{Friendship Friday} The Se7en + 1 edition

"He restores my soul"

(for the more observant amongst you, I'm posting a little bit out of order because my second CT friend date is holidaying in Australia at the moment, lucky fish!)

Here's CT friend date 1 in case you missed it.





It's not a joke - I actually have a list of people I want to meet (on my 40 things list) and Se7en was on that list.

So of course I was thrilled when she was keen to meet up too.

And then I felt guilty because her husband came to collect me for supper at their place. But I was very, very happy they offered because honestly, CT traffic was a nightmare.

One Hood missing

I'd planned to get some flowers or something but I got gloriously lost (no joke) coming back from Bellville and made it back to the hotel with seconds to spare. I was literally running down the street after her hubby's car as I phoned him saying, "hi............ I think that's your car driving away from me.........."

You can't make this stuff up - this is my life.

Anyway, we got there without incident and when we arrived, I was delighted to see the children tumbling out of the house to welcome their dad home.

SO SWEET!

look how spread out we were... it was me being so slow taking photos...

Let me try and tell you about our evening, Se7en + 1 style:

1. I was welcomed by the children (of course it was a bit strange to have 8 kids instead of "just two") but it was lovely. I hadn't missed my kids much until that point but having all the kids around made me long for my two.

2. Se7en asked if I wanted a house tour first or a walk on the beach. What do you think I said? :)



3. That walk was just GLORIOUS! Glorious! If you follow me on instagram, you saw how I "restricted" myself to just 3 photos in about 30 minutes.... because seriously, those colours! The beach! The sunset! The silhouettes! God was showing off, big-time.

We had ice-creams (before supper!) - delicious - I should "break loose" more often with mine too.

look at Mr and Mrs Se7en :)

4. Then we had a house tour. Can I tell you a secret? I LOVE when a person's house feels exactly like them. And their house does - it's warm, cosy, welcoming, hospitable and you could actually just settle in and feel totally at home. I saw my favourite cabinet in the flesh - the one I rave about on Instagram - and the location of all those lovely outside suppers :)
 

this is one of my favourites of the evening - hoods 2 and 8

5. These kids! They're amazing. Such good listeners - I could hardly believe it. Not a voice raised due to non-listening kids. (I told my kids about my friends with EIGHT children who all listen so nicely to their mum and dad...) "Go have your showers" and they all disappeared and emerged later, freshly washed and ready for supper.

I was really so impressed - everyone had their thing to do, setting table, doing cutlery, etc.. And Se7en and Mr Se7en :) :) are such a good team together, especially with serving supper. 11 plates on the table... 1, 2, 3 and the plates were filled with food and on the table.
 

I love the light in this photo. LOVE!

6. We had a delicious supper of spaghetti and meatballs (YUM!) and apple crumble for dessert made by Hood #4.


7. And then we sat down to talk and talk some more. It was soooo good. I love connecting with people so it was fabulous and really, the perfect last night in CT.

Hood 1... no fancy editing

+ 1............I must end off with this - if there ever was an ad for homeschooling your kids, this family is it. These children impressed me to no end. They're all smart as a whip (ok, the parents are both super clever, but still), well-mannered, they all communicate beautifully and are just really nice children. Right there is success!

I have a photo like this in Thailand :)

Guess what time I got back to the hotel? 12:30 am!!! And it was worth it.

I'm really so sorry we don't live closer. My kids would love all of their kids.

Thank you again, dear Se7en family, for your amazing hospitality and friendship. I loved meeting all of you in the flesh :)
  

magnificent sunset

Moments later, that splendid sunset was gone

And finally, a photo of the two of us. My battery was flashing at me so I said, "QUICK! Let's take a pic" :)

Which was your favourite photo?

PS Laura mentioned on her blog the other day how she thinks of this family every day because of their meal prep. I KNOW!