A Tale of two 'Cities'

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the Winter Holiday of the year two thousand and eleven of our Lord." (Freely translated from Charles Dickens' classic)

Actually it wasn't bad at all, but their are a few challenges in keeping the kids happy and entertained for more than 3 weeks without going somewhere. And in between Petra and I must try to keep our jobs and each other happy as well! But it called for a few activities around Pret-park. Here's a picturesque taste of some. We started the holiday (10 minutes after the closing of school) with what can become a family tradition. Slap chips in a hollowed-out white bread enjoyed on the roof!
The children had two horse-riding oppurtunities in the holidays. The first was Amelie's farm birthday party in the plots East of Pretoria. The kids (and I must confess: myself) are just in their element in the midst of cow- and horsedung.

COMPETITION of the month: What's the ass saying? Come on, great prizes to win!!!
Then their was the Klein Dieretuin (Bester Birds) and the Groot Dieretuin. Try to spot the girl and guess what her favourite animal ("beste dier") is. Although, I must confess, the tapir got a lot of bonus points this round.
We quickly realised why the table near the red river hogs weren't taken at Bester Birds. And below is 2D doing their "Simon and Garfunkel Lookalike Album Cover photoshoot" while taking a breather from their music career.
Gift gave us a visit just before his 17th birthday. His report card was such a pleasant surprise that we must include it here.
Some other activities; Hiking in our mountain (off course!), visiting with best friends Jade and Larissa, self-defence classes, Tennis lessons for Eduan throughout the holiday (do I have to say he enjoys it and I am impressed by his skills?), chess playing (even more enthusiasm after Ben started chess lessons). Any further waking or sleeping was filled with cats.

Poor Eduan! Hospital again! With a bandage around the head to add to the injury. But he's okay now and we hope the ear is fixed for good (there was a hole in his eardrum that would'n close by itself).

And then there was a delightful birthday of the 37 year old guy that resides in our home. The 4 of us took a 3 hour horseride around Bon Accord Dam. With lot of action: Eduan bouncing like a bag of potatoes on a fast trot while grinning sheepily. Petra singing "Baby Be Mine" and "gracefully sliding down" her horse after losing her jacket on a gallop (I lost my cap too, come to think about it!) And Annika and me just enjoying the feel of the horse between our legs and refusing to fall of or doing anything stupid. The horses between our legs made a big impression on us to this day - on Petra a blue impression and on my legs a reddish impression. No fotos here, but a video and the continuing pain of sitting tells the story.
And we closed the holidays with a visit to the Wolmaranse with Pappa and Mamma coming back from (yet another) Africa trip. And hearing the news that The Wollies bought that house in Cape St Francis. More memories to be made!

Met Petra wat oor 'n week of wat Nederland toe vlieg (mbv 'n vliegtuig darem, nie haar besem nie), word daar nou gewoel om dinge in plek te kry en werksure in te sit. Die twee sussies (of dalk 3 as Narike kan organise!) gaan hul gate uitgeniet.

Ek hoop die afwesigheid sal nie SO erg wees nie. Pas haar op, liggie(/s)!

Af_wesig

Jou afwesigheid steek

'n mes in my rug.

Dit omhels my ten volle

en breek my ribbes.

Dis oral om my,

So dig

daar's nie eers plek

vir vrede of rede nie.

Sy suur vreet my van binne

en spoeg my leeg uit

soos 'n droë nartjiepit.

Ek slaan weer en weer neer

teen die spieëlblink planke

My kneukels bloei seer al slaan ek mis.

Want jy's nie hier nie

Cheers!
N