A growing bunch...

 

 We had dinner at my mom's house on the 20th of August to celebrate Rosie's 30th birthday.  How did that happen???  I was 8 when she was born (don't do the maths, I'm still 27!) and can remember it all so clearly.  I can see her tiny squishy face and I loved (still do) so much.  She was just too cute and she tagged along with us where ever we could take her.  She's all grown up now and more beautiful than ever and such a wonderful, gentle mommy to Rylee.  Her birthday was a good excuse to get an updated picture of the four kids together.  We aren't all together often enough.

It's not easy taking photos of 4 kids... Jake has learned just to look and smile, no matter what, but it's tricky when the rest of them are still learning the ropes...

 I kinda gave up after this...

 Just one last one of Jake and Rylee.  It's funny how similar they look sometimes and yet how very different.  Rylee is so like his dad, Gareth and yet so like his mom too...

 Last Sunday saw us doing the Sunflower Fund Fun Walk in Sea Point.  The weather was fantastic and we all enjoyed getting out for a while - summer is on the way...

 Gorgeous boys...

 YAY!  There's one of Jake and I together...

 There were a lot of people, so it was very festive...

 Jake with Marius and Cam (Michael was sick)...

 Mom and dad...

 Smiley Rylee aka Gogga...

 Jake enjoying the time away from TV...

 We walked all along the promenade...

  A flat, flat sea...

 Rosie and Gareth, who have just recently signed the transfer papers on their house, which they've been renting from me - a huge congratulations to them and yay for me...

 Doesn't this boy just have the most beautiful eyes...

 Jake landed up running most of the way, so he met me at the finish line again, with an ice-cream... 

 All done!  My dad was treated in the sunflower ward.  He had his bone marrow transplant done in 1998, so this is a very happy walk for us...

Hope everyone had a good weekend!!

Love,

Sue XXX

King Tut...

 I recently went with Jake's class on an outing to see the Tutankhamun exhibition, which is currently running at the Grand West Casino.  It was AMAZING and I just wish that we'd had a little more time to view the exhibits.  Being a school outing, our time was limited and the kids had a question sheet to complete, so they were on a mission.  There's SO much to see and it's a beautiful insight into how the ancient Egyptians lived and died.  Mostly died.  The grade 5s are studying ancient Egypt at the moment in History, so the exhibition tied in beautifully with their syllabus.

Jake and his friends discovering "new" wonders of the ancient world.  This is looking into the first of 4 golden tombs into which King Tutankhamun's sarcophagus was put...

 So much time was spent making these tombs beautiful - which is crazy, considering the fact that the ancient Egyptians never expected us to discover these tombs 3000 years after they were laid to rest!!  The hieroglyphics are so detailed, it's nuts to imagine that each picture represents something...

 These are the enclosures that King Tutankhamun's mummified body were placed, before going into the sarcophagus, which was a stone container, which was placed inside the 4 golden tombs.  So 4 gold boxes, 1 stone box and 4 of these sarcophagus' into which the mummy was eventually placed...

 Everything was symbolic - Jake would be better at explaining than me...

 Some of the art work on the sarcophagus...

 Those funny little heads over there are called Canopic Jars.  That's where they put the person's innards when they prepare the body for mummification.  They in turn are also put into a sarcophagus box thing.  That's protected by a row of cobras, which are supposed to provide protection...

 This is King Tut's throne...  The picture is of him and his wife.  It was quite sad actually, he died when he was 18 and they found a body of both a fetus and a baby - he had his fair share of sadness...

 One last one of two of the sarcophagus'...

I really recommend this outing for anyone interested in ancient Egypt, it was brilliantly put together.  Just lots of reading/listening, so maybe not for the littlies.

Love Sue XXX

Busy days..

It's been a while since I've had time to even look at my blog, let alone anyone else's.  I'm sorry!!  It's been so hectic on my side and I know I'm way, waaaaaaay behind.  It's been a long time since I shared any pics of the kiddies, so here are a couple that I took at the beginning of the month, when Paul did the Puffer, an ultra-high endurance run from Cape Point to the waterfront.  It's usually a mostly trail run, but after the devastating fires, this year saw them doing about 60kms on the road and the rest over Table Mountain.  Not for the feint-hearted, as Paul will now admit.  It takes tons of training and lots of mind-over-matter stuff.  Marius ran the leg from Constantia to the Waterfront with Paul (just for fun) and we met up with Jo and the kids at Constantia Nek to wait for Paul.  It was hot.

Princess Bi AKA Stinky Binky after she moaned that I called Connor "Corky".  She LOVES her new name...

 After a long wait, Paul finally arrived at Constantia Nek (by the way, the restaurant in the background is where Rosie & Gareth had their wedding reception.  It's been sold, I think, and is going through some renovations).  Jo was very relieved to see Paul.  He'd been on the go since 2:30am...

 The kids were thrilled to see him too and I think he wished that was the finishing line...

 Very happy to see her daddy, Bi has started to really enjoy having her photo taken and loves to see the pictures of herself as I go...

 After a quick bite to eat, Paul was on his way again.  Marius calls him the Ghost of Constantia, he was that pale with exhaustion...

 Off they go...

 We went on to Signal Hill, where Marius' running club had a pit stop.  They had plenty of juice, water, pancakes, sweets, etc for the runners passing by.  We had quite a long wait in store for us...

 And the kids were super well behaved.  It gave me a chance to snap some updates...

 Corky and Jake doing what they do best together at the moment - gaming.  They are getting along so well these days, it's such a pity that we don't see more of them...

 Stinky Binky with the harbour behind her...

 And Corky getting cross with her for being in his way...

 He's not so obliging when it comes to photos...

 Neither is Jake, for that matter...

  OK, I take that back, he's always been a very good model for his mom...

 The shadows started to grow longer and still there was no sign of Paul...

 Jake took to watching out for him...

 OK, OK... I take it back, he'll let me take photos when he wants me to...

  Like this...

 And this... I love his little embarrassed grin...

 2 Boys happy to sit quietly and take in the view...

 They have a very special bond, these two...

 Jake being the "thinking man"...

 And trying to be serious about it...

 The last of the sun started to disappear behind the mountains and evening was almost upon us...

 And still Jake and Corky waited...

 I always wonder what kids talk about when their parents aren't listening...

 Bi was getting very excited to see her daddy...

 

 And finally he came around the corner... Phew... at long last!!

 He looked a lot happier (and more colourful) than he did when we saw him at Constantia Nek...

 

 Up the red carpet to the West Coast stand...

 And then they were off again, on the final leg of the run...

 Corky was very excited and very proud of his dad...

  Down at the finish, Jake was showing Stinky Binky the goslings.  This boy's really growing up so beautifully...

 And finally, just before dark, Paul finished his Puffer...

 Paul finished his run in just under 13 hours... I'm not sure what's next on his bucket list, but I do believe that whatever he sets his mind to, he can and will accomplish!

Well done Paul!!!

Lots of love,

Sue XXX