Holiday Fever...

Time is ticking by so quickly, it's frightening! It's exactly 6 weeks today (42 sleeps!!) till we leave for our holiday to the gorgeous Greek Islands! And the more I think about it, the more excited I get. I can't imagine how I'm going to be in the few days leading up to our departure. I just can't wait for the break from routines and cell phones and computers and televisions and...

For those of you who don't know about my trip, we're leaving Cape Town on 22 August and get home on 9 September. Yes, that's 2 1/2 weeks away! We're flying into Athens via Jo'burg, spending a night in Athens and then going on to Skiathos the next day. In Skiathos, we'll be hopping onto our yachts for exactly 2 weeks, before heading straight back home. Who's the "we"? Well, my aunt & uncle have organised this trip. They've been to Greece about 10 times in the last 20 years, so know where to go and what needs to be seen & done while we're there. My uncle's a sailor, so hiring yachts is an easy way of getting around, as well as providing accommodation. In total, there are about 20 people going, including Jake & I, my folks, my aunt, uncle & cousins. My one cousin has a little girl 11 days younger then Jake, so he'll have company. We've also got family friends going and one of my good friends, Michelle's also joining us.

The plan is that we'll spend about 3 or 4 hours a day sailing, then stop and do sight-seeing. The islands that we'll be visiting, are the Sporades Islands. The website I came across yesterday describes the Sporades as follows: "The Sporades islands group lies off the eastern shore of mainland Greece and consists of 11 islands of which only 4 are inhabited: Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonnisos and Skyros. These Greek islands are characterized by dense vegetation and mountainous terrain and are world known as some of the bluest and cleanest seas one will ever come across and experience." When we stop at the habitated islands, we'll dock in a proper harbour and go ashore for dinner, sight-seeing, etc. When we stop at the unpopulated spots, we'll just drop anchor in the middle of nowhere. To be honest, the idea of being stuck out at sea in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night freaks me out more then a little. I'm also petrified of getting sea-sick. Anyway, here are some pictures, I thought I'd share - just to make you all a little jealous!

The Sporades Islands:

Veiw of the Acropolis:

The Acropolis:

Skiathos:

Skiathos:

Skopelos:

Skopelos:

Alonissos:

Besides the holiday, not a lot else is happening. I'm incredibly bored at work at the moment and I'm starting to feel like a change is necessary. I'm actually really tempted to ask my boss how much he'd pay me to carry on doing what I'm doing here, but half-day. It's killing me to sit here day in, day out doing nothing. Anyway, surfing life's waves at the moment and seeing what happens...

Jake's doing really well and comes out with such funny comments at the moment. I'm constantly laughing at him. He's also realised that if he's in trouble, all he has to do is say sorry to me, then laugh at me and I'll return the laugh and all's forgotten. Amazing how quickly they pick these things up. He doesn't like being in trouble though. Yesterday, I left him colouring in on the bathroom floor while I quickly jumped into the shower. The walls obviously looked boring, so he decided to decorate them with red crayon. When I got out the shower, he proudly announced that he'd drawn on the walls. I was mad and made him scrub his picture off the wall, with a serious telling off. When he was finished, he, again proudly, announced that it was all cleaned up and then said "you not cross any more, mommy". Well, how could I be?? It's school holidays at the moment and he's really missing the activity in his day. I find he's quite wound up in the evenings at the moment and I feel quite sorry for him. I guess he doesn't understand why he's suddenly not at school...

This last weekend was really good, nice and relaxing. On Friday night, Jake & I went out for dinner with a friend and her son (Spur - the joys of having kids!!). Saturday morning I had my art lessons (don't ask) and my mom took Jake to a Spiderman party. Had an engagement party in the evening. Sunday, all we did was go for a little walk at the beach, which was nice. The weather was reasonable, so it was nice to get out and get some sunshine. Today's looking like it's going to rain at any moment and my fingers are like ice blocks, so I'd better go make some coffee to warm them up on!

Spiderman:

Blaauwberg: So long, promise (as always) to write again soon!! xxx