Our Easter weekend away

This is what it is all about. Out and about and exploring. No layed on entertainment but heading out and discovering. Each morning we would wake up, make breakfast, pack a lunch and head out. I'm pretty sure we haven't covered every nook here yet which is not a bad thing. The photo above was taken at the rapids. Nothing major but fun to play in and explore. I've course there was a shriek from me as a little or not so little crab went crawling over my foot much to the amusement of my little guys.

We were very lucky this time around with the animals we spotted. We got to see a baboon, a 50/50 chance of having seeing a boomslang (a very poisinous green snake) but as we could not 100% confirm the identity chances are that it was possibly a harmless water snake but then who wants to take a chance and we made a wide birth around it while heading to the cave. We were lucky to have spotted this pair of Klipspringers, aren't they beautiful!! We spotted them on our way from the cave to the slide pools. Naturally, I was the scaredy cat who was perpetually living in fear of coming across another 'bad' green snake. There is no trail as such, the river is used as a guide to make your way to the slide pools. Alternatively, we could have head back on the trail and then taken the trail to the slide pools but what fun would that have been. We spotted squirrels at our camp - they would dart through the trees on our campsite. I also discovered a nest in the washing up area, which I think is a swallow's nest. Let's not forget the warthogs - we saw them again but they were not around as much as they were last time.

Can you tell that these guys had fun!! Josh constantly clowning around.

Aah, this picture is courtesy of Josh. I turned 36 rather uneventfully. LOL Yes, the boys did wish we Happy Birthday first before dashing off in search of their Easter Eggs. That bunny and I need to talk. He left way too many behind!! At least we had some long walks to work off the sugar rush. Josh seems rather sensitive lately and turns into Taz...spinning in circles and I cannot keep up.

Excuse the grubby hair but the bright spark in me left my shampoo and conditioner at home. Not very clever right!!

On our first night, Ant and I woke up in the morning thinking our blowup mattress was losing air but just thought a good pump would help it. Next night we wake up. Bums on the floor, feet and heads raised. Not comfortable at all. Here is the sweet darling man pumping up the mattress at 4 in the morning and while trying to fall asleep again the realisation that we had a puncture was most definitely certain!! At the little shop at the camp I thought I had seen puncture kits, but just my luck that they had sold out the day before. Off Ant went in search of a puncture kit and finally found one in Buffelspoort, more of a resort area than anything else. Come Sunday night and we're expecting a blissful night of sleep, it was just not meant to be. This time at 2am (here's me - you got to be kidding right..lol) bums on the floor, feet and head in the air - not a comfortable situation at all. Up we get....pump the mattress and find puncture no. 2. The puncture kit is slowly becoming our best friend. We fix the puncture the best we can as there is no lengthy times to allow proper drying to this or that. We take our chances and fall back to sleep. Thankfully no more bums on the floor and feet and heads in the air. Woooohooooo!!!

On Monday I was really sad - the relaxation and peace had just started setting in and the last thing I felt like doing was heading back home. But home it was and after packing up, another quick walk and it was time to head home. We stopped off at our favourite farmstall called Jasmyn to break the trip and before we knew it we were back in city living.

I live in the comfort that we have booked a lengthy stay in December over Christmas and as soon as Spring knocks on our door we'll head out there for a quick mini break.

Weight Watchers : Week 11 - Never Ever Give Up!! Down 1.4kg's

With a lot of hard work, strict control of my WW points and a few changes at gym and Voila!! I am down 1.4kg's. I added some weights to my exercise routine which has turned out not to be a bad thing at all and I am enjoying the circuit more than I thought I would. When I walk on the treadmill I carry my 1kg weights that fit snuggly into each hand to help get that heart rate up....and YES, I am still having fun. {{big smiles}}

Those hiking boots are there for a reason. It is Easter Weekend and we're off on our 3 night, 4 day camping trip. Woooohoooooo!! The weather has cooled down a bit, but thankfully no rain is forecast and we're not in the dead of winter so it is 'just right' so to say. So I'll be packing in ernest sometime today.

For those of you travelling, travel safe and no matter where you are I hope you have a super long weekend and enjoy spending it just the way you want to.

Hugs to you all.

Mich

Weight Watchers : Week 6 - Down .2kg's

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!! Definitely not what I had hoped for.

Not being properly organised for the camp trip and not drinking as much water was probably my downfall this past week and sneaking in the hot cross bun was probably not a good idea - eeeek

BUT a loss is a loss and I should be grateful that I have not gone up in the past 6 weeks but that I been moving slowly downwards towards goal weight.

