Winter Activities

Winter is in full swing in the Cape and Friday was the last day of the school term. Most days are rainy and cold, so we are confined to indoor activities. No problem. Aiden and Zack have discovered that hide and seek is super fun (even though Zack's hiding places are not always that genius :-). Aiden really loves reading and occasionally Zack can sit still for long enough that Aiden can actually read a story to him. These times are precious for Mom and Dad as it gives us a nice break.

We had Paul and Lezinda Ras and their sons Darrian and Divan over for dinner tonight. Paul is one of Gavin's oldest friends as they go back to 2nd grade. It was the first time in almost 9 years that we got together and we simply had to take a picture of all the boys. It was a fun night.

The Boxer

Aiden's been wanting a boxing bag for some time now, so when we found a shop floor tarnished one for cheap we snagged it and suspended it from the roof in the lapa. So far it is getting good use as both boys enjoy putting on the boxing gloves (actually karate mittens) and having a good old punch-up on the bag. Hey - it sure beats them punching up on each other.

It was a stunning weekend in the Cape Town area and we made good use of the summer-like conditions with several visits to parks and also the beach. Aiden is starting to show more signs of an interest in soccer these days, so we may look at signing him up for some soccer classes again soon.




The second week of school went MUCH better than the first. Zack now runs to his classroom in the morning, takes his nap on schedule, and is still a happy camper when we pick him up from school in the afternoon. Let's hope it continues this way.

Zack's first day of school!

Friday marked the day when both Harvett Boys attended a full day of school for the first time. Zack started school for the very first time and Aiden went from half day to full day. They both did very well, so hopefully it continues that way next week. The photo below is from Aiden's "Green class" at school. All kids 4 or 5 years old. Aiden is in the front row in the middle.

We spent a quiet weekend at home. Grandma and Grandpa were visiting from Durban and the weather was cold and dreary. Fortunately there was a lot of sport to watch on TV :-). The kids had to play indoors most of the time, so we broke out some puzzles and other old toys that have not been played with in a while.

Cousins

One of the best things about living back in South Africa is that the Harvett boys get to spend a lot more time with their cousins than before. Last weekend the oldest cousins - Nicola & Jordan - watched the boys while the parents all went out for a memorable grown-up dinner. And currently the youngest of the cousins - Alexis (age 6 weeks) - visited last weekend too and Aiden got to hold her for the first time. The Steyn cousins are having a brand new house built, and the four boys have a great time getting very dirty on the building site.

No place like the Karoo!

Over Easter weekend we had the privilege of being able to take the Harvett Boys away to a real sheep farm in the middle of the Karoo somewhere between Williston and Carnavon. It was a low stress 6 hour drive to parts of our beautiful country that few people ever visit, but those who do absolutely love it. We did too. Our hosts were Kobus and Sanet van Wyk on their 12,000 hectare farm called Dagbreek (Day break).

The days were filled with quad bike riding, rubberducking, hiking through the veld, dirt bike riding and of course LOTS OF EATING. The Karoo is best known for the quality of their lamb as well as certain game. We were spoilt with Sanet's cooking 3 times per day. The night skies in the Karoo are spectacular allowing us to show Aiden and Zack some constellations that are not visible in the Northern hemisphere for the first time.

One day we drove 80km on dirt roads and through a couple of rivers (flowing due to recent heavy rain in the area) to the farm where our friend, Mandy, grew up. It was here that the boys were able to to meet some lambs close-up and explore the veld. We even encountered a few skeletons that probably belong to foxes, but we were convinced they were baby Velociraptors and T-Rex skeletons.

The Karoo people are wonderfully hospitable and we were even treated to a real Karoo house party that involved Kareoke, Snooker, a Treasure hunt and again lots and lots of food. On the last night we went porcupine hunting and succeeded in getting two fairly quickly. Porcupines are unwelcome visitors on most Karoo farms as they cause a lot of damage, so we were in fact, doing the farmer a favour.

Photo from Flat Takuro

Here is map in Takuro's class, showing where all the "flat" kids traveled to.

I think it is a great school project.

Flat Takuro

One of Aiden's preschool friends, Takuro, from Folsom Montessori, asked us to be part of his kindergarten social studies project. He made a "flat Takuro", which he mailed to us for a "visit". We took Flat Takuro to Aiden's new school and showed him around town in Stellenbosch and Cape Town. He even joined us on our visit to the museum. The purpose of the project is to learn more about other places in the world. I am very proud to say, that Takuro's teacher thought that he visited to coolest place from all the kids in his class and that we did a good job with the project!

We had a lot of fun, doing this project and it made me miss all our Californian friends even more. But remember...it is the coolest place to come and visit! Even if you come by mail.