We spent Ryan and Jed’s birthday in East London this year.
We’d planned to be back in George just in time to celebrate with Oupa and Ouma,
but because they also wanted to stop over in East London we agreed to meet
there.
Our time in East London was actually rather stressful
because Jetline hadn’t really done anything in our first week away. By the time
they had anything ready we didn’t have internet access and had to drive 35km
into East London each day to make sure we got to an internet café and action
their mails. We found the driving in and around East London exhausting. We
stayed in East London especially to meet up with Hle and Onx and her little
boys. Hlehle is also in South Africa for the northern hemisphere Summer
Holidays and it was lovely to see her again (she visited us in Cyprus over Christmas).
Onx is Hle’s older sister and she has 2 little boys who are both younger than
Aimee. They are gorgeous! Hle and Onx drove through to spend the evening with
us on the first 2 evenings after Onx was finished with work. Those were
incredibly special, and very late nights! On our first day in East London we
vegged with Hle at Onx’s flat before heading out to the cute little holiday
house we’d rented at Christmas Rock. On the 2nd day we met up with
Onx for lunch and feasted together at KFC, just like in the old days in
Butterworth, making the most of every minute together. Its so special when,
after years apart, we can carry on ‘where we left off’ without much catching up
at all.
Our 3rd day in East London was on the 3rd
of August. Ryan and Jed’s 11th Birthday. We’re so incredibly blessed
with these 2 special boys who love life and live it large! After a breakfast of
chocolate oaties we gave them the presents we’d all bought for them and headed
into town for a game of Mini Golf. (Beacon Bay has a new course and its by far
the best course I’ve ever played on!) It was a huge highlight in our day and
loads of fun! The course was very challenging which made for great fun! We then
met with Oupa and Ouma at Nahoon Beach for a picnic lunch. We bought some fresh
rolls, roasted chickens, salad veggies and some chips and made our own chicken
mayo salad rolls. It was very windy but we had a lovely little spot on an
island of grass and had a lovely meal together. The children made sure they had
a play on the beach when the meal was over, but we didn’t linger long as we
were meeting with some old friends from Butterworth. It was lovely to see Kathy
and James again after about 15 years and for them to meet our children. We
visited them in their lovely home that borders on the Buffalo River and Kathy
treated us to tea and special tarts on their balcony, which has the most
amazing view of the river and surrounding areas.
We headed home to Christmas Rock closer to 5pm and the
children were so glad we did because they could play in the park with friends
they’d made the previous day. Afterwards the 3 boys went with their friends to
the Friday night youth meeting and had a wonderful time playing games and
chatting. When we went to fetch the children Ethan and Ryan were both playing
on the drum set (one at a time ofcourse!). It was the first time I’d seen
either of my boys play a set of drums and they both played so well I was
speechless. There definitely is a hidden talent that must be nurtured!
We ended off the day with a braai with Oupa, Ouma, Jeff,
Tania and Tania’s parents. Tania’s parents live in Christmas Rock too and very
kindly hosted our dinner, sharing their indoor braai with us. It was a very
special evening and Ryan and Jed enjoyed it very much. We had a lovely braai meal
with salads and ended the evening with the boys’ request for cake this year:
Peppermint Crisp Tart. (We hadn’t been able to find caramel the day before, it
must always be made the day before!, so I boiled up 2 tins of condensed milk.
Dieter then made the tart by himself – and it was the best one I’ve ever eaten,
for sure!)
Ryan and Jed were really spoiled with so many messages,
phone calls (including many from abroad!), gifts and special moments in the
day. This is the first year in many that they haven’t had a party with friends
but being with family made it wonderful regardless. These are special boys, and
we love them so very much!
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