FIVETRIBE

Greyton Classic The day finally arrived! We had been so looking forward to spending a night in  Greyton  and then competing in the  Greyton Classic MTB and Trail Run challenge. Traffic was bad. Like intensely bad so we eventually pulled over to the One-Stop for a Wimpy dinner and waited it out. Shortly before 8pm we pulled in at  Zebra Moon Hikers Hostel ....a bit of roughing it for us all tonight. We found our dorm and then headed off to Rockhoppers to register and get our numbers. By now we were all lus for something hot n sweet so we ducked into a cute little bistro for coffee and malva pud. Nom By 9pm we were back in our dorms unrolling sleeping bags, filling hot water bottles and getting our kit ready for the morning. I have to say - sleeping in a bag is an acquired skill! I havent done it for YEARS but thankfully I was warm, toasty and got a few zzzz's despite the noise of the other hostel dwellers. :-/ Race day dawned and it was just perfect! We...

It has been yet another full weekend - full of activity yet restful at the same time. Just the way I like it! Saturday: Started with an early morning family hike along the Slangkop route with the school. They have a hiking club which meets once a month so we decided to join them this morning. It was an easy 5km trail (which looks awesome for running!) with the most spectacular views as your reward. The afternoon was spent birthday shopping for my man and we also managed to sneak a movie in - saw Super 8 - entertaining but missable. It was the only movie on in the timeslot we had available. By evening I was feeling pretty darn shitty; convinced that I was going to wake up with flu or something.  Sunday: My guys' birthday.  Presents and tea and all things celebratory. I then pulled myself outta bed and laid on a rather elaborate (by my standards) breakfast for us and some friends. We watched the rugby (nailbiting stuff) and then headed out to go for a short hike to...

I was on the phone. In the middle of quite a deep conversation. My man caught this interaction between Honey and myself....what a precious moment. Just look at her face in the middle picture. Physical touch is such a precious thing as often it seems they dont want it when they get old but clearly that is all a facade!

Next week we were due to travel up the west coast and enjoy time at a beautiful home right on an unspoilt beach. We were all so looking forward to it. But life happens and the man has to go on a course for two weeks....starting this Monday. :-(  Luckily we were able to transfer our deposit to another stay in the near future. We do feel though that we cannot let the kids (and ourselves) down so it was left to me today to find accommodation for us from tomorrow (thurs) until Saturday. We need to be back on Saturday as we have dinner/theatre bookings with good friends and dont want to miss that! It took me the better part of 4hrs (and some serious negotiating) to find somewhere for us to go. (Elgin and Hermanus)  I am still doing last minute dashes to rearrange plans we had over the next 3 days including rescheduling the garden service, playdates, dog and rabbit sitters, car repair booking etc etc. All a bit manic but rather exciting for everyone. (not-so-much-me) I am dete...

The man and I were going to go to Spier this weekend. We have a complimentary night due us but I cancelled at the last minute. I dont want to go when the weather is so miserable. I want to be able to enjoy the beauty of the grounds there - so we have taken a rain check. Think we will maybe go for his birthday or something. Instead we took off this morning (got sitter for kids) and went to hang out with my sister and bil. The guys watched rugby and we yakked and drank tea. From there the man and I went off to look for a bicycle rack as we are off up the west coast shortly and want to take the kids bikes. Expensive business this bike rack story -sjoe. We then pottered off to peruse the Cape Quarter as I had still not been there. It is lovely but I wasnt really in the shopping mood - we bought some pretty nifty gadgets at the Green store though. A very cool little solar panel (bout the size of my hand) that charges a little battery. From that battery you charge your cellphones, pda...

Lulu reads her birthday blogpost. Skating - the newfound (or rediscovered) passion Birthday shopping (note nothing in this pic bar the bunny was purchased!) Birthday tea at granny Allies house. My mom and I. All to often twins...and never planned! Honey is so glaringly absent in our weekend. I have missed her very much. We are fetching her from the camp at 1530, yay! Am sure to be regaled with many stories of midnight feasts and hijinx galore! Happy Sunday peeps.

 It was a good day. :-) Setting up her world Playing armies while waiting for paintwork to dry Her completed scrapbook layout Bedtime stories care of Honey - very precious. Am now going to try get to sleep before 1am...something I havent managed to do since the man left town a few days ago. *yawn*. Not easy doing the single parent thing hey? I miss him muchly.

