Waiting for the Party

We are getting into the swing of the party mode. I am frantically making plaster trains for the kids to paint. I am also organizing games and food. Levi was invited to a birthday party today after school. Yes one nutter of a parent thought that a Monday afternoon after school in the last few weeks of term when everyone is tired was a good idea! Levi's Mum however did NOT think it was a good idea, so I have been entertaining him a little more tonight just to keep him mind off it all.

We played the game Life. we read books about dinosaurs and we had a longer chat time than usual tonight before bedtime. I am very happy because I have also organized three weeks off in the school holidays. Whats that you say? School holidays are only two weeks! You would be correct but I have a huge amount of time banked up and I am going to take an extra week. For Levi,

A) He is in Prep, which really is irrelevant

B) He is getting really tired and will recharge much more in three than two

C) I am also tired and I think that I need a real break, to recharge and care about things like paperwork again.

D) OK I'll never care about paperwork, but at least recharging will help me pretend that I care!

Aftermath

Look what happened in the shower. Levi started to cry and says he came up under an edge. He has the most enormous egg on his head and it's an odd blue colour. I was trying to get his attention off it, so I said I'd take some photos of it. Now he's asleep in bed, but that egg is still there! Man, he will have a huge black eye soon I think!

Levi Day

Today we just did Levi things. It was great! First we went to swimming training where Levi is now feeling almost too comfortable and is starting to listen less and muck around more. His swimming is pretty good though now. He is able to swim freestyle and breathe fairly well. He can do backstroke well. Of course as we had to get up early, he slept in. I swear he only does that on days that we have to leave early but it is nice every now and then.

After swimming we went to soccer. This week Levi was back in the swing. After last week when he barely played at all, he was very much involved and played well. He did all the stretches and warm up. He followed instruction and had fun. All in all, he was a different child from last week. I never know when the switch will happen or what will trigger it. If there is a trigger. Maybe he was just tired last week or something else. Who knows, just thoughts.

Then we went to the Skate Park. He loves the park and he took the 2 wheel scooter over a few (very small) jumps. He flew down slopes and made friends with some of the locals. Mostly they are teenagers or just pre teen. It is amazing to watch him interact with these kids. He just needs reminding every now and then that the teenagers don't want to spend all their time with him!

Calm for Kids

These cards came home with Levi from school after a program called Calm for Kids. He's anything but calm at the moment but that is another story. These cards are the story of his life. He does "make friends easily" and "make others happy". I wonder what other kids took home. Maybe they all got the same, who knows.

Levi is so excited about his birthday party, now in a week, that he can barely think. He is wanting to help with everything. Today we wrote out Thank You cards and finished the last of the shopping. He was impossible all day, but in a very happy frenzied way. He is now sound asleep and let me say none too soon. I can't wait for the party too. It will be a lot of fun.

Tomorrow is another Sunday. Swimming and soccer all before 10am. Then I think we will have to spend some time with one of his friends before I go nuts!!!

Ready for bed

The little mancub was a little tired again. I will be grateful for the holidays and we can both catch up a little. He didn't want to go to school today and then didn't want to leave after school care. They were playing AFL football and he was loving it. They played a game that involved holding a football and running after each other. I have no idea how it was football, but it did involve lots of tackling and running. The running looked aimless but they all seemed to run into each other fairly regularly. It was great to watch. A perfect game to wear out the kids and they all go home happy.

Levi read about half the words in a book tonight. He really has no sight words but sounds out the words each time. I think if we read the same book every night he would get them fast but again I'm just happy to go at his speed. I am in the throes of organizing his birthday party. We are having a scavenger hunt with activities rather than for objects. They will have to paint a train (I am making plaster trains) and then put their hands on a canvas that I will put on his wall. They have to colour a robot and make a Lego car. The plan is to have team leaders that help them out. My friends from work will likely provide that assistance. I bought sweatshirts in team colours and I will iron on a badge for each team. The sweatshirts are super cheap at the moment so even the with the badges they are about $6 each. It will make a fun thing to take home. The teams can make extra points for finding stuff as well, like turkey feathers and rocks. Plus they will get points for finding stuff out, like how much rain is in the gauge and how many rocks are on the climbing wall. I'm looking forward to it, but it is hard work. Fun work though!

