Well, we had a really busy weekend and while I've negelected my blog (again) for the last couple of days (or weeks), I now have tons to say and lots of photos to post - Oh, forgive me!!
So, a few weeks ago (sorry Wendy), to get into the festive spirit, we took a drive through to the centre of Cape Town to go and see the Christmas lights that they put up every year down Adderly Street. They're pretty similar from year to year, but it's a family tradition that we see them at least once a year. It's become a relatively new tradition to pick up coffees at MacDonalds on our way, which we sip as we drive through town under the lights. There were quite a few new lights this year and my dad attempted to take some photos, while I drove. The wind was blustery and its a wonder that the lights didn't blow down. Of course our recent electricity problems did cause a bit of havoc and the city has only been allowed to turn the lights on from 1 December. And, even then, many of the lights were not functioning properly. Still, they're always beautiful and we spent a good 45 minutes driving up and down Adderly admiring them.
Here are some of photos my dad took...
Adderly Street...
Christmas Tree at the top of Adderly Street...
The Nativity...
Proteas...
The Flower Sellers...
National pride and a "San" dancer...
As I already mentioned, this weekend was a really festive one for little Jake and he is now beside himself with excitement and anticipation over Christmas. On Saturday morning, we (my folks & I) took him to see The Elves and the Shoemaker, which is on at the Baxter. It's only 40 minutes long, but it's in the concert hall, which must seem huge to a kid his size. All the songs sung during the show were to Christmas tunes and Father Christmas made an appearance at the end, handing sweets out to all the kids. Jake didn't want to go up on his own, so I had to carry him up onto the stage to collect his loot. I must be honest, by the end of the show, I just wanted to get up on stage and join in the fun!! The actors all seemed to thoroughly enjoy it and hung around after the show to say hi to the kids too.
Sunday morning was the 16th and so we put our Christmas tree up. Joanne came through to share the excitement with us. Every year, my mom buys us each a new decoration. This year we got two though, one beautiful blue ball with glitter and pictures of snowy countrysides on and the second a snowman with a long tinsely body - they're really great. Anyway, now that the tree's up, all Jake wants to do is sit and look at the lights. Oh, and to have us light all the candles he can find so he can blow them all out again after looking at them for 2 seconds. I'm really glad that he's past (touching wood) pulling the tree down this year. He knows the dangers of electricity and he knows that the tree really is bigger then he is. He's still very fascinated by it though and keeps checking to make sure it's still there. He was disappointed for about a minute on Monday morning though, when he realised that he didn't have any presents under it yet...
Getting ready to decorate the tree. Yes, he did dress himself and yes, he does have two t-shirts on...
Mom and I preparing the tree...
Jake and my mom decorating mirrors...
Jake & I infront of our tree...
Sunday afternoon...
Jake ready to go to a braai. This is Jake's favourite shirt and I have to hide it away from him to get him to wear other clothes. It's full of stains, but he loves it. He's very proudly South African - he tells me that he was one of the big men that won the cup for the bokke...
Sunday night...
Our beautiful Christmas Tree!! The finished product (fairy got cut off)...
Our alcoholic fairy - my mom bought her at Pick 'n Pay for R4.99 when Jo & I were little...
Christmas candles...
Definitely a highlight of our weekend, was Uncle Paul's Party, which we went to last night, along with Joanne, Paul, my folks and Jacques' parents. If I hadn't any family, I would still have made an effort to take Jake on my own - it's amazing! I used to go as a kid and I have been dying to share it with Jake, but you've got to wait till your kids are 3 and then they stop going when they're 8, which really stinks. It's just the most magical experience ever and really makes things feel like Christmas time. We always used to go to the party at Silverhurst in Constantia and they've moved it to Groot Constantia in more recent years, although I have been to some there through the years too. The routine of the night is - you head up to the farm, catch a tractor up to Uncle Paul's Party and then get involved in the biggest straw fight ever. I had straw absolutely EVERYWHERE when I got home last night and my hair's still full of it, but I was too tired last night to care and ran out of time to worry about it this morning. After the straw fights, the Salvation Army's matching band comes, we have a quick march with them and the kids are allowed to play on the instruments (I still pity the trumpeteer!!).
