Day 36: Fun at Monte Casino

Today was another cloudy day.  It rained a little first thing this morning, but the rest of the day was dry.  This morning we lounged around (okay, I slept in and Nicolas and Kevin read) before getting ready and having lunch.  After lunch, we were going through some of our bags in preparation for next week and Kevin found Nicolas' reading glasses (in the bottom of his backpack of course :))  Nicolas had been drawing pictures, so he put on his glasses and proceeded to tell us stories about the pictures he had drawn with his glasses half way down his nose.  It was quite funny!

Telling his story

Serious face!

After our story time adventures, we went to Monte Casino to go to a movie.  We went and bought our tickets for Finding Nemo in 3D and then went to the bookstore to kill some time until the movie started.  We picked up a South Africa book as well as the children's version on Nelson Mandela's 'Long Walk to Freedom'.  By then, it was time for the movie to start.  We got our 3D glasses, popcorn, and pop (which I might add was only $8!).  This might seem trivial, but the movie theater doesn't have napkins.  You serve sticky slushies and greasy popcorn, but you don't have napkins.  And it's not as if we just didn't see them....I asked and they literally don't have any!  So, I thought to myself 'maybe they have paper towel in the bathroom'.  So, I went to check.  Fail.  Adapt to the environment Laura.  Toilet paper it is! :)

The movie theater was quite large and there were maybe 15 people there.  As in the States, they play previews before the movie starts.  A few played and then this music video came on.  Within about 15 seconds, Kevin and I looked at each other with this 'What in the world is this?  Not appropriate!' look on our faces.  It seemed to be some sort of awareness campaign for domestic violence.  It lasted for what seemed like forever and showed both men and women with bruises and gashes on their faces.  More than once, it showed a woman lying in bed battered and bruised with a pool of blood next to her.  This is the Finding Nemo crowd - what is up with this?  We had to ask Nicolas not to watch it.  Seriously, what were they thinking??  Okay, I've said my peace.  Moving on......the movie was great!  Very fun in 3D!

We poked our heads outside after the movie and, to our surprise, the giant hot air balloon was flying today!  This is something the guys have wanted to do since we were at the Bird Gardens a few weeks ago, so they were pumped!  I, of course, being super afraid of heights, stayed on the ground.  We weren't sure how Nicolas would do since he had told us at one point he was afraid of heights, but he loved it!!  I could tell he was okay because I saw his arm come out pointing at things a few times in their flight.  The balloon is attached to a cable, so it goes straight up a gazillion feet in the air and then comes straight back down.  When they got back down to the ground, Nicolas said 'That was awesome!!!'  So sweet!  He later told me that he was brave and faced his fear.  A.K.A. 'Mom, don't be such a wimp!' :)

Here they are - my brave guys!!

And the view!  I am sitting down there in those chairs that you can barely see!!  I'm glad I stayed on the ground!!

After the balloon it was about 5:30PM and we decided we didn't want to sit in rush hour traffic, so we stayed at Monte Casino and went to Spur for dinner.  If you have been following our journey, Spur is considered a 'steak ranch' and Bev describes it as South Africa's attempt at an American steakhouse with a Native American flair.  It's a nice family restaurant and Nicolas loves it!  We enjoyed a nice dinner before heading back to the guest house.

Here is the view of the balloon from our guest house!  It is huge!

At home, Nicolas played a little bit and then he and Kevin snuggled in bed to read his new book about Nelson Mandela.  Nicolas did an awesome job reading with lots of African names and places and probably read half of the book before asking Kevin to finish.  It was very neat to watch Nicolas' reactions as he was learning things about Mandela and the impact he has had.  Definitely, a good purchase!

It has been another very fun day!!  8 more days until we come home!

The Longstreets