Since we are all scattered far and wide it is pretty seldom that our family all gets together. We were together briefly for my step-sister's wedding in December, but were not really all together at any one time (apart from at the wedding itself) and also not in a setting where we had any family time together, since there was so much planning and co-ordination going on.
If fact the last time we all got together as a family to spend time together was when we arranged a long week-end on a guest farm in June 2004. This was back when 3 of the grandchildren weren't even born yet, one daughter was not yet married, and 2 of us were married to husbands who are no longer in the picture. So this trip to the Berg for my dad's 70th was a momentous occasion. I had suggested a year or so ago that we do it now, rather than wait for him to get too old to be able to have fun and enjoy it with us. I think that was a great idea. :)
The boys and I flew up to spend the night with my dad last week Wednesday and then drove down to the Berg with them on the Thursday. We stayed at
The Cavern - near Bergville. It is a simply beautiful setting.
It was a wonderful fun trip and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my family. We really don't get enough time together at all.
The 4 nights we spent together there can be summed up as: EAT, PLAY, LOVE. There was a lot of all 3 happening. All 3 delicious, fun and heart warming.
My sister Catherine and I can chat away for hours. Her son Thomas and I really spent time bonding by kicking and throwing a ball around and climbing jungle gyms etc . Something he tells me his mom would never do!
My other sister Bee and her hubby Enrico are always up for a bit of us and they took s to the Adventure Centre down the road for a morning of fun and adrenaline pumping activities in the tree tops.
Kristy my step sister has 3 children who I hardly knew. Her oldest son Caleb is such a cutie pie and I really enjoyed getting to know him. Her youngest 'baby David' was a real hit with my boys who just adored his chubby cheeks.
Youngest of the 5 girls Brindy - the newly wed- is as gentle and lovely as ever and is always sweet and kind and ready to dispense advice (she is a dietitian).
My dad has secured his position as head of the Clan and does a fine job of looking after his brood of women - each of which is a fully qualified handful in her own right, so - this is no mean feat!
Dad received some wonderful and thoughtful gifts including a few bottles of excellent whiskey. We managed to rack down a beautiful pair of Fraser cufflinks, with the Clan Motto on them, and he seemed really chuffed with them, and wore them with his Fraser tie for the Saturday night dinner.
Here are some photos of the trip:
All of us (except Quinn & Thomas) before dad's birthday dinner on the Saturday night:
It was almost impossible to get a proper group photo in every single one half the people are either missing or not looking at the camera. Here we have 4 of 5 daughters with 3 of the 8 grandchildren and 5 are looking away.
Snaps of the trip:
Because of all the eating - each meal was a 5-course eat as much as you like affair, I ran every morning, about 8-10kms a day. It was the best time at 7am on my own on the quiet undulating mountain road. The rest of the time was spent swimming, rolling around on the grass, kicking balls, playing bowls, tennis and trampolining, on mountain walks etc. A bit of reading happened too. In the evenings we played 30-Seconds (I was on the winning team each time. YES!), and on the Saturday night I let Quinn have half an Amarula with loads of Ice. Boy was he stoked.
More snaps from the trip:
Our visit to an Adventure Centre:
I did 2x 60km/h zip-lines, Quinn & Tom did the King Swing, which is a kind of seated bungee jump swing thing, and Griffin did the Bungee Bounce, which is trampolining with elastics attached so you can do gymnastics on the thing. FUN!
