April 21, 2025
We were bummed to wake up to a rainy day in Plettenberg. The boys woke up asking to watch a movie and order room service for breakfast and much to their disappointment, we had to reiterate that the previous night was a special event and not an everyday thing. Instead we headed to the hotel’s lovely breakfast where the boys have taken to serving themselves from the continental spread. Chocolate muffins with butter, salami, chocolate cereal, hot chocolate with milk and fruit are constants on their plates.
The hotel has a lounge with a huge fireplace where they had a fire going on this chilly, rainy day. We decided to knock out a bit of home school in front of the fire for a change of scenery. Len seems to have mastered the letter “I” and Ollie is making strides in counting American money.
Our original plan for the day was to take a scooter tour through the forest in Knysna but had to come up with a plan B.
The Monday after Easter is a national holiday in South Africa called Family Day. While we loved that concept, finding businesses that were open today did prove challenging. We had a list of restaurants and bakeries we were eager to try in Knysna, but most were closed despite what Google was showing.
After finishing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we’ve moved on to the first Harry Potter audio book. Ollie is especially into it and begs for a listen for even the shortest of drives. He’s added casting spells to his arsenal whenever he and Len “battle”.
After picking up sandwiches at the Sandwich Shack right before they closed, we drove to a playground by the water in Knysna. The boys were thrilled to run around outside as the rain had cleared for a bit. Ollie continues to test his grip strength on the monkey bars and asks that we time how long he can hang— think he is close to 30 seconds now! Len is still working on his grip.
We then walked along the water for a bit, much to the boys’ displeasure. The weather was dreary, most of the shops were closed and critter sightings were minimal. We did spot some cool ducks, though, and a family showed us the zebra fish they had caught that day. After a few games of red light-green light, we headed back to the car to drive back to Plett. Len snuck in a car nap that survived a transfer to the hotel room and extended into the late afternoon. This would come back to haunt us later in the evening…
The kids were dying to “get the dinner where we order and it comes to the room and we eat in bed” again but we instead drove into town. Len was super energized after his nap and had a hard time sitting at the table and went to the bathroom no fewer than 5 times. The restroom was down a long corridor in the back of the building so it felt like an adventure to him.
Uno continues to be a lifesaver at restaurant meals with the boys. Ollie typically plays independently and Len teams up with Kyle. Len is definitely getting the hang of it but has no desire to venture out on his own yet.
That lengthy late afternoon nap supercharged Len as continues to make appearances in our room tonight well past 10pm. Hoping he falls asleep soon as we have our first flight tomorrow in over a month!
