A touch of blogger's block and what mornings look like around here

I'm a little bit stuck for words these days.

• Overwhelmed by the loveliness that is Ballito
• Trying to stay in the moment while taking all these photos
• Making a start on blogging these photos while knowing I have about 8 posts unwritten 
• Always trying to stay productive and relax at the same time

So I thought I'd tell you about a typical morning for us in Ballito.

I wake to either the renovating team upstairs hammering or drilling... at 8 sharp. Either that, or Kendra "whispering" to D (but she whispers LOUD). To be fair, after the first couple of mornings of K whispering very early, I got down to her level and told her very seriously that I'll be taking away stars if she EMERGES before 7:30 (they can tell time - definitely the full hour and half hour, and they say "2 past 7 for 10 past 7 :)) and then it stopped. That star chart is a huge motivator!

I peep outside to check on the skies!

Then it's crazy town. Dressing in swimsuits, beds, tidying.... and then I serve breakfast. I will not feed them til the rooms are done (last time I had far too much frustration so this time the rules are clear) and I also give them a star for tidying and one for making the bed.

I wish our pool was blue like this one

Breakfast is fruit and cereal - muesli and yoghurt, weetbix or bran flakes, and a glass of water.

D then sunblocks the kids while I tidy the kitchen and we hit the beach.

(I'm not mentioning a time out here or there but since they're four, more often than not, there are a couple of "delays" every morning)

the in-laws are always there first

I've long since decided that I never regret taking my camera anywhere but I do regret it sometimes if I see something, want a photo and don't have it. So I schlep the camera around with me ALL the time.

(hence the 2000 photos I've taken in 6 days - but don't worry, my aim is to keep less than 30%.... that's a topic for another blog post)

The kids carry their own stuff to the beach so if they want to be hoarders, that's fine as long as I don't have to carry it! Their towels are in the main beach bag though (Mandy, I left your big one at home this time in favour of the smaller one because we flew). They carry their snack, water bottles, sunglasses, caps, buckets and spades in their little backpacks.



The kids frolic, D tries to tan and then gives up, I take some photos, and this year, I can actually READ on the beach again. Hello pre-2009!







We take a snack most days - water and a fruit. This is the key to get your kids eating well. No carbs in between meals. As a result, we go through bags and bags of apples, mangoes, watermelon, pineapples, bananas... it's divine!

At 12 sharp we leave and about 5 minutes later, we're inside the glorious airconned apartment again.

I'm already dreaming about the next holiday... hopefully 4 days in Sabie...

When are you taking leave again?