Up until about a year ago, we never went away on holiday. For the first five years of our marriage, every cent we had went to our 'finance the next IVF' fund. And then the twins were born and for the few years of their life I was too overwhelmed by BABIES! EVERYWHERE! to deviate from the routine too much. And then about 18 months ago I was forced to go away on a business trip and the strangest thing happened - I had fun! It was actually quite ok to be away from home. It was ok if I didn't sleep in my own bed, shop at my own stores or move more than 5 kms away from home.
Last year I went to London twice, India twice, Vienna and Singapore. We went to Hermanus for a few days and Umngazi for a week. We are going to Umngazi (stunning family holiday spot) for 10 days next month and guess what - I am not even going to take my laptop!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! I haven't been apart from my laptop for longer than 4 days in forever (and the four days was only because I was in hospital giving birth). The Albertyns are seasoned vacationers now.
However, we still don't take our holidays lightly. We travel with heaps of provisions and paraphanalia. We have a trailer and we take ALL our stuff with us. Which is about as spontaneous as we can be. If we are prepared, then we have no problem with being spontaneous.
We are in Hermanus at the moment, in a gorgeous apartment. Or as Kate says "this place isn't lovely, its FABULOUS!"
The place really is fabulous. A little pricey, but really gorgeous. Check out the view.
This holiday tested us slightly. We had a couple of tense moments that made me want to shove someone off the balcony.
It started well. Arrived Friday night, unpacked, had wine (me), walked down to the rocks etc.
Saturday morning I bent down to pick Max and pulled something in my back. As I felt the 'snap' in my back, I knew this was a biggie. I actually fell down and lay there for a while. Of course it being a long weekend, there was no physio around and so I toughed it out until the pharmacy opened and eventually got some medication. It was (and still is) bloody sore. I could hardly walk. It is only when you can't do stuff that realize how much stuff you do. And I do a lot (all) of the baby stuff.
Unfortunately for us, Marko does not react well to this type of thing. He takes any bad luck Very Personally. The universe clearly hates us if this happens to us. Poor us. Never mind that we are bloody lucky we can afford to stay in a gorgeous place etc, we are cursed blah blah. While he was sympathetic towards me, he was a miserable fucking bastard most of the weekend.
He did do his best with the twins while I hobble around the apartment trying to convince Max that he should walk instead of me carrying him around. Marko took the twins to the beach, to catch tadpoles etc. Again, unfortunately, it seems the universe really does hate Marko because when he was out with the kids, Kate had an unfortunate incident involving a runny tummy, poor spincter control and a lack of ablutions close by. Oh, and apparently there was only one small, half empty packet of wipes in the bag. Oh deary dear. As you can imagine, this did wonders for his mood.
Oh, and then Max started with a very snotty nose last night. By that stage, if Marko's lip hung any lower he would have tripped over it which would have saved me from having to throw him off the balcony. Luckily for us (him), he cheered up this morning and is once again in a good mood. Just in time for the trip home. Luckily for him, I am quite fond of him. VERY LUCKILY.
But besides that, we've had a fantastic time. At least the kids had fun (and so did I, between back aches and sulks)
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Joys of parenting and holidaying with kidlets.
We're off to umngazi in July. Cannot wait. Fantastic place where you can loaf and let others care for your kidlets. Marvellous idea.
You should try Morgan Bay Hotel. http://morgan-bay-hotel.co.za/
Also completely divine.
Posted by: Shayne | 21 March 2011 at 01:31 PM
Marko cracks me up. So, sorry about your back. Mine goes out all the time and it hurts like hell!
It isn't a vacation for our clan if someone doesn't run a fever or puke. Thankfully, mine have finally figured out to tell me more than 1/2 second before puking in the car! FINALLY!!
Posted by: Stefanie | 21 March 2011 at 08:02 PM
This kind of thing happens to us too, whenever we go away. Clearly, the universe also hates us. :-)
Posted by: BiancaW | 22 March 2011 at 08:45 AM
It looks fabulous! Sorry to hear about the back (and Marko)! ;-) Hope the rest is all good!
Posted by: MomAgain@40 | 22 March 2011 at 09:17 AM
If you come across a beautiful wooden bench with some stones underneath it at Umngazi then you would have found were my uncles ashes were scattered. He was brutally murdered in 2009.
Posted by: Dee | 22 March 2011 at 10:15 AM
It seems like we should get our husbands together, they sound very much alike from the anal-ness (is that a word?) to the grumpiness/woe is me/everyone hates me attitude when things go wrong!!
On the other hand, maybe it's best they never meet!!!
Posted by: Vannessa | 23 March 2011 at 12:57 PM
Family outings can be trying. I generally stick close to home - find holidays exhausting! Hope your back gets better soon!
Posted by: Return to Norway | 23 March 2011 at 07:17 PM
Yeah right! Fabulous place. Hope i can be there too.
Posted by: Assisted Living Facilities Seattle | 25 March 2011 at 07:59 AM
Looks like ur kid had a great time,I prefer his dance compared to his siblings...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bDNMuA795U this is absolutely awesome,Thanks for the video!!!wish my kids are still toddlers...Heart loving Post...
Posted by: Kids ¬ TLC | 25 March 2011 at 11:25 AM