E - Vida

...Is the question that I asked myself on Thursday night as we packed for our weekend away. We're in George to participate in the Knysna Cycle Tour... Try as I might, I just couldn't get the shorts to fold neatly, but now, just hours away from my first official cycling event (as a participant), the shorts is the last thing on my mind! I'm looking forward to it - being on this side of an event, experiencing the newbie nerves, the gees at the Start, the order of business along the route and hopefully the sense of accomplishment at the Finish. (Not-so-secretly, I'll be using the post-race braai as motivation!) Race report to follow... Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

We've been home for exactly a week now and just today I collected my 27kgs of laundered clothing! Now that's not because we didn't have access to a washing machine whilst on holiday - because we did, and the machines worked hard - but rather because we've worn 3 times as much clothing in the last 7 days in Cape Town than we did in England! Unbelievable? Believe it. Add to that Ethan's upset tummy caused by his teeth, his travels or well, just his tummy... And we have some extra laundry just for fun. Sadly, they also both succumbed to a season-changing head cold of snotty coughs and congestion. Be that as it may, we have settled in again for the most part and we're happy to be home. ...Just in time too for Zac's 'Under the Sea' - themed 1st Birthday party with coral coloured cupcakes, bouncy buoy marshmallows, sparkling sea shell sugar cookies (say that one three times over) and loads of other tea time treats. More pictures to follow so

In the spirit of all things British I composed our own little jingle to the tune of "God save the Queen." Verse 1 Summer break came to pass All went by way too fast Holiday fun Verse 2 Keep us safe as we fly No heavy bag be denied Carry us home  Bridge This was adventurous Now we are penniless Thanks to my Mom's great Sis' ...And God save the Queen!

The filmed dinner party show of the same name is well loved on this side of the world - the origin, I'm told. So how fitting it was that Ethan decided to sit down on a booster seat at the coffee table and enjoy his dinner feast, feeding himself rather confidently... He even picked up stray pieces of vegetables and rice on the run if it messed! We were suitably impressed! Uncle Neil prepared a scrumptious Father's Day dinner meal of roast lamb, cauliflower and broccoli au gratin, butternut, savoury rice and fantastic roast potatoes. What a treat! And then afterwards we ran it off (ha ha!) in the park next door... So proud of Ethan's progress. Slowly I'm learning to leave him to work it out for himself - even when it means doing it differently  to the way we would. I guess that's the general theme of parenthood? 

When you're celebrating Father's Day while on a fun, family holiday (from your father), it would be okay to say that we're all pretty blown away by the awesomeness of our Dad!  "Jorja, what should we get Dad as a gift to say thank you for all that he does for us?" "Um, something Superman...he's just so amazing!" I wouldn't dare say anything to try and top that. What do you say to thank a Man who is committed to being the best he can be for his family? What do you give to the Man who has sacrificed free time, luxuries and bonuses for himself and spent them on his family instead? It makes me realize just how much my own Dad has done for me! And still! Our Heavenly Father has done more for all of us. He came down to Earth and died for our sins, so that we could be forgiven of them and liv e with the hope of Eternal Life.  Sounds to me as though our Dads are pretty awesome all round.  Happy Father's Day.

In an unusual turn of events, the duP's were up before 8am on Thursay morning and arrived at Victoria Station with Kirsty to meet up with Chris and Emily (his special friend). By that time we had already taken two buses to arrive in central London before 11am! First stop: Tower Bridge. Even in the light drizzle, we were happy to look around, get lost, chat to some locals, walk until we found a makeshift baby changing station and then catch a bus back to the tube station.  Then we tackled Leicester Square, Covent Garden (where we stopped for lunch), Knightsbridge for Harrods and finally Piccadilly - where we enjoyed ice creams while taking the walk to Hamleys. We just had Jorja follow the red flags to distract her from the long walk. By then, we had been on the trot for 7 hours!  When we arrived in the store, I realised that our kids had probably never seen so many toys before and Ethan was stunned into silence. The irony! Jorja had enough fun for them both though,

On Tuesday we bid a fond farewell to Hockering and journeyed back to London. Our train to London Liverpool Street departed Norwich station at 19:30 - sak en pak with just 9 minutes to spare. The kids were still wide awake and we had the pleasure of an entire carriage to ourselves... So much for unreserved seating! As we approached the station, we passed Olympic city and Jorja was very excited to see the "Gherkin" up close. Unfortunately the camera was packed way underneath a pile of everything so there was no chance of a few snaps... The trip didn't take long at all and Ethan even had a snooze. When we arrived in London though, it was literally and figuratively all stations go with 2 wheelie bags, 2 duffle bags, 1 back pack, 1 stroller and 2 kids in tow. P-J and the kids experienced their first London Underground trip to Aldgate and then Victoria and we boarded the number 2 bus just before 23:00. The 468 bus from Norwood brought us almost to the Wilcox residence front

