The Clemence, Ritchie and Drennan children
Lots of fun on the slip-n-slide today
Chloe getting her shot with Eli
