Back to the grindstone

We are back from our fabulous holiday.

It was a fantastic 10 days off and we all had a lovely time. The weather in Durban was stunning. We rested relaxed, ate a lot and often, and saw friends and family and did fun things. We drove around in our rental car and just spent time together as a family and it was really nice.

Notable things, mostly for the boys, some are from my perspective:
- Flying in the plane. Both the boys were both very good on both flights, sitting still and quietly the entire time.
- Spending time with their cousin Jessica (17), including sleeping in her big double bed and watching cartoons on DSTV.
- Playing with their baby cousin Alastair (1). Especially bathing with him, and pulling him around in a wagon. Even opting not to come out to dinner with us, and rather staying home with him.
- uShaka Marine World's Water Park! What a fun place. We spent all day their, and I went all nearly all the rides too, even though the water was pretty cold, being mid-winter and all.
- Swimming in the warm Durban ocean. Much warmer than Cape Town's frigid waters! I swam out pretty far. I was wallowing and enjoying bobbing arond in the warm water, when then suddenly remembered about sharks so I retreated again quickly! ;)
- The bird show at Umgeni Bird Park. They have a really fun and informative show, with performing birds. It was exciting. Especially when the vulture named Griffin came out. Griffin was thrilled! One funny incident though was when our Griffin wanted a snack half-way through the show and Jessica told him he'd need to wait - as there was an owl swooping scarily closely overhead, who would be distracted by a rustling packet and most likely make a dive for it. In a loud stage whisper he said, 'OK, when the advert come I'll have it..' Something tells me he watches too much TV!
- Eating Bunny Chows on a hill over looking Pietermaritzburg. The boys got a less intense Roti and ate it happily.
- The Play Station at the friends which we visited - they were hooked in seconds.
- The H.U.G.E dog at the same place. It is a Grate Dane (I think) called Rodney, who weighs 80+kgs!!!
The awesome family who live at the same place. It is the brother of a good friend of Richards, and the 2 brothers are SO similar it's unbelievable. They are a wonderful relaxed and welcoming family with the 2 coolest kids you can imagine. Boys of 15 & 16. We spent a night with them.
- The Lion Cubs we played with at Moreson Game Farm. So cute and cuddly! We also saw an Impala carcass being tossed to 3 full-grown Lions. They were pretty savage with it. Nicely illustrating to the boys why we don't go near animals in the wild!
- Making a Teddy Bear type puppy for Jessica, at The Junction, a trading post with a restaurant, curio shops, play area etc, it is part of the Midlands Meander.
- The baby miniature pigs and bunnies and goats at a tea garden in Newcastle.
- Going for runs (sometimes walks) in new places. Around La Lucia/Durban North, Winston Park/Hillcrest, Lidgetton & Newcastle. It was almost too warm and humid to run in La Lucia, especially with the steep hills. Then in Newcastle I went out in only a vest and shorts (it was sunny and *looked* warm) to discover thick frost everywhere, after an hour I was still not warm and my hands were frozen stiff!
- Chatting to my sister. I love spending time with her.
- It was also great to see my father-in-law (not so much my mother-in-law though)... :/

More pictures of our holiday are here

It was great to be completely PC free for a full *10 days*. I haven't done that since going to Thailand in April 2004, and even then we went to internet cafes to e-mail and copy photos etc.

I am back at work today, but not too much is going on yet, I will move over to the client soon, and then things will get busy!