If you teach them

So this is what I found when I went into rouse on Levi for turning on the light after he had been put to bed. He is just itching to learn to read. He loves the flash cards and can read many of them now. I went upstairs and told Jane that I was happy if she wants to just teach him now as I think he is starting to get frustrated with the speed of his learning program. Maybe if we can supplement a little more and he is able to read for himself he will be happier.

The poor guy was exhausted tonight as he went on his first field trip with the school. He loved the bus ride and he loved the beach and he loved writing his name in the sand. He also wrote his partner's name and other words that he knew. The beach is a great option this time of year because it isn't too hot and there are fewer bugs. We had a chat at night and his favorite thing of all was that he could take his shoes off when he got to the beach. Back to the shoe issue. At least he wears the things without arguing, but at the same time he will take them off as soon as he is able to.

After School Care

Levi got in trouble today at After School Care. Now lets just get this in perspective. He has been at school since January and today is the first time he has been in trouble. Then it wasn't even AT school, it was at the much more relaxed After School Care. He and another kids got into trouble because they were running around and grabbing each other to tag. The problem was not the game, but what they decided to grab. So they both got a talking to about what exactly is or isn't private parts, and that perhaps if they made a mistake, someone was really going to hurt. Levi was mortified that he had got into trouble. The teacher said she almost cried because he was so upset. He had trouble dealing with it even when we talked about it at night. He had to hide under a pillow just to get it out. He is so funny. No one was even mad at him, but he was mortified that he had misread something and done something wrong.

Today I had lunch with a friend who was a teacher of mine at high school. She is doing a fellowship about the history of women's sport in Queensland. She was looking through the PE prizes at Girls' Grammar. Seems the person who won the first one ever awarded was Alice Nicklin, the same Alice that survived the Quetta. It was 1890 something. Since then several Nicklin girls had won the prize. It will be interesting to read that when it comes out. I wonder if she won the prize for swimming, because you can be sure that would have helped when the boat went down!

Warning: About to Whine

Levi is sicker again today. I think that he gets better on the weekends and then gets sick again during the week. He is coughing, snorting and snotting everything again. He nose is rubbed raw from his new two fingered nose pick and eat technique. I think that he gets less rest on the days that he goes to school and I think that we are both ready for holidays. I think that I had plenty invested emotionally in the trip to USA and I am struggling to get back on track for work. I feel distracted (more than usual) and I find myself struggling to do the endless paperwork (more than usual).

I am looking for another holiday though. One part will be a trip to Sydney to get Levi's passport. The other is shaping up to be a campervan relocation with Mim and Mikey. There is a system of relocating campervans when they are in the wrong town for the company. It is essentially free rental and generally a fuel allowance to go from point A to point B. This time we are looking for a relocation that starts or stops in Brisbane. There is a potential from Cairns to Brisbane. The idea would be to fly up a couple of days before, spend a weekend up there and then drive south. By the end we will really like each other or possibly hate each other. I think that it will be the former as we are good friends. It seems like a good cheap way to gradually see Australia. As we get more adventurous, there is no real necessity to have Brisbane as a point as you can fly to one point and fly out of another. I think that if I have 2 weeks a year it will get us throughout Australia by about 2050.

Back on your Bike

This weekend we went over to Luke and Nate's place. Levi got to go on the motorbike with Pete again, while Cheryl and I entertained whoever was waiting for their turn. The kids fished in the dam and then they built a tent out of the palm fronds that were cut down. Just when I thought they had exhausted their imaginations, they then went swimming. That would be fine in the summer but that pool was freezing. Still they all had a blast.

