And slight change of plan...spontaneous surprise visit to Cape Town!

After a few slightly manic final days in Malawi, running around doing overpriced covid tests, we managed to make it back to a 'locked down' Zimbabwe. We weren't entirely sure what to expect, but after a wonderful holiday with cousins and family, the thought of being locked down again was a hard pill to swallow. So we toyed with the idea of me taking the kids back to Cape Town for a couple of weeks. It all came together when Tim's boss was happy with the plan and suggested that Tim join us for the 3rd week so that he could attend some team building meetings that they had planned.

So off we went! We had to go while our covid tests were still valid and so it was somewhat of a whirlwind trip. Driving from Malawi on the Thursday and then flying to Capetown on the Friday.

We decided to surprise Grampa Bobby and Granny Tish by simply arriving at their house for Sunday lunch. Grampa answered the doorbell, he doesn't express his excitement easily but I think he was pleasantly surprised... granny, on the other hand, nearly fell over and may have even shed a couple of happy tears to see her grandkids unexpectedly! It was a lovely day catching up with Hilary, Luke, Jack and Levi and Granny Wilma too.

We had special time with special friends, and the kids were so excited to see their friends, family, toys and dogs. I feel that seeing that things are how we left them seemed to calm their little hearts. 

We had our dear friends drive all the way down from PE to visit us for a week. Eli is Louie's BFF and he was so excited to see him again after a few months. They have been besties since Eli was born and Lou was 4 months, so it was very special to see them. Lily was also over the moon to see her God mama Claire and besties Ryleigh and Logey.

His little partner in crime- Kuku. This little friendship is very sweet.

Even managed to squeeze in a little sushi night with the girls!

Time seemed to fly but we made plenty more super memories. Water world with the Becks was also a high. I am so grateful for the special friends we have in our life. All the braai's and chill time together while the kids played and danced and ran around and swam was good for our souls.

We seemed to squeeze so much in to the 3 weeks we had, and I didn't get photos to capture all the special memories but I just want to mention the sweet reaction we got from our special friends in Elgin too. 

I contacted Mich Roberts and decided that we should surprise Jodi and Luke because they have really missed my kids. So we went over there and the kids walked in while Jodi was still in her pj's. She literally froze, and then started to laugh while tears rolled down her cheeks. She has the biggest heart, just like her mom. And its moments like that when you realise how much people mean to you. I think we are exceptionally social, and being isolated has shown me how much I love the people in my life.

We were here for little Jack's 3rd birthday and had some more fun with the family in Villiersdorp and Kirstenbosch. The cousins enjoyed bonding and playing together and it was a sweet time. Tim ended up missing out because his covid test came back positive before he was supposed to fly. He had no symptoms fortunately, but was sad to miss out on the special family time.

Chilling at peregrine.

Spur treat after a long day at the mall!

Big brother always looking out for his little sister.

We spent the last few days doing some shopping and exploring the farm, we had a braai at the dam and just enjoyed the sunshine. It was a wonderful time and reminded us why we love Cape Town so much. 

We were ready to get back to Tim though. And the kids were excited to come back to their daddy, and to their kariba home to see the new friends that have crept into our hearts since we've been here. We definitely have a bigger 'affinity to love' than seems humanly possible and must be a reflection of being made in Gods image that our hearts just seem bottomless.