My little sister is in the last trimester with my new nephew so the girls and I flew to CT to help throw a babyshower and visit with family. We spent some time with various cousins, second cousins, and third cousins, grand parents and great grandparents. We went to see Alice in Wonderland at the theatre. We went to the aquarium and to the beach. We battled the cold front and tried to find snow. My aunt who is a beauty therapist tried to trigger the babies arrival with reflexology, to no avail unfortunately. A good holiday. |
0 Comments
We drove to CT in December to visit friends and family. We decided to drive overnight as it is way easier travelling with the girls when they are sleeping. We le at 4 pm and arrived at 8 am. On our way back we left 1pm and arrived 3am. Some photos from the road. We are blessed to have a large family. We spent the 25th having Christmas lunch wih my maternal grandparents and family and the 26th having lunch with my paternal grandparents and family. The girls were spoilt and had the best times. In and around CT. We went to the ice show at Canal walk with Becca's cousin. It was a bit of an anticlimax. Pretty lame especially as Becca was too scared to go on the ice slide but the kids enjoyed it anyway. The beach !!!!! We went to the beach a few times. Muizenberg (usually too windy), the super tubes and to St. James. The scrach patch was fun. B loves collecing stones so this was tailor-made for her. We went for a walk in Tokai forest on a cloudy day. Fun with grandpa
We left 8am on the Saturday morning. It was a loooonnnggg drive. On Sat we stopped about 6 times. I gave B motion sickness medicine in the morning before we left and it knocked her out. She slept most of the morning. L had her nap at the usual time, for an hour, and was awake the rest of the day. We stopped when we could to refuel and stretch legs etc. That night we stayed at Coles Corner which was a lovely place to stay in Colesberg. It was clean and spacious with a tv, dstv, fridge, kettle, coffee and tea and perfect for us to stop for the night. The lady that runs the place is friendly and charges discounted rates if you book with her directly Unfortunately that night L cried every 40 minutes and I had to breastfeed her back to sleep every 40min (Her 3rd tooth cut that night) so by 4am I had had quite enough of not sleeping all night. I woke Mario and we repacked the car and left 5am. It was still dark out but the girls both decided to stay awake. We stopped 4 times on the way and finally reached Pretoria at 2pm. The girls were superstars especially B who didn't cry once. Just a bit of moaning at the end cause she had a sore bottom. Laria cried (screamed) for the last hour of Saturday's drive and the last 2 hours of Sunday's drive. When we moved to Pretoria I used Classic Removals as the furniture removal company. I am sad to say that their service was horrendous. We organised to have the furniture picked up on the Friday. I was told that on the Thursday I would be informed of the pick up time. They did not contact me, after hounding them, finally at 8pm that night we were told they would only pick up Saturday which was unacceptable as we were leaving for Pretoria Sat 8am. After fighting with them they said they would come Friday between 5 and 6pm. They arrived at 8:00 pm which was incredibly disruptive for my children as it was past their bedtime and the movers were making too much noise for them to sleep. They were supposed to deliver on the Mon-Wed according to the contract we had with them. On the Tuesday we phoned to see where our furniture was and they said Wed sometime. On the Wednesday we phoned to get a time and they said in the afternoon. In the afternoon we phoned and they said only Thursday because of road delays. No one apologised for misinforming us or the furniture not being delivered on time. No one kept us informed of anything. We had to repeatedly phone to find out what was going on and often the person we phoned did not know and said they would find out and then didn't get back to us. Trying to keep two little children happy, clean and entertained with minimal toys, minimal clothes, no curtains, no pots to cook food in, no blender to puree in, was a nightmare ! On Thursday we phoned and were told that the furniture had arrived in Johannesburg and would be delivered sometime. Later we phoned and they said between 4 and 5pm. At lunch time I was informed by the removal company that my residence did not allow trucks in and I must organise a trolley at an additional R1300, I refused as this was not true and was not necessary. I asked if we could have a discount for our furniture being delivered late and they did not even answer me. At 5pm the driver phoned to say he would be there about 7pm. At 7 pm the driver said he is in Pretoria central (Hazelwood) and asked where we were. We don't live in Hazelwood but in Hazeldene and that is Pretoria East. After giving him more directions he finally arrived at 8:30 pm. Some of my furniture had water damage from their trailer and a few boxes had been damaged and things broken inside. I recommend that no one use their company ever. They didn't keep us informed, ignored requests, did not apologise for anything and have now ignored all emails regarding the damaged goods. During February I got quotes from about 10 different moving companies. The prices vary tremendously with a couple companies costing double the price of others. We have decided to use Classic Removals. They had a good price, they have fast efficient service and they offer a R100 000 free moving insurance. They also have a lower fee if moving between the 10th and 25th of the month so we're going to move on the 12th April. So hopefully all will go well and my furniture will get to Pretoria safe and sound.
My hubby has been in Pretoria for two months now and we have one month left till the move. Unfortunately he is not able to visit again until the move as we have to save money and plane tickets are very expensive over the weekends. I have realised that being a single mom with two children is incredibly hard. Not just on me but on Becca too. She really misses her dad and I know he misses her. Just going to the shop is a mission. I have to get three people (me included) dressed and in the car, not needing the loo, fed and watered between nap times, to the shop and back during shopping hours battling queues and a 4 year old that wants to buy everything she sees. Becca has had to be so patient. When I'm busy with Laria I can't help her and she has to wait until I'm finished. The mad morning rush is the most difficult for me. Laria wants to breastfeed and Becca wants tea at the same time, then Becca wants me to help her get dressed and Laria doesn't want to be put down so there's generally one of them crying while I'm rushing to help, dress, feed the other one. And among the morning chaos I have to try drink my coffee, make lunches and get dressed. I end up stressed and frustrated with Becca for not being able to do everything herself and it's really not fair. I am so looking forward to staying at home in the mornings in Pretoria and having a relaxing morning with no rushing around. (at least until Becca starts school again) Last year at the aquarium For years I worked at a playgroup in the mornings and worked as an au pair in the afternoons. In the holidays I au paired full day and the kids and I would do all the really fun things that are so readily available in Cape Town. Now I teach full time and I've been looking forward to spending the holidays doing all those fun things with Becca. This will be our last holiday before we move to Pretoria, so between all the packing, I plan on taking her to as many of these places as possible.
L at school During my maternity leave I had to make the serious childcare decision. I went back and forth for a while but finally I opted for daycare over a nanny and this is why.
My hubby moved to Pretoria on the 6th January already so we"ve all missed him, B has missed him terribly. Fortunately he was able to fly down last weekend. On Sat it was raining but Sun was acceptable weather for the beach (Muizenberg). It was humid but cloudy so thankfully not too hot.
We had a scorching hot weekend recently and took a family afternoon trip to Silvermine dam. My mom, sisters, brother in law, the girls and I. We walked all around the dam first (pram accessible) then found a shady spot to sit and swim. The water was lovely and I can't understand why we don't go there more often. We're planning a day braai or picnic next time. |
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
Categories
All
|