That is pretty much what has been happening this long weekend in Mcgregor. Snoozing and running. With some eating, chatting, technology sharing and child entertainment scattered inbetween. It has been truly blissful, the weather is pretty warm but not unbearable. The kids are pottering around, watching tv or swimming. The best part of my weekend has to be the running. With my man nogal. I havent run in a l o n g time. My knee injury followed by the vertigo saga put paid to that passion of mine. I have started slowly and its been awesome. Running here in Mcgregor is such a different vibe to city/suburb/treadmill running. I feel like I could run forever. :-) It also helps to have discovered the most amazing app called imapmyrun . This app lets you record your workout details, including duration, distance, pace, speed, elevation, calories burned, and route traveled on an interactive map. You can even effortlessly save and upload your data to any of the MapMyFITNESS web...

Some weekends suck. And some weekends just rock. Fortunately this one was the latter. It started out with an impromptu decision to get a sitter and head out to see The Kings Speech. I have been putting off seeing this movie because it looks boring. I go to the movies to be thoroughly entertained, to escape. I generally avoid movies that may actually educate me. ;-) I had no prior knowledge of the story line whatsoever. I even packed my kindle (and smartphone of course) in case I got bored...I was extremely relieved to be thoroughly riveted from start to finish. If you havent seen it - GO. Saturday morning found us doing a free family photo shoot with Fuji - loads of fun. The talented photographer really handled the kids well and got the best from them. As we left they gave me a viewing date and price list. Let us just say I will be popping back, getting my free framed print and waving them goodbye. (R3K if I just want the images on disc!) Spent the better part of the day chilling at ho...

We headed out to Umshanti on Friday afternoon to join a large group of friends for a weekend of sun, river swimming and relaxation. Our friend, K, had booked out the entire resort so everyone there was pretty much part of our crowd. Hooli really got into the drumming vibe. The littlies had to wear lifejackets as the water is very brackish and dark. I packed one tiny bag (my gym bag) for all 5 of us. I took a book each, some cards and drawing kit for the kids. We met new and very interesting people. We had long chats about meaningful stuff into the wee hours around a camp fire. We spent lazy hours floating around the river. We ate, we siesta-ed, we relaxed and we laughed. Some of us (lulu) cried as the new experiences were at times overwhelming. (like all 5 of us paddling on a kayak up a 1m wide channel to a large waterfall!) Loving the freedom on the water, Lulu finally adapted and didnt yell when we left shore. I think I made have rediscovered the old (or young) Mel. The on...

Another week whoooooooooooooooshed by....never a dull moment here. We are off to Swellendam, Umshanti - cannot wait to just chill out. Weather is set to *excruciatingly hot* - just the way the Browns like it. We will be doing a considerable amount of river dipping methinks. I have been doing some photo filing and came across some oldies and am sharing them. :-) Hooli at 2 Me, very preggers with Hooli. Lulu about 22mths. Verrrry pregnant with Hooli. (36wks) Lulu and I. She is about 8mths. Feb 2004, Rach 2.5yrs. 6mnths pregs with lulu. On holiday in Saldanha Bay. Thanks for looking and sharing my little nostalgic moment!

Last night we took the kids and headed out to Newlands for the rugby - it was such fun. I was very greatful that the stands were not jam-packed, there was plenty space for us to spead out and the kids could run around when they got bored. Just had to post this pic of Honey with one of her bestest friends, C. I love watching these kids doing their thang - she is growing up so fast. I woke at 7am today. And it is Saturday people. I had decided last night to go to the 0830 spin class at Virgin Active. Those that know me well know that I have been out of the gym scene for some time for various reasons....and I have not spun in 8 years! What I thought was to be a 60min spin turned out to be a 90min pre-Argus spin class. Omicat. Thankfully I was flanked on the left and right but two good mates. I got through it with a smile and I am tentatively hopeful that I am back on the road to regular workouts. Late pm Lulu went riding on the gorgeous Viking. (pics to follow asap) While she rode, the...

We went to Mcgregor mid-Dec. Upon our return I had no telkom service so I never was able to share any of the magic moments we had there. The weekend was blissful. It was the last time I remember feeling totally and utterly relaxed. fun with granny annie and grumpy gramps my very special parentals very animated Honey super cool peak with built-in sunnies my beautiful trio I am going to see a DPPT therapist on Friday. Kind of a body stress release thing I think. I have never done anything like it but new experiences come in all kinds of forms these days!