Levi's swimming lesson was great today, as it was the first time that I had seen him do freestyle and breathe properly. It is fun to see him get so comfortable in the water and getting faster and stronger at the same time. At the same time, he is nuts to want to go swimming in June, that is for sure.

Streamers

Levi is super excited about his birthday party. Consequently he spends an inordinate amount of time 'preparing'. At the moment he is obsessing over streamers, that he cuts out and sticks with tape to furniture, walls, doors and really anything else. It is getting painful, as there are little bits of cut up paper everywhere. At the same time he has gone through a roll of tape. He has a rule for birthdays that he is only allowed to have over as many friends as he is in age. This year he has 5 friends. I want to make it fun and not so much a production line. Interestingly he has a bunch of friends that are much older, so they get to come for free.

We had a day where Levi was pretty hyped up and expected to be entertained all day. It is just not how I prefer to work, so we were a little at odds today. I don't really like days like that but I think that everyone has them. No one gets on with anyone all the time is how I see it. I gave him a big cuddle tonight and told him I would try to be less grumpy tomorrow. He said that he would try to listen more. Then I gave him 40 hugs and he went happily to sleep. It would be great if all disagreements were that easily fixed.

He has a very specific night time routine. He has a shower and then we do 2 stories, or flash cards (whatever the flavour of the month is). Next we talk about our day, mostly with his finger in my belly button. What we did, somethings bad or good. If the day wasn't interesting enough, we are allowed to make it up. We could have gone to the moon or to the bottom of the sea, if we wanted to. Then we have cuddles, a different number each night. It is a beautiful way to say Goodnight and generally repairs anything we need repaired (like tonight). I hope that it continues.

Snakes and Ladders

It is Friday again and I think that we are both ready for it. It was a cold rainy night and it was not a night that I wanted Levi outside playing in the park. We went and played at that great indoor playplace, McDonalds. It was very loud tonight as I think every parent in a 10 mile radius had the same thought that I did. Levi packed it in early and is now tucked up in bed. His cough is starting to settle down. He has perfected the two finger nose pick technique and I'm hoping that as he gets better , he will forget that for the next cold, because it is gross.

When we got home, Jo had a carpet snake she had caught. It was in a bag because she was going to relocate it on the way out tonight. It is always fun to watch kids and snakes. There must be an inate response to snakes and Levi didn't disappoint. Carpet snakes are just beautiful close up esp reflected in the light of the camera.

Day Off

I took the day off today. Actually more specifically I took most of the day off today. I had to go into work to have a meeting. I hadn't wanted to come in but I had already changed the time and dates of this meeting 4 times and I think my colleagues would all mutiny if I changed it again. Luckily Levi loves going to work, and he gets spoiled rotten.

I took him to the doctor today and I must be getting old because the doctor was about 12 years old or so he looked. At least he knew which end of the stethoscope to put in his ears. Levi has perfected the 'two finger technique' for picking his nose which is just gross to watch. It was fun to have a day with him though. We had time making plaster critters to paint for his birthday party and I looked up ideas on the Internet. I think that I can swing it another year at home. We have a number limit on the kids invited. He gets to have as many friends over as his birthday age is, so we are having Zac, Ty, Luke, Jules and Ruby. On top of that he is also inviting Robbie because his birthday is the same day although about 8 years ahead of him.

Tonight Zac and Alex (and their parents) came over after dinner and the kids belted around upstairs. Levi was already hyped up on Ventolin so it didn't take much to go the next step. Here is a video of Levi doing Yankee Doodle (if I can get it to load).

Being Parental

I had a very parental day. Not!! Levi is getting sicker, the snot is progressively more copious and progressively more colourful. So instead of snuggling him up in bed and getting chicken soup (which he wouldn't eat) I did the opposite. It was going to be one of those days at work; possible to get out of but not really. It was one of those days that it would be REALLY hard to get out of. So I gave him Ventolin, and I gave him Flexitide and I gave him Motrin and I dressed him warmly, blew his nose and sent him to school. Then I waited for the phone call. The question was not if they called but when they did and how much of clinic I could get done.

