Bye-bye July!

What a week - AGAIN!

Another busy week has flown by and it is the last day of July.

This week saw the start of all the extra-murals at school so the routine was pretty much back to normal, however Abigail has stopped dancing and started Art Club which she absolutely LOVED so the schedule is a little different.

They had a "Cakeless cake sale" at school! Sounds rather strange... I thought so too, but how it works is each child donates R10,00 towards an empty cake box which they then bring home and decorate. Then there is a competition and the box judged to be "the best" will win the cake! Abigail brought her box home and got started right away. I'm still contemplating making a few suggestions on what she could add but here's the box so far:

(this was before it was accidentally "flung" across the room smearing glitter glue all over the back of my jeans in the process!!)

On Thursday Niave started a hospital in the passage. (It was just called "hospital" I suggested "Hutton's hospital" or "Niave's hospital" but NO - just "hospital"!) We had to fish out every "baby" we could find, source a suitably sized "cot" for it (because the wrong size cot will simply not do!) and they were lined up to be nursed by nurse Niave!

(I was not allowed to take photo's so this one I snuck in! The line extends far beyond the ends of the picture!!)

During the week Grant and I were woken up on more than 1 occasion in the middle of the night by a Hill-Billy rendition of "Old Mac Donald" complete with animal noises coming from somewhere in the house! It was a little eerie I'll have to say. It was like a scene form a movie: we'd both open our eyes, listen for a second or 2 and then turn to each other with a confused look on our faces! On investigation we discovered this little green tractormerrily singing it's song, tooting it's hooter and rattling off, moo's, baa's, oinks and neigh's all by itself. Now, all these sounds need to be activated by a button, so while I was glad to have found the source of the midnight barn dance serenade I was a little freaked out by it's self-activating properties ...or not - that's a pretty heavy spider that can push those buttons! So, Grant has solved the problem - he removed the batteries! And now we sleep peacefully once again! (Whoever invented battery-operated toys obviously never had any in his house!!)

Abigail received her DVD of the Dear Edwina Show yesterday and was up until 10:15 watching it this evening! It was really nice to hear all the songs again, it really was a great show.

What a week!

This week was back to school and did we get "back to school" with a bang, or what?!

It was a really busy week, I think I spent 80% of it in the car!

Monday and Tuesday were busy with lifts and shopping, swimming and dentists and all sorts of other things that make up a VERY busy 2 days.

On Wednesday I could breathe. I vowed not to step out of the front door after fetching Abigail from school.

Then Thursday was another mad rush around for all kinds of reasons, Friday was slightly less crazy, the girls spent some time playing together, they seem to be able to play together more and more, with Abigail becoming more tolerant of her little sister and Niave able to play more cooperatively.

This game involved a fairy godmother and Cinderella! Abigail's dress has quite a history! It has been "in the family" since 1982 when my brother wore it in std 6 (grade 8) in their school production of Pirates of Penzance!! It still has the little sewn-in name tag saying "Andrew Koch"(no denying it I'm afraid!!)!! Being at an all boys school the std 6's were relegated to playing the "girl" parts!! It has been shortened somewhat and usually finds itself in the dress-up box at school where it is a firm favourite - amongst the girls and the boys!!

Abigail opted not to go to Kids Club on Friday night as her 2 "lift mates" weren't going and I must say I was really happy not to have to get into the car again.

However at about 7pm we found ourselves in absolute darkness as somebody (as in me) had forgotten to top up the electricity box with units!! So it was into the car and down to the shop after all!

We had a late-ish start on Saturday before heading for the library and then off to Bizzy Bodies (an indoor play place) for a party. We used to visit Bizzy Bodies and the likes a lot more when it was just Abigail (it's a lot more affordable when it's just 1!), the last time we went to Bizzy Bodies was when Niave was really, really small. She had no clue what to expect and had an absolute ball. Abigail's face was as red as a tomato when it was time to leave. They had a lot of fun.

