I was looking through our kitchen window out onto the vineyards last night as the sun was setting and I had this feeling that took me a minute to realize was contentment.
We had a near-perfect weekend. Not too busy, not too quiet, filled with all kinds of awesomeness and that ended with a long walk with the kids in the vineyards. I even baked some cookies* which I ended up eating too many of.
Date night was really lovely, I can highly recommend Our Place, all the food that passed our table looked beautiful and they accommodated all my requests (no fries, no oil, no dressing. Boring, I know) and still made my food look and taste delicious. The company wasn’t too bad either.
On Saturday morning, after an epic Google Maps fail (hint: the wine farm is not situated in the middle of Wellington, but on the outskirts), we eventually ended up at Napier Winery and it was well worth the trip, I could have spent a LOT of money there. As we left I asked about a place in the area to have lunch and they very kindly pointed us in the direction of Under Oaks. Lovely big lawn, jungle gym, horses, the kids had a ball and they even posed for pictures, which is almost unheard of. Of course the wine is also lovely. Lunch for all of us also came in at about R250, which is a huge bargain in my books. We’ll be going back there, en masse.
On Saturday night Daniel spent the night with my In-laws and I think the undivided attention was just what he needed. The girls also had a chance to just do their own thing, just what they needed as well. It made us come up with a plan, but more about this later. The only downside was that Daniel came home yesterday when we had all the parentals over for Sunday lunch, waving the front page of Die Burger depicting the epic battle between the Sharks and the Stormers and we all know how that ended. We strongly suspect he was coached as my FIL is a Bulls Supporter. I could literally see Etienne flinch every time Daniel reminded him that the Stormers lost and he reminded him very very often.
* I had some choc chips left over from Daniel’s birthday recently and baked these cookies. I then felt like trying some white choc and cranberry cookies and as per usual the internet obliged. If you like chewy cookies try the first recipe, if you like harder cookies use the second recipe. I’m all for chewy, so next time I’m going to make the first recipe and just replace that dark choc chips with the cranberries and white choc chips. The combination is To Die For, the sweetness of the chocolate combined with the tartness of dried cranberries. You’re welcome.
PS: I accused Etienne of being a stubborn, chest-thumping Neanderthal yesterday as he refused to let my Dad help him carve the chicken so we could get the rest of lunch on the table with the least amount of chaos. He maintains it is “his job”. Whatever. Is it the same in your homes?
PPS: Next thing I’m going to try is Oven-Dried Apples, they look delish and healthy for lunchbox snack for the kids.
Sounds like you ahd a fantastic weekend though! We often find that sending the Princess away,. although she is the easiest of the 3 really is sucha cool idea form time. For her and for the boys – giving them time to play just with each other. As is inviting one of her friends over
You and I are lucky that our twins enjoy each other, I have heard some horror stories about fighting twins.
Sounds lovely! I find date night is often what I need to recharge and it seems a little easier after that!
LOVE the photos!!!!