Posts filed under ‘04 April 2011’
Sick Babies, Big Chickens And Scary Cows II
OK, so for those of you who missed it this is where we spent last weekend in Barrydale
http://route62.co.za/route62towns.php?townID=2&image2.x=9&image2.y=5 :
Unlike our weekend at Ravenna this little place proved that it IS sometimes worth spending a little more. Our cottage was by the far the nicest we’d rented via http://www.budget-getaways.co.za so far and we wished we’d taken Nena and Nobbi there instead. We’re not sure though if they would have liked the indoor/outdoor shower. 
Jonesy was happy as soon as he was out if his box, Anja spent five minutes outside and was so filthy I didn’t want to touch her anymore – let alone have her in the house! Erik could hardly be kept indoors (difficult because the deck wasn’t toddler friendly and the river just down the hill) and Lilly was just happy being Lilly – as usual.
Glenn’s and my idea of a great weekend away differs somewhat. As for myself I can hardly wait to get outside and explore. He on the other hand wants to put his feet up with a good book. With Erik being inclined like his Mommy and Lilly happy being Lilly I ended up going for a nice walk with Erik and Anja while Glenn put his feet up with a book (and Lilly and Jonesy).
Here’s our little cottage.
Walking along the side of the river …
… we discovered lots of HUGE poo …
… and some very bright berries – almost like little lights. Erik practiced pointing at them and saying “look, Daddy, berries!” for the camera.
We didn’t do much else this weekend. The next day we went for a drive to the picturesque town of Swellendam http://www.swellendam.net/ where we did some shopping and stopped at a touristic, but charming place for lunch.
Erik unfortunately became a bit feverish at this point and wanted to neither play on the playground nor eat his sandwich. Just cuddle with Daddy.
Lilly once again was her happy Lilly self gobbling up her cheesy (and bread and gurkens and placemat).
On our way back we enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the Tradouw Pass
http://www.overberg.co.za/content/view/124/42/
By the way this was the corner where Glenn drove his motorbike leg first into the wall only days after we first met. In the meantime they’ve put up a whole heap of warning signs. (I could only capture one at the speed we were going. Just kidding of course.)
Despite not feeling well Erik refused to sleep that afternoon and preferred going for another walk with Mommy.
When we (I) didn’t dare continue on the path we were on because of all the baboons sitting on rocks above us, we walked to a nearby viewpoint instead. The view was stunning …
… although the drop did scare me a bit.
Since Erik and I started drying flowers and other little plants and leaves we pay closer attention to the details around us.
(okok, I’ not saying we’re going to dry this plant in the flower press …)
The next morning just as we were taking a birthday cake break from packing I was taking by surprise when I saw a cow walking past our window. At last the mystery of the big poos was solved (Erik had guessed it might be elephant or lion poo).
I’m not sure though if he found the cows any less intimidating than the above.
Last, but not least we were rewarded with more wildlife when we dropped off our keys at the main house.
I’m still not sure if cats are really so intelligent.
Enough for today. No need to mention that five minutes into our drive Jonesy started farting again and Erik informed us that he thought he had to throw up.
Or that this lead to a repacking of the car (in the rain) trying to give Jonesy a chance to do his business in the boot (in vain) and to squeeze me on the back seat between the kids for Erik’s assistance (also in vain).
In the end we got home safe and sound and clean(!) and we think we may return some day to this peaceful spot which my friend Mirs feels has some magic to it.
Sick Babies, Big Chickens And Scary Cows I
We left for Barrydale around 11am after a crazy morning of packing and getting things organised. You would have guessed we were planning to be away for three weeks at the very least. We sorely missed Auntie Ant’s babysitting service and Glenn managed miracles by fitting everything into the car.
The drive itself was fairly relaxed for all of us except Jonesy. I’d had to take him to the vet the day before because we’d noticed some blood in his stool. Thus he was on yet another deworming program as well as some medicine for parasites. He is almost as thrilled about this as his Daddy who is the one who has to get it down his throat. Ever tried giving a cat medicine? Umm, ya.
Anyway. So Jonesy was less than happy to be in his travel box and let us know all about it by miowing loudly and by sticking his paws through the bars and scratching everything he could get his claws on. This didn’t make him very popular with Mom (who had him on her lap) and Dad (when he absentmindedly rested his hand on the gearshift).
