October School Holidays

Well the kids have enjoyed a 2 week break from school again. It's always great to get away from the regular routines of school days and being able to do some more things both around the house and by going out.
We started off our holidays on Saturday by driving down to the vineyard where we had the privilege of staying in Ray and Theresa's house for the weekend. (they have borrowed our caravan for a holiday in Broome) Dave and I were both not feeling well, so we relaxed while the kids enjoyed themselves on the dam. We had taken our kayaks along and the kids had great fun paddling on the water, and even swimming in the cold!! Crazy kids. Silly me didn't take any photos of the vineyard... like I said, I wasn't feeling 100%. On Sunday we spent the day at Dren and JB's. It's always fun spending time with them, and watching the cousins getting along so well!
On Monday we decided to do some touring around the southwest.
First we stopped at Conto Spring and enjoyed the walk down to the beach, the waves and the water:

The kids found a little stream of water between the rocks and played pooh sticks with their thongs:

Then we went for a 4W drive through the bush and through the Boranup Forest:

Our travels took us back to another beach with beautiful boulders:

And finally a stop at the Candy Cow where the kids all got some freshly made Fairy Floss and then some more sweet treats at the Chocolate Factory!

We went home Tuesday afternoon.

The rest of the week was spent working around the house and shopping for clothes. Summer is just around the corner and some of the kids didn't fit any of last year's clothes anymore!!
We had found some termites eating timber in our garage so on Friday we had our whole house treated.

Cody and Wade had spent the previous 2 days pulling up every second decking board around the alfresco so under there could be checked and treated. Brett and Travis happily collected all the nails so the four boys worked well together. Thankfully there wasn't any further damage done by the termites and the house is treated again. Should last for another 5 years now!
And all of a sudden we were into week 2 of the holidays already!! Tuesday was Dave's birthday so we treated him to an afternoon at the Moscow circus which was in Perth that week. It was loads of fun. The clown was really funny, did all his communicating with gestures and his whistle. There were lots of acrobats and a fantastic magic show; the russian swing, sending the acrobats flying through the air into a sheet; the steel wheels where 2 guys ran inside the wheels and somersaulted etc. and then one decided to walk on the outside of the wheel; a juggler; a hula hooper twirling 20 hoops; the acrobats that folded themselves in double and dangled their toes in front of their faces; and a wheel of death where they ended up having 4 motorbikes riding 80 km/hr inside a metal ball. It was loud and exciting and we all really enjoyed ourselves. It's amazing to see what people can do!! Tuesday evening Helen and Willem popped in to wish Dave a happy birthday which was really appreciated!! (even if you did come uninvited!!)
Wednesday the girls had invited a whole bunch of girls from grades 5-8 to come over for another card-making party. We ended up with 23 girls over and had a great time making 3 fantastic cards and a bag for their lollies. Mum thankfully took care of Brett, Travis and Owen and Wade ran away to a friend's house so I could focus fully on the girls. Michelle also helped out with 2 tables and between the 2 of us, we had a great afternoon. Thanks Michelle!!


The results of our hard work!

On Friday Cody and Wade went on their first mission expedition. Our evangelism team (Lighthouse) had been asked by the DCP (department of children protection) to clean out someone's backyard. The grass was waste height and the amount of rubbish they had to clear was a real eye opener for the boys. But they all worked hard and well and had it all done by lunch time. Well done, team!!
In the mean time I took mum and the rest of the kids to King's Park where we met up with Dren and JB and the kids. The weather was beautiful, the flowers were in full bloom and we totally enjoyed ourselves. Spring is finally here!!

Brooke cooling off!

Relaxing on the grass

A walk over the bridge and to the war memorial

Lots of chatting and even a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets to spot!!

In the meantime, between our activities Dave and I met up with a family from South Africa we had met at Warnar's wedding. We had a couple of nice visits with them. We could also go to Willem and Linda's to celebrate Kara's 17th birthday and to Mick and Helen's to celebrate Mick's birthday. Definitely a week of birthday celebrations!! Friday we had a soccer BBQ to thank the work of the volunteer umpires and yesterday we could witness the wedding of Grant and Lisa. Brett has been busy pulling up grass and making himself a larger veggie patch. He is so excited about gardening, we think he's received mum's green thumb (definitely bypassed me, but at least it's still there!!) It really was a busy but rewarding week!
Now we look forward to one more day off before the kids head back to school on Tuesday for their last term, which already looks like it's going to be a hectic few months!!

Medieval Times

The last week of school also meant dressup times for Wade, Jessica and Meagan. They had been studying Medieval times and were allowed to dress up on the last Wednesday of term. The afternoon was an open house for parents and grandparents to come and play some Medieval games and see what they had made throughout the term, both their models and their podcasts. Some of the kids also got to do their plays they had made in front of an audience. All good fun.
Meagan and Wade were both serfs whereas Jessica was more upper class. Wade really didn't care how he was dressed up, although the long socks always make any outfit look like it's from a different era!


The boys managed to turn their Medieval game of cards into a poker match...hmmm.....not too sure what they're teaching the kids nowadays!!!

Cultural Days at School

At the primary school this term the different classes have been studying different countries and all their studies culminated in a cultural afternoon and a cultural evening at the end of term. The kids all really enjoyed it, and although dressing up is always a bit of work for me I must admit that all the kids looked fantastic!!
The kindies and preprimaries studied Mexico and learned a bit of spanish. So now instead of saying "Thank you" Travis says "Grasios". He also learned to sing Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes in Spanish. At the evening concert they got to sing it as well as show off their skills with the Mexican Hat Dance. It was great fun to watch... one of the boys lost his sombrero during the dance and the kids merrily kept going around and around, stomping on the hat along the way. Needless to say, there was a big hole in the sobrero at the end!! They all did a fantastic job, moustaches and all!!

Travis has the colourful sombrero on!

Owen and Travis wearing their sombreros.
The year ones and twos studied Indonesia so Brett cheerfully babbles in Indonesian now. Luckily I know a little so we still understand eachother! They did a great job of singing Suci, Suci, Suci and Jesus loves me this I know in Indonesian. Brett took it all in his stride and found it all exciting, although wearing a skirt to school took a bit of convincing... thankfully the other boys wore skirts as well!!


Brett and Ethan looking fantastic in their skirts!!

The year 5's and 6's studied India. The girls all looked very colourful and boys were a real mixture of all sorts, from cricket players to a Telstra salesman to Sheiks!! On the cultural evening their class had made up a number of shadow puppet stories and entertained us with stories with morals. The years 4 to 6 also sang a number of songs which all sounded great. Singing is such a wonderful gift God has given to us!!

Brooke and her friends. Brooke and Grandma

So the term ended and our holidays have begun!!!