Actually they did call but it was After School Care. They reported that he had been quiet all day and that the teacher had handed him over saying she should have perhaps called me. Tomorrow I will do the really parental thing. I will dump work and take the Mancub to the doctor. Hopefully he will sleep in a little and we can have a quiet day watching movies and doing drawings and planning his birthday party. I have been pulling him together to get him through school days but it has been too many sick days and it is time for the sweet boy to have his Mum at home.

Hangover

I feel like I have a hangover. Not a real one. In fact I've never had a real one. I think that I have Uncle Harvey's metabolism for alcohol, but luckily didn't also inherit the addictive personality with it. I think this is an emotional hangover. I think that I am just emotionally fatigued and likely that has been the problem all week. Just when I think that I am coping well without Frankie, comes a day or a week that I am really just not quite coping. I can't believe that it has been 7 years since I last held Frank, my arms still miss him. Much as I love Levi it is amazing how much your arms can still miss the other. as Levi ages he reminds me more of Evan and lately Ross than he does of Frankie. Much of that is just age related as Frank was never the happy school boy that he would have been, that Levi is. I love Levi so much and in that love itself is how much I miss giving him the privilege of meeting, playing with and loving his own brother he resembles so much.

Levi continues to get sicker, but it is not a scary illness. He breathes too fast and wheezes but it is never scary because it responds to Ventolin and it goes away. His lungs have a minor problem that is solvable and treatable and it doesn't scare me at all. He copes and runs around and stops when he needs. It is all very calm and I know that he won't die of this asthma. Still at night his breathing wakes me at times, with that heart stopping fear response. It is only for a second, but it still takes a while for my heart rate to return to normal and longer still to return to sleep. I think I am not just hungover emotionally, I am also tired; really really tired.

And I wish that Levi would get better; I wish that I could hold Frankie even just once again.

I wish, Oh I wish.

Gateway

Today was the Gateway. The Gateway bridge number 2 was open to walkers, so part of our day involved walking over the bridge. Only part of the day. Levi's asthma is back with a vengeance, so he coughed himself awake at about 6am, but was snugly (I loved it) for a little while. He is back on Flixotide twice a day and is still needing Ventolin about 3 or 4 times a day but can still run around in between. He has a cold as well at the moment, which is running him a bit ragged as well.

So we got up and went to swimming at 7.30 and then turned around and had soccer at 9. Pam came and watched Levi play soccer which tickled him pink. He loves to show off his skills, esp now that he actually has skills and doesn't come off crying most games. Pam also joined us on the Gateway bridge walk. It's 1.9kms from one end to the other, making it a 3.8km walk all up, twice straight up a very steep bridge. We actually skipped across the fence at the top of the bridge, making it a half the walk. I think Levi's legs were wearing out and I didn't blame him. He had worked pretty hard and it was still morning.

Then Luke and Nate came over to play for a couple of hours. Poor little Natey, who turned 4 on Tuesday has asthma that mirrors Levi's. In fact they both seem to start and stop at about the same time. They all played on scooters until the cold drove us indoors and then they made paper planes.

It has been a busy day and although it helps to busy, Frankie is always still there on this day. It works short term to have lots of things to do and pack the schedule, but then I am alone at night again missing him. I can't believe it has been 7 years. Some days, esp May 16th, it feels like yesterday, but really it was today. Today, 7 years ago. Wow, this was supposed to get better. I am no longer incapacitated by this day, but it still rocks me back on my heels. I wonder if that is what they mean about it getting better. Maybe it is. I guess maybe my problem is that I don't really want it to get better. Because getting better, makes me feel like I am forgetting.

Photos

Helping?

Tonight Levi decided that he would wash all the towels and the bathmat while he was showering. Tonight I am going to have to dry myself with a wet towel standing on a wet bathmat. At least they will be clean!!

