Day 85: Emily Moon River Lodge and a Funny Dinner
We’ve got our days here down pretty nicely. Breakfast around 9 at the buffet — which ranks high on our breakfast buffet ranking — and school for a few hours back in the room. Activity in the afternoon.
For lunch today we headed down the road to a place called Emily Moon River Lodge — a farm/hotel/bar/restaurant popular for vacationers and weddings. Owned by a family that collects cool art from around Africa and Asia.
It was overcast, so I’m sure the view can be better, but we enjoyed it.
A couple things about lunch:
Anytime we talked about our Emily Moon plans, Teddy would sing
“Mooooon Riiiiiiver” like Fletch.
James is getting to be a much better eater (fish and chips here). Willa continues to be good about trying new things (chimichurri steak salad). But note they still love a good ole bowl of plain pasta with butter and cheese.
James got locked in a stall in the ladies room and didn’t come out until Teddy told him to look for a trashcan to turn over and step on to unlock his door. Exciting!
We chatted up the bartender on our way out. I asked him if South Africans *actually* drink Amarula (my fave) or is just a tourist duty-free thing. He laughed and said they def do. And for a special kick, they mix it with dark rum over crushed ice. Yes please!!
After lunch we grabbed the kids bikes and let them ride up and down an empty road behind our hotel. This has yet to be unsatisfying. Shocked every single time they ride on their own. We did that!!
That evening we just ate in the hotel restaurant — only ones in the cozy spot. It was kind of an important dinner because it was not only a four-way conversation, but it was a FUN and enjoyable-for-grownups four-way conversation. We were telling stories and ranking “top threes” of categories the kids wanted to pick. Daddy’s top three toiletry bag items, mommy’s top three perfumes, James’s top three smells, etc. It was genuinely amusing and funny.
Teddy stayed up late to watch Duke lose to Michigan State.
Random:
The kids will play Rat-a-Tat Cat anywhere, anytime. Obsessed.
