The sights we “b” enjoying around these parts these days…
Beautiful bowls at the V&A Waterfront
Bathtime and Blue Eyes on a warm afternoon
Big and Baby Brother, just getting acquainted
Birds busy outside our window
Babies in Blue
Birds on Boats
Basking Bull terriers!
Boys in blue shirts be-dressing themselves
As you may or may not have guessed, we haven’t been doing too much travelling since Baby Brother arrived on the scene. Especially since Big Brother decided to give his baby bro his first ever brother to brother gift: a cold. The wee one is a little congested, and I think he probably has a sore throat. That’s my best guess anyway, because the Bear was generous and gave me his cold, too. But we’re all already recovering nicely…not too much to worry about there.
There’s a nice peace that seems to rest over a home (at least this has been my experience) for the first wee while after a new baby arrives. Around here, there is still a bit of Bear-sized rumpus, but for the most part things seem pretty calm and relaxed. So this Travelling Tuesday, you can join us here in Gordon’s Bay, where we’re settling in with our new bundle of joy…enjoying peace, and a bit of rumpus in turn.
One little Bear is delighted to have Goo-goo and Gammy’s attention…
…another just kind of seems to wonder what everyone is looking at.
The big boys have been hard at work around the house…
And one little boy has been hard at work eating, sleeping, and looking cute for the camera.
Big brother is learning to sing songs, say his ABCs, and do the airplane on Dad’s feet with no hands. He has even begun mastering the art of pee-peeing standing up!
Little Brother is definitely learning — we can see it in his eyes — we’re just not sure what he’s figuring out yet.
So we’re enjoying (mostly) peace and quiet around the house this Travelling Tuesday! I hope your Tuesday is going great…and that you’re enjoying your adventure today!
xCC
The Hubs got up super-early one morning a couple weeks ago to head down to the beachfront for some peace, quiet, and photo-snapping opportunities. This pregger lady stayed in bed. He came back with what I would classify as some lovely five-star photos. I enjoyed them from the comfort of the couch at a reasonable hour.
And so can you!
Now that’s not to say you shouldn’t get out there and regularly experience a sunrise or two for yourself, but if you’re thirty-seven weeks pregnant and getting up to wee five to seven times a night, I think there’s grace for sleeping a little later than sunrise. Just saying.
There are a couple of beautiful beach spots in and around Gordon’s Bay. HH just headed to the main beachfront that the downtown area sits alongside. I hope you enjoy! I feel like I was there…
Duck, duck… goose!
The New Harbour and our neighbourhood is in the way back background on the far left:
Gordon’s Bay’s Old Harbour is in the background, and the hills of Cape Town leading to Cape Point are on the horizon! (This body of water is called False Bay.)
{The mountain right of centre is Table Mountain.}
I love dis one!
What does the side of this rock look like to you?
{Anybody else see a pokey little puppy?}
My two favourites:
Sometimes it’s worth getting up before the sun, hey? 🙂
Happy Tuesday, friends! Hope you’re having a great week!
xCC
P.S. Still no baby news to speak of…but the day is young!
Happy Tuesday! I was hoping this post would be hitting the web automatically because I’d be in the hospital with a new baby but … no news to speak of yet! In the meantime, I promised to continue the story of our adventure to Swellendam (as introduced last week) — our last overnight outing as a family of three with one on the way. And where I left off, I was telling you that we found the cutest coffee shop and were enjoying a latte and a muffin on our one full day away.
So here’s the coffee shop!
With cute details.
And water features.
And bicycles accentuated by feather dusters.
And Bears climbing stairs looking like big boys.
And I continued a tradition begun in my last pregnancy: letting a cat get the cream.
Here in St. Ives, England (2008), me, cat, and cream, respectively:
And now in Swellendam, South Africa:
Yes, this blue dress is a very regular occurrence in my maternity wardrobe.
Aren’t cats such delightfully interesting creatures? Does this have some special symbolic meaning in some other culture, mayhaps?
After coffee time we took a drive to nearby Witsand. Something that always amazes me about South Africa is how quickly the landscape can change. One moment you’re in lush and green mountains, five minutes off the highway in a different direction, you’re in rolling hills of wheat and everything seems to be the same colour — a warm reddish brown as far as the eye can see.
