Grace and Adam made jelly…..some of it even made it to the fridge.

Gogo and I caught a bird together

Granny and Adam played some Zingo

And we went for a hike (remembering to stay upwind when necessary)

After having Grace give us an update daily for the last week of the number of sleeps to her birthday, today was the day.

It was an early start for everyone this morning with excitement running high and I can truly say Grace wasn’t disappointed. At bedtime tonight she told me that it was her best birthday ever. I think celebrating with family is a special way to turn 10.

Grace got a karaoke machine and well let’s just say we had loud music from early this morning with plenty of singing and dance moves.

The Camelbak she has been wanting for ages was a complete surprise for her and she excitedly tried it on, blew the whistle and filled the water pack.

Grace wanted to go for waffles today so we headed to….

Everyone had lots of fun and ate some delicious sweet and savoury waffles. The boys and Grace had fun playing in the play area and eating waffles.

Eating yummy waffles

Granny and Grandpa had savoury waffles and after Grace tasted theirs she says that her next waffle is definitely going to be savoury.

Always fun to be had with my brother…Well most of the time

The captain and the lifeguard

Lifeguards on duty under the sea in a secret cave

Fun with the grandparents

Because the birthday girl needs photos with everyone

Yes you have clowns for brothers but they love you

And clowns for parents and yes we too love you very much our Gracie Grace

This afternoon Gogo, Grace, Duncan and I played Grace’s new game Ticket to Ride which was lots of fun for all of us. The birthday girl won!

We’ve never quite been successful at flying a kite. We haven’t tried too many times, but we decided to give it a go again…..and…..success!

Gentle breeze, good kite, happy everyone.

We also had a good time drinking coffee and playing Uno and Monopoly Deal at First Light – it is awesome that Eli can now join in (and he plays really well, with only a small amount of maniacal laughter when putting down +2’s and +4’s)

Grace took me out on a coffee date – a father’s day treat. We haven’t really had time to just be together for a while – the reality of having a 3yr old who needs quite a bit of attention as well as all the needs of 3 other people means that things don’t always work out for individual time.

Hot chocolate for Grace and espresso for me

Plus some bonus vanilla cookie crumble ice cream….nom nom nom

It was good time just chilling and chatting and laughing together.

We discovered a palm frond planted in the sand

We had a fun morning ice skating. Grace has been once before, but this was Adam and Eli’s first time. Eli loved it, Adam had loads of fun and everyone was knackered and hungry afterwards. We’ll see whose muscles are the most tired tomorrow…..

If you watch this video, don’t worry, this sing won’t get stuck inside your head (thanks Lego movie 2)

It has been a beautifully cold and rainy day in Jeffreys Bay. As I lie here writing this post it is pouring outside.

Today was definitely a slow kind of a day with a game of Zingo, the Lego movie, some shuffle board, and some more games.

We got Zingo for Grace’s 5th birthday and this game has brought so much joy to our family.

Shuffle board mini version….dad vs Grace

Today I made rye bread for the first time ever. Duncan used to make Rye bread for us all the time a couple of years back, but as life got busy he stopped. I have been wanting to get into the habit of making homemade bread, so today was as good a day as ever.

Kids loved the bread! I will definitely be making it on a regular basis.

We ended our chilled day by having early birthday sushi! We concluded that it’s never too cold for Sushi!

After an inside day, everyone (except Eli) was ready to get out for a walk, so we went to explore the Kabeljous nature reserve.

Take one family, ready to walk

Add a nature reserve

Mix in some snacks

Add a generous helping of beautiful morning

We now know that Adam’s walking limit (for now) is about 3km….after that it is “pick me up” and ride on the shoulders time.

Always time for some puzzling in Jbay

Peaceful time after a good day

After some lovely rain last night, it was more of an inside sort of a day with arts and crafts, puzzles and an afternoon of pizza planning, pizza preparation and pizza making.

Grace helping Adam with his sticker book.

Building our holiday puzzle

Grace and Eli planned at the start of the holidays that once they were in Jeffreys Bay they were going to make everybody pizzas for supper. So with a recipe packed, a shopping trip with Gogo to get the ingredients, a to do list, get your pizza order and a long discussion on when to start the process and pizza making was a go!

Chopping and grating

Pizza making

And then we eat!

Chatting with their Ama-Zing Gogo while waiting for breakfast

Art station FTW

Grace enjoyed trying out Gramps’ massager….her love for pampering is kicking in

Family piggy back rides (which didn’t last long after Adam got squished somehow)

Ads and I went for a walk on the beach and he dug a hole for himself, jumped in and filled it up

We also spent lots of time climbing the little dunes and he enjoyed rolling down them and using his “claw” to help him climb back up

Such a cute little guy in his windbreaker

As all good winter breaks should start we spent the morning at the beach. On our walk to the beach we were greeted with a flock of flamingoes, so near, but not near enough to get the photo.

A trip to the Kabeljauws beach isnt quite complete without a spin on the merry-go-round.. Sadly it appears to be broken.

I love the openness of this beach, so much beauty all around

The kids dug holes and made tunnels and competed to see who could make the deepest hole….

And then filled the joined holes to make a lagoon of sorts…

After a peaceful morning on the beach we headed to Fifth Wave Coffee for coffee and games

My sweet boy enjoying his apple at Fifth Wave

And the games continued at home

We added to our outdoor games and bought a Frisbee. Gramps large open garden is awesome to play swingball, Frisbee, soccer and cricket.

I think it was the perfect start to our holidays and as I lie here listening to the roar of the sea I am once again reminded of how lucky we are to be in this space and make memories together.