Next, Noddy arrives with ice-creams (the same wafer kind we had as kids) for everyone; then it's dinner time and the pooled sandwiches are offered around in big crates. I must admit though, that the food has improved over the years - where we used to get peanut butter and syrup or cheese or egg mayo, you now get quiches and pies and sausgage rolls and delicious sandwhiches - I'm quite fussy about where food's prepared and the food was really OK. After dinner, is Christmas Carols and singing for Father Christmas (Silent Night's his favourite). The kids blow out all the lights, Father Christmas arrives, then you call for the fairy to come. She arrives with magic sweets that don't make your teeth rot. The kids get the presents and everyone packs up, catches the tractor back down to their cars and we all go home exhausted!
Absolutely nothing's changed since we were kids. The party area's much smaller, or so it seems now that I'm bigger; Uncle Paul's hotter and much younger then he used to be and Big Ears is thinner; Noddy looks like a kid of about 10, as does Father Christmas beneath that beard. The only significant change was that Noddy arrived in a golf cart, instead of his little red & yellow car like he used to. To be honest, I'm not sure who had the most fun last night, the adults definitely had a ball!! I highly recommend taking any kids within the age group and making sure that they have enough adults with them to enjoy it all as well. Anybody looking to go next year, let me know, I'm sure we'll get invited again...
Jake loved the whole experience and has apparently been playing with his presents all day (he got a whole box of junk and loves it, incl water bombs, sparklers, pencils, felt tip pens, pencil box, scissors, sweets, fire engine, etc). He's normally quite a cautious kid and will often hang back until he's settled in. Last night, he literally jumped off the tractor and ran without even looking back to see where I was. He loved the straw fighting!! He was a bit nervous about Father Christmas coming and kept his eyes tightly shut when the moment came for the big man in red to arrive. But as soon as he saw Father Christmas, he got up and ran towards him with all the other kids. He didn't stop once to see where I was. I can't wait to get my own photos printed - will be more put up here once I've done them, but it'll probably only be after the holidays now.
Here are some photos from Uncle Paul's Party...
Waiting in the tractor queue at Uncle Paul's Party...
Jo and Paul on the tractor ride up to the party...
STRAW FIGHT...
Having tons of fun in the straw...
Rolling in the straw...
Seating arrangments...
The castle...
Chatting to Big Ears...
Waiting for Father Christmas...
Opening his present...
And that's that. A week today and Christmas will be over. I've got to make my last trip to Canal Walk tonight and then my shopping's finished. Believe it or not, I did start in October, but have left the last few gifts till the last minute as usual. I'll catch up again during the week, but hope everyone's well and wish you all a happy, safe week in the build up to Christmas.
Tons of love,
Sue xxx
Christmas Tree at the top of Adderly Street...
The Nativity...
Proteas...
The Flower Sellers...
National pride and a "San" dancer...
As I already mentioned, this weekend was a really festive one for little Jake and he is now beside himself with excitement and anticipation over Christmas. On Saturday morning, we (my folks & I) took him to see The Elves and the Shoemaker, which is on at the Baxter. It's only 40 minutes long, but it's in the concert hall, which must seem huge to a kid his size. All the songs sung during the show were to Christmas tunes and Father Christmas made an appearance at the end, handing sweets out to all the kids. Jake didn't want to go up on his own, so I had to carry him up onto the stage to collect his loot. I must be honest, by the end of the show, I just wanted to get up on stage and join in the fun!! The actors all seemed to thoroughly enjoy it and hung around after the show to say hi to the kids too.
Sunday morning was the 16th and so we put our Christmas tree up. Joanne came through to share the excitement with us. Every year, my mom buys us each a new decoration. This year we got two though, one beautiful blue ball with glitter and pictures of snowy countrysides on and the second a snowman with a long tinsely body - they're really great. Anyway, now that the tree's up, all Jake wants to do is sit and look at the lights. Oh, and to have us light all the candles he can find so he can blow them all out again after looking at them for 2 seconds. I'm really glad that he's past (touching wood) pulling the tree down this year. He knows the dangers of electricity and he knows that the tree really is bigger then he is. He's still very fascinated by it though and keeps checking to make sure it's still there. He was disappointed for about a minute on Monday morning though, when he realised that he didn't have any presents under it yet...
Getting ready to decorate the tree. Yes, he did dress himself and yes, he does have two t-shirts on...
Mom and I preparing the tree...
Jake and my mom decorating mirrors...
Jake & I infront of our tree...
Sunday afternoon...
Jake ready to go to a braai. This is Jake's favourite shirt and I have to hide it away from him to get him to wear other clothes. It's full of stains, but he loves it. He's very proudly South African - he tells me that he was one of the big men that won the cup for the bokke...
Sunday night...
