A week ago we went strawberry picking at Lakelands strawberry farm in Pretoria East. They grow organic strawberries. They have a tea garden and kids play area too. Picking starts 9am. We started late though as their website directions and map were different to the actual roads we found on the route. Becca enjoyed picking the strawberries and Laria enjoyed eating them. It was a nice outing, we were lucky it wasn't too hot. Afterwards Laria was exausted and looked a bit like a zombie on the way home.
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My baby girl is 5. As we're in Pretoria and have minimal family here we had a kiddy party rather than a family party. Her birtday was Thursday so she took cupcakes to school (she helped bake and decorate) them. Thursday afternoon we had cake (she decorated it with smarties) and candle blowing with aunty Shel and her Becca's cousins. On Saturday we had a party at Spur with some of her friends. Most photos below are portrait so you must click on them to see the full picture. It's school holidays (thank gooness, cause I'm beyond exhausted ) so Shel and I took the kids to Jingle Jangle in Moreletta. It has a coffee shop/ restaurant. The prices are reasonable and service was prompt. There are various play areas with jungle gyms, lots of sand to dig in, a bike track, jumping castle, trampolines and a few farm animals. Unfortunately I had to leave early as a certain 1 year old woke up at 5:30am this morning and was grumpy and grouchy and needed her nap, before too long. L is finally walking. She decided last Friday to walk everywhere instead of crawl so I can finally dress er in summer dresses. She'd been doing a little of both for the past 2 months. She's also eating like a horse lately. I'm thinking growth spurt. Summer seems to have hit Pretoria and its over 30 most days. We've started swimming in the pool though Laria hasn't joined us yet, she still thinks it's too cold. I'm most grateful for the warmth so L's constantly snotty nose can dry up. She had another ear infecton and tonisilitus in August again. B had a fall on the kitchen floor this month, she tried to kick or jump over a ball and slipped/missed and knocked her head on the tiles. We ended up with her in hospital for observation as she has a skull fracture. We had a lovely hot braai day yesterday at aunty shel's house. Photos of the past month below. We've had a nasty month of ear infections, tonsillitus, sore throats, chest infections, tummy bugs, fevers and broken nights. Can't wait for winter to be over. On the bright side, L is almost walking. In the hols we played with the cousins and had a picnic. We enjoyed some spaghetti at Panorotti's in Menlyn which has an amazing play area for kids. We rode bikes, fed ducks, built sandcastles and flew kites.
Mario is a golf player so he and Becca decided it was time for her to learn to hit balls. He took her to the local driving range so she could start putting lessons. I think they have plans on her being the next Tigress Woods but the way she hits I think she'll be a hockey player like (me-I played a bit) and my dad. Laria came with and enjoyed throwing the balls and chewing on them while I took photos. Click on individual photos below to see them properly. I made plans before I moved and they didn't work out. I was going to be a stay at home mom, maybe work part time. Then we moved and everything is more expensive here so I did need to work part time. So I looked for part time work where I could keep my girls with me. I lifted kids to and from school (mom's taxi). It worked alright for a bit then the girls started hating being in the car so much and crying , fighting, etc, etc. So I started hating it and wondered what on earth I was doing. I love teaching and I was happy in CT teaching and my girls were happy at school too so I started looking at teaching jobs. The local government school needed a teacher and I applied and got the post. I started teaching grade 1 in June. I have a contract post term by term so maybe I'll be there next year if they have a post available. The girls started school here in June too. So far L seems to like it though she has been sick a few times already. Becca's struggling a bit. She wants her old school and old friends and hasn't made any special friends here but she goes without tears. I'm hoping she'll enjoy it more after the school holidays. So life goes on and I think it's mostly good. My baby is 1 !!!!! Crazy !!! Today we celebrated her birthday. In the morning I gave her a smash cake. An idea I got from American blogs, the child is dressed or not and given a cake and the mom takes photos of what happens to said cake. L got a pink cupcake which Becca and I baked last night. She enjoyed it thoroughly. This afternoon we had a little tea party for her and we sang etc. She opened lots of gifts and had a lovely day. We found a jewel of a kids place this morning. Plantland in Olympus. They have a tea garden that serves breakfast, cooked lunches, kiddies meals etc. and the prices were reasonable. We had scones and cheesecake, coffee and milkshakes, yummy. There is a bird park with birds for sale, a pet shop with fish for sale and rabbits and snakes to view. Becca begged me to buy her a mommy and daddy duck after seeing them swimming in the pond. There's also a feeding area where you pay to enter and feed the animals and to have pony rides. There are jungle gyms, playground equipment and a jumping castle. We had a lovely morning. Laria didn't know where to look as everything was so interesting for her and Becca really enjoyed the pony ride and looking at the biiiggg snake. We'll definitely go there again.
Eating a capuchino muffin
Unbelievably my baby is 11 months old. Count down to the big 1st birthday is on. She sleeps beautifully from 7-8pm until 5-6am unless she's getting a new tooth or has a snotty nose or her noisy sister wakes her up. And this month she got a few new teeth so we had a few weeks of bad sleeping, which means anything from waking once a night to every 2 hours at night. She has 5 and a half teeth, the sixth one is only a bit out. so 4 at the top and two at the bottom. She's eating pretty much everything. She had some cake for my birthday and devoured it. She loves cake. About two days after my 10 month post she started pulling up to standing, she cruises around tables etc and is always hanging on to something now. She seems to always have a bruise on one or the other side of her forehead from falling down and banging into tables and chairs. She loves her toothbrush and wont put it down and screams if its taken away. It's her new chewing toy. She loves to share, she happily insists upon sharing her half chewed raisins and will put them in your mouth for you, same goes for her toothbrush. Becca came running for help yesterday as Laria wanted Becca to chew on her (Larias) tooth brush and Becca though it was too gross and Laria kept trying to jam it in Becca's mouth. I'm still breastfeeding about 5-6 times a day but I supplement once or twice a day with formula as my milk supply has dwindled. As long as she's still getting some antibodies from breastmilk during this winter germy season I'm happy. She loves dancing and shaking the bells or shaker and drumming on the pots in the kitchen. She's very cute. |
Me
I'm 35. Married with two small girls. I'm a teacher and writing about my life here, in Cape Town. Archives
July 2016
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