Crazy couple of days!!!

Hello from sunny and warm South Africa!  First of all...I hope this all makes sense cuz I'm going off very little sleep (about 8 total hours in the last 48).  The last few days seem like a total blur.  Dave and I left the kids this evening to get groceries and when we got back found all kids (except Jake) sleeping.  We woke them up and Brooke thought it was breakfast and that she had slept through the night (we had been gone for about an hour).  HA!  Looking forward to some serious sleep this evening!

Our last day in London was spent at Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace.  I think everyone enjoyed Westminister...I know I did!  The history connected to that church is phenomenal. Poets corner was a spiritual experience for me...some of my favorite authors were burried  and celebrated there. It was a rainy morning as well so it was a perfect time to be indoors.  The Palaces were fun and touristy as well.  We had to hurry back to catch our flight and were running a bit behind.  We really began to panic when the bus driver kicked us off cuz our route was cancelled.  Apparently a biker lost his life on one of the London roads.  We had to literally run to the Stephensons, throw our clothes into the bags, and run out the door.  Not sure what we left behind yet!  Once Becca dropped us at Heathrow we breathed a sigh of relief, only to be stressed once again because everyone had accidentally packed some sort of liquid in their bags!!!  We made it on the plane with minutes to spare...whew!  The flight was long...long...long!!!  But once we stepped off the plane it was all worth it:)  Dave is finally back in his homeland!

We rented a van and were almost divorced by the time we made it to our rental in Hout Bay.  The whole driving stick shift, on the left side of the road, with a doggy GPS was a little too much for our marriage today.  BUT...we made it and are still alive (and married).  The place we rented is just beautiful!  The photo is of the lush back yard with the little cabana in the background.  All the windows open accordion style so the breeze flows through the house.  It's kind of amazing.  The security is also as tight as fort knox...videos all over, bars on windows, electric gates, sensors, and panic buttons.  The rental gal assured us we would have no need for them...but it kinda freaked me out!

We had a lovely lunch of all sorts of seafood dishes this afternoon.  It was at a restaurant overlooking the bay...Jake calls it the sweet life...and it really is.  Have to pinch myself that we're really here after all these years of dreaming.  The down side to it all is the incredible poverty.  People begging for money and pushing homemade trinkets...Dave and I were surrounded by peddlers for a couple of blocks and this was AFTER I bought some things from them already...just so sad:(  It was interesting for the kids to see it...I think it was a real eye opener for them.

So excited to wake up tomorrow and go exploring!  Thanks for reading!  Robynn

Greetings from Cape Town!

I don't know why I posted this lame pic of some hioty toity guy getting a carriage ride?

The Two Bens

Buckingham Gates

If Jake completed a kids tour at Westminster Abbey he received a huge gold chocolate coin!