I think that we are both grateful that it is the weekend. I am tired and so is Levi. If I get really lucky the little man will sleep in but who knows. Usually he sleeps late any other day but the one day that we can actually sleep. At least as it gets a little darker there is more of a chance. It is a big weekend. I'm off to bed

Resilience

I was thinking about resilience today. I know that I am not the world's expert but it seems to me that resilience is something that everyone aspires to but no one really knows how to really teach it. Levi has a program at school that has five characters who all represent something they are trying to teach. Pete Persistence, Conny Confidence and Ricky Resilience are the only ones I remember but Levi pops them up at times. He talks about them but doesn't really need them. He is naturally resilient and confident and well, we can work on persistent.

I think that resilience is not about the falling over but about the getting back up. People see resilience as standing up and not breaking down in the face of stress and pressure. I think that it doesn't hurt to fall over, to break down and to stumble. It is the getting up the next day that is what defines resilience. Then Again, it is not just the getting up, but how you do it. Resilience is in getting up the next day confident that life is still worth while and as much as possible you are in control of your life. It is not about how the world views you but how you view yourself. I am tired of having to deal with people who see themselves as victims. It is so hard to have to pretend that you think that they have somehow had a 'harder' life than everyone else. Everyone faces hardship. No one misses out. You are not the victim unless you allow yourself to be the victim. You will always win if you never feel like a loser. It is something that everyone has to work on every day. I think that you can always look out and find someone else who is luckier in life than you are. While you are doing that, someone else is looking at you wishing they had your life.

I haven't forgotten Frankie. I regularly cry myself to sleep. I haven't forgotten holding my little boy as he took his last breath. I won't ever forget that pain.

I haven't forgotten what it was like to have a family, where the adults loved each other and the kids. I haven't forgotten the sadness of the separation of all that.

I haven't forgotten what it was like to see the world without a background of fear. I fought for years to make that fear be my nights but not my days and then later to make sure that it didn't even haunt my nights.

Resilience is keeping the pain, sadness and the fear in the background. It is about continuing to be happy and loving life. It is tested everyday, some more than others. It will be tested a lot this week.

I will be happy

I will love the world

I will treat each kid that I see as I would my own

I refuse to be a victim

I will try to understand those who do see themselves as victims

But you know what; I am going to really miss Frank this week. I will miss his laugh. I will miss his touch. I will miss his smell. I will miss holding him. It has been 7 years now since I held my little boy, this Sunday and I really miss him. I think I am going to bed now and cuddle up next to the sweetest, cuddliest most beautiful boy on earth and cry myself to sleep. But I am crying because I miss Frank but also because I am so grateful, for Levi.

Just not quite in the mood

I am definitely having one of those days. I am just not really in the mood. For anything really. I am not in the mood to work. I am not in the mood to go to bed. I am just not really in the moment for anything. I am not sure if I'm burned out or just tired for this week.

Levi however has been lovely and has a new tattoo that Pete gave him!

Teeth brushing and Night time Musings

The night time conversation went like this:

"Mum, if I had a brother that didn't die like Frankie, how old would he be?"

"Depends on when he was born, Honey"

"But Frankie just stays three years old doesn't he?"

"Yes he does, but he would be 10 now"

"I know. That's weird to be 3 and 10, hey"

"That's true, you can only really be two ages when we die and other people remember you"

"Yeah. I'm glad we remember Frankie, Mum"

"Me too"

"What is 15 plus 15 Mum?"

I am glad that he thinks about Frankie and also glad that he talks about him all the time, even though it is always a little hard to respond out of the blue esp this time of year. Levi was grumpy tonight too. He found it hard to go to sleep and was resistant to, of all things brushing his teeth. Frankly, his teeth aren't going to drop out with one night of dirt, so I just let him ride and didn't fight it at all. He was very sweet though in bed snuggled up against me;

"Mum, We will love each other forever, right?"

"Yes, that is absolutely right!"

"Even when I'm old and I say I hate you, I'm only joking, cause inside I'll still love you. Remember that OK."

