A Day in South Africa

Hello lovelies! 

At the end of April I had the wonderful privilege to travel to my first home, South Africa! We went to be with my family and in particular, my dear grand father who is now in his late 80's, and was very ill  in the ICU at the time. My parents and sisters all hopped on a plane on that very last minute journey to be with him and to see our homeland again, after way too long away. It had been 10 years since I was last there, a trip that I took with my husband and our first born who was only 1 year old at the time. 

I shared many, many everyday moments on Instagram while I was there (@kirstyg) but have not yet had a moment to share any of my camera pictures here. I've been neglecting this little blog lately as life is just a bit too full to have extra time for blogging. :) But I am getting to everything, slowly but surely. 

So here is one day I spent in SA, from beginning to end. I stayed at my grandparent's house and woke to their stunning little garden which was absolutely breath taking and one I wanted to capture. It's a tiny space and they are avid gardeners and turned it into a little slice of heaven. These pictures will not do it justice. They were going into the winter season while we were there yet the temps were in the 60's and 70's which I thought was fabulous while the South Africans kept asking me if I wasn't cold (in my summer dresses ;)? Despite the "cold" my gran would leave windows open all night "to let the fresh air in", something I've apparently inherited from her as I'm known to open the car window mid-winter freeze here in Wisconsin, cause I "need some fresh air". My husband thinks I'm crazy but apparently that's a genetic thing. Ha! 

So I'd wake to all sorts of birds calling to each other and the coolest part was that I remembered those sounds from my childhood, as they are birds unique to South Africa and so, music I had forgotten over time. It was precious. 

So let's begin with the garden ... 

My best friend Raschika is also in South Africa so I spent lots of time with her and her family. We met in a ballet class when we were just 4 years old and from that point forward, were inseparable. Now it's time for our little girls to become ballerinas too and I was so excited to go and watch her little girl, Zoe, who is about that same age and in a ballet class much the same as the one we did ourselves. We studied with the Royal Academy of Dance (English ballet and very, very strict) and so Zoe's class brought back so many sweet memories. 

Take a look ... 

And then we spent some time at their house, which is unbelievably beautiful! I had to take lots of pictures to show you cause there are SO many dear memories for me here. I also took loads of pics of all of Chika and Jurgen's kids cause they were the sweetest little people I'd ever met (besides our own of course ;).

 You're going to DIE when you see the inside! I'll share those next time though. :)