Holiday

We've been back almost a week and finally get around to posting some photos of our holiday. We had a great time staying on a really quiet farm called Ravenna Mountain Retreat which is about 30k's from Montagu on South Africa's famous Route 62. Apart from it being a bit too cold to use the pool right outside our cottage the place was perfect. The boys really enjoyed the jungle gym whilst mum & dad enjoyed the peace. On previous visits to this part of the Klein Karoo we've stuck around the Montagu area but this time spent more time in and around Barrydale.

"You Can't Bring That In Here!"

We're back from a wonderful 10 day break in the Klein Karoo on the local 'Route 62'.

I saw this set of signs at a supermarket whilst we were away and was amused at the thought that one is banned from taking one's porn collection into the shop.

I'll post something a little more edifying later.

Hiding

It might seem like we've disappeared as we haven't posted anything for a while but in actual fact we're hiding out in a corner of south-east Spain close to the town of Cartagena, a beautiful old port town dating back to 1BC. We're on holiday as a family with Grandad and Lesley and having a really nice time. the boys are really happy to have a swimming pool all to themselves and are really enjoying having Grandad & Lesley to spend time with them. We're also grateful to Grandad & Lesley for giving us a bit of space to get out on our own.

Mission Education Visiting - Christ Church Parkwood

Today we were at Christ Church Parkwood in Maidstone. Dean preached and we followed this with our Powerpoint presentation, lunch and our photo presentation.

The morning was quite chaotic, one of the qualities we really love about Parkwood. The church is as unpretentious as is possible to be and yet the Spirit of God is so clearly present! We love it!!

Cpt. Hook & Smee

Meet our pirates; Capt. Hook & his First Mate Smee.

Joel has been a bit pirate obsessed for quite a while and now Eli seems to be following suit. Joel let him dress in his 'old' pirate costume this afternoon and Eli really enjoyed it.

It's great to watch them grow together. Joel is beginning to realise that Eli's not a baby but rather is good fun, a good play-mate and a great brother. Eli is talking all the time now (his language is very advanced for his age) so they're really enjoying each other's company and getting into mischief together.

They are such a blessing they are to us!

Holiday In Boggam's Baai

What a brilliant time we had in Boggam's Baai! The village is amazing as there are no commercial properties in the village which means no shops, coffee shops, ice cream vans etc, so the beach really was the focal point of the holiday. We did manage to find some shops in the nearby town of Mossel Bay so all was not lost. However, it was bliss not to have the usual assortment of seaside rubbish to deal with. The beach was stunning and empty! On one day there were about 100 people on the beach but given that it is a few kilometres long things were far from crowded (as you can see below).

We're Back

We're back from our holiday in Boggams Baai, a lovely small seaside village without a single shop or business. Very peaceful!

We'll post something meaningful later but thought you might enjoy this sign which we saw at the Outeniqua Transport /Railway Museum George.

Christmas Tree

We're off on holiday in Boggams Baai for 10 days from tomorrow and won't be posting in that time so we leave you with this to be going on with...

This evening we put our Christmas tree up, mainly in anticipation of our forthcoming Mulled Wine & Mince Pie 'do' on the 18th (anyone who's been to one in the past knows this is not to be missed).

Videos

Perfect Sense is of Joel singing along to his favourite song; Perfect Sense parts 1 & 2 by Roger Waters (ex Pink Floyd). He makes me so proud with his choice of music!

Holiday

What a wonderful two week break we had on Rietvlei farm outside Montagu on ‘Route 62’ just off the Garden Route. The farm was a fully functioning wine and fruit farm with peppers on the side. The pepper harvest was well under way whilst we were there and each day we got to throw the spoilt harvest to the pigs and goats. Needless to say Joel & Eli thought this was great. In fact, Eli got so into it that he took to throwing all his food to the pigs which became a bit of a problem!

Health & Fitness

Here's the first installment of holiday photos and stuff. One of the joys of the farm and the Montagu area is that there are lots of mountain bike trails, so there's much fun waiting to be had. I did several small rides around the farm as sadly the website had oversold their '3 Mountain Bike Trails' which turned out to be almost non-existent.

I was able to ride over a few hills and into the neighbouring farm in the next valley but apart from that most of my rides were spent trying to hack a way through the fynbos, which is only fun for a few minutes until your legs are gashed open.

Holiday

We're off to a family friendly farm near Montagu in the morning for two weeks, so we'll be too busy having fun to worry about Blogging anything. Have fun whilst we're gone - we will! :)

Looking Tired - Must Need A Holiday!

So here it is.. a long overdue photo of Dean on his bike in the Cape Argus. This photo was taken somewhere in the last 10km's of the race which would explain the lack of a smile on the face having done around 100km's at the time.

As you can see the scenery was truly stunning and the weather was perfect for the race. Some more stats from the race: I finished comfortably in the top half of all the 28748 riders who completed the race and I was 54th in the starting group of 420 riders, not bad!

Wilderness

We’ve just had three nights in Wilderness on the Garden Route with Grandad & Lesley. Much of the time was spent on the stunning beach although we also made it to the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe museum in George. This is a great day out and Joel really enjoyed it again. Unfortunately the morning was ruined a bit by the steam train letting off his whistle. Joel and Daddy were stood right next to it and weren’t expecting it to be quite so loud! That whistle was VERY loud!!!!!

Holiday Photos

We had a lot of fun on holiday and were blessed with an amazing house to stay in for free for the 2 weeks. The break came at a great time for us and the boys really thrived on so much quality family time together. Joel's highlight was the 'orange train' at the railway museum, we're not sure which train he's on about but it made a big impact on him.

 Eli's highlight was probably learning to pull himself up and then cruise the furniture, he also really enjoyed the beach.

The Lighter Side

We're Back!

We've just had a wonderful couple of weeks in Sedgefield, chilling out with the boys and re-acquanting ourselves with each other, brilliant! The weather was OK, we managed 4 days on the beach and were only housebound on one day due to really heavy rains.

We had a lot of fun doing all sorts of stuff. Joel discovered pizza and can't get enough of it. He also discovered Tom & Jerry and giggles himself silly watching it.

Holiday!

We're off to Sedgefield on holiday tomorrow morning for 2 weeks and have absolutely no intention whatsoever of Blogging whilst away!

See you all in 2 weeks.

Holiday

We've been back home for a week now having spent 2 fabulous weeks in Plettenberg Bay on a family holiday. Despite traveling through one of the worst storms the Cape has seen for years (roads collapsing and parts of the country losing 10 years worth of top soil, for example!), we managed to arrive relatively unscathed with a new pair of windscreen wipers, having driven for 8 km in driving rain without any - not to be recommended!