It was Fathers Day here again! I had the UK one and have just had the Oz one which was great. Tom simply bursts with excitement about these sorts of things. I had breakfast in bed and some beautiful cards and things. Tom had made me a......um......er.......a....oh just look at the pics below. |
| Fathers day |
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| Two weeks later......if only it were possible! |
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| The Whispering Wall |
The Whispering Wall is in fact the retaining wall of the Barossa Reservoir. Built between 1899 and 1903, the dam was a revolutionary engineering feat for its day but what draws visitors to the Whispering Wall is its unique acoustic effects: words whispered at one side can be clearly heard at the other, more than 100 metres away. It really is most bizarre. Tom and I walked along the top to the other side (Tom only wanting to walk on the water side as he didn't want to look down the face of the dam) whilst Rachel and Lucy stayed at the start. Tom and Lucy recited their a,b,c,.....song to each other and it was absolutely crystal clear. I don't know if this phenomenon is common for all dams or whether it is unique to this particular one. I guess I'll have to do some google research.
It is the end of term here so it is traditional to have a disco at the Kindergarten as a fundraiser and as I am on the governing council I had to volunteer for a job from a list that was handed out at the council meeting. Sadly Rachel was late coming back from an on-call so I never made the meeting so in my absence I was nominated to do the BBQ. So with a population of 1.2 million in the Adelaide district of which 49.8% are male (according to stats) all of which consider themselves a master of the Snag (sausage) they choose a Brit to barbecue. I did warn them that barbecued scones and jam with a cup of tea would not go down well but they were insistent. So taking everything in my stride I inspected the BBQ and as is the norm here it is a gas model (they don't ever use charcoal) and it thankfully had gas but it also had about two inches of thick bitumen like grease in the tray underneath so a lot of scraping and scrubbing was in order. To cut a long story short I had an Aussie mentor called Nick and we managed to serve up a couple of hundred hot dogs and a huge pile of burgers to a very hungry crowd.
The whole evening was a great success and we raised $1140 for the kindy kids. Tom sold two books of raffle tickets to two of our lovely neighbours and they won first and second prize in the raffle. He was so excited to give them their prizes.
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| Princess Lucy at the Kindy Disco |
Recently it was the Adelaide Royal Show which is a huge event here in Oz. It is a kind of mix between traditional country show full of animals and vegetables with wood cutting and sheep dog trials and a large funfair full of exciting rides, with lots of stalls and tons of fast food available. Also motor cross display teams and synchronised ute (pick up truck) driving at high speed. It was a really great day and Rachel was able to join us for most of it and the kids had a great time despite the occasional rain shower.There are lots of stalls where kids can try things out and Tom and Lucy especially loved all the emergency services stalls.
NEEEE NAAAA NEEE NAAA
Loving it!
We had some friends over for dinner last weekend which was lovely. Marcus and Lara (Brits) and Lisa and her mum Kathy. A bit too much wine but the food went down well and Rachel baked up a lovely Roulade for a finishing flourish...mmm. The evening finished at 2am....ouch but without any form of chemical sedative the kids slept til gone eight which was a nice surprise and a blessed relief.
Just a little bit....
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| Our little 'big' boy. |
Tom is due to start school soon so has had three two hour sessions in the class room to get him used to it. He is so excited he can barely contain himself. He is so proud of his uniform and wants to wear his Legionaries hat everywhere. The phrase 'duck to water' would be appropriate here as he barely nodded goodbye to me before rushing into the class room and sitting down.
His reading is coming on so quickly it is great. As he is off to school he obviously has left Kindy which has caused some mixed emotions, desperate to get to school but sad at leaving Kindy. He absolutely loved going to 'Little Kindy' on Tuesdays and Thursdays and they have been great for him. It has been such a kind nurturing environment for him and they even give them a 'Graduation' which involves singing a goodbye song and as Tom's birthday is in the half term break they also sang Happy birthday to him. He looked fit to burst with pride, as did we.
Love to all!
Tam diu minime visu!