Our beautiful Christmas Tree!! The finished product (fairy got cut off)...
Our alcoholic fairy - my mom bought her at Pick 'n Pay for R4.99 when Jo & I were little...
Christmas candles...
Definitely a highlight of our weekend, was Uncle Paul's Party, which we went to last night, along with Joanne, Paul, my folks and Jacques' parents. If I hadn't any family, I would still have made an effort to take Jake on my own - it's amazing! I used to go as a kid and I have been dying to share it with Jake, but you've got to wait till your kids are 3 and then they stop going when they're 8, which really stinks. It's just the most magical experience ever and really makes things feel like Christmas time. We always used to go to the party at Silverhurst in Constantia and they've moved it to Groot Constantia in more recent years, although I have been to some there through the years too. The routine of the night is - you head up to the farm, catch a tractor up to Uncle Paul's Party and then get involved in the biggest straw fight ever. I had straw absolutely EVERYWHERE when I got home last night and my hair's still full of it, but I was too tired last night to care and ran out of time to worry about it this morning. After the straw fights, the Salvation Army's matching band comes, we have a quick march with them and the kids are allowed to play on the instruments (I still pity the trumpeteer!!).
Next, Noddy arrives with ice-creams (the same wafer kind we had as kids) for everyone; then it's dinner time and the pooled sandwiches are offered around in big crates. I must admit though, that the food has improved over the years - where we used to get peanut butter and syrup or cheese or egg mayo, you now get quiches and pies and sausgage rolls and delicious sandwhiches - I'm quite fussy about where food's prepared and the food was really OK. After dinner, is Christmas Carols and singing for Father Christmas (Silent Night's his favourite). The kids blow out all the lights, Father Christmas arrives, then you call for the fairy to come. She arrives with magic sweets that don't make your teeth rot. The kids get the presents and everyone packs up, catches the tractor back down to their cars and we all go home exhausted!
Absolutely nothing's changed since we were kids. The party area's much smaller, or so it seems now that I'm bigger; Uncle Paul's hotter and much younger then he used to be and Big Ears is thinner; Noddy looks like a kid of about 10, as does Father Christmas beneath that beard. The only significant change was that Noddy arrived in a golf cart, instead of his little red & yellow car like he used to. To be honest, I'm not sure who had the most fun last night, the adults definitely had a ball!! I highly recommend taking any kids within the age group and making sure that they have enough adults with them to enjoy it all as well. Anybody looking to go next year, let me know, I'm sure we'll get invited again...
Jake loved the whole experience and has apparently been playing with his presents all day (he got a whole box of junk and loves it, incl water bombs, sparklers, pencils, felt tip pens, pencil box, scissors, sweets, fire engine, etc). He's normally quite a cautious kid and will often hang back until he's settled in. Last night, he literally jumped off the tractor and ran without even looking back to see where I was. He loved the straw fighting!! He was a bit nervous about Father Christmas coming and kept his eyes tightly shut when the moment came for the big man in red to arrive. But as soon as he saw Father Christmas, he got up and ran towards him with all the other kids. He didn't stop once to see where I was. I can't wait to get my own photos printed - will be more put up here once I've done them, but it'll probably only be after the holidays now.
Here are some photos from Uncle Paul's Party...
Waiting in the tractor queue at Uncle Paul's Party...
Jo and Paul on the tractor ride up to the party...
STRAW FIGHT...
Having tons of fun in the straw...
Rolling in the straw...
Seating arrangments...
The castle...
Chatting to Big Ears...
Waiting for Father Christmas...
Opening his present...
And that's that. A week today and Christmas will be over. I've got to make my last trip to Canal Walk tonight and then my shopping's finished. Believe it or not, I did start in October, but have left the last few gifts till the last minute as usual. I'll catch up again during the week, but hope everyone's well and wish you all a happy, safe week in the build up to Christmas.
Tons of love,
3 comments:
Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones. Take care!!!
P.S. I love the new look of your website :)
Hi Sue -
This was absolutely fascinating! It's so neat to learn about other families' traditions around holiday time! The straw fight looks like great fun.
Jake is adorable and your home looks so festive and lovely! Thanks for posting so many great pictures, including the ones of Cape Town!
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
;o)
- Lee
It souds like you had a wonderful time. The lights look lovely too, thanks for the pics :)
I used to go to Uncle Paul's party too, way back when, I did not even realise it was still going. It must have been amazing for Jake, I know it was the highlight of the year for me.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have a happy new year!
Mari
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