I took these pics of them on the climbing wall for Bev's benefit! The climber in the family!!

Today was my aunt, Emmy's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She arranged for the family and some friends to go to lunch at Neethlingshof in Stellenbosch. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky and quite warm for July. I got there a little late because I was following (against my better judgement) a certain member of the family who insists on getting us, himself or me completely lost!

Anyway, I found it eventually and we enjoyed a wonderful buffet lunch with many, many choices. Completely forgot to photograph the food, slipping up on my blogger's responsibilities there! But I did manage to capture the surroundings

as well as Niave and her beloved puddle of mud! She took great delight in throwing little sticks and stones into it, she'd probably still be there if we hadn't dragged her away!

So, a lovely relaxing afternoon to end a hectic week.

Scratch Patch.

Today we visited another well known Cape Town spot for the first time! The Scratch Patch! Although the Waterfront Scratch Patch has been open for years, we have never been!! So today we went off with Abigail's friend Joanna to search for semi-precious stones and discovered there is also an indoor putt-putt course there! Both were really inexpensive, R14,00 for a small bag to fill with stones and R10,00 each for putt-putt.

We started off with the scratch patch, Abigail and Jo scratched and searched and chose their stash of stones.

Niave walked in, spotted the waterfall and spent the entire time filling the pond with stones!

Then we played some putt-putt or "Cave Golf" as they call it as it is inside a kind of cave. Neither of the older girls had ever played before and found it quite tricky, but they finished the course - eventually!! Niave putted along for fun, I loved her style, she has a very eclectic hold on the putter!!

To be honest, next time we want to visit the Scratch Patch I will head out to Simon's Town, I found this one a bit small and cramped. But the kids had a good time anyway.

Dishwasher update!!

SHE WORKS!!

The lights are lit, the water worked and the super-silent sound of swishing was music to my ears!

Actually, it is quite nice to wash dishes in winter, I didn't begrudge the broken appliance too much! There's nothing like warm water to warm you up, but had it been summer - different story!!

I am however VERY glad to have it back.

The Magic Castle.

Today I discovered a new outing destination, it's indoors (it's been raining here for 4 days), it's cheap and it's not too far away!! Perfect!!

We've been ice-skating at Grandwest before but I did not know until recently that there is more beyond that. I just thought it was a coffee shop or 2, but there is a whole lot more as you start to explore. At first there is the NOISY arcade and bowling alley and then you enter the Magic Castle! How did we not know about this?

One thing that has always bothered me about the ice-skating (especially the mini-rink) is that it is so dark. You have no clue what time of day it is while you are there (all part of the psychology behind the place, I am sure) but in the Magic Castle area it is much lighter and less claustrophobic. It's like a mini, indoor funfair. And the rides are only R5 each! (Except the go-carts which is R10).

They have a roller-coaster (kid-size), bumper cars, a pirate ship, carousel, go-carts and a flying submarine type thingy!! (and 1 other thing that was out of order that I couldn't quite work out.)

When we walked in they all saw the train roller coaster and wanted to start there. I don't have any pictures of that one because I was so worried that Niave was going FREAK OUT and scream the place down that I was too scared to get my camera out in case I had to run and retrieve her from the ride!! BUT, she is a girl after her father's heart! Loved every minute!! I am not fond of roller coasters, actually, it's not the roller coaster itself it's the puking that comes after that I am a little weary of. Grant on the other hand would strap his wheelchair to the Cobra if they'd let him! I'm sure you get the picture! And so we have 2 confirmed adrenaline junkie offspring!

Once we'd finished on the train, I managed to take some pictures:

"It's like Mary Poppins"!

"Abigail Schumacher"!

Ready for a ride!

5 Monkeys!

Not bad after 5 days of quarantine!

Just kidding!

What can I say? Some 3 year olds are just more intelligent than others!!!

Starting 'em young!