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.

Today we all woke up with that feeling of excitement…Well maybe the kids, I was still ticking off the list of things to do. After breakfast and the last of the packing we were off.

The first part of the journey we spend time listening to music and looking out the window with the eye on arriving at Ou Meul Riviersonderend where Duncan and I get some caffeine and the kids nibble on a treat.

When you try to take a photo

While the kids watched a movie, the caffeine clearly had no impact on me because this was me until Riversdale, not the most comfortable but hey I slept!

On our drive back last time we stopped at Timberlake Village and really enjoyed the space so we stopped there again giving the kids a chance to run around, zipline and refuel on some pizza, while we enjoyed some coffee at Pause Coffee Roastery

Grace savouring the pizza

And then when we see these windmills we know we have arrived in Jeffreys Bay. We are looking forward to being together as a family and having a chance to pause and breath and reflect.

Today my goal was to step into a space that can raise my blood pressure, make me spew like a volcano and stomp like an elephant,………..our playroom.

As a general rule I tidy it once a term and then avoid it at all costs, giving Duncan the task of checking if the kids have tidied it. I often do the big spring clean on my own but today the kids helped me. I’m hoping that if they put in the work they will be more inclined to keep it neat….ha ha who am I kidding.

Before we started I had to take down our beloved hammock of nearly 5 years. It had more holes than it should and was so threadbare it was probably a health and safety issue. To say goodbye we gave it a proper send off by each kid taking a little piece of it. Grace kindly helped Adam make superhero wings, with Eli and Grace settling for buffs and bandanas. Eli was heartbroken by having to say goodbye and cried saying “it was my best birthday present ” poor boy.

After that we got down to some tidying. Adam managed an hour before we needed a break for snacks and after that he was done. The other 2 helped me for another hour and then I was left to finish up. We did well and I always love the look and feel of a clean playroom

After the first hour!

Break- bonus when there is left over birthday party snacks!

After….Aaahhh so peaceful

Eli has been loving the fact that he can now play games like Cluedo and Monopoly Deal…Grace seems to think he may not be much of an opponent yet, but she is kind enough to train him up.

Today we celebrated Grace’s birthday with a few close friends at Jump4Joy, followed by some cake and treats and time together. Grace throughly enjoyed it and I must admit I loved the slow chilled pace of the party too.

Family photo before the jumping started. Eli and Adam enjoyed jumping again, with Eli saying that it was his favourite place.

Grace asked for a chocolate drip cake!

After the hour of jumping, eating was definitely next on the list of things to do!

The rest of the time was spent playing Cluedo, dancing and playing together.

All good parties in winter should end in front of a fire with a duvet and a Coco cat

Today we got to join the Monametsi’s at the Scratch Patch in Simon’s Town to celebrate George’s 3rd birthday. We all had a fun time scratching and playing cave golf and eating yummy food.

I baked George’s cake for her. She requested pink and bunnies so this is what I made.

Scratching for gemstones, so many choices

Adam enjoyed the process, he would fill his bag and then throw the stones out and start again.

These 3 took there time figuring out exactly what they wanted weighing up colour and size. They came to this dark corner in hope of finding something more rare.

George showing mommy her treasure

Second term is over and all 3 kids have had a good term with many highs. Eli got to go to school in his pajamas today, eat popcorn and watch Matilda which made for one very happy boy.

Grace and Anna have been working on a bears and koala’s project for most of the term and got to present it to the class today, with apparently lots of appropriate oohing and aahing from the class.

And Adam came home having eaten pizza and having his nails painted pink and purple by Nee Nah (Nina). It doesn’t matter how many times you tell him her name is Nina, he insists it’s Nee Nah.

The first afternoon of the holidays started with a nap for Ads which he very much needed followed by him and eli playing together all afternoon. I love watching them playing their made up games

Grace has been wanting to make some lime cupcakes and finally she got a chance this afternoon. Grace can be such an amazing teacher and show such patience. Adam helped her make them and she kindly and patiently showed him how to grate the rind of the lime.

It was a lovely start to the holidays, now everyone must get healthy so we can make the most of our 3 weeks holiday.

Grace’s baking skills are pretty amazing but I do think she may need a few tips with piping to prevent it looking like turds

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.

Adam has been at home with me the last two days with some sort of virus. It has been good to have some alone time together and enjoy the little person he is becoming. I can feel us coming out of the threenagers and settling into a new phase.

He is the family clown in many ways and can diffuse a tense situation without even realising it. Yesterday in the car Grace was having a moment and taking it out on Eli. I was in the process of discussing the situation when out of the corner seat comes this voice ” look guys it’s 10C outside,” of course it wasn’t 10 degrees but the change in subject to the weather by the 3 year old was rather amusing and broke the tensions.

Today we built a whole Lego city with trains, planes and a house to live in.