Summer evenings...

Every other weekend, we spend the weekend without Marius' boys.  It sucks for all of us, especially Marius.  And Jake just cannot accept that the boys have two homes with two parents who are both equally entitled to time with their kids.  Jake takes it very personally when they're not at Marius' house and so he is REALLY looking forward to seeing them this evening.  No doubt it'll be chaos all over, but that's the way we love it

Last weekend was quiet and Jake ended up spending far too much time playing TV games and watching movies.  I guess it's good sometimes, as long as it doesn't become a habit.  We braai'ed on Saturday night and he always enjoys that, so we managed to get him outside for the sunset, which is always magnificent from Marius' deck.  As is usual for this time of the year, the South Easter was blowing and the kite boarders were out surfing until after dark.

Jake discovered the challenges of trying to make fire with sticks, which kept him busy for a long, long time...

It was frustrating, hard work and he eventually put his sticks in the braai...

We also spent time working on cubs badges - Jake handed in 8 badges on Wednesday...

On Sunday morning, before we headed on down to the beach, Jake and I inspected the sunflowers growing in the garden...

The bees were very busy and I managed to catch this one mid-flight.  After all his help with my course, Jake's comment was "you froze motion" when he saw this picture...

Being a bee is hard work...

And there were plenty of bees, collecting lots of pollen...

The tide was very low and Jake had fun exploring rock pools.  He had hoped to go body boarding, but the water was colder than he expected.  With the wind blowing, we headed back up to the hammock...

So, more of the same next week, just with more happy faces.  Jake and I have quite an exciting weekend ahead - he won a flight over the peninsula through cubs last year and we're doing the trip tomorrow.  Fingers crossed that the wind doesn't blow too much!  Despite that I love to travel, I'm really not the bravest air passenger.  Jake is very excited about it though and I'm sure the photo opportunity will be fabulous.  

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Sue XXX

The Number 1 Beach House...

 In a relatively short time, Marius' home has become one of my favourite places to be and Jake and I spend most weekends with him in Blaauwberg.  Granted, it's mostly because Marius is there, but I do love how I feel like I'm on holiday every time I visit him.  We love to sit on the balcony, watching the surf and having coffee together (often replaced by wine).  We chat and laugh over the silliest things and time stands still for us for just a few moments.  The kids love being here too and we do take advantage of having the beach on our doorstep!

Marius has had an old tatty "Beach" sign up next to his front door since way before I met him and it's been long overdue replacement.  So, for Christmas, I decided to make him a new one.  I've never done mosaics before, so this was a first attempt and, since I'm sharing photos here, you have to know that I'm very chuffed with how it turned out.

Originally, the sign was going to just say "The Beach House", but since his house is number 1 in his street, it was apt to call it "The Number 1 Beach House".  And there was still enough space to fit in a fish and add a little heart to remind him that it was made with all my love...

 I used tiles to edge it off properly along the sides and the wood was treated, so it shouldn't fall apart any time soon...

  I also found this pretty flower made of shells that fit in perfectly too and I made little "waves" in the space I had left over....

  And it's right up the stairs, next to my hammock...

Hopefully every time Marius sees the sign I made him, he'll think of me and know how much he's loved.  I know that every time I see it, I am reminded by how lucky I am that this is my happy life - who knew!!

Love,

Sue XXX

Summer Holiday Part 6...

 OK, so here I am again, posting the last of our summer holiday photos.  It looks like it was the busiest holiday ever, but I was off work from 13 December - 6 January and believe me, there was plenty of down time.  Marius' kids went away with their mom for a few days and so Jake had their XBOX all to himself.  We did manage to drag him down to the beach a few times and he'd specifically asked to go fishing, so Marius made a plan. 

We all enjoy visiting the island, it's always a treat when the tides play it fair and when low tide is at a suitable time of the day to walk across.  During high tide, the island is closed off, but as you can see in the picture above, when the tide's out, there's a nice path and you hardly have to get your feet wet.  A bonus of visiting the island, is beautiful views of the mountain...

 Marius has lived in Blaauwberg, in the same house since he was 4 - that's a long time.  He knows the water and the island like the back of his hand and he knows just where to go to catch the perfect klipvissies.  Jake loved learning where to find his own bait too...

 The weather was perfectly calm and warm.  I love it when Robben Island looks so nearby and so clear that you can even see it's little lighthouse...

 Another view of the mountain...

