We started our time in Capetown at Boulders Beach, home to hundreds of penguins. We had no idea what to expect and were just hoping that we would see a penguin. That wish was granted before we could even get out of our car as a penguin was standing in the middle of our parking spot! At this point, we knew we were going to enjoy the experience. As soon as we headed down the walkway to the beach, several penguins shared the sidewalk with us, and Taelyn ran over to them to say hello. Both parties seemed to like one another. Once we got on to the beach, Kaelia walked over to a penguin while Taelyn continued to chase others. We could walk right up to them before they decided to waddle off and take a dip in the ocean. Next we walked along a path, heading towards a second beach. During our walk, penguins were nested everywhere. Both girls were so excited to see them every couple of steps, and Taelyn decided to stop and talk to a couple of them. Just as she knelt down and said "Nice penguin," one of the penguins gave her a little peck on the nose! Taelyn thought is was hilarious and kept telling us that the "penguin eat Taenyn nose!" We actually videotaped this too (see Smilebox below).
At the second beach, we saw even more penguins than before. Kaelia even started dancing by kicking her little legs because she was so excited. Once Taelyn saw this, she started spinning in circles to add to the dance. It was pretty cute. Then Justin tried to teach Taelyn how to waddle like a penguin, but Taelyn had her own way to doing in. She squatted down, tipping back and forth and she yelled "waddle waddle" and then usually fell backwards because she couldn't balance for too long. We then left the beach laughing and with good spirits.
The next day was the kick-off for the Two Oceans races where I hopped in a 5K fun run and Taelyn made her running debut at the 56m Nappy Dash! She had so much fun. First, we put on her number, and she was so interested in it, that she wouldn't take hand off of it - even when she ran. Then hundreds of 1-3 year-olds and their parents lined up 56m before the finish line and took off when the announcer yelled "GO!" Taelyn paced herself until she saw her daddy at the finish line and then took off to get to him. As we walked through the finish shoot, she was awarded with a medal and a track bag filled with goodies. We sat off to the side so Taelyn and Kaelia could open the goody bag and play. Kaelia was so eager to be a part of the race that she eventually made a mad dash of a crawl while another little baby tried to chase her. Kaelia kept looking back to make sure the other baby was still there and then kept darting away. After we got back to our place, the girls played "Run a Race" over and over again for the rest of the weekend where they took turns wearing Taelyn's medal and then crawled around the room, chasing each other. The medal kept getting caught under their legs until the ribbon was so frayed that it ripped right off. A quick tie held it together, though, so the game could go on.
After Justin's race (for his full story, please see his running blog), we ventured over to the Capetown Aquarium where the girls got to see many different kinds of sea life. They got to pet a starfish in the petting pond and crawl in to the middle of the clown fish aquarium so that they were surrounded by little Nemo's everywhere. Taelyn loved anything there that reminded her of Finding Nemo, and Kaelia loved everything that moved!
We ended our trip with a nice scenic drive along the coast where Justin had run a good portion of his race. The area was breath-taking with the combination of tall trees, enormous rock formations, and crashing ocean tides. Capetown is a beautiful city, and we had the perfect family weekend.
Since we were gone over Easter, we did not get a chance to fully celebrate the holiday, so we plan on doing so next weekend. Stay tuned for pics of that event.
 |
 |
| This photo album made with Smilebox |
No comments:
Post a Comment