gingerbread house

tim's first gingerbread house (with mom's help)

I maked it.  I put candy on it.  And frosting.  Gumdrops.

feeding the seagulls

Tim had a great time feeding the seagulls his leftover french fries near Hout Bay.

beach boy

Cape Town is the place to go for a variety of beaches, and we made the best of them in the short amount of time that we had.  Before we left for Cape Town, Tim was a little weary of the beach because he had overheard us talking about the shark attack that happened in Fishhoek, near Cape Town.  As we drove to our first beach, Boulders, he announced that he would not take off his shirt or his boots and socks.  We didn't push it.  Some things just need to run their course.  He took two steps onto the sand and kicked off his boots and would have gone into the water with socks and clothes if I hadn't stopped him.

Boulders was the perfect place to start Tim on his beach adventures because he loves to climb rocks and play in water.  Two penguins joined us on the beach and he chased one about until we managed to calm him down.   After the initial interest, the penguins were forgotten for the joy of water and rock.

Marching through the water was much better than walking.

At Hout Bay, he checked out he wrecked boats and fed seagulls his french fries.

At St. James pool, he walked with Paul on the sea wall and watched the tide come in.

At Blouberg, he chased the waves until he was too tired to stand.  The wind was fierce and the kite surfers numerous.


Cape Town's beaches are perfect for kids who don't want to swim in the ocean. The water is too cold for swimming anyway.  I'm a bit spoiled.  The swimming pools in Colorado are heated and my first beach was in Hawaii where the water is magical.  Despite this, I think growing up with the beach is a very special thing and I'm so glad that he's had the chance to experience this and will get to do it again and again.

under the sea

Cape Town has a wonderful aquarium and Tim was delighted with it.  The sharks were the the show stopper, but he liked everything. 

This aquarium has a viewing area in the middle.  You get on your hands and knees and climb up to be surrounded by NEMO!

He's clearly enthralled.

Guys!  Here are the SHARKS!

traveling man

Tim handled the two long flights very well.  We were stuck in the middle section with no windows, but it didn't seem to matter to him at all.  He got a little annoyed when he had to wait to watch The Smurfs until we'd taken off.  He was oblivious to the sleeping people around us and laughed very loud several times in the quietest part of the night and because he was wearing headphones his "Are we on the ground?" questions were also very loud.  He told us that "this airplane was much better than Gramps's."  He didn't sleep very much; neither did we.

The tube was a big hit for the first twenty minutes of so.  Then the jet lag kicked in and at the same time the Piccadilly line was shut down for repairs and we had to walk to another station.  Getting back on the tube was a nightmare.  He screamed, turned bright red, shouted, kicked and just generally had a major meltdown.  It was a fairly full train and I couldn't help but think that the other passengers, aware of his American accent, were thinking that Americans are horrible parents.  I wanted to tell everyone around us that he'd just traveled all night from the US and was beyond exhausted. 

The fit continued when we got off the train and headed up the stairs to the street, but stopped immediately when he saw The Clock Tower.  He was duely impressed.  He then noticed the boats ont he Thames, which and dozens of doubled decker buses.  It was worth the journey.

We're four days into the vacation, and Tim is still suffering from jet lag.  His appetitie seemed to return today, but he still hasn't sorted out his sleeping patterns (so neither have we) and falls asleep wherever he happens to be when it hits.  Jenny and Neville's cat Bruce has become a good friend.