 Jake helping Marius to find some bait.  Jake loves the guy time and I sometimes feel like I'm an intruder... don't you just love his hat?  That's from my wonderful friend, Deusl, in Vienna...

 After a spot of fishing, Jake had fun messing around in the rock pools...

 But this is pretty much where I spent most of my holiday.  In that hammock - there's no better place to have been.  I've actually claimed my squatter rights...

 I had the best seats in the house for the start of the Cape to Rio Yacht Race too...

The kids spent a lot of time body boarding.  On this particular day, the waves were huge and the water was warm. The great part about being able to see the sea from the balcony, is that Marius can judge straight away what the water's doing.  Jake and Cam enjoyed the surf...

 While Michael and Marius went wave ramping...

 Jake has grown so much this holiday too.  He's going to pass me before I know it...

 I love happy faces...

 Pretty clouds and a beautiful view...

 Boys having fun...

 And the last one - Cam jumping into one of the few deep rock pools - I really love this picture, just wish that I had managed to get his reflection in the water too...

And that brings you all up-to-date with all that we've been doing.  Finally!  After living the life of a beach bum, getting back to work has been a harsh reality.  The relaxed, happy time we shared with Marius and his boys was truly wonderful and we miss them every day.  Not to mention how much I miss my hammock, of course...  So, to my Marius:  Thanks for sharing your home with us and your boys and for making this one of our happiest holidays ever - already looking forward to the next one!  Oh and you may borrow my hammock while I'm not there, but I'm not giving it back XXX

 Have a happy, safe weekend!!

Sending love,

Sue XXX

Summer Holidays Part 5...

 OK, I'm getting there... We did so much during the holidays and it's been really difficult to narrow the pictures down to what I have.  Believe me, there are hundreds!  

So, in amongst other things, we took the boys to Ratanga Junction on the one day that was least suitable.  It meant that the queues were shorter and we didn't have to wait too long for rides.  Jake and Michael are dare devils.  The higher, the faster, the better.  They just love the rush.  Cam's not so keen yet, so most of these pics are of Jake and Michael.  Actually, Michael takes it to the extreme, pretending to fall asleep on many of the rides...

 He was even brave enough to try this and managed, fairly easily, to rope his dad into joining him...

 He was even quite excited about doing the slingshot...

 And Marius didn't really look all that scared either...

 After a quick safety briefing...

 They were hoisted up...

 The worst part of this for me is that you actually have to pull the string to let yourself go.  I could not do this ride. EVER...

 But these guys think it's fun...

 Jake wasn't brave enough for the slingshot, but he did just about everything else.  Monkey Falls is still his favourite ride...

 This photo makes me feel ill.  The last time Jake and I went, I did this ride about 15 times with Jake.  He loved it, I will never let him know how scared I was each and every time...

 The best part is getting soaked, so you know it's all over...

 Jake managed to get Cam onto the Spinning Bolts...

 And despite the terror on Cam's face in this photo, he went about 4 times in a row...

 A first for Jake, was going on the rocking ship.  Michael's been before, but it was Jake's first time and he was very excited...

 Letting go makes me incredibly nervous...

 Once he'd been once, I couldn't get Jake off.  He loves it.  Hahahaha... check the girl in front of him...

 Besides the action at Ratanga, there's always lots of action going down at Marius' house.  4 boys can do that...

 Michael's very strong.  I think he scares his dad sometimes and he definitely scares the two younger boys often...

 Jake and Cam have lots of fun messing each other up too...

 Before the year was out, we had a little braai with Jake's new braai...

 He's very excited with the braai and has decided that he's going to be a braai king...

 Hi my handsome boy...

 Whoops, those porkies are slippery...

 Pa was on hand to help out...

 On the very last day of 2013, Jake painted my front stoep for me.  It was part of a badge that he's working on, so he was happy to do the manual labour.  Black stoep paint is messy.  Black stoep paint comes off of nothing...

 We spent old year's eve at Marius' house.  His boys were away, so it was just the 3 of us.  We popped in at a friend's party, but we were back on the beach to watch fireworks explode over the city at midnight.  This was the exquisite last sunset of 2013...

 So many people were down on the beach - it was a beautiful evening.  OK, a little windy, but that died down a bit...

 Marius had some Chinese lanterns that he'd been given by a client...

 These lanterns proved to be one of my holiday highlights...

For the rest of 2013, we ate and drank and braai'ed and partied and lazed our way into 2014.  I hope that this will be an awesome year for everyone.

Love,

Sue XXX