Saturday
25 April 2009

Morning

Earl, Gus and Jay went fishing
very early this morning but the weather was so bad that they abandoned the
exhibition and arrived home wet and cold at about 11.

I made 4 quiches for lunch as well as a milk tart.  I used my grandmother’s recipe which I have
not used for 20 years. 

Lisa went to shop for her birthday party and then
took my car to fetch the Kokstad Kids from the airport.  Josh went with her

They all arrived at about 2.  It was lovely to see Lauren, Allan and the
kids again.  We haven’t seen them since
January.   Allan starts a new job when
they get back.  He will be project managing
something that will take him away from home for 3 to 4 days a week.

Shannon can now read a little bit and proudly
showed me her skills. Simon was full of his ride in the big aeroplane.

Earl and Gus had gone to offload fish and didn’t
get back until after 3.  The family
couldn’t wait for them as they had made an early start this morning and were
starving.  Three of the quiches
disappeared very quickly.   Gus and Earl
almost finished the fourth when they came home.

It was Lisa’s birthday last week but she waited
till tonight to celebrate so that Lauren and Allan could be with us.  Dominica came to help prepare the salads and
Margaret also arrived early with her husband and 2 kids.   There were about 16 adults and 8 kids
altogether.  It stopped raining and it
was even quite pleasant outside.   Allan
organised the braaing of the meat and the party was a great success.   

Sunday,
26 April 2006

Family Lunch

We all went to Castle Rock for a lunch time braai.   The whole family and Jeff and Annaline were
there.   The weather had cleared up and
it was lovely.   The kids played in the
garden and Allan took them to the rocks.  Carrol has a mongoose that is quite tame and
appears every now and then for food.  I
saw it clearly but it was gone by the time I had my camera focussed on him.

We asked Vere and Carrol to join us on our Kruger
trip this year but they declined saying they had to sort out the house first
and perhaps next year.  Vere is going to
Sodwana next month.

Saturday,
02 May 2009

It continues to be a household full of full of fun and festivity.  Shannon has brought a touch of femininity to a household of
mini-male activity.  Simon looks like an angel but needs no
encouragement to join in Jay and Joshua’s mischief!  The soccer ball has
been kicked, the army toys litter every room and the noise is
raucous:-)   

Monday – Freedom Day

It was a public holiday on Monday – Freedom Day – Earl took Jay
and Simon fishing on the new ski-boat.   All Simon wanted to do was
catch a big fish with Grandpa.   Well the fishing wasn’t that great
but they tried for chocca and Simon was the only one to catch one – and it was
the biggest squid Grandpa had ever seen in his life!  He was very proud
but wouldn’t touch it.  Jay had to hold it for his photograph.

 Tuesday

On Tuesday, the weather improved considerably and the sun
graced us with a glorious appearance.   Lauren and Allan went to
Franschoek where they spent the night at a luxury lodge, leaving the kids with
us.   Jay and Josh had to go to school and I took  Simon and
Shannon to the beach.  What a ball these sea-starved kids had.  They
played in the sand, built castles and tunnels, pushed tip-up trucks to the
water’s edge and ran into the sea and splashed in the waves.    The
train was a great source of attention and all activity stopped as they stood
and stared as it passed by.   At lunch time I managed to coax them to
the outdoor tables of the restaurant for toasted sandwiches and hot
chocolate.   The pigeons are a bit of a nuisance and one has to be
careful they don’t steal one’s food but the kids thought they were great
fun!    After lunch it was back to the sea and it was all I
could do to persuade them to leave at 3:30 as I had to get back to do homework
with their cousins!

