March 19, 2025

Len’s first order of business was lemon picking and requests for more lemonade

Today was the first day of homeschool. Kyle is going to work with Lenny at onset and Kayleen with Oliver. Our plan is to do just 90 minutes of homeschool per day— 30 minutes each of reading, writing and math. We learned of this strategy from the Sullivan family and love that it feels approachable and not overwhelming.  Day 1 went OK overall but Kyle and I both feel a bit daunted that homeschool will be an everyday occurrence. 

Despite his face here, Ollie has a strong affinity for math. Reading and writing will have to grow on him :)

After homeschool, we drove to the V&A waterfront to take the city sightseeing bus around town to get a better lay of the land. Today was a scorcher though (90 degrees Fahrenheit) and sitting on the top of the bus in the sun proved to be brutal for us and the kids.  Ollie passed out and Len soon got bored of the audio narration and heat.  We jumped off the bus at Camps Bay for gelato and park play which brightened everyone’s spirits. 

Back at the waterfront, while searching for dinner, the boys played with a band and beat the wooden xylophone. We also found another playscape (abundant in Cape Town) and the boys ran off additional energy before we ate. We ate dinner at a cafe by the waterfront as a cover band played Bob Marley tunes.  The boys were clearly tired after a long day and had a hard time sitting at the table and finishing their meals. There was also a British family nearby with somewhat less rowdy boys but they all managed to egg each other on and were dancing mayflowers around umbrella poles by the end of the meal.