We thought it would be an easy trip into Norwich for last minute buys and saying goodbye to the City... Lets just say it's a good thing we got ready so early this morning! Our first stop had to be at the Hockering Post Office to withdraw some cash. However, we weren't banking on the system being down. We went back home to fetch a different card and try again. Strike two. Back home again we went and without another ATM in our village and no apparent way to get out of Hockering, we were starting to get that sinking feeling. Plus, the kids were starting to wonder why we were walking up and down the same road  all morning... After searching all pockets, bags and secret stashes, we realized that we had just enough pennies to get one adult to Dereham (in the opposite direction) - if only to get to the cash machine and come back again. #weloveunderfivestravelfree I pulled the short straw and eager traveller, Jorja, was only too keen to accompany me on this quest. We sat upsta

It's our last few days in Norfolk and we enjoyed a fantastic family day! Even though the sun has gone into hiding since Friday, we're still having a good time... Ethan and Dan walked to the village store for ingredients so that we could enjoy a pancake breakfast for a cloudy morning. There was absolutely no fuss, I'm told, and Ethan handed out high-fives to all the locals but he was exhausted by all the social buzzing and Dan had to carry him back down again.   They returned in time to be PJ's stocker and spotter as he practiced his target shooting from range. We've now moved from tin cans and apples to hot wheel cars and mini cowboy figurine targets.   We ventured out to Riverside Retail Park later in the afternoon where Tim and PJ took the kids around and gave the ladies some much appreciated R n R time. We checked out Norwich City stadium on our way back.    And after an impressive performance at a golf tourney, Uncle Ed cooked up a mi

Two weeks on and we are well and truly full blown holiday-makers! We're actually trying not to think of how everyone else is slogging at the daily grind while we're living it up... On Thursday morning Jorja woke up with a start, "Just checking - am I still four?" Once we had reassured her of this, she was ready to tackle the day. Living in the village didn't take long to get used to, actually. The one bus route to neighbouring villages or the Norwich city centre makes for strict time keeping because you don't want to miss your ride! We've also encountered the locals - the friendly store owner come post office lady, the two old ducks at the bus stop watching Jorja and Ethan in action, the courteous drivers who take turns down the narrow roadways and the soft spoken mechanic who's quietly restoring his Chevy Pickup to its former glory. One of my favourite days this past week was on Thursday. We all slept late and had leftover roast for

An extract from Jorja's journal: My dear Girl In just a few hours we will celebrate you: Your life, your voice, your faces, your feelings, your character and your childhood. We are far from home, but still find ourselves surrounded by family who love you. Your cousins, great Aunts and Uncles are getting to know you now and there's no doubt that they'll never be the same again! This year, instead of the usual party in Cape Town, by God's grace we're on a family holiday overseas. What a way to start! Whether we dress up, or go out, bake a cake or sing happy birthday to you every hour on the hour, this will be a truly memorable day. Every year at this time, I think back to the days leading up to and eventually your birthday on 5 June 2009. I'll never forget the entry you made nor the way I felt when I first realized that the little baby girl I held in my arms was real. Our gift. Each birthday comes around so quickly and by then you've grown so m

Even though it's back to school for our two host families, we've managed to secure the services of a one Tim Weber. I say, travelling with a VIP Manager-slash-bodyguard-slash-tour guide-slash-au pair is a real treat!  We took the bus into Norwich around lunch time and walked around the old city.   Pic 1. Seems the du Plessis kids have a thing for these things (see  http://pjandashleigh.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/day-13.htm )   Pic 2. Summer fun aka playing in the park with a tracksuit top tightly zipped up!   Pic 3. Playing in the shade nogal!     Pic 4. Tim keeping a close eye on everyone   Thoroughly enjoying the holiday life... 

Our next leg of the trip has brought us to Norfolk. We arrived at the Weber residence on Friday afternoon and everyone has settled in quickly.  PJ is in big boy Heaven with air rifles, Grand Turismo GT4, braai, baked breads and coffee first thing in the morning. Jorja is responsible for feeding the fish and making sure that the fruit bowl contents move around! Ethan is enjoying the back yard , sampling Tea biscuits (because we're all out of Maries) and following the boys around. Today we were given a healthy dose of sunshine. What a pleasure!