Week 5 and beginning of Week 6

We had a really short week at Sarah Fox last week because of the National Holiday on Friday.

Wednesday- really easy day compared to Tuesday, and the kids were much better behaved. Brie came back for her last two days at Sarah Fox so I had an extra hand.. We took the kids outside really early in the day so they were worn out by lunchtime.

Thursday- Brie's last day :( . It's so weird to see her go.. She has been here for a month already, but it seems like she just started last week. I tried to have the kids make goodbye and thank you cards before Brie got there in the morning, but only a couple of them actually finished. The kids were extra sweet all day long, so I think they actually understood. A new shy little girl came to the hospital and she stayed by my side the entire day. ..She even waited by the door when I left the room. I still have yet to hear her speak a word.

After placement on Thursday, Karen and I went to the beach for a couple of hours and then met up with the rest of the group for dinner at the Ethiopian restaurant on Long Street downtown for Whitney's birthday. The rest of the group went out afterwards, but Karen, Brie, and I went home to bed for our big day on Friday.

Friday - We were picked up early in the morning for our Hike and Bike adventure to the Cape of Good Hope - the most south-western point of the African continent. Our first stop was Hout Bay where we rode on a glass-bottomed boat out to Seal Island. . beautiful views and tons and tons of seals. We then continued down the western coast to the winelands in Constantia and across the mountains toward Muizenberg, Kalk Bay, and Simonstown. In Simonstown we stopped at Boulders Beach to see the penguins (they live there) and do a little shopping. We went on to the Table Mountain National Park and the Cape of Good Hope. We biked to a shelter in the park for a picnic lunch and then down to Cape Point. At Cape Point we hiked up some cliffs. Again, it was one of the best days yet.

Saturday- Brie ran in the Two Oceans Marathon! Great Job Brie!

In the morning, Bailey took me to the organic market at the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, Cape Town. They had amazing food, smoothies, baked goods, jewelry, scarves, etc., all for really good prices. I met Karen and Brie at Clifton Beach and later we took a taxi down to the Waterfront for a sunset sailboat ride. We ended up hitting some unexpected wind and waves, so our ride wasn't so peaceful... Within the first five minutes we were all drenched from head to toe and every person on the boat was rolling with laughter. The captains admitted that they weren't at all expecting the ride to be as exciting as it was, but it ended up being the most spontaneous and fun night yet...

I'm still sad I had to miss the Easter and birthday celebration at home :(

Sunday- Bailey, Brie, Karen and I had a fun morning in Constantia and later we went to Kirstenbosch Gardens for the last performance of their summer concert series.. We saw Goldfish. The group is popular here and is actually supposed to be huge in the US soon.. They are already in a couple of commercials. Kirstenbosch is so beautiful and I really hope I get the chance to go back to walk around the gardens more before I leave.

Monday - We were still off for the holiday.. We had a group day at the beach.

Tuesday - It hit me today that I only have 3 more days at Sarah Fox. My time has gone so fast.. It will be really hard to leave. I tried to arrange time in my last two weeks in Cape Town to visit a few more times and hopefully help out. We'll see how it works.. The administration at Sarah Fox isn't the most organized.

The kids were so good today. We actually finished a couple of puzzles in the morning and the kids were SO proud... The puzzles were only 30 pieces but it was a huge accomplishment. We spent the rest of the day outside.

We learned today that one of the kids in the baby ward passed away over the weekend. We're all keeping the family in our prayers.

After placement, we went to finish a couple of last-week errands and had dinner at the Waterfront.