This weekend we got our visiting groove back on, despite the fact that Chantelle was called in to work to take care of Saturday night dinner and Sunday morning breakfast on what was supposed to be her off weekend. Oh well, what can one do, at least we got some leftovers out of the deal, meaning that she hasn’t had to cook on Monday or Tuesday evening thus far! :)

Whilst Friday evening was more about playing with Jessie, taking a break from our eating plan that we’ve been on for some time now (with some delicious home made chips and burgers in case you were wondering), and of course watching violent animated fare in the form of Hulk vs. Wolverine and Hulk vs. Thor, Saturday was a completely different kettle of fish as we made our way through to Bellville, in separate cars (oh woe is my pocket), after dealing with all the usual wonderful Saturday morning chores.

Taking full advantage of the beautiful weather we had been blessed with, I joined Robert at Wagner’s Golf Academy for a round of 18 on their little mashie course (more on this later), while Chantelle and Jessie enjoyed brunch with Oupa and Ouma. Of course, she had to leave for Gordon’s Bay early afternoon already, but with Jessica safely in the care of Monty and Cheryl, I took advantage of the eager babysitters and popped in for a solo visit with Ryan (where I also caught the Bulls vs Western Province game for good measure). With the day pretty much done, it was then time for Jessie and I to make the long trip home (with a quick stop at the KFC drive-through seeing as Chantelle would only be home much, much later), followed by the whole baby bedtime routine.

Sunday kicked off with a bath for the snot-covered, sleepy-eyed Jessie whilst Chantelle was back at work on breakfast duty, followed by another lock up of Country Mews as we made our way through to Bellville (again), though at least it was in one car this time around! :)

First stop was to Granny and Grandpa’s house, seeing as they had signed on for their very first babysitting gig, and after a whirlwind round of instructions and reassurances, it was off to Monty and Cheryl’s pad (who had been usurped as the day’s babysitters thanks to the early morning SMS plea from Mom and Dad) to pick up Zania’s birthday gifts which we had left with them on Saturday.

After that whirlwind stop, it was back on the N1 as we made our way up to Dean and Zania’s pad in Kraaifontein, with me driving for a change but still completely lost as all Hell (thank goodness for Chantelle’s sense of direction I tell you)! There it was a get together of all the friends (Damen and Michelle, Evan and Natasha, Karl-Heinz and Trish, Ryan, and of course the hosts Dean, Zania and little Zandea), paired with copious amounts of nibbles, cake and tart, one broken plate courtesy of my buttocks (apparently), and of course two guinea pigs, one of which made it out of the cage and into the awaiting arms of Karl, who seems to have some sort of a connection with furry animals (or at least one which I have now just made up).

One of Dean and Zania's furry critters...

It was an excellent catch up session with everyone, though we did eventually have to say our goodbyes and sneak out, hitting a dog with our car in the process, before we managed to even exit the complex! As for the dog(?), it appeared from nowhere, ran into/under our car, and then sprinted off again, so no idea how it is doing (or what it even is – didn’t see it!), though by the sound of the impact, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it is now dead. So not a great thing to happen, no.

Anyway, not dwelling on that unfortunate incident, we then headed back down to Bellville, where we proceeded to fit in a quality visit with Granny and Grandpa, who by all accounts had thoroughly enjoyed their day with Jessica, which had even included a long pram stroll with Dad around the neighbourhood and a visit from the pair of Great Grannies to boot! Of course, this being a Sunday evening meant that Chantelle simply had to have Idols running in the background (The Soap Girls? Seriously, did anyone see that one coming?), which really wasn’t all that much of a bad thing when you take into the consideration the leftover snoek snackwiches that Dad prepared for us for supper to go along with it!

And that was pretty much that, back home and beddy-time for the lot of us Lotters, bringing to an end what was simply a great weekend of friends, family and cake.

Yummy.