I hope all is well with you.
Things are getting warmer here, it been early thirties for the last week which was a bit uncomfortable at first as it was quite humid but it has been dry the last few days which makes it more bearable. We have been in the pool the last few days which is lovely and the kids love it. Tom tends to get cold quickly but Lucy spends ages in there. Even Rachel went in!
Tom has really settled well into school and he is just loving it all. He has just started Basketball after school on Thursdays which he enjoys and he has made some great friends. He loves his teacher Deb,and the headmaster is fabulous, knows all the kids by name and takes a real interest in all of them. The other day in the car I ask Tom what he did at school today. I get the usual, 'oh nothing' but then he tells me something about 'Mr Gherkin the Ringmaster' that I don't really understand. Upon further questioning I realise that he is actually talking about 'Mr Kirkman the Headmaster', I did laugh. They had Sports day last week and it was really sweet to see him running around. He was so excited the night before he couldn't get to sleep, it was really cute. They had the usual egg and spoon race and some relays but sadly no sack race.He told me that Mr Curtain had given out prizes to the teams, 'No Tom' I said 'Mr Kirkman'!
Lucy has received her first certificate of her life (excluding her Birth Certificate for which she did absolutely nothing to receive). She has been made up a class at swimming from Tadpole beginner to Tadpole advanced. She is a determined little fish and works really hard at her swimming. Tom is now swimming without his armbands for short distances which is great to see.
We have had Halloween and we carved a 'punkin' as Tom and Lucy call it but being that it doesn't get dark until 8pm it's not quite the same. We did get a few Trick or Treat visits but it really isn't a big thing here which quite frankly is great as I hate the Americanisation of it. I also did find it a bit odd that there is no Guy Fawkes Night but it is obviously a UK only thing being that we are celebrating the Kings escape from assassination and this sunny country would, for the most part be happy to see the back of the monarchy.
I've been enjoying work although it does feel somewhat like I've walked into an episode of Neighbours circa 1989. I work with Kylie, Jason, Madge and Harold but I have yet to find Mrs Mangle or come to think of it Bouncer hasn't shown his face yet either. My colleagues are really lovely and the department is very friendly if not about ten years out of date in some things but also quite ahead in others. It seems funny to hear people saying that 'it is totally impossible to see and treat patients and get them out in four hours' which was exactly what everyone in the UK was saying in 2000 but we managed it! Yeahh Go NHS Go!!
We have had some strange goings on here culminating in a crop circle in the garden........hmmmmm!
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| Where are Mulder and Scully when you need them? |
I took Tom and Lucy to a car show as I had seen that the original Batman Car was going to be there and Tom really wanted to see it. I have to say I have never been to a 'petrol head' event other than the Goodwood Festival of Speed which is the tweed, barbour jacket, scone and jam version where as this was more the ripped jeans, string vest and babes draped over highly polished bonnets type affair. The Aussies really do like their 'bling' motors and suped up cars which is totally ridculous in a country where most of their main freeways have a speed limit of about 50mph equivalent and even the proper motorways are not that much faster. You also can't exceed the limit here as the Cops are really really sneaky and over zealous. I have seen several unmarked police vehicles as speed traps and they have been a beaten up pick up truck, an expedition equipped 4X4 complete with surfboard on the roof, a lime green sports car to name but a few which they secrete behind bushes and advertising hoardings in true 'Dukes of Hazzard' style, oh and ....hmm....the 'camper van' that got me in Queensland earlier in the year. None of this 'must tell people where the speed cameras are', they have set a speed limit and if you break it anywhere then you are fair game. They even have billboards and radio adverts warning about 'creepers' which I thought were paedophiles at first but in fact they are people who 'creep' over the speed limit by a couple of kmph. Mad! I am a self confessed and caught 'Creeper'!Lucy has been considering her future and I think she wants to take after Mummy!
We just had the Adelaide Christmas Pageant which was billed as a 'must see event' for the kids and I have to say that it was wonderful. It starts at 9.30 and people start lining the street from about six am positioning blankets along the 'Blue Honour Line' which marks the route. All the kids get to sit on the line so they don't miss anything and adults all sit behind them on chairs if youy bring them and then the remainder stand behind them so everyone can see. Any late arriving children are quickly filtered through to the front by everyone, it is a really family/children focused event.
Before the start all the kids are encouraged to Chalk on the road whatever they like and to make it as colourful as possible. It is lovely at the kids can run around on the route and they are safely enclosed between two rows of adults. We had fun drawing around eachother and then other kids and adults also joined our human chain and it ended up looking like a mass New York style homicide scene so we decided to chalk clothes on the outlines to brighten them up.
The floats were spectacular with 65 in all and there were so many clowns and acts in between that kept the children enthralled for the duration. It was so well behaved and well managed. The city was closed over about ten blocks with all trams stopping and buses diverted but within a few moments of the finish there was a swarm of cleaners not to pick up litter as no one drops any but to empty the bins and other people to get things going and within 20 minutes the whole city was up and running again. Fantastically efficient.Here are some of the kids favourite floats.
There is clearly a lot of work that goes insto these floats. Most of them were animated in some way and some blew smoke and such like. The kids were in awe, not just ours but every kid watching.
Ahhhhh Old London Town!
And of course Father Christmas in 32 degrees Celcius. It's true, it really was him, we all saw him!
I have found the culprits responsible for the crop circles, I think the one on the left organised it!
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| Take me to your leader! |
Well enough from me. Let's have some comments from you guys, just so I know you're still following us!
Love to all.
xx
Videre est credere
