It feels like this rain we’re having is never going to stop, and I’m really hoping it’s going to be kind to me this weekend for my photoshoots!

I took a long time deciding whether to post these photos in colour or Black and White, but I think the simplicity of monotone just brings out mood so much.

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.

We spent the afternoon at my parent‘s house, and the kids had a ball on Erin’s waterslide that she got from Father Christmas… and then the pool

Jackie was too funny.  She’s never been interested when the kids are in the pool, but today she actually came to ask to get splashed.

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.

I was the second shooter at a wedding yesterday (photos to be posted in a few days), so I didn’t book anything for today because I knew I was going to be exhausted.  I was right! I did however have an extremely full day, filled with friends!

This morning I met up with a few online moms forum friends at River Cafe for a “quiet” morning.  We had a fabulous chat, and some good food, and the kids had a ball!! I haven’t been on that forum very much lately, and it was great catching up with everyone (and meeting some faces for the first time in real life).

The service however, left a lot to be desired.  One of the orders never arrived at all, yet we were charged for it.  The worst part of the whole morning, was when some dude arrived at the table telling us that we had to move because there was a party booked for that spot, and we had to be out of there within 10m minutes!! Colleen had booked the table six weeks before and no mention was made of the fact that there was a time limit to our reservation! Needless to say, we refused to move, mostly because they’d actually only just brought some of the kids food!! Then the dude threatened to move the shade covering if we didn’t move.  Well, you can imagine how irate we all got then. Nice way to treat your customers!

But anyhoo, here are a few photos…

After that drama, Madelein and her kids went and collected Pierre, and they came to our house for a braai and a swim (first swim of the season)… and we had a really awesome afternoon. After the boys played cricket with the dads, the kids all went swimming… not for long however, their teeth were chattering within no time because of the temperature of the water!

What the dogs thought of this swimming idea… Kimo nested on the pool net, and Kitara just didn’t get it!

It was a great day with friends… just the kind of day that I needed

We’ve just come back from our seaside holiday in Shelly Beach, which is a town on the south coast of Kwazulu Natal.  This is a catch-up post with photos that I took while we were away… and yes, I’m still on top of my Project 365, I haven’t missed a day yet

Every evening we went for walks along the beach, and the kids caught sand crabs (there’s a tiny sand crab on Bradley’s hand in the first photo) and wrote their names in the sand and waded in the shallows

Bradley and I went for a walk on the beach on the second afternoon while Connor had a nap.  We noticed a cormorant perched on the edge of the tidal pool, so naturally, I had to get as close as I could for my photo for the day!!  Thankfully I went to the beach with my 70-200mm f2.8 lens! What an amazing experience, the bird let us get quite close to it, before he dived into the pool for a swim.  It was amazing to watch him dive over and  over again looking for fish for his supper. He caught 3 fish while we were there, but it happened so very quickly, that I only managed to get the moment on camera once!

The mornings were spent on the swimming beach at St Michael’s on Sea… doing what you’re supposed to do on holiday… swim and play in the sand!

Then I had another fortunate encounter, this time with a few seagulls that let me get quite close!

The weather on our last day was awful, so we went to the Riverbend Crocodile Farm in Southbroom to have a wander around.  I wasn’t as impressed with that farm, as I had been with a similar farm close to Ballito that we’d been to a few years ago… in fact it was quite disappointing… but the kids enjoyed it.

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.

We planned this weekend months ago with our friends Madi and Pierre.  You see Lance turned 40 last weekend, and Pierre’s 40th birthday is next weekend. It was the perfect excuse to go away for a night to Forum Homini in the Cradle of Humankind.  Yes, we’ve been there before, and we enjoyed it so much that we had to go back again

One night only, because it’s expensive… and your stomach would never cope with eating that amount of excellent food for 2 days in a row!

And on the subject of food… it was good, very good! Dinner was a 6 course affair with wine teasers chosen for each dish, and included a honeydew soup with truffle foam, deep fried risotto, rooibos smoked beef fillet and ended with blue cheese ice-cream with honeycomb.   Oh and then breakfast of course was just as filling with 4 courses including a frozen yoghurt and poached fruit with chocolate shavings… and then salmon frittata… before a full English breakfast.

Because it was their birthdays, when we got back to the suite after supper, there was an enormous bunch of roses on the table, and the bed had rose petals on it… very romantic

Pierre and Madi while we were sitting on the deck having drinks in the afternoon.

We took a walk in the late afternoon…

We were so very lucky to see the resident hippos! You get warned not to go walking after sunset because the hippos come out the water, and last time we went we didn’t even see them. We saw 3 this time… and they were watching us pretty closely so we didn’t want to get too close to them… I could have done with a longer lens actually.

This is the hotel, as taken from the bridge… the dam with the hippos was behind me at the time. Just beyond the small dam, you can see little pieces of wall… those are the suites that we stayed in… the hotel is built to blend into the environment and veld/grasses have been planted on the roof of every building.

Oh and then my favourites… the sunsets… the sky was absolutely magnificent last night!!

See the full set of 2010 photo-a-day photos on my Project 365 Flickr Set.