Just a quick thanks to all of you who provided ideas for the next trip. Thankfully, I have about 5 weeks to experiment and plan. {{grin}}

And an update on Gran. Gran was discharged from hospital yesterday and returned to the nursing home she has been staying at. The Dr could no longer justify keeping her in hospital to the Medical Aid - got to love those Medical Aids, but sadly stated that he feels that she will be back in hospital soon as she is refusing food and water. This means her protein levels are low and will most likely end up dehydrated again.

Some R & R at Mountain Sanctuary Park

We got home fairly late yesterday but it was, oh so worth it. Can you see the boys exploring?? While they were off exploring I was taking photos and eventually found a cool spot to sit and read.

Here is a link to quite a few of the photos. Let's just say I took a zillion or so and wittled it down to +-53. LOL

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92394&id=741238012&l=31aba

On Saturday we did not get away as early as we had hoped, but got to the camp site just before lunch. The weather was overcast and cool. Thankfully we managed to setup camp with only bits of light drizzle which didn't cause too much mayhem. After lunch the sun peeked out for a bit and we headed to the man-made pools. There were beautiful views from the deck and Josh loved the shallow end of the pool. I sat on the edge and dipped my feet in. Bbbrrrrr, was it cold or what. LOL

A mommy warthog and her baby seem to have made the rest camp their feeding ground and came past a few times much to the delight of the kidlets and me of course.

Getting dinner ready proved to be a challenge. The skies opened at around 3ish or so and as soon as it stopped everyone rushed to get their fires going. We barely got the coals lit when down it came again. Oh well, I could see us trying to cook our meat in the teeny pot I had brought with to cook the kidlets noodles. This was going to be fun!! The rain stopped again, wet coals were removed and the fire was started once again. The chicken sosaties and sausage I had brought got cooked eventually even if it did prove to be a challenging task. Reminder next time to take the skottel bit for the gas bottle. It will save lots of time and energy!! LOL

The blow-up mattress was not as bad as I thought it would be and we got a good nights sleep. This is never a bad thing.

Sunday morning and the skies were full of hope. It definitely turned out to be a wonderful day. We had breakfast and then headed out on one of the paths to the natural sliding pools. Camera and book packed but oops we forgot a towel as we had thought the water would be way to cold to do much in. Boy, were we proved wrong on that one. The boys had fun in the water and enjoyed exploring the stream with their dad - up and down and over rocks. I ventured into the stream as the water was actually quite pleasant and refreshing and eventually found a cosy spot to sit and read while the boys went up and down the stream exploring. Lots of families arrived and hikers kept passing by. It was fun!! Brad's had fun making new friends and Josh had a hard time keeping up with his brother but Ant was there to help him keep up. Shooooo!!

With sad hearts we packed up and told ourselves that before we know it Easter would be along and we'll be off exploring once again!!

Trial run

Just to make sure everything was there, we had a practise run of putting up our tent this morning, much to the delight of Bradley and Josh. We also needed to make sure that we would all fit in. LOL And why is the blow-up queen bed just not the same size as a real queen bed?


Not much longer to go. We're all excited and I'm not quite sure how Josh is going to make it through the week. If he had his way we'd be camping today!! I suppose when you're 4 yo it is not easy trying to grasp the concept of time. ((smile))


Well it is Saturday!! Yes, I am happy and it's almost 12pm and I am still in my pj's. No, we will not get into the why, but yes, it has something to do with something that I feel passionate about. LOL

Woohooooo!! We can see the Baracuda (Pool cleaner thinger mabob)

Three weeks ago we moved into our new place with a pool that looked like a green, green forest!! The pump motor was missing and it had not been looked after for weeks, could even have been a couple of months. Nobody really knows!! This is where we are at 3 weeks later. We have hope that we will get to our goal of sparkly. We have found a product called Dazzle and it seems to be helping. ((grin))

I better hit the showers, get comfy and attempt to bake some flourless peanut butter cookies which equate to 1 point in Weight Watchers. They are made with what I call 'fake' sugar and sugar free peanut butter. I will definitely let you know how it goes.

Have a super weekend!!

Weight Watchers : Week 4 : Down .6kg.s

Not as much as I had hoped but down thankfully!!

Thankfully I am still determined as ever and will be working steadily to another loss next week.

I found a good pair of hiking books. Hi-tec's with ankle support. The boys and I are going to go for walks in the afternoon, spend some time at the local park just around the corner and work towards getting fit for 'little hikes'. And why 'little hikes'? Cause we have found a cool place to go camping at.

We're all pretty much excited around here at the moment. Next weekend is our first weekend away as a family in over 2 years. So even one night away has us jumping like jellybeans!! This is where we are going and this is where we will also be spending Easter weekend (3 nights) which also happens to fall on my Birthday. It's going to be a real treat!!

http://www.mountain-sanctuary.co.za/index.html

Next on my wishlist is a mountain bike. I think I discussed briefly last year sometime that Brad and I are keen to take up mountain biking but first some weight has to be shifted.