"OK Honey, I will always remember that"

I hope he never actually says that but that is why I'm writing it now. If he is 15 and says he hates me, I can look back here and remember that he is really loving me...inside. Such a sweet sweet boy. I can't even imagine a grumpy teenager. Let's wait and see!

First Real Monday

It was the first real Monday for a while. Feels like forever. The last two Mondays were both public holidays and it felt tough to have to go to work today. Levi woke late (Of Course) as it was a week day and there was no chance of sleeping in. Had it been Saturday he would have woken at the crack of dawn.

I am now pretty sure that I am not going to USA for the DMD conference in June. I am still pissed off that instead of just letting me know they just didn't call and now I am not on the agenda. But as they say in The Sound of Music, when the Lord closes a door somewhere He opens a window. I am going to take time off in June regardless. I have to renew Levi's passport, which will involve a trip to Sydney. I am planning on making it a few days and seeing Taronga Park zoo and the aquarium. I am hoping that I can just have some relaxing time with Levi as well. It should be a fun couple of weeks and much cheaper than a trip overseas.

Soccer Photos

Happy Mother's Day

This morning I was woken up really early by Levi excited that it was Mother's day and wanted to give me his present. He had made a little wooden hand mirror, that he had painted blue and stuck hearts and stars on it. It was perfect, made more perfect by his statement;

"Mum, You can look into it and see how beautiful you are"

What a charmer!

Then we started the day. Swimming at 7.30am. Soccer at 9am. Levi is getting much more out of soccer this year. Being a year older has made all the difference. He doesn't cry at all and loves the running after the ball. He is still with all of his friends and today got 2 goals. When his friend Natey who is 3 was sad because he hadn't been able to get a goal, Levi took him aside and explained that on a team if one person gets a goal, everyone on the team gets it as well. It made Nate happy again. I love his nature so much, competitive but never at the cost of a friend's feelings.

This afternoon, we had a working bee to help Jo get on top of things at the farm. Most of the kids came over to help and Di and Brian as well. It was great. There was plenty of work and good spirits from all. The trees all got trimmed. The edges of all the paths were all cleaned. I weed whacked with a whipper snipper for about 3 hours and now I can barely open my hands but it was great to have baby sitting and be able to just work hard, without having to think too hard. Levi got drinks for everyone and handed them around. He had his mates Zac and Alex to play with, so he had a really busy day as well. He dropped into bed and was asleep almost instantly. He is in there talking as I type. He always seems to talk in his sleep when he is really really tired.

I love you like a T-Rex

We went back to Go Wild today, but this time we took Ruby with us. Ruby is the girl that Levi is going to 'marry' and he has been unwavering in that conviction since about 18 months ago. There are times that he is going to marry other people but Ruby is always there as well. I went and picked up Ruby, so they played at Ruby's house and then played at Go Wild and then played at our house. Pretty much they played all day. Played well all day actually. The only time that there was any disagreement at all was when Levi came out of the play structure crying because he had done something to make Ruby sad.

Tonight I was given the best Mother's Day present of all. Levi said to me as he was going to bed "I love you as much as a T-Rex, as big as the whole world". He is so sweet.

I am missing Frankie tonight, as the day before Mother's Day. I remember that day so well. It was the last Sunday and Frank wasn't really coping that well but Robert and Michaela got us disc shooters for Mother's Day. Frankie and the boys had so much fun shooting us and the nurses and the family in the room next door. I know that it may not be completely true, but I remember that time as the last time I heard him laugh. Yep I'm really missing him tonight.

Back from the North

This week has involved a quick trip to Townsville for work. It always involves long hours and long drives but this one was complicated by the fact that Mim (the OT) and I both got sick. It was not dangerous sick but enough to make life, work and travel uncomfortable. I think had we been in Brisbane we would both have gone home for the day but it is what it is. I did take today off, mostly to rest.

