One of the Koi has been spending some time near the pond aerator which meant that is was quite easy to sneak up, reach out and touch the fish. I showed Grace and she has now become a little bit obsessive about getting to the fish to touch them….not that she is particularly sneaky or good at getting to them.

Waiting to touch the fishies

We decided to check out Vergelegen at the end of the day yesterday, and wow, what a view. You have to pay to get into the farm, but there are stunning gardens and a great play area for the kids. The bistro has the most amazing view of the mountains, and there are couches outside that face straight towards the mountains. Grace and Eli were both excited about the playground and the water. Lots of water, with fountains. Eli would probably have been quite happy to be stripped down and splashing in the water. The coffee was decent, but the flavour could have been fuller. I’m pretty sure we’ll be back for some more (longer) visits in the future.

The view from our seats

Eli loves fountains, so he was happy….maybe we should have a swimming costume next time.

Stunning playground for the kids, a bit like a mini Green Point Park

Eli just wanted to get to the water, broom, sponges or whatever it was that they were cleaning around the pool with. Eventually we just let him join in and Andrew and Pa were very kind and accommodating.

Eli decided to increase the likelihood of falling off the trampoline by making sure he can hardly see anything

One of the things we need to find is a regular coffee spot, one with good coffee and some space for Grace and Eli to run around. The Woolworths at Waterstone Village has given us some excellent cups of coffee, but the space isn’t so great. It does look like the Millhouse at Lourensford is in the running though – good coffee, a jungle gym and play area that is easily visible….we might be making friends with the waiters soon.

Donné took Eli and Grace out for some lunch, coffee and playtime today

We needed to do some repairs to the pool as it was pulling away from the tiles and a large crack had developed along the one side. We started the repairs just after we moved in, and things have been moving along. Today the pool came out of the ground to that they can level and backfill.

Swimming time?

Grace went to her first ballet class in Somerset West today, at Turning Steps. Unsurprisingly she thoroughly enjoyed it! It was our first lesson, but I think we got more feedback from the teacher in 5 minutes than we did all together over the past 2 years.

Grace is in a 5-6 class (girls turning six), so they’re a bit older, but the teacher is very happy with her training so far and says that she will fit in well to the class, and it will challenge her in a good way.

Warming up the new ballet clothes

There is a park with a large jungle gym and swing a short way down the road from our new home, and Grace, Eli and I went for a walk down to it today. Grace has been asking to go for the last few days, so she was excited. Eli was in the Ergo, so he was happy. We spent some time playing and swinging. After a while Grace was asking to go home, but Eli still wanted to play. Grace pottered about a little more, and then she did the fireman’s pole on her own for the first time….and wanted to practice (over, and over, and over again)

Grace was super happy to discover that she can do the firemans pole on her own

Two little bath buddies

Grace’s first week of school has gone amazingly well. She has settled, made friends, enjoyed drama classes, had fun in playball and just been super happy. I do think she is exhausted from an exciting week, but it has been a happy and content week. When Donné collected her from school today she says, “I want to stay at Newberry forever.”

Earlier this week we were trying to figure out what the class assistant’s name was, so we asked Grace and she says, “Her name is show and tell,” which she was quite adamant about. Well, actually Grace, her name is Chantal.

We also found out today that the Millhouse on Lourensford is also a good coffee spot where you can sit outside and enjoy a decent cappuccino, so I’m sure they will be seeing more of us.

Having some fun in the playground at the Millhouse