Biker Rider and Long Jumper

Soccer season wrapped up and we ended with a Sausage Sizzle party (what the Australians call a BBQ).  Now that our weekends have freed up and the weather is warming up, we are spending Sunday afternoons at the nearby Oval.  An oval in Australia is a large green space/park.  Franklin Park would be considered an oval.   We took Cade’s training wheels off and have been practicing on the grass.  We were so proud last weekend when he went all the way across the oval.  It was one of those great parent moments.  While Cade was learning to ride his bike, Paige spent her time practicing her long jump.   Last weekend she was trying to compete with 10 year old boys. 

Last week was a busy week at school.  Thursday was Grandparents and Special Guest Day.  I was Cade’s special guest and we did some activities talking about how school is different now compared to then and we had a lot to talk about!  The boys treated us to a concert and then joined us for morning tea.  Here is Cade’s kindy class picture...too bad their shirts only stay tucked in for the first hour of the day.  

 

 

Saturday night was the Great Gatsby themed fundraising party.   We started the evening out at a cute wine bar with a smaller group of parents and then headed to Cade’s school where they transformed the Hall into a Gatsby party.  We came away with a few gift certificates- one being an energy healing session that we won on a spin the wheel game.  Here is the description, “Our energy healing sessions combine auric cleansing, shamanic journeying, harmonic sound chimes and crystals from the earth to heal the body from a mind, body, Spirit and earth perspective. Energy healing aims to clear away stuck energy and create a strong and flowing channel through your body to open up your heart centre, creativity and intuition.”  Yeah, I will report back on that life changing experience in a future blog update!

Hope everyone enjoys the long Labor Day weekend.  It is Father’s Day weekend here. 

Lots of Activities

The past few weeks have been full of activities and sports.  Cade experienced his first Australian sports carnival.  Sports Carnivals are big events (similar to field days) and Kindergarten got to participate for the first time.  The school is divided up into three “houses” and Cade is in Yarnold, the yellow house.  Cade was enrolled in a 50 and 100M race.  He ran the first one, but was a bit thrown off by the ready, set, go gun.  When the next race came up, Cade was not in his spot.  Matt and I searched all over the field for him and when we finally found him, he told us he opted out since he did not like the gun.  Oh, sweet boy….how in the world are you going to survive New Year’s Eve fireworks in Sydney?

This week Cade starts swimming with his class.  Speedos compulsory (mandatory)! 

We have one game left in the soccer season.  Cade and his team received their end of season trophies at “Gala Day”, a big soccer event were the teams played several games and had carnival style activities.  After the last soccer game, we went to the markets near our house for some coffee and browsing.  The markets are filled with handmade items, foods, art and fresh flowers.  Paige has agreed to always be my shopping and coffee drinking partner.

 

We have wanted to try Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant, so we finally headed into the city last weekend for an early family dinner.  We got there around 4:30 with a one hour wait, but somehow we walked right in.  The kids menu was on an old school red picture viewer.   It was a real treat.   By the time we left there was a line out the door and around the corner down the street.