Then we arrived in Witsand and watched some folks learning the art of kitesurfing.
We found our bearings and began making our way back to Swellendam. (When you’re heavily pregnant, an air-conditioned drive sure is nicer than a walk.)
We enjoyed an afternoon of swimmee and swingee, and watched the mountains change moods once more…
And we set up a family photo before our departure the next morning! Look at the four of us!
Pregger shot!
We took the long way ’round for the drive home…there are so many beautiful passes to enjoy driving or hiking or biking in SA.
All in all, it was a great wee adventure. I must say we were a bit pooped on the way home.
Happy Tuesday! Hope you’re enjoying your adventure today! We’ll let you know if a hospital adventure kicks off for us today!
xCC
Happy Tuesday, lads and lassies! How’s your week going? No one ever answers these questions but still, I keep asking. As I mentioned not too long ago, we decided to hit the road on one last wee adventure as a family of three, before Agnes and baby brother arrived. Desiring to be a reasonably comfortable distance away in case baby brother was to consider making an extra-early appearance, the Hubs chose a Berry Farm in Swellendam as a nice spot for a relaxed couple of days away.
Swellendam is a wee town that sits at the foot of the Langeberg Mountain range. We often pass by the town on our way up the coast and think “seems like such a pretty spot…we should go there sometime.” I’m glad we finally did!
We were warmly welcomed into town.
And wowed by this gorgeous historic church. I think on Church Street, no less.
Our wee self-catering cottage was on the property of a working Berry Farm, where the Bear was delighted to enjoy a swimmee pool and being pushed in the swing. His favourite moments may have involved visiting the horse near our cottage. He enthusiastically greeted the peacefully sleeping creature with a loud “WAKE!!!!” one morning and the poor horse hopped up as if it had been caught sleeping on the job!
The view sitting on our front porch was absolutely breathtaking.
No, seriously.
I mean, really.
We discovered that instead of saying “Strawberry,” the Bear says “Stwaw-beh-ree-ree-ree” when he spots such a berry. And though we explained that we were staying in the Raspberry cottage, he insisted “Stwawbeh-ree-ree-ree” was the appropriate name, while pointing at the sign.
After putting the Bear to bed in the evening, we sat in those chairs and stared at this view, as the mountains changed their moods with the setting of the sun.
One of the evening views the Hubs captured :: This is a colour photo.
It was awesome to remember how many stars you can see on a clear night in the southern hemisphere, especially when you get away from bright lights and big cities. We looked out at the stars for a while each evening and just soaked in the beauty. I adore looking up at the stars and thinking about how people have done the very same thing, and looked up at those very same stars for thousands and thousands of years. They seem to me an example of creation crying out to any who’ll listen: “There is a Creator! He is Majestic, and Glorious and Good!”
We also rather enjoyed the rustic feel of the accommodation.
And on our only full day in Swellendam, we enjoyed a morning latte and a muffin at what could possibly be the cutest coffee shop outside the streets of Paris. Since this Travelling Tuesday post is getting a bit long, I think I’ll give you a couple of teaser shots and tell you to come back next week for the rest!
It was cute even without the Bear, I promise! See?
More Swellendam next week… I’m planning to create the post ahead of time in case the baby comes!
Happy Tuesday, friends. Enjoy your journey today!
xCC
If you’re looking for tiny corners of the world where there ain’t much happenin’ I have the feeling from HH’s photos that in Elgin, he might’ve found you one of those spots. It’s a bit of a one-horse town…or village…or train station not far away from a spot where the Hubs was putting his mountain bike in for repairs. Elgin Valley, the surrounding region, is known as “the place where the apples come from” as it produces some 60% of South Africa’s national apple crop. Help me resist the temptation to say Howdoyalike them apples.
Too late.
He paused for a few moments to grab some shots while in the area, and it was a reminder to me that beauty can come in very small packages. Kind of like last Tuesday, you just have to be looking for it.
To me, these are some five-star photos from the middle-o-nowhere! Here are my three favourites:
I can’t explain why I like that last one so much, but I can look at it for ages!
Thanks for sharing with us, Hero Hubs!!
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