South Africa - Day 12

We woke up on our last day in South Africa early.  Mr. 4 and Mr. 11 were sharing our room and we wanted to be able to get showers and packing started before everyone was awake.  I returned from showering to find Mr. 11 watching an incredible sunrise.  Mr. 13 joined us and then all 6 of us were watching the sun come up.  It was lovely but Mr. 4 was in a difficult mood and Mr. 11 was grumpy because his iPod had not been charged.  Moments like these are rarely picture perfect – you take the beautiful sunset even if you have to hold an out-of-control 4 year old to keep him from hitting.  We packed up and headed out to get some energy out before the flight.  Packing did not go smoothly and Mr. 4’s grumpiness did not improve.  Eventually we made it out of the house and stopped at Olympia bakery which A had introduced us to the day before.  Lattes and pastries saved the day and we sat by the water and played one, moo, three.  This is a silly game invented by David to keep Mr. 7 and his buddies busy during some down time on a 1^st grade field trip.  Basically you count one, moo, three and then everyone puts out some number of fingers.  You count them up and then count around the circle of people.  The person who counts off to your number has to do a silly task that was set before the last one, moo, three and then sets the next silly task and you’re off again.  It’s surprising how well it entertains everyone. 

We headed down to the penguin beach and watched them play.  On our way out to the other path, Mr. 4 tried to climb over the barrier and I tried to stop him.  He pulled away and as I tried to keep him back I suddenly found I couldn’t move.  Somehow I had pulled out my back.   We tried to find anyone with anything that might help but no luck.  I sent the boys on ahead and managed to slowly walk behind them on the path clutching the railing.  We left the penguins and slowly walked back to the car.  Mr. 13 offered his arm and helped me along.  I did my best but felt a bit better after we had made it to a pharmacy and I had taken both NSAIDs and a muscle relaxant and applied heating patches to my back.  Despite my slow movement, we managed to get fish and chips for lunch and take it back to Boulders Beach to play by the water.  We were running quite late at that point but it was hard to tear everyone away from the water and I was just beginning to feel better.  As we were gathering the boys, a penguin popped out of the rocks and watched us for a moment before heading up the beach.  It was the right end to the day and we headed back to collect our bags and head to the airport.