Sunday, February 7
One month! Mr. Owl (AKA Hedwig) and Roy made it into the photo.
Before beginning the regularly scheduled blog post (HA!), I wanted to note that today marked one month of us knowing Tisetso. It has been a crazy, fun, hard, and good month. We are thankful to God that we have such a wonderful son.
Today we decided to go to the waterfront. We wanted to spend a little more time exploring and checking out all the area has to offer. We left early to make sure we could get a good parking space and get to the sights first. The ride in really tested my ability to process road sickness as the wind kept knocking our car about. Upon our arrival, we found a fantastic parking space and headed towards the fun.
Really cool mural of Nelson Mandela we see each time on our way into Cape Town.
Son and Father
First on the docket was buying tickets to ride on the "Jolly Roger," a pirate ship that gives tours of the harbor and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, the Jolly Roger had been hired out for the day for a child’s birthday party. We decided to head towards the ferris wheel instead. Merry Ann decided to sit the ferris wheel out as the cars were swaying ominously in the strong wind. By the end of the four times around (about 12 minutes) I was wishing I had maybe stayed on the ground with her. It was fun to see the waterfront from a different perspective and I enjoyed when Tisetso allowed me to take pictures with him and Brian. It was really special.
Father and Son
The blustery ride over, we went our separate ways. The boys went on a harbor cruise and Merry Ann and I went to the market space to buy souvenirs and gifts for our family. I wanted to go on the cruise, but the car ride coupled with the ferris wheel had left me feeling unready to face choppy water. While we were shopping Brian kept me updated that they had seen many seals and even dolphins! COME ON! Thankfully I was able to get several gifts purchased while we were out and about. My shopping even included waking Erin up super early to get her opinion on her birthday gift.
A cloud stayed over Table Mountain the whole time we were in Cape Town. Yesterday was definitely the right day to go!
We had decided to meet up at a grill (the one we had been to previously) around noon, which is when the harbor cruise was slated to be over. Merry Ann and I beat the boys there and I thought it would be nice to sit outside. I was wrong. Within 20 minutes, Merry Ann, Tisetso, and I were ensconced under blankets the restaurant had provided. The wind was blowing everything around. Thankfully the food was delicious. Tisetso veered from tradition and got a hot dog (he usually gets cheeseburgers). Brian and I ordered two entrees (kingklip fish and boerwoers platter) and switched halfway. The kingklip was a recommendation from our immigration doctor we had seen a couple of days earlier. Merry Ann got an ostrich steak and Roger indulged in the massive assorted meat skewer Brian had ordered when we visited before. Aside from being cold and the wind being out of control, it was a delightful lunch.
Our son shooting at people with the sculpture titled "Non-Violence"
We headed home after lunch. While we were walking back to the car park, we saw seals playing in the harbor. We got to get pretty close to one of them that was sunbathing. It was awesome!
NATURE!
He wanted his picture with the seals, then proceeded to pretend he was fighting them.
Brian got to navigate the blustery roadways again. It was rough because there have been several fires in the area (they are experiencing a drought this summer). I felt badly for those out fighting the fires on such a windy day.
One of several areas along the highway we've seen fires crop up at over the last few days.
When we got back, we had just a few minutes to rest and recover from our busy day. We headed back out shortly after our arrival to the flat for church. We found a great church (Christ Church Waterkloof) here in Somerset West (10 minutes from our flat). It was nice to be able to introduce Rose (our social worker) and Brad and Debbie (our lawyers) to Roger and Merry Ann. They even got to meet our friends who are in-country at the same time as us, the Saarela family.
Church was good and, thankfully, not hot like last week. We were thankful for less protest from Tisetso. He was, however, ready to leave right away when it was done. If anything this will be an area he will have to work on because we never leave right after church. It may have been that he was extra eager because we had (out of love) agreed to go to Spur again.
I think Roger and Merry Ann enjoyed their time at the ever-exciting Spur. Tisetso was only seen when there was food. I had to pick something up from the pharmacy, so I arrived after they had been seated. Tisetso and Brian were already in the game room. After deciding on a burger for myself, I asked if Tisetso had left his order. Apparently he wanted chicken nuggets and a cheese pizza. Because we could take left overs home, Brian said that was ok. Unfortunately, I ordered the grilled BBQ chicken nuggets, so that half of the order went unappreciated and uneaten. Thankfully, the rest of the meal was fine. Once again, nothing to write home about (although apparently worth writing on my blog about).
We got home and got Tisetso tucked into bed with no issues. I apparently had a long day, too, because I fell asleep on his bed while waiting for him to go to sleep. Brian woke me up about two hours later and I just headed straight to sleep. It was a long day for all of us!