East London weather was really good this December.
It was fairly hot most of the time, but there was also some
rain to cool everything down after a few days.
Lauren spent plenty of time in the swimming pool and
on the beach. She learnt how to dive/jump into the pool
and put her head under water. She improved her boogie
boarding too.
We had some friends from out of town/country visiting.
We socialized on the beach and at a few restaurants.
We also made dinner at home for other friends.
We had fun at the Wimpy and got take-aways from
McDonalds to get a Madagascar toy.
One evening, we attended the Robin Hood pantomime
at the Guild Theatre.
My sister-in-law, Allison, had her sister and family
visiting from France.
An afternoon trip around Mpongo park was planned,
but it rained and the park was closed. The touch-farm
was still open, so we took a walk around there, in the
mud.
My grand-mother (L’s great-granny) Rowan turned 85
on the 20th December.
On Christmas morning, when Lauren awoke she received
a doll’s cot with blankets which I had sewn, a Woody and
Jessie doll set and a dance mat. Barbie dresses which her
granny R had sewn for her. She was spoilt by her aunts,
uncles, grandparents and friends!
We had Christmas lunch with my family this year. My
mom catered and I decorated the table.
Old years eve we spent at home. Dean made a braai and
I made a mushroom potato bake with some salads.
We toasted the new year in at 20h00 with Appletiser, c
andles, balloons and streamers, much to L’s delight.
New Years day, Allison and Lance put on a great lunch for us.
L had a friend around to play while the moms had tea.
L’s cousins came around to play and all four had a
pleasant time together.
There was a bicycle outing to an empty parking lot .
Little cousin, Caleb, rode his bike around on the track too.
L & her girl cousins went to see Madagascar 2.
Her oldest cousin, Dale arrived back from USA & Mexico
with grandpa & granny Heath at the beginning of Jan.
Dean and I reminisced as we went for a walk along the
Orient beach and onto the pier. We tried to tell L a few
stories about when we were younger, swimming and
spending time with friends and family there.
We now spend time at Bonza Bay beach, Gonubie beach
and Nahoon beach.
One of the highlights of the holiday was the outing to
Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve to visit the elephants for
an elephant interaction. L really enjoyed it, especially
when the one elephant started spraying some water.
She was looking forward to that and it happened.
We took a walk around the neighborhood on a warm
evening and a blue duiker came running down the road
and into someone’s yard. We spent quite some time
trying to get this buck to run in the right direction, back
to the bush. Finally Dean caught it and carried it kicking
and bleating back to the bush at the bottom of Bonza Bay.
Lauren was fairly distraught and crying because the dogs
were keen to get hold of it and it was bleeding on one
hoof . It was a successful rescue and rehabilitation.
It ran quietly back into the coastal forest.
One disappointment of the holiday was that Lauren
decided to cut her hair. She chopped both sides and a
friend had to try and rescue it without chopping it all off.
She looks like she has an 80s hair cut now…. for a while,
until it grows out a bit.
The holidays were relaxing and fun with some spring
cleaning and housework in-between. It certainly could
have been longer.
