Here are glimpses of our last two weeks, including a road trip to the Drakensbergs (Dragon Mountains)....
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| With Paolo away in the USA a few weekends ago I took the children to what must be the most child-friendly restaurant in Pretoria. There were two big play areas (with plenty of child minders!) and this make-your-own pizza station. |
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| Watching a movie with a new friend while waiting for her pizza to bake. Maria has had a dramatic change recently, going from terribly shy to an eager social bee. It is fun to watch. |
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| Saturday morning means a crazy run of activities beginning with Gio's golf lesson, then his swim training and finally horse back riding for both. |
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| Off for a trail ride. |
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| Sunday morning I took the children and Gio's two teenage rugby coaches to Bounce, Gio's beloved trampoline park. Maria is madly in love with both Gawie and Ruvan so she was in heaven to have them take her around. |
This was Maria's first visit to Bounce (officially children under 3 are not allowed but we got in without any trouble this time). She loved every minute.
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| Maria did not exactly catch on to the dodgeball rules but enjoyed it anyway. |
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| Gio twisted his ankle at Bounce and being the very dramatic boy that he is I finally took him to the ER that evening after a lot of wailing and moaning. 4 hours later he was thrilled to hobble out of there with a clear x-ray and his first pair of crutches. In typical fashion he was all better and off to his tennis lesson the next afternoon. I really must tell him all about "Peter and the Wolf".... |
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| These two grow more attached every day. What a gift Bruno has been for all of us. |
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| One of Maria's lessons with her beloved "cheacher" Pierre made it into the Woodhill newsletter. Will be fun to show this to her one day in the future. Golf attire of her very own choosing. |
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| Wednesday afternoon swim lesson for Maria. |
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| I had no idea these even existed. Of course, I bought them. Perhaps if I mix them with Bran Flakes then they will be healthy?? |
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| Yup, she picked this ensemble herself. |
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| Back to Pappacino's again. |
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| Another Saturday, another ride on "Thumb"! |
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| This past Wednesday (a national holiday here in SA) we headed off in a very packed car for a 5 day holiday in the Drakensbergs. It was impossible for me to capture it on my phone but Bruno was actually sitting on our laps here. |
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| And Enzo, the giant bear that he is, got the front seat! It was a cozy 4 hour drive. |
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| Arrived! The view was absolutely stunning. |
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| Our first hike. Dogs were in heaven, particularly Bruno as the there were wild horses all around and he is a big fan of horse poo. Sigh. |
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| Boys having a swim post-hike. |
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| Our little hiker. |
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| Gio "fell" into the lake on our way back. Good thing I brought about 20 changes of clothes for the weekend. |
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| This was a very dog-friendly hotel. Enzo and Bruno slept in the beds, roamed freely around the property and hung out with the wild horses. They were in heaven. |
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| Clearly only the furry ones were worn out by the hike. |
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| Soccer on the lawn was a popular activity. We traveled to this retreat with 3 other Pretoria families so there were plenty of children around at all times. |
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| Hiking "Dragon's Spine" |
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| Saturday was a bad-weather day. We did manage a morning hike before the rain really set in. On the way back we encountered a large group of cattle. Enzo and Bruno herded them all away from us so that we would walk through. We had no idea our dogs had this skill! Bruno was the real talent but Enzo caught on and seemed to enjoy the job! |
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| Sunday was our last morning in the mountains. Here we are on our final hike before heading home. |
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| Enzo's first class accommodation on the drive home. |
Gio and I have 6 more weeks in Pretoria before we embark on a mother-son trip to the USA. After two weeks in DC and Boston he and I will fly to Italy where Paolo and Maria will join us for the month of July.
More soon from Pretoria!
xo. Clara
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