Inverloch

   This should really be Andy's post, but the reality is, he has no time. He's traveled for the past 5 weeks, and there's no end in sight. Last week, for example, he was in Adelaide for one day and then Brisbane for three. The good news is he's already made the first-tier of the frequent flier program! The bad news is I spend a lot of time booking his travel, and the girls (and I) really miss him.

   Fortunately, though, he still was able to fit in a camping weekend with a group of families from our school. Alanna's friend Annaliese wasn't able to go, so their family generously loaned us their tent, sleeping bags, an Esky (cooler), and torches (flashlights).

   It was "No mom's allowed" so I stayed home. Although I had no car, I was still able to walk to the gym each day, get some projects done around the house, and I went out to a wine bar on Saturday night with my expat friend Tierney.

   According to Andy, it was a cross between an Indian Princess campout (no moms, catered food/restaurants) and a Leo Carrillo camping trip (both boys and girls, beaches, pirate treasure hunt). 

   They had a late start Friday afternoon, so it was a bit late, and dark, by the time they arrived. First text from Andy: "Found 'em. Pizza and spaghetti and beer then we'll set up the tent. The girls have already forgotten I'm here." 

Our rental car in front of borrowed tent

Lots of things to do at the camping site, including this pillow jump.

Cliff jumping

Beautiful, mostly empty beach

Alanna puts fnishing touches on maze while dads play soccer

Amaze'in

Quote from Aliya: "Even though they're boys they're still fun."

The dads, making sure to keep a proper distance between themselves

   Andy brought the necessary gear for his special camping activity: the pirate treasure hunt. He and Alanna and Aliya spend an hour or two coming up with a variety of clues, ultimately leading to a bag of candy treasure. The boys, busy playing video games in the their tents, missed out, but the girl enjoyed it.

    Later that evening, more texts from Andy. "We're just now at a park before heading into the pub..um...restaurant, for dinner. What footy?"Next text: "And a lot of mantalk about how different it would be if the moms hosted the trip. Pretty funny."

   A few later: "Yep, dinner done and going to bed soon. Alanna has three friends in our tent (they love her accent) and Aliya will be sleeping with Libby and her dad." 

   Apparently, the conversations in the tents were quite different. At one point, Andy poked his head to check on the girls in their tent, and Alanna asked a very specific question about getting pregnant! Meanwhile, in another tent, Aliya was playing Go Fish. What a difference a few years makes!