We’ve had a life goal of making it through a round of JBay putt-putt since Donné’s birthday 2yrs ago. That was when Adam tripped and split his head open during our last game.

So we set off with high hopes on our final day of holiday.

Eli was, well….let’s just say he didn’t start well. By the third hole he was grumping and moaning big time. I had gotten tense with this whole situation and then decided to make sure I didn’t let his attitude drag me down, when he turns to Donné and says (angry and grumpy), “Adam ruined it for us last time, so I’m going to run it for us this time.”

That very nearly resulted in him being taken home, but we all took a deep breath and remembered that sometimes he just needs a moment to calm. He and Donné are similar that way – it is often best to just let them take some time to cool off. So we left him alone and a few holes later he was actually playing with us (not zooting off ahead) and we had a good time.

Round of putt-putt complete with no injuries incurred.

Twinsies

The sunglasses gang

The longer the book, the more likely it is that story time ends like this

Adam has been complaining about the sun in his eyes when we’re in the car so we went in search of some sunglasses for all the children. We found a pair for Adam and Grace in one shop, but had to go looking elsewhere for Eli’s.

We found a pair for Eli and on the way to the till Adam spots these bouncy balls with flashy lights inside of them and really wants one. We’d just spent money on sunglasses for them and said no, which made him super unhappy, but that is just how it goes sometimes.

We always pray together in the evenings and mostly we say thank you for the blessings of the day. Tonight I say to Adam, “What do you want to say thank you for?” He says, “I’m not going to say thank you because I didn’t get the glow in the dark ball.” So I say, “Well, you did get sunglasses and we can’t take them back now.” And he’s like, “I’ll take the sunglasses back and use my jacket to cover my eyes.”

Oh the poor sweet boy, he is just so desperate for that R15 ball….I’m pretty sure he’ll end up with one tomorrow.

Eli has been waiting for this game of chess these holidays

I’m starting to think I’m really bad at teaching chess – poor Eli was in tears at the end. He played a really good game, I gave him lots of help and many chances to rethink moves. But still tears at the end. I think it was partly because he realised there was no way to win, but we still had some moves to make before the final check mate. Those last few moves seemed to destroy his will to live.

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)

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)

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

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

Grace took a long time before she decided to walk into school on her own and partly because of that we’ve always said that we would walk all of our kids to class (while in preschool) if they want us to.

Adam hasn’t shown any interest in walking in on his own, but every now and then I ask him if he would like to. He has been happy to make his way slowly to class. The last little while he has decided that running to class is good fun and has zooted off ahead of me, but I catch up and we do the usual goodbye hug, high five and “Bye daddy!” (with a wave) as I walk off.

Today we get to the gate and out of the blue he says that he’s going to walk in on his own. Blow me over with a feather. And off he goes….zoom.

Grace and Eli have been training, and today was their first Spur Schools MTB league race.

They both rode really well and it was great to see them going for it. They also made history as Newberry Montessori’s first entrants into the league.

Eli is in the Sub-Nipper category and they did 2x 1.6km laps. His legs were spinning fast (a bit too fast) in the first lap, but I could see him settle into it in the second lap.

Grace is in the Nipper category and they also do 2x 1.6km laps. She settled in nicely from the start and rode well, but then I could see she was running out of steam in the second lap. Afterwards she said her back was getting sore, so will need to check out her setup.

Eli loved it, wants to ride in the next one and thinks that was his best race ever.

Grace didn’t have the same experience. She first got separated from us and couldn’t find us before Eli’s race, which doesn’t help her fear of getting lost, and then was quite upset about someone who fell and everyone just rode past. She was coming down a path going the opposite way to the boy, but she felt bad that she didn’t stop to help him (even though she wasn’t quite where he was and there were adults on the way).

We did spend some time processing that and I think it was good to reflect on how people are more important than races. It is also always good to see our children having empathy for others. We’ll see how she feels when the next race comes around.