Wowee, looking back, it's been far too long since I posted anything here. Haha - I doubt that I have any blog friends left... for those of you who do stop by sometimes, I'm sorry it's taken so long! Hopefully this little update will keep you happy for a while. So, where to start. Easter seems to be the furtherest thing back on my camera, so here goes. I guess having a blog be a diary, means that I can go back.
Easter was, as usual, a family-filled holiday. At 12, Jake still wanted a hunt and needless to say, he is still munching on Easter eggs in June. Without his knowledge, I do dip into his bag of treats every now and then - he clearly needs help! Connor, Bi and Rylee all came for a bit of breakfast and a second hunt at Nini and Pa's house. Jake and Corky decided that they would let the younger 2 enjoy the hunt without taking over. They're very sweet together at the moment...
Winter has taken it's time in reaching us here in Cape Town. The drought has started to make us all very nervous, with the dam levels quickly sinking below 10% full. Jake was quite confident in reminding us all about El Nino and the fact that the rain would come. We had a massive storm this week and have plenty of rain forecast for the upcoming week too - hopefully Jake's predictions are true. In the mean time, we all made the most of the unusally warmer weather. We were invited to spend the day with some friends at their holiday home up in Yzerfontein and the kids spent the entire morning bodyboarding - it was like the good old days for Jake...
Jake had his very first surfing lesson and managed to stand up on the board, so he was pretty chuffed about that. Our friends are keen for us to come up for a weekend and so we plan on taking them up on the offer in the not-too-distant future. It's a magic place and the sea is great for the kids...
After surfing and lunch, we all headed down to the little harbour for the kids to do some fishing, another of Jake's favourite hobbies that he never gets a chance to practise. He caught a little shy shark, so was very pleased with himself...
Before exams kicked in, we were making a bit of an effort to get out and see some of our own back yard. We finally went to go and see the
duck parade at Vergenoegd - it was very cute...
There are so many ducks (runnder ducks) and they really know their course very well...
Rylee joined us with Rosie and Gareth and we all went for a little lunch afterwards...
Jake was quite tickled...
And then they were off - quack quack...
In May, Jake and I both celebrated our birthdays - I turned a whopping 40 and Jake a very cool 13. Yes, I am a mom to a teenager. I'm not quite sure how it happened so quickly, or where the time has gone, but one thing's for sure, this boy is my world. We have a very special bond and while he can be cheeky, he's a good kid and he has a ginormous heart. He is fun loving and caring and has a deep love for nature. He is unbelievably protective, but he's fast getting big enough to protect me. He's growing into a lovely young man and I am very proud of him. My heart is filled with so much love for this boy, that I find it hard to put it all into words. It was very special to share these milestone birthdays, before he thinks I'm not that cool...
The other rock in my life is my mom - she's incredible and she really has done so much to help me. I don't know what I would do without this beautiful woman in my life. We are very similar in personality and so we spend a lot of time laughing and chatting. I do love living with her and I'm not sure how I'll one day adjust to being in my own house again. Maybe she'll have to move in with me?? Jake and I decided to have a few smaller parties to celebrate our birthdays and the one at home was a family do. It was very special to have all the people we love with us. We did a Mexican themedinner and hired a slush machine for frozen margaritas...
All my beautiful nieces and nephews - you can see we all belong together. I am so blessed! That's Abi, Corky, Rylee, Jake, me, Becky & Stinky. Incidentally, Stinky shares my birthday and she turned 6, so it was a triple celebration...
Jake's party with his buddies was indoor go-karting. Man-O-man did they have fun!!! They're such a cool age for it and they really enjoyed it from beginning to end...
Go Jake go! Jake was quite bummed that he didn't make it into the finals, but he loved his party, so I'm sure he'll be challenging his friends again soon...
Cam joined him for the evening...
My ubercool teen...
All the boys - there were 14 of them and they only ate 3 pizzas between them - how is that possible? They're a great age and a lovely group of kids...
Last but not least, Stinky had an Annie themed party. She went to see the musical and loved it...
My mom and Jo made her a dress and she had her hair curled and sprayed orange. She even had a stuffed dog with her...
The three boys...
Rylee loves being one of the big kids...
The party was a Clay Cafe, which is heaps of fun. Each kid chooses something to paint, that gets glazed and fired up and then collected 3 weeks later. Jake chose a skull...
Bi knows her baby teeth are going to be falling out soon and she choose a box to put her teeth in...
Painting time...
And that's it. After a month of celebrating, Jake and I leave for Kruger in 3 weeks time today, so we are counting the sleeps. Jake starts exams on Monday and writes for 2 weeks, so once that's all over, we'll be packing and getting ready to go. I am taking my laptop with me, so hopefully I'll be able to post a picture or two.
Till next time,
Sue XXX