Lauren phoned them to say good night and Simon refused to speak
to her.  He was no trouble at all at bed-time and was asleep within
minutes.  Shannon, however, was tearful so I allowed her to fall asleep in
our bed.  J&J were outraged:-)   Earl tucked her into her
own bed when she was dead asleep but she crept back in the middle of the
night.  I was unaware of this till about 2 when I woke and saw her cuddled
right next to Earl who was almost falling out of bed.  When I woke again
in the morning, Earl was missing and Miss Muffet was snoring.  He’d gone
to finish the night in her bed.  When she woke up, I said, "That
wasn’t very nice to kick Gramps out of bed"  She giggled and said,
"My dad often has to sleep in my bed!"  So this was not a one
off thing.    No wonder daddy was so keen to get a night away
alone with his wife:-)

 Wednesday

On Wednesday, I left Lisa in charge and went off to the
hairdresser.  Sharon, her sister-in-law, Marion and I go together every 6
weeks to the same hairdresser in Town.  We spend the morning while Renee
does all 3 of us then go for lunch.   Its great fun.  I got home
just before Lauren and Allan and they reported that they’d had a brilliant
time.  They’d met friends for lunch so didn’t want much for
supper.   Laurie had also eaten out at lunch time so we just made
macaroni cheese and salad and I did a cheese cake for dessert.

 Thursday

On Thursday, Heather and I took Shannon to the Strandfontein to
see the birds.  She loved every minute of it.  She knows all the
birds she sees in her area and whenever we visit I have to show her bird
pictures on my computers.  I gave her a chart of the birds she was likely
to see and she perused it in the car.  When we started seeing birds she
named the ones she knew and immediately found the ones she didn’t on the chart.  
Heather insisted she sit in front and of course gave her little bits of
information on the birds we saw.  When we got home she showed Earl the
bird she’s seen on the chart, not forgetting the names of a single
one.   She also rattled off all the info that Heather had taught
her! 

Allan had requested Moussaka for supper and I started cooking
it at 3 and was halfway through when he came into the kitchen and informed me
that they were actually going out with friends.  Lauren was supposed to
have told me but she and Lisa had gone horse-riding and so the info was not
relayed.   I decided, therefore to save it for the next night and
Earl and I went out for Sushi.  The rest of the family had left over macaroni cheese for their supper.

Friday

On Friday Lisa organised a game of golf for Allan and
went to walk the course with them.  Lauren and I took all the kids on
a train ride from Muizenberg to Simonstown.  Earl dropped us at MZBG and
collected us at SMSTN. 

It was a huge thrill for the four of them – J&J had done it
when they were 4 and 5 and still remembered the experience. The trip cost R25
for the 6 of us.   It was great fun.  There were 6 security
guards in our coach.  The seats are not like they used to be in the old
trains – leather and comfortable – now they are bucket seats backing onto the
windows with a wide aisle for standing room.   The kids knelt on
their seats and looked out of the window and enjoyed every second.  
It was a grey overcast day but great fun nevertheless. It was raining in
Simonstown and Earl parked the Caravelle at the taxi rank.   He was
mobbed by passengers who were most disappointed when he said the bus was
pre-booked:-)

We then went for breakfast at the yacht club and then visited
Carrol and Vere at Castle Rock.

In the afternoon I went to my friend Sharon’s birthday
tea.   When I got back all I had to do was cook the moussaka, make a
salad and then I made Granny’s Milk Tart for pudding:-)  It was delicious.

Saturday

Lisa and Lauren took
the children for a photo shoot this morning. 
Earl had work to do and Allan and I went to the mall and had breakfast
at Tony’s.   Allan needed to buy a travel
bag and managed to get one at the little luggage shop for just over R700.

I did a quick
round of shopping and then we came home. 
The kids arrived shortly after and played around at home.

The girls had
thought about rolls for lunch but not sausages. Fortunately I had thought of
everything. 

In the evening Wendy
and Bryn and their kids and Shirley, Wendy’s mom, came for drinks before the
kids went off to their school reunion.    Wendy’s two
little boys had a ball playing with Jay, Josh, Simon and Shannon.   They are not allowed guns at home so guess
what was the first toy to be grabbed? 
Hee hee.

Earl and Gus had
gone off to sort out the boat and Jacky was here with Karla.   Laurie got all the kids bathed and into
pyjamas and we made wraps for supper.  

Sunday, 03 May 2009

Kokstad Kids leave

Earl and I took the
Bangays to the airport this morning. 
There were extensive queues at all the airlines but 1Time was the
worst.  Fortunately, they were travelling
Kulula and they got through within 5 minutes.  
We went to Earl‘s office afterwards and then to Fish Hoek beach for
breakfast.  It was a clear, autumn day
but still freezing sitting outdoors.  The
breakfast of Eggs Florentine was excellent.