We're Still Around!

Jessica and Dave

The passing airplane

Emma with sand in her mouth

Our set-up on the beach - usually the only people on the beach

The married couple flanked by the bride's parents

The MC David Roberts

Barry and Emma reading

Daniel on the beach after his little bit of chocolate on our evening walk

Caitlin, Emma and Erin

Fullers with FEDS on our evening walk at SeaPark


Barry took over carrying Emma on our evening walk

Lets hope Leona supports the Sharks and not the Waratahs

(looks like an Aussie jersey)

We have been back from holiday for a week, and to be honest, it took a whole week to recover from the holiday.

Lets say that being away from it all, for a little longer than usual, was very refreshing. However Emma and Daniel increased, as opposed to decreased, our exhaustion levels as they battled to sleep from their new emerging teeth.

They also found their legs on the beach which was interesting. There was a day, in which the parent's bag of things to do on the beach, was not even opened as they just kept us going!

Anyhow, on the positive side the weather was phenomenal, with several absolutely calm days and the other days, except the long weekend, were sunny. We actually reached a stage of saying we had had enough of the beach - very rare for me to say that!

One remarkable aspect of the holiday was that both children jumped up several rungs in their development. What an absolute pleasure to see Daniel doing things at a higher level - often a repeat of what Emma was doing a few weeks earlier. And of course Emma, is becoming a rocket scientist (joking) - but she has also gone to a much higher level.

Daniel developed the habit to singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on our walks which was great to witness. He has a ear for tunes quite clearly. A few creche games emerged spontaneously - we were taught to sing "one, two, three, yay!"

Both were not so keen on the sea unless it was to chase us in the direction of the sea - Daniel was completely fearless in these circumstances. So we had some quick helicoptor rescues from an incoming tide.

We did spend a little time in the Southport Bathing Pool which has changed quite substantially since the big waves last year. It is now a relatively small pool with a long beach going into it instead of stairs and retaining wall. Actually, I hope they don't ever repair it as it is ideal for children a little older than ours. Anyway, they were a little dubious of the pool at first but Daniel soon got his act together and was stomping all over the shallows. Emma took a lot longer to join him - but she did in a far more hesitant way. Looks like we'll be camped on the beach to the pool for the next few years ...

Daniel also developed a love for going for very random walks all over the beach, beach car park and if he could, the local restaurant and railway line. Of course, he always had an attentive parent trailing closely behind.

Both children loved the large open expanse that Lagoon View represents and spent many happy hours running up and down the long passage with the push cart, plastic motorbike, and in Emma's case whilst chasing a variety of ping-pong and golf balls. We also had a few enjoyable games of "chase" around the pool table. Both also enjoyed the garden. We actually found Lagoon View much safer than most houses in terms of needing to watch the children every minute of the day.

Interestingly, both children travelled really well with barely a complaint between them. They were full of smiles and songs on both journeys. What a pleasure. Their joy at being at the Coast House was clearly discernible (understandable after such a long trip), and when we got home they were equally happy. Made things a little easier for us.

We attended Jessica's wedding at Botha's Hill on the Saturday before we returned home. It was a nice intimate affair with one big round table for all the guests at the recption - a nice touch. The two absolutely loved the dance music with their tired parents having to drag them off for a rest every so often.

It was also great to see the Fullers who came down for a night on the first weekend, and we joined them at home in Durban on the next weekend. Some memorable pictures from our evening beach walk are above (thanks Lauren and Leona).

We had some enjoyable shell collecting too. Every morning and evening we put on the back backs and scoured either Southport or Sea Park. We found a very large cone one morning (very rare to find one whole) and a very big "Big Shell" on another morning. Quite special finds that we haven't equalled in the last 10 years!.

This last week was marked by our being absolutely exhausted and Fiona was diagnosed with Pharyngitis. I got sick on Friday night with a sore throat and the sniffles. Fortunately, both toddlers have started sleeping through the night again so we are recovering.

Great news is that "Two Tooth Wonder Emma" is no more as she how has half a molar out too. If all that was just for half a molar, then we are in serious trouble! We think, rather hope, that the rest of her teeth will now arrive very, very quickly.

And for the Roberts family, the new entrance gate is phenomenal - it adds greatly to the entrance and look very solid too. I must admit that we did not feel vulnerable once during our stay. The new lounge suite is comfortable and adds to the place a great deal. We did a bit of maintenance - changing locks that had rusted closed, replacing string for fans with chains (involved a serious balancing act to get to the roof of the main rondavel) etc. We also found a plastic grid to put over every airbrick to stop the geckos running riot in the house. Will install on our next visit.

We'll put more photos on tomorrow night.