the home stretch...

Another great week but I remain challenged by the internet and the uploading and organizing of blog pictures. Maybe it was by design that I front and centered the photo of me at the end of the Argus. What an event that was! 30,000 riders and I was riding the same road as Lance A! pretty cool! Head winds were fierce for the first half (55ks) but the upside is that I got a sweet tailwind going down the other side of Cape Point for about 10kms. I managed to get up to 57km/hr going down a stretch of open road. On the coast roads, the gusts were so strong, riders were being very careful so we slowed considerably. It was amazing!

Last weekend, we went to Spier, a vineyard near Stellenbosch. They also have a cheetah and raptor center and it was there we got henna tattoos and the girls petted cheetahs. Lyle petted baby barn owls and got a good look inside their mouths as they screamed at her!! I held an eagle named Wally! We were treated to an unbelievably long and yummy African buffet by Herschel's Head of School and her husband and their daughter, Emma, the drip castle builder friend of Molly's.

Siyabonga and Sikle are our 1st graders from the SHINE Center. We have done some great work with them and look forward to hearing about their continued progress. One on one work is so obviously a success. Shine knows how to get these results!

South African Riding for the Disabled has more like 3 to 1 work as often it takes a lead and 2 side walkers with each child. Sardiiq, my young jockey, trotted yesterday with a HUGE smile. He has made worlds of progress and the class teacher Rolene is outstanding. She has a gift and contagious energy.

Think that's about it for now. Hoping to get the camera to the squash club because there are a few folks who NEED to be recognized as part of this squash journey.  There WILL be more pictures before we leave in 2 weeks so do check back...

updates...

Whoops! A whole month plus has passed and there's been no blogging. Sorry! Last month brought many adventures: a car accident (we're all fine - but no pictures), the start of some volunteering for both Dave and me - The SHINE Center - literacy for at-risk 1st graders and me, Hope, as a side-walker for physically and mentally handicapped children at South African Riding for the Disabled. My rider, Sardeek, is making GREAT progress, not because of my equine prowess, but rather because I chat AT him for an hour straight. We wave to the moon and the mountains and the trees and we've even gotten him to a canter - with a huge smile! I tried to take the girls this week but the opressive heat cancelled the class. We'll try again next week.

Last weekend, Dave and I played a squash tournament at Univ. Cape Town, in memory of Natalie Grainger's brother, a former UCT squash addict! It was an incredibly special weekend, one I wont forget for a long time as I was in the presence of SA's top women and men and Natalie's amazing parents. Molly and Lyle did a LOT of refereeing and marking and none of us saw much of the outdoors all weekend. Another reason I wont forget the weekend was that I won an autographed Harrow bag by answering a question posed to spectators during the men's finals. I wont delve into the answer but the question was "Who is the hottest male player in the tournament and why?" At the moment I threw up my hand, Lyle decided she needed to leave the area to avoid complete embarrassment.  This photo is tourney Champion and USA #1, Natalie Grainger, and her mom, Jean, SA's finest mature, seasoned, call it what you want, woman player with me and the girls. Talk about a special mother-daughter photo op.

Dave and I have taken 2 Argus training rides with our friend Chris. This is us at Chapman's Peak with the Sentinel in the background. The race is this weekend and the weather is looking favorable. I have a ride to the start with my friend, squash teammate and alpha sled dog, Katie Wilson. She makes me look lazy. Chris has lent me his wife's bike so I should be all set. I will look for Lance!


Dave and Molly hiked Table Mountain. Sorry, I just couldn't turn this picture. You'll have to turn your head sideways. Look at it this way, be sure to turn both ways and you will be sure to get a good neck release....

Lyle and I didn't hike. We went shopping in the sunday markets instead. Purchase therapy, as I call it....

Molly and Lyle had a school swim meet a few weeks ago. This was our view for the 3 hr meet. Not bad, eh? Benkerts, Kovacs - they are almost ready for you...  This was an all-school field day. Grades 4-7. Each kid swam about 6 events. Three teams, Green, Red and Yellow. If your mom was a Rolt (yellow), you would be one too as would your future Herschelians. Steeped in tradition. The girls swim as part of gym class so everyone participates. Molly and Lyle also swam as part of their after-school sport and they attended swim practice Thursday mornings from 6:30-7:15am..Yes, we got them there most days on time.Lyle on the block.Molly is in the near yellow cap.

We took a family hike in Silvermine Nature Reserve to the Hout Bay overlook. It was a windy day and the chocolate on the trail tasted soo good.

With no pictures to document it, we did have a great family sunset braii on the shores of Bakoven (Camps Bay) with Williams College Mothers2Mothers folks, (one of whom happens to be married to our SHINE center inspiration, Kathryn) and their American friends who we happened to meet at Cape Point a few months earlier - the ones with the Harvard, Williams, Overland and Boulder connections. They have three boys and remind me very much of the Lamonts.

Molly had a braii with a few friends from Herschel.

We eat absurd quantities of yummy nectarines and grapes (both always in season!). Molly and I have found a fabulous masseuse/reflexologist while Lyle has had several (make a note of the plural) successful visits to a great pediatrician (phew!) and there's LOTS of World Cup hype.

We went to a soccer match in a local stadium, not the WC stadium, but it was still amazing. Ajax versus Sundowns. It was a 1-0 game. CRAZY foot skills and very physical. Our hearing is possibly impaired due to the constant screech of the vuvuzela (the bright colored horn!)

Lyle and Dave saw THIS....but thru the glass at the famous Two Oceans Aquarium.

Last weekend, we went to Spier which is a vineyard in Stellenbosch (hr from CTN) where they also have a cheetah conservation center as well as eagle encounters. It was amazing to see the kids stroking the back of a BIG CAT! I held an eagle named Wally! The pics from that trip are on a different USB drive, at home. Phooey! Next week, maybe.

Dave and I went to Cape Point last week to attempt to get to the lower lighthouse, but it was sooo windy, we couldn't go much past the visitor center. We think the wind speed that day came close to 100km/hr. Even the chubby tourists spilling out of the coach buses were afraid they would get blown away!

This is Molly's up-do for a birthday party she went to last week. It was a big hit!

We went to a sandcastle contest on Hout Bay a few weeks ago and I tried to imitate this romanesque woman. The kids were, to no surprise, beside themselves with embarrassment when I handed a stranger the camera and lay down....The dino was also pretty impressive.

We are well aware that our time is coming to a close and this sign points to our return. Perhaps not as fast as a lynx though.

Next week's pics should include our 1st graders from the SHINE Center, my SARDA rider, Dave's visit to the big telescope at Sutherland, our squash friends, the Cape ARGUS Cycle Tour, Lyle and Molly's calss trips, the venue for ZipZap Circus School, and perhaps a few extras in for good measure.

And while we reflect on many amazing experiences we have had individually and as a family, we are grateful to the people who have enriched our lives by being willing to get to know us and by letting us get to know them.
Cheers! - Hope