When this didn’t have the desired effect he took his strategy one step further and started farting. He farted until we thought we might not make it to Barrydale. Aware of our poor cat’s delicate condition we decided to make a litter-box stop. Jonesy nevertheless stubbornly refused to use his box under pressure and instead held in until 5 minutes before our destination when I – to my horror – glimpsed him relieving himself in his travel box.
We ended up at the side of Barrydale’s ”main road” (HAHAA) using up half our human babies’ baby wipes cleaning Jonesy’s bum.
But don’t worry – he was just fine as soon as we finally got to our cottage and he could go back to his favorite pasttime of teasing the dog. Right now he is sitting on my lap reading what I’m writing and giving me this LOOK that only cats can give you.
And now half an hour patience please and you will be rewarded with some exclusive pics of our weekend in Barrydale.
(B)Logging Out …
… until Monday evening – that’s what we will be doing now.
One (of many) really neat things in South Africa is that if you have a national holiday on a weekend then you get the Monday off! Cool, huh?
Tomorrow we’ll be going to http://www.bronzegrove.co.za/ near Barrydale for a relaxed weekend away. At least we hope that it will be relaxed – we certainly won’t be bored with two human babies and two furry ones coming along!
Here a last happy image from our last weekend away with Nena and Nobbi:
Until next week!
Have a great weekend everyone!
PS.: hold thumbs for many nice pictures upon our return – as of tonight I’m proud owner of my newest “baby” – a beautiful TRIPOD!!
Of Easterbunnies, Spectacle-snakes(?) and Puddles
You won’t BELIEVE what happened yesterday morning!! When Erik woke up the EASTER BUNNY had been to our garden the night before and hidden chocolate eggs and small gifts for everyone in little nests around the garden! Isn’t that INCREDIBLE?? Have you ever heard of such a thing?
As usual (at least from what I’ve been told is the usual weather for Easter weekend) it was pretty miserable outside so we hurried outside to save the Easter bunny’s nests from the rain.
Ready, set, ESCAPE! (at least that’s what Jonesy seemed to have in mind)
Anja found this early morning action super exciting and helped where she could (that black furry thing next to Erik is her).
Just think – the Easter bunny even played on Erik’s jungle gym! He obviously had fun on the swing …
… and he even climbed onto the tower!
Besides lots of chocolate (which Mommy and Daddy are now secretly trying to reduce) …
… Erik and Lilly were happy to find lots of colorful, squeaky bath toys, a teether, a “big boy drinking bottle” (just like Daddy’s!) and …
Erik loves Mr. Grumpy – in fact he especially loves Mr. Tickle whose incredibly long arms have suddenly also found their way into OUR home! Oh, no! *gigglegiggle*
TIPP: There’s a special at Bargain Books Willowbridge on for these books! 5 for R99.90!
After a nice visit with Glenn’s parents, sister and nephews we went over to Angie and Clinton for a glass of Easter wine (what do you mean you’ve never heard of that? Where do you live??)
That was so enjoyable that we decided to just move on from there to supper at our place. The two were brave enough to try my second roast ever. Although it couldn’t be compared to Angie’s gourmet cooking I was still happy with the way it turned out.
Here it is before I put it into the oven.
Finally we ended up playing WIZARD …
… which was a bit confusing a times and we even had to consult WIZARD expert Mirm at one point, but altogether it was lots of fun (at least I thought so!).
Today was fairly uneventful besides a very nice afternoon walk at Melkbosstrand.
Erik was fascinated by the fishermen.
He had a great time. Only he did not like me going to close to the water. Then he’d yell “Mama, CAREFUL! Don’t go to the water!”
I like beaches in rainy weather best!
All in all, despite Easter bunny and beach walks, I had the impression that what Erik enjoyed most this weekend was
this puddle! (just look at that bum! I now have to blow-dry the inside of his boots)
Even climbing this watchpost (to the top!) couldn’t come close to that.
Finally – a bit out of context – here’s Erik playing with Mama’s old spectacleframe today. Doesn’t he look too cute?
And if you’re still wondering what a spectacle snake is – a “Brillenschlange” is a “Four eyes” in German.
Happy Easter!
To all of you from us Rabies.
