Our week at Mum's

So straight after my one nighter in Shermany, Nico and I went to Gaga's for a week. We flew down on the Saturday to George which is a LOVELY little airport where Gaga picked us up and we drove the 2.5 hours to Swellendam. Nico slept beautifully in the car as planned.

I'm now going to use my mum's summary of our week as its spot on... so I quote:

Just spent a super week with gorgeous grandson and his great Mum here in Swellies. What a team they make! Nico is growing up so nicely and is at such a responsive age where everything you say and do with him is immediately absorbed and returned to you a thousand fold. He is such a confident, well adjusted little boy. Well done to his Mum & Dad for the great job they are doing! If he carries on like this we will have the brightest, most content, extremely sporty, strong, chatty happy little boy ever.
In the week Wewa & Nico were here we achieved so much from little Nico whizzing around on his bikey indoors and out, including ramping the path steps & crashing into walls at great speed ( he LOVED doing this ) He also loved racing up down the roads around here too ( when they were free of traffic!! ) His little legs going at a furious pace. No fear at all! Shades of his Uncle Mark at the same age!! We had Mother's Day breakfast at La Belle Alliance ( just at the btm of Faure St ) where Nico just loved spearing all our food with a cocktail stick and eating vast amounts of humous, cucumber and carrots this way .I was so impressed with his eclectic eating habits the whole week actually and doing the "oatcha dance" with him whenever anything edible went in his mouth is just so special especially when he joins in. We went to the swings behind the "Old Gaol", did some shopping in our Mall, went to the Fairy Sanctuary, played with giant Lego, made sandcastles in the sand tub in the garden & the 3 of us went on a 7km hike in Marloth with King Nico being carried aloft in the "back pack". Sarah had a well deserved massage from Elizma, the yoga teacher in Faure St, after the walk which she definitely needed after carrying 10kgs (plus the backpack) of special cargo on her back for 2 hours! Very impressed with that feat! Sarah even managed to sneak off for a couple of runs during her stay which she enjoyed. Nico was asleep by 7pm each night of course so Wewa and I were able to curl up by the fire with our wine and vegan choc cakes ( divine) & watch "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy borrowed from the Greens. A bit too scary for me in places but well worth watching. Oh yes, on the Monday night we had William & Sigi for a vegan supper which was delicious & mostly put together by our very clever vegan cook.... Wewa, and it was loudly acclaimed by all.

Thanks for that Mum!

We also went for a lovely tea with about 100 German ladies that my mum is good friends with, where Nico stole the show. It was always very funny going about town with Gaga as she knows everyone in the little dorp!

Our flights both up and down were just amazing. I always dread flying with Nico alone as its so difficult to bolt a toddler to a seat for those hours, but on our flights he had free reign as the plane was half empty. Woohoo! He climbed on every spare seat, ran up and down the aisles, played hide and seek with the other kids and generally had a ball. Everyone was just so friendly too, which is also what you hope for when flying.
I calculated the other day that Nico has flown 24 times already and he is only 22 months old. What a JET SETTER. Wish he earned miles!

My mum and other Grannys in Swellendam rotate a cot, a high chair and lots of toys for visiting grandchildren - very handy	Nico's COOL motorbike. He whizzed around on it at high speed but always seemed to brake in time thank goodness
Our lovely mothers day breakfast walk to a nearby restaurant which over looks the river	Sandpit fun - it was pretty chilly when the sun wasn't out - I loved the weather because of the log fires and electric blankets my mum spoilt me with!
Swellendam's mountains were burnt to cinders in January this year - it was funny to see everything so opened up. And sad to see a lot of black still. Poor wildlife that must have died!	Nico showing off with his hands in his pockets
Nico LOVES his Gaga! The two of them re-bonded :)	My Mum cross stitched this AWESOME height chart. Nico measured in at 81cm. So he has shrunk 1cm since February!
The hard life of an almost 2 year old. Watching TV is SUCH a novelty!	On the phone with Dad who was still in Germany. Nico LOVED 'speaking' to him every day
Playing with Gaga at the enchanting Fairy sanctuary that people come from far and wide to see.	This Asian lady took about 1000 photos of our lovely blue eyed blond boy at the airport - weird!