Levi had a "big day" today and we were awarded another rendition of the crawling to the shower. As a wonderfully sympathetic mother, I was heard to say "Levi, please crawl a little faster, the water is running!" Ah well at least he will have something to tell his psychiatrist when he gets older.

Levi is loving learning to read. He was upset because he wanted me to play a game and because I was making dinner I told him to play it by himself. His complaint "But I can only read the small words, I need someone to read the long ones. He also seems to have a stutter at the moment. It is not a real one. He says "Hi M-M-M-Mum" and then with announce that Mum starts with M. Over and over I am hearing what letters are at the start of each word. It won't be long I hope. It will open up his world!

Back to Work

We both went back to work today. I actually had a paperwork day, which would have been wonderful except the computers made me feel that I was back in the last century. It was so wonderful to get some things ticked off my To-Do list. Tomorrow at well earlier than the crack of dawn I am flying to Townsville for another Outreach trip. This time I will only be gone for one night but the days will be super long. Levi is always very clingy when he knows I'm going away. It's funny, I never mind being on a plane when I'm with Levi. I don't get nervous at all. When he isn't on the plane, I get nervous on the take off and landing. I think a part of me knows the risks are 0% or 100% on a plane. We all live, we all die. Frankly I don't care if we die together, but leaving him alone is a little hard for me to imagine.

Now this is a depressing edge to this post. I went to pick up Levi at After School Care and they were doing Athletics. It is great to see all those little kids running and skipping and hopping and jumping. They did relays and races. I stayed until almost the end and then Levi finally agreed to go home. It is a good after school care that your child doesn't want to go home from.

Labour Day

Jo and Jane went away for the weekend and Pippy spent the weekend with us. I would love to get him a dog of his own but it is impossible at the moment. He asks all the time. It is so funny to watch Pip and Levi. They tangle up in each other and snuggle up. Frankly there is no room in the bed with those two.

The weather has started to turn and it is right when Brisbane is the most beautiful. Levi and I played in the creek together and made stepping stones across the creek. It will wash away in the next flood but it is fun while it lasts.

Levi quote of the day:

"I like the colour orange the best. Well the best today. I will have to think about tomorrow tomorrow"

May Day at the Park

It was perfect weather today and we made the most of it. We met up with Luke and Nate before the park and in a very happy accident found Jules and Theo at the park as well. The boys all play very well together and it is very fun to watch them all. They ended up in the creek making a dam. As Pete said they are of the age that there are no 'supervisors'. All of them are sure they know the best way to make a dam, and no one has a overview of it all. Still they made a mound of rocks and sand. It will be fun to see if other kids capitalize on their start in the next few weeks.

Then we all went back to Pete and Cheryl's house to light a bonfire. It was huge and we all felt a little nervous, OK a lot nervous, but as I was taking photos I could see a dragon in the flames. The kids watched for a bit and then went to play. We then watched the fire for them as it was a bit close to the trees and a bit big for us all to let it just burn by itself.

It is great to just watch flames though.

Tired Boy

Going Wild

I just put the world's dirtiest little boy to bed. He fell asleep right as we got home in the car so I carried him in and just put him to bed. He climbed all day, well all morning anyway! Then he started to get tired and just rested on the edge of the jumping castle. It was a great morning. The kids played happily and Di and I both agreed that they had all suddenly grown up. Quite a lot actually. This Go Wild is fantastic, the adults drink coffee and shoot the breeze and the kids go nuts on the play areas. It is always great to chat with Di.

I am so glad that it is a three day weekend and a calm one at that. Well as calm as it gets. Tomorrow we are going to go to the park again with Luke and Nate (and their parents of course). This time we are taking all the kids togs so we don't spend all the time fighting them to not get wet in the creek. It will be calmer and less stress for everyone, if the kids just know from the beginning that they can swim and paddle.

We went to see Lucy and Anna all dressed up for their formals this afternoon. They were beautiful and very excited. I'm so glad. I just remember the formal as an ordeal that I couldn't think of an excuse to get out of. I have never really liked dressing up. Certainly nothing has changed!!