We had lovely warm weather today which we spent
a) completing Anja’s puppy classes. She did very well on her final test which included “come”, “sit”, “down”, “leave”, puppy push ups (sit, down, sit, down, …) and obstacles. Congratulations, Anja, on your certificate!
b) gardening. Glenn, the indoor man, reluctantly went outside to mow the lawn and stayed out for hours weeding, cutting and sweeping.
c) wrecking the sandpit. Erik and Anja had the best time digging huge holes in the sandpit while Meli was busy cooking. This is how he looked before he got covered in sand and took his boots off (which were then proudly carried around and shaken to death by Anja).
Schnee-he-floeckchen, Weissroeckchen …
yes, I know. Our South African readers (at least the ones that are like Glenn) must now be saying: “What the hell?”
Anyway, what I mean to say is: Winter is finally here!
After (let me not lie) pretty much 8.5 months of sunshine (with few exceptions) and comfortable temperatures it has all of a sudden become very UNCOMFORTABLE here in Cape Town with incredible 18 degrees during the day and 11(!!!!!!!!!!) degrees at night.
Lilly is dressed in 4 layers tonight (long sleeved onesie, cotton pj, fleece pj, Winter sleeping bag). I HAD to buy Erik sneakers today because who knows what people will think if I keep letting him run around in sandals? Here in our Afrikaans suburb it’s either boots (the few English residents) or barefoot. And combined we’re not really either.
Plus the lucky boy is now also proud owner of a down winter duvet which he was generous enough to share with his baby sister today. (by the way, we’re such good patriots – the duvet cover actually reads “I Love RSA!” …)
Sibling harmony! Lilly loved it – until her brother started piling more and more blankets on top of her.
Jonesy seems to have come to the same conclusion. In order to survive this weather better make friends with the enemy (that has lots of long and warm fur). Meeting over supper is alsways a good start.
What do you think – should I provide some romantic candles tomorrow?
Welcome Lisa!
After complaining to her Dad we finally got a picture of “little” Lisa!
Here she is – being snuggled by her big sister Milla.
Welcome, Lisa!! We can’t wait to meet you!
Lilly Meets The Fishies
Upfront the great, big news: Yesterday Liezl’s and Hano’s second daughter and Milla’s little sister Lisa was born! The big girl weighed as much as Erik (4.05kg) at birth and she and her Mommy are doing great. Meli is very excited about going to visit them tomorrow!
The day before Liezl and Meli had made a new plan to go to the aquarium, but unfortunately Liezl was again (very understandably) not feeling up to it. Meli decided to still take Erik and Lilly and after a very chaotic morning we ended up having a great time!
Meli should have saved the 5 Rand she spent on this ride though because Erik loved it – until it started moving. Then all he wanted was to get off (and watch it go round).
That morning had been the morning when Lilly fell asleep at the breakfast table.
http://kohlrabie.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/too-much-wine/
With Geraldine off that day Meli took forever to get going and thus Lilly didn’t get to take her morning nap. She only fell asleep for a few minutes in the car on the way there. She was sooo tired at the aquarium and if she wasn’t such a very content baby we would not have enjoyed our little outing very much. But being the Lilly that she is (and with the dummy at hand for a change) she was fascinated by all the interesting things to see.
As usual the penguins were the highlight for Erik, …
… but this time he also specifically asked to see the frogs and enjoyed searching the terrariums for them (sorry, no frog pictures).
Lilly didn’t say a word, but was all eyes.
Erik by now feels quite at home at the aquarium and zoomed around so that the girls could hardly keep up with him. Can you spot him?
CAUTION! Toddler!
Finally we had a look at some huge ships being serviced at the Waterfront.
Altogether another very nice visit to the aquarium that makes us want to come back for more. Next time with Liezl, Milla and LISA!
A Real Heliclopter!
When we visited Cheryl and John the other day we forgot some things at their house which Erik and Meli went to collect today. This was far more exciting than it sounds because John is a helicopter pilot and so Erik got to see his first “heliclopter” up CLOSE!
Meli was also very impressed by the huge Russian helicopter and wished she could join John on one of his flights.
He was presently on standby in case of a fire. Erik - the fireman Sam fan - of course knew all about helicopter fire fighting.
Oh yes – and the fork lift was also very interesting!
Thank you for your time, John!
