Granddad's arrival and Neil's christening

Granddad arrived yesterday. Miekie and Pieter came with me to the airport to pick him up.

We went up to the viewing deck to watch his plane land

Pieter and Miekie occupied themselves while we waited for the big A380 to disembark

Lunch

Later that day we had Neil's christening. Many friends and family came which was very nice. The music was provided by Gomutti and her fellow members of the string quartet which they had formed part of before my parents moved to Austria.

I swiped this one off Alexander's Instagram post - thanks Xander!

Awaiting granddad

I was in Botswana for the day on Friday. The return flight was delayed but at least that lead to an opportunity for a nice sunset photo when I finally could board the plane.

Click on the photo to see a larger version

 We had an uneventful Saturday which included a nice morning walk with Gomutti...

... and lying around in the garden.

I'll be off to the airport soon to pick up Granddad!

Gomutti is back!

Gomutti arrived in Johannesburg late last night. Alexander, who'd gone to the airport to see Misha off (she's off to London for a couple of weeks), stayed around and was there to welcome her with me.

She met Neil for the first time in person this morning...

... and brought along heaps of presents for all.

Pieter in flight

Alexander stayed the night (thanks to Pieter for vacating his bed for him)

Marisa and I both got lovely slippers that Mutti made for us from wool

Granddad is due to arrive on Sunday morning!

A bespangled Pieter, an indisposed Miekie, and a shorn Maja

Tomorrow is the last day of school for this term. Pieter and his fellow pupils had to dress up in biblical fashion and were treated to an (imitation) meal from that period.

I bought this shirt for Pieter in Mumbai last year. He's refused to wear it until now, when it was pointed out to him that it would suit today's purpose well.

Miekie has a fever (but no other symptoms). So she stayed at home today. She used her pocket money to buy a Monchhichi over the Internet. It was delivered today.

She's named it Kaptein

We tested out a mobile dog grooming service called Ultimutt. They were great and it saves a lot of effort not having to drive her to a salon.

Everything happens in their vehicle

Judging by their equipment I think they might be able to handle my personal grooming requirements too

The bandana is part of the package

Netball practice and a chatty Neil

I popped out to pick up Miekie from Netball practice after school. I arrived before the end of the session and could take a few photos. Miekie, playing in the goal attack position, almost managed to score a goal:

Earlier today I tried to record a video of Neil making his cute baby sounds, but he keeps quite as soon as he notices that he's being filmed. The only thing that worked in the end was to make a sound-only recording, keeping my phone out of sight:

Another week

Another week has passed by so quickly! There's nothing much to say as it was rather uneventful. Here are a few weekend photos.

On our Saturday afternoon walk

The two brothers spending some time together before lunch on Sunday

The first meal where the five of us were all together was Sunday lunch (normally we time meals around Neil's sleeping times)

Goldilocks Alexander and Misha popped in for coffee on Sunday afternoon

We're all looking forward to the next few weeks very much. Gomutti arrives on Wednesday and Granddad on Sunday. Then we're all off to the Cape next Wednesday for almost two weeks for Marcus and Ali's wedding.

A weekend away

It has been our first weekend away with Neil. We went to Sondela which, as Marisa pointed out, happens to have been our previous weekend-away destination too, which was before Neil was born.

We booked three chalets next to each other. One for us, another for the Kotzes, i.e. Nel, Magdeleen, Amelie and Ingrid, and the remaining one for the Bothas, i.e. Marius, Evelyn, Trevor and Patrick.

Sondela's Nyalas are as nosey as ever

 

We spent a lot of time at the swimming pool

Pools and ice cream tend to go together

No swimming nor ice cream for this little one yet

We spent less time driving around looking for animals than we normally do. But we did manage to fit in one drive...

On the way home we popped in for tea at Kobie and Anelle. It's Anelle's birthday on Monday.

Christening details

Neil's christening is to be held on Sunday 29 March at 18:00 at the Midstream Familiekerk. This is the invitation to all family and friends who'd like to be there:

(Click on the image to see a larger version)

New helmets and a few other photos taken over the weekend

Miekie and Pieter have new cycling helmets which they wore for the first time on Saturday:

Marisa took this photo during the assembly stage of the new trampoline on Saturday:

The worker (me) plus two quality control agents

Neil has to endure a quick kiss on the tummy from me now and then