We had a wonderful Christmas with Gogo and Baba and Fogo in Cape Town this year!
While talking about the flights over might not seem like a terribly interesting part of the trip to mention, with two little ones, I promise you, it is always interesting! Actually, the boys did really well this time. Both our legs were night flights, which helped a lot. Our boys have never really slept on flights before, but we had a good number of hours of sleep for both boys and parents on these ones. Phew! It's nice to have them getting just a bit older. Lots of books and crafts and snacks and airplane tv besides that. We also had a nice little stay in the "Yotel" in the London airport during which Beau slept in his crib tent in the bathroom, Lewis slept under the pull out bed, and Mike and I managed to get a couple hours of rest on the bed. We were very glad to have had that!
Now on to more interesting things...Cape Town!
One of the first little outings we took was to the lion park near Franschhoek. We caught the evening feeding.
Here is me and Mike looking a little worked over...still trying to get over jet lag!
Then we had a lovely lunch at Moreson's. Baba did a little studying the insides of his eyelids while he played with Lewis in their play area.
A few pictures in front of some of the beautiful Franschhoek vineyards before going out for pizza.
Since Gogo is just as amazing as she always has been, she treated us to 3 incredible meals a day. Breakfasts there are the BEST! Incredible fruit, yogurt, muesli, smoothies, and sometimes even scones!
I can't say I've adjusted to Christmas in such warm weather, but I really don't mind missing the cold! Here we are sitting down for our Christmas Eve dinner on the patio.
Lewis wanted to sing a special song during our Christmas Eve dinner, so he did a very cute rendition of Little Drummer Boy - one of his Christmas favorites!
Then we left our stockings by the fireplace along with some cookies, mince pies, milk, and carrots. Lewis and Beau were very excited! ... And the next morning, Lewis was thrilled to find that Santa had eaten everything...and left a tiny bit for Lewis to finish off!
We always start Christmas with opening the stockings that have been left by the bed. Lewis was so excited in the morning when he woke up, but didn't even realize what the stocking was right away. When I asked him what was next to his crib tent, he told me it was just a "bralella", i.e. umbrella! Then he gave it a second look and let out a little squeal! So cute!
The boys were so good about waiting to go and see what was under the Christmas tree until we were all ready. Once it was time, they were delighted to find a horn for Lewis and a little firetruck for Beau, plus one extra horn that Santa had brought, just to cover our bases in case one didn't work! The piano horn was a big hit. Beau loves any and all firetrucks. And the other little horn is nicknamed "crying baby" because of the horrible, loud, whiny sound it makes - we're not such a fan of that one!
Gogo got a back scratcher from London Santa in her stocking, and she's in love with it! London Santa also made sure we had our traditional English goodies in the stockings too.
Gogo and Baba gave both the boys really cute little wooden block trains that they love playing with.
And, they picked up berets for all of us at Bastille Day in Franschhoek! Good thing everyone in the family loves hats and dress up...the boys included!
In the evening, we had our Christmas dinner with the traditional English Christmas crackers. Hats for everyone, and lots of fun and yummies!
On Boxing Day, Gogo had invited Uncle John and family over as well as Uncle Brian and Auntie Joan. It was such a treat to have them all and spend time together. Fiona outdid herself with her cooking and hostessing! Here are her canapes! We also made it out for a walk through the neighborhood after everyone left.
I had to include the little picture above of Baba fishing toys out of the pool...a common occurrence, whether the net was on or not! The boys loved swimming in the pool, but they loved throwing things in it even more!
We had a trip out to the car museum in Franschhoek, which the boys loved...the big boys especially!
And, a few more yummy meals out. Plus lots of story time with Baba and play time with Gogo.
Mike, Fiona, and I took a day away to hike Table Mountain. It was a gorgeous day for it, and we lucked out with clear conditions at the top. Mom had sent us along with some snacks and a Christmas cake, which we devoured in celebration just before starting back down Skeleton's Gorge.
Gorgeous view over Franschhoek!
Gogo and Baba had scouted out every single winery or eatery with a great playground area - that's grandparent love! The boys were just thrilled and loved every outing. Here we after enjoying some milkshakes at a dairy.
The boys were a little too tuckered out after church to get good pictures, but they did look cute!
We had a divine dessert afternoon at our favorite - Cafe Bon Bon! I'm rather proud of my picture of their rooster. The boys had a lovely time running around their grounds after the lemon meringue pie extravaganza. The picture of Beau on the fence is him saying, "Doggie, where are you?", hoping to find the doggie they liked playing with.
We took a drive up the mountain and lucked out to find the whole baboon troop. The boys loved watching them...with windows up, of course! (We learned our lesson last year!)
On New Year's Eve Day, we took a trip to a bird conservancy and a big cat conservancy. The most eventful part of that morning was holding the owls. As you can see below, Beau wasn't so pleased about the owl using him as a resting place.
At the cat conservancy, the lions were pretty chill. But the pair of Bengal tigers stalked the boys as we walked around their pen. It was actually one of the most spooky feelings ever to watch my two children being hunted. Very glad that wire fencing held up!
We finished the day on the beach near Boulder's and then headed to Annette's for a lovely New Year's Eve braai and party!
Cape Town part deux, or Capetown 2013 to come soon!
