Wacky Wednesday #3

Remember when we went to Sheffield Beach for Thanksgiving? I took a bunch of pictures of Jasmine and Juliet for my Xmas card with their tutu dresses. We took so many shots that at a certain point the girls were sick of me... of course they would never say that or complain, they are really such a good girls. But they showed me in a silent way... mommy now it is enough, we don't want any more!!

Here my silly girls with their wacky faces :-)





Have a wonderful wacky day!!
Mireille

Mermaids from the Indian Ocean...

We didn't only relax at Sheffield beach we also did a photo shoot for our Xmas card this year. I had it planned out and made these dresses from tulle. I made these for our New Years bash coming up, which is themed in the colors purple, silver and gold. I made Jasmine a dress from gold and 2 colors of purple and Juliet I made the same dress in silver and 2 colors of purple. Meters of tulle is woven into these dresses. But they are easy to make. No sewing, except the elastic band and the fluffy boa at the top, but the tulle you just knot.

Since we are always early awake I planned to do 2 photo shoots in one day. The first in the morning at around 8:30 and the other one with the sunset at around 4:30, see the difference in lighting!

We took so many shots, but it was so hard on the girls, they had to squint there eyes since they were looking directly into the sun. I had to have the lighting in my back, there is no way around it, but the girls had such a hard time. The sun is extreme here!! I want to use one of these photos for my Xmas card but can't decide which one is the best, can you help me pick one?? (Click on any of them to see a bigger size).


1. I like this one because of the nice background.

2. A bit too far? Maybe crop it a bit?

3. Too bad the feet are cut off...

4. Girls have a hard time looking into the sun.

5. Too much shade??

6. JJ doesn't look too happy!

7. Cute holding hands...

8. Distant too far??

9. Jezz can't keep her eyes open and JJ is not happy with the big waves in the back!

10. Both smiling...yeah!

11. Again smiling ;-)

12. Sunset session.

13. A bit too far?? not close-up enough.

14. Shadow in face, bothering or not??

15. Having fun sitting down.

16. Holding hands.

17. The end...how sweet those small little backs ;-)

So these are the 17 best of the 300 shots we took...yes about 300 shots! Very small amount turned out well, because the sun was bothering the girls SO much. Although the sessions both went fast, each maybe 20 minutes, but I just kept on shooting and shooting. The hard thing with 2 kids in one shot is that I have a lot of photo's that one of them is really looking great but then the other had her eyes closed or wasn't looking into the camera. You know how it goes....

So give me your opinion; which one you like the best. Brings out their personality or which one is the cutest smile, nicest background, best composition etc..

I like to hear from you!
Ciao, Mireille

Back from Sheffield Beach

We're just back from 4 days on the beach. We celebrated Thanksgiving this year on Sheffield beach, north of Durban on the Indian Ocean. We stayed at villa Cascada and it was just beautiful, magnificent views and a small private beach all to ourselves for the first days and then we only shared it with 2-4 other families. It was so relaxing, rolling waves, beautiful blue and clear water, and the girls just played played and played in the water, finding little crabs, getting excited about catching fish with their bare hands....giggling about the waves that pushed them into the water...so much fun. I can't even tell you how much fun they had! Let's see some pictures and you can see for yourselves.....(click on any of the images so see them larger)
Our house on the beach, and its view.


We had the beach to ourselves, with little coves and small pools to find all kind of little sea animals. Great for the girls!


Here they are doing a game, getting knocked over by the waves, holding each other tight.


I took some pictures from the back and from the front, so much giggling and having fun!

Jasmine and Juliet (green bathing suit) were all day from 8 in the morning till 4-5 pm in the water, enjoying numerous of games. While me and Dirk set on the beach reading books and magazines, going splashing with the girls in the water to cool off. The water was not cold at all, really beautiful and refreshing. We saw many many dolphins swimming by...it is not called dolphin beach for nothing!

A wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, and we are so grateful to have such a close knit family and such a gorgeous and healthy children!

I hope you had a great weekend as well ;-)

Thanksgiving in South Africa

Thanksgiving Day, celebrated in the USA on the fourth Thursday in November, at the end of the harvest season, is an annual American Federal holiday to express thanks for one's material and spiritual possessions. The period from Thanksgiving Day to New Year's Day often is called the holiday season. Most people celebrate by gathering at home with family or friends for a holiday feast. Though the holiday's origins can be traced to harvest festivals that have been celebrated in many cultures since ancient times, the American holiday has religious undertones related to the deliverance of the English settlers by Native Americans after the brutal winter at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Or as some people call Thanksgiving, Turkey Day. The tradition all over the country is to gather family and friends together and eat a big turkey with the traditional side dishes like mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sause or jelly, stuffing and pumpkin or pecan pie. Yummy, but heavy duty ;-)

This year we and most of our friends here in SA are going away for the long weekend, so we celebrated already Thanksgiving last weekend at our friends' home. They did the deep fried turkey, since most of us never had it and these friends are from Texas, so we got a traditional Texas way of cooking the turkey. It was really juicy and tender and the crispy skin was yummy!

Coming weekend (actually we are driving off tomorrow morning) we are at the coast of Durban, to Sheffield beach or as they call that area, Dolphin coast, to relax a few days and enjoy the sand and sea and sun! Not so traditional but very much fun! We have a little house directly on the beach where the girls can find their creepy crawlers and we can read many books. Sounds good to me!

Happy Thanksgiving all!
I am probably not posting for a few days...
Mireille

Thanksgiving on the Dolphin Coast

For the long weekend at Thanksgiving the children have off from school and we just booked a magnificent villa directly on the beach close to Durban.
Just north of Salt Rock and virtually ten minutes from Ballito, is the beautiful beach of Sheffield with its sheltered coves and wonderful rock pools that invite little people to spend hours collecting shells and admiring sea anemones. I am sure JJ and Jezz will love this fact ;-)

Renowned as one of the better fishing and diving spots on the Dolphin Coast, snorkelling here is a way of life, and if you want to know where to fish, just follow the local fishermen who head out here on a daily basis to partake of nature’s bounty.

There are certain spots on the beach that afford the most spectacular views of the coastline and, in similar fashion to Salt Rock and Blythedale, Sheffield is increasingly being regarded as yet another suburb of Durban, as property in Umhlanga becomes a little thin on the ground. But as yet, the coast is unspoilt and there are regular sightings of dolphins and whales in season.

Not every year that we can lay at the beach while celebrating Thanksgiving! Not a bad life style here in South Africa. We'll keep you updated on our stay ;-)

Have a good day!
Mireille