Millie woke me up this morning by crawling into our bed, getting fully on top of me, and whispering into my ear “Mom, are you going to die of old age?” The most optimistic answer I could muster at 7AM was “I hope so”.

After that we had a typical lazy morning. We snuggle in bed, have coffee, and Millie whines for breakfast until someone gets up to help her with it. She’ll then play or draw while we take turns entertaining her and lounging around. I’ll miss these when we are back to our real life of scrambling before school start times and the first Zoom calls of the day.

We spent a while waiting around for either a rejection or acceptance from the Chinese visa office, since we would need to re-submit with the laptop in case of a rejection. At about Noon we had received neither, so we gave up and headed out for the day.

We took an Uber over to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. The route was familiar because it’s across the street from the Chinese consulate.

Millie has been asking to have a picnic for a few days so we decided now was the moment. The gardens are set under Table mountain so the scenery is breathtaking. The sun came out briefly when we arrived. It was the perfect setting for a picnic.

We set up on a big rock next to the lawn and a pond. We got ostrich jerky at the store, which seemed fitting for South Africa. A brave guinea fowl kept casually walking by hoping we’d drop something.

We spent the afternoon walking the grounds of the garden. I love a botanical garden, and this one was top notch. Beyond the natural beauty of it, they had plenty of things to keep Millie engaged, like a section of “useful” plants used for medicinal purposes, a fragrance garden where every leaf could be rubbed between fingers and smelled, and a natural playground.

From the garden, we headed to Kloof St to have dinner at a place recommended by a friend of a friend (hi Ashton!), Blondie. We’ve mostly eaten at home recently, or had what Nick refers to as “meals of convenience” like at nearby cafes or in food halls. So we were ready to go all out and have a delicious meal.

Blondie was very hip and loud. Millie was the only person in the whole place under 18, and we were probably the only ones in there over 30. People were smoking cigarettes all around us. But the food was excellent.

We went all out (for us at least): cauliflower pita, smoked yellowtail toast, chicken skewers, and a huge whole roasted fish. Nick and I each got two cocktails, and we got a dessert to share.

Being in Cape Town is like the opposite of Turkey. I keep expecting everything to cost a lot and then being surprised by how affordable it is, especially considering the quality. The above meal would probably be about $250 at home. Here it was $60. Our very nice beachside apartment is $80 a night.

Millie ate a ton of the fish, including most of the skin. She isn’t really an adventurous eater so I feel especially proud when we eats non-kid food.

She was silly most of the meal and is perfecting her impression of Nick.

I worked on my South African accent, which is just one word that I’ve noticed everyone says here. Whenever I say thank you, they say “Pleezjah” (pleasure).

When we got home Millie continued her “pretend to be Nick” bit, this time by putting on all his clothes and taking his phone to do a crossword puzzle. Nailed it.