Wild Coast Adventure

We're just back from a totally fantastic week in Umngazi. The weather was mostly gorgeous with only a couple of thunderstorms in late afternoons. Anya spent her holiday with Alicia in the 'Creative Corner' where she mostly discovered how to paint....everything! We spent our holiday going for walks, lounging in the spa and sleeping. Anya decided to eat nothing but cornflakes and sausages. We, on the other hand... ate, and ate, and ate, and drank. Burp.

Mum & Dad Leaving Drinks

The last 2 weeks with Mum & Dad have just flown by in what can only be described as a very prosperous fortnight for the South African wine industry. It was therefore only appropriate that Anya joined her Granny and Grandad for farewell drinks in the airport!

Mums & Babes

While waiting for Hermann and the other Dads to finish a Saturday 'Dads and Babes' class, Jennifer and I got talking to another Mum - our reputation as the rowdiest Mums & Babes class in Durban seems to have gone before us! I reckon they are all jealous that their class is just not as much fun as ours!! Mum & Dad joined for us for a class so we were all on our best behaviour. We were also surprised by a photographer coming to take the class 'graduation' photo (we go to Mums & Tots next year) so Dad got some sneaky shots in too. I reckon we don't look too bad having been given only 30 seconds notice!

Mum & Dad visit Durban

The oldies have been here for over a week now and time has just flown by. We've been to the zoo, the aquarium, Mums & Babes, the Deutsche Schule Christmas Market and spent the weekend at Highover Bush Camp. Carmen & Jos came for a braai on Sunday afternoon. Anya played with a log ?! and we spent the evenings drinking wine and playing backgammon (Dad has not managed to break Hermann's winning streak). We even managed to squeeze in a couple of walks round the farm. The weather was terrible and Anya was sick (as usual) but it was still good fun and as you can see from the photos our neighbours were pretty interesting too!

Halloween

Here's a wee photo of us all dressed up for Halloween. Morningside always has a big turnout for trick or treating. Hordes of kids take part and loads of people around the neighbourhood decorate their houses and dress up for handing out the sweets. Hermann manned our gate dressed in a skull mask while we did the rounds collecting our booty. I certainly wouldn't advise wearing a polyester gimp mask in 30 degree heat again - it was absolutely roasting!

Halloween isn't widely celebrated here in SA, so Benedicta's kids had never encountered a pumpkin before and weren't entirely sure what they had to do with witches and ghosts (who does know?). Nevertheless, the dressing up and legitimite begging for sweets was greeted with loads of enthusiasm. The kids got loads of sweets - far too many to eat in one go. Gugu announced that she was going to sell her surplus (entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Waterloo) and as Anya is too young for sweets we have been helping dispose of hers!

Why Germany Never Wins the Eurovision Song Contest...

Now that my ears have stopped bleeding, and I've had a glass or two of wine, I feel strong enough to update the blog on Hermann's latest cultural activity - restringing the Kistner family guitar and attempting to sing German folksongs. Gitty helpfully contributed by dusting off the guitar and a 40 year old song book and leaving them at our house with instructions for Hermann to practise. A very strange afternoon ensued, with Gitty & Hermann 'crooning' away at one end of the veranda while the rest of us pretended there was nothing strange going on. Even little Anya, whose bad taste in music is legendary, was reduced to tears after enduring one particularly horrendous rendition. I may well have nightmares tonight!