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A portrait of my babes once a week in 2015 (26 months)

Summer Sundays at Kimmy and Bear's house are one of most favourite things of all. The whole family, and often some more, join for a day under the giant oak tree in their lush oasis where the world outside is forgotten for a moment - Wendy houses become hideaways and fairy gardens become playgrounds, a golden rabbit lazes just off the lawn and pathways lead you through a wonderland of plants and flowers and gnomes.  Sun dappled afternoons are characterised by bare baby bodies, little dips in the pool, trapoline jumping and adventures around the garden with your cousins, looking for fairies and going on trips. Late lunches that spill outside and sticky-fruit-fingered babes revelling in a day where time slows down and you never have to wander very far to find a pair of wide open arms ready for a hug. Sunlight fades and it's dinner time for all the littles and often a bath in Kimmy's huge tub. Then we head home, marvelling at the dark outside and the lights of the city, with tired eyes and happy hearts tucking these memories safely away. 

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A portrait of my babes once a week in 2015 (25 months)

You girls have the most wonderful papa. He's the greatest bedtime story teller, moon hunter, and bear hugger. The three of you create your own world of silliness, make-believe and adventure. This is a pic of a game called "back back" where he carries you both on his back. Making "kos" with papa is one of your favourite activities, usually conducted while the other one of you is being put to bed. He takes you on a culinary tour of whatever ingredients are making our dinner that night. As I come out the nursery I see him giving you tastes of pasta, and explaining how you cut herbs, I  hear him teaching you about cheeses - "mozarella" you repeat after him with flair, Your papa has only ever spoken to you in Afrikaans, and there are certain words you only know in that language. While you've understood what he says to you from day one, you're saying more and more Afrikaans words in your conversations with him (baard, skoene, werk, maan, kos, staan, man, and on and on) and I love this added layer to who you are. 

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A portrait of my babes once a week in 2015 (25 months), London, UK

Oh London we loved you. We loved strolling along the Southbank from Westminster to Borough Market, we loved visiting Tate Modern and running through the National Gallery to find one of our favourite paintings, we visiting the queen at Buckingham Palace and watching the gardeners rake the beds, we loved the good weather conducive to running through green Park , we loved nibbling on croissants for breakfast and eating out at restaurants and trying new foods and strolling back to the apartment in the evening when all the lights were glowing and city commuters were on their way home, we loved catching buses and underground trains and riding in taxis with no car seats, we loved watching the fountain in Trafalgar Square and listening to a street performer play his bagpipes, we loved walking around the cobbled streets of Convent Garden watching the world go by, we loved discovering Peter Pan's statue in Hyde Park, and visiting friends we've only met in letters. For us, it was fun to be back in a city in which we both once lived, and for you, it was fun to experience a big bustling city who's sights and sounds we'll talk about for many months and years to come.

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A portrait of my babes once a week in 2015 (25 months), Windermere, UK

This week we went on a great adventure It started with 24 hours of travelling to arrive at Langdale Chase Hotel, Windermere in the Lake District in England. You are super star travellers - sleeping the whole flight, running through airports with your little backpacks,  asking questions about buses and lifts and transfers and check-in and security, and finding the while experience rather thrilling. Travelling with you makes every part of the trip more fun, including all the waiting. 

The Lake District was beautiful. We met up with your Papa's family there for a few days to celebrate Oupa Jan's 60th birthday. We stayed in a grand old hotel, with wooden-clad halls and ornate fireplaces, which you fondly referred to as Jeremy Fisher's house. We would wonder around the grounds in the afternoon, stroll along the waters edge, and run down grassy hills.  You gazed in wonder at the new scenery - the glass-gray lake, the old wooden jetty, boats passing in the water, damp stone buildings, and a constant mist which gave it all an eerie, magical feeling that would only lift in the early evening. We also took a boat ride around the islands, ate lunch at old pubs, strolled through a little village and came across a meadow of cows, and visited the quaint Beatrix Potter Museum. This area is the home of Beatrix Potter (some of your favourite books) so we and you were fascinated by all the characters. 

The highlights for you however, were the hearty English dinners you ate (think roast chicken with old fashioned veggies, fish and chips and cottage pies); and getting to wear your raincoats and gumboots and splashing in the puddles with umbrellas one rainy afternoon.