Here’s some pictures from the month of October. As of today, November 1st, we have plane tickets to fly to New Zealand in January. So I guess I want to savor and catalogue our time here well, because it is flying by!
October 1
Andy Yeh invites us to his house for the public holiday. The kids and I swim in his pool. He shows me around his garden (a year round one!), teaches the boys lawn balls, and grills a great lunch. After lunch we walk down to the park near his house where we feed the birds and all enjoy the unique playground. When we get back, Andy lets the boys all pick a 3D printed toy. I enjoy talking with his oldest son, Oliver, who is finishing medical school. He advises us to poke Wesley’s foot to see if it’s infected.
When we get home we find his foot is infected. Chris does some research, and we spend the rest of the week soaking it 4 times a day in salt water, which heals it completely within a couple weeks.
October 5
For my 38th birthday we take a complicated bus venture to the Daisy Hill Koala Sanctuary. We see some sleeping koalas, chase some cute wallabies through the bush, and learn about turtles in danger from a movie. That evening our friends from school, Lan and Richie, have us over for an excellent Korean and Japanese meal. Their boys, Antonio and Hugo, are good friends with all the boys.
October 8
School holidays are over and term 4 begins. The boys have swimming every week now as part of the school curriculum here. They are very serious about water safety here, because it’s warm most of the year and people are in the water a lot. The school pool is a salt water one now, so the kids can learn without goggles, because it’s safe to open their eyes underwater without them. Stewart doesn’t like the taste, but I find it very clean feeling. I start out in the water with Wesley, but quickly learn that I need to back off and take care of Twill. By the end of the month Wesley is going underwater willingly to blow bubbles, which he has never done before!
October 13
Chris turns 38. I don’t get any good pictures, because it rains all day. We still venture out in the rain to the Davies Park markets for vegetables. Chris lets each boy spend 5 dollars, then we return home and have a simple lunch with the good bread Chris finds. (This has become our Saturday routine for the month of October) I sneak out to get the ice cream cake I had on order. In the evening Clayton and Katie come over for a little surprise. Chris doesn’t really enjoy the surprise bit, but we enjoy their company and some Aussie burgers and tropical fruit.
October 19
The second week of the term the rains continue. Wesley has a bad cough and is home a couple days. It slows us down nicely. Friday I write about the day on my blog and appreciate many things I love about our life here. One of them being the Boundary Street Markets, pictured here. Chris talks with James’ parents and their friends from Canada, while the kids chase each other around.
October 22
This Monday is a “student free day.” The kids conclude this means that school is optional, but we learn it is actually a teacher work day. We meet Lan, Antonio, and Hugo at Orleigh Park for the morning. The kids play gang up tiggy and get unbelievably sweaty for the temperature. I am glad I didn’t try to make anyone shower that morning.
October 24
Hot weather arrives! Twill and I hit the beach at South Bank instead of the usual Wednesday library trip. We see a little two year old girl swimming and I am motivated to teach Twill. He blows some bubbles and enjoys being in the water more than he ever has, thanks to the heat. We go back again on Friday!
October 25
Twill and I spend a lovely day with our friends, Helen and Thomas. She is such a gentle soul and refreshing company. Thomas naps on Wesley’s bed so easily, and I wish I had raised my babies in a more relaxed and less isolating way. But I am thankful to be where we are now, enjoying community again.
October 26
WeCreate, the annual school art showcase, has been on the countdown all week for Wesley and Stewart. They both have artwork for sale on display that we purchase for the fundraiser. All the classes also do a class project, pictured here. Stewart contributes some poms and Wesley his hands. There are musical performances and a photo competition as well. Pretty overwhelming for us country folk on a Friday night.
October 28
We celebrate Halloween Australia style by carving a watermelon. Clayton thought pumpkins sounded pretty messy and suggested that a watermelon might be more Australian. I also carve a pineapple, at my mom’s suggestion.
Every day
The month was also filled with many good books, the sound of Chris playing piano on the MIDI keyboard, lots of jokes, and lots of teeth brushing. I am realizing that I should do a joke post. And a church post. We can’t believe we have almost been here for 3 months. Today Stewart asked what day we got here. I told him August 8th. He asked if we could make that a holiday in our family.