ANZAC day

ANZAC day is the Australian day of remembrance and is always a bank holiday. We spent it down by the creek, fishing and playing.

Swimming again!

After church today we went with friends for a swim and a picnic. We were the only ones there. Obviously it's too cold for the locals now! The boys spent all afternoon building a dam across the creek. Clearly water never gets boring for our family.

Cross country

It's that time of year again, autumn, so it's time for cross country. We are beginning to feel the chill and it's slightly cooler so a better time for running. Still it was 30 degrees C today! Caleb still wants me to watch him run, although the others are not bothered. He had to run 4km starting in school then running out into the countryside and along the creek. The boys ran fast and hard as was shown by the very red faces at the end!!! Go Golden Dingoes!!

Catch up

It's a while since the last post. Easter holidays have come and gone and we are getting back into the routine of school. Over Easter we went to the Keswick convention in Atherton about and hour and a half from here, although we stayed in Mareeba in a friend's house who was away. The 'Tree house' as Ruben named it was fun to stay in and all the boys enjoyed playing in the big Tree house in the garden. No idea if Keswick here is anything like it is in England but we had a good time and the kids enjoyed the youth program. 
The rest of the holidays were spent, at least for the kids, meeting up with friends and having sleepovers, which meant I spent the time being a taxi service!

After the first week of school we decided we needed what we have now dubbed a 'micro break', so on Sunday we spent the day at the beach with friends. Even though it is only a day, the beach always feels like a holiday and we all enjoyed jumping the waves. Clearly enough time has past since our last visit for us to forget about the crocodiles and the jellyfish. Ruben was a little concerned about crocodiles but I reassured him. Really what else can I say!! Bethany was at a pool party in a 5 star luxury resort, (she has the right friends) which is why there are no photos of her. 

The white bit is the edge of the net. As it is still 'stinger season' you are only allowed to swim in the net.

Caleb 11

Caleb turned 11 this month. Still the outside boy he got a fishing rod for his birthday and celebrated with his friends running through the rainforest shooting lasers at each other. Caleb's motto is , 'you only live once', not sure if that's a good motto to have or not!!! Still he is determined to live life to the full and packs in as much as he can.

Tank Museum (Take 2)

Libby took the boys to visit the newly opened tank museum when I was away with Bethany last year. Early in the New Year I had the opportunity to take the boys - along with the males (and one small female) from two other MAF families. The females all went to the beach for 'coffee and chat' instead.

Ruben didn't manage to start any tanks this time, but still had a lot of fun (mostly with the toy soldiers and 'operations' table). Here are a few piccies. (The last is Ruben doing 'pugnacious'):

Beardless Weirdness

Over Christmas I decided to see if I still had a face, after 20 years of it being covered up...

Still there, but seems very weird now - Bethany was completely freaked out - which was half my motivation for doing it :)

Can't see if happening too much in the future - WAY too much work. Kudos to those who bother every day.