Chloe and Astrid

We finally got round to sitting down and choosing photos for printing for our album last week.

We found these two pictures of Chloë and Astrid we really liked.

Cheers,

Matthew.

The Ballet Girls

Astrid made her Ballet debut at her first Ballet Concert, and Chloe did a solo in a "grown-up" tutu. She says she can't figure out this "stage-frightening" thing...

The Holidays Came and Went!

We spent Christmas out at Pringle Bay where we joined the rest of the Melville side of the family - some of the greatest weather we've experienced there at this time of year - not much wind at all in the place that seems to be the birthplace of the South-Easter. We've graduated from going to the lagoon at the end of the beach (what the kids call the Coke Lagoon because of the black mountain water) to the Real Sea - Chloë learnt how to boogie board in the shallow water this year, and we struggled to get her out of the water as soon as she had the hang of it. Astrid's not ready for that yet, but still has a great time getting airborne over each of tiny waves that comes to shore, and trying to return as much sand to the sea as possible. It's a great break for parents out there - the four cousins get together and play continuously - adults are still needed at mealtimes, and tend to be annoying when they insist on a bedtime.

We broke with our usual tradition, and had New Year at home in Cape Town - a quiet evening with the Willards and the Le Roux's that turned out to be a great way to see in the year. (Also makes the following day much easier, definitely not as a result of reduced alcohol intake, but rather that no-one feels shy to get to New Year and then go to bed immediately - young children don't seem to respect the need to sleep late on the first morning of the year...).

We otherwise did what we try to do each year this time, and be on holiday in our own town. It's not a great time of year for travelling, but we still try to spend as little time at home as possible. We did our annual train trip from Newlands to somewhere along the Simonstown line. This year we stopped at St James(strangely quiet!), and then wandered round Kalk Bay in all the little antique shops and had lunch at one of our favourite spots, Cafe Matisse. Also did the best kind of picnic at Kirstenbosch and Spier - arrive with nothing but your picnic blanket, and get all your supplies almost ready-made at the Deli!

Chloë starts Big School at Oakhurst this week - seeing her trying out her school uniform is both a proud and scary moment - how did we get here so fast? She's filled with nothing other than enthusiasm to get started - she wasn't impressed that her last day at Garfield was separated from her first at Oakhurst by a holiday.

Astrid starts at Robyn Tait this year - if Chloë's experiences here are anything to go by, it will be a wonderful, magical year for her - a tiny class of 12 kids and a teacher that hasn't forgotten the magic and creativity of being a child. Robyn is one of the few people that Chloe will still see today two years later and just run up to and hug!

Drop us a line in the comments if you like.

Cheers,

Matthew

First Post - Welcome

Welcome to the Melvilles Web 2.0! We decided to get back onto the web with what seems like the rest of the world, and have gone for the Really Easy Approach - we have a photo album on Picasa Web (a link above), and we'll add a bit of news every now and then on this blog.

Comments welcome - hope you enjoy the updates.

Cheers, Matthew, Mikaela, Chloë and Astrid