Weekend Wanderings: Grape picking at Lourensford, Somerset West

My kids are growing up… and it’s a little bit heartbreaking this realisation.

You see every day they’re becoming more independent, more resilient, more themselves. And every day they’re becoming less reliant, less dependent, less connected to me!

I’ve been noticing this for a while… school days get longer, more hours spent with friends than at home, choosing to sleep over 2 nights in a row rather than come home, heading out to Friday night birthday parties when they used to spend them watching movies on the couch with us!

It’s obviously a natural part of growing up… us parents have to grow up too! 😉

But what it has made me realise is that I need to be far more mindful of planning family fun days and time together than ever before. At least at the moment they are still happy to hang with us but the day will come sooner than I think when we really aren’t cook enough to spend a weekend with… friends will be the MOST important part of their lives. SOB!

When I got the invite to head out to enjoy a morning at Lourensford Wine Estate as a family… picking grapes, meandering the market, I jumped at the chance! I want to create as many special family memories as possible and one of the very best ways to do this is by exposing my kids to new experiences and enjoying them together.

So off we went to our very first grape picking experience…

We set off really early as we had to get back home by 2 so we arrived just as they opened up the vineyards to visitors. The sun was already blazing hot so we slathered on sunscreen and donned our hats.

A short tractor ride and we hopped off ready to hunt down some delicious Hanepoort. It wasn’t as straightforward as hitting the first vine… those had already been stripped bare! But that meant we had a bit more time to wander through the rows of vines and really enjoy the novelty of this outing!

We set off with a pair of secateurs and my gran’s basket (I’ve been waiting years for a chance to use it!!) and the kids got stuck in, so much so that I don’t think I actually even picked one bunch, they were such pro’s!

And they loved it!

We were meant to walk away with 1kg and ended up with 3!!!

Grape picking is thirsty work so we headed across the estate to the Wine Tasting area and then to the Sunday Market…

My son is not known as “Foodie Ben” for nothing… this was his heaven, hopping from one tasting table to another sampling the delicious delights on offer before finally settling on pizza for lunch!

In the “busy-ness” of life it’s so important to still carve out time to spend together as just your own family unit.

The days are long but the years are short and before you know it your kids are pre-teens… and then they’ve left home.

At the start of my parenting journey 20 years seemed an eternity, a lifetime. But, half way through, I can tell you it’s not. I know I’m not an empty-nester yet, but it’s frighteningly sooner than I thought and I’m so grateful for day like this and memories like these!

Contact Details

Lourensford Wine Estate

Lourensford Ave, Somerset West, 7130

Phone: +27 21 847 2333

Email: [email protected]

Web: lourensford.co.za

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Images: Kathryn Rossiter

Kathryn Rossiter

Kathryn is a South African lifestyle blogger and mom of 2 who has been blogging daily for over 9 years! She writes about travel, health, beauty, fashion, decor and family... but not food (unless it's food she's eaten made by someone else) as she is a hopeless cook. She only wakes up early for 2 things... a red-eye flight to somewhere exotic and early morning game drives. She has just finished an extensive home renovation and would prefer to never see another box again. She's never met a chocolate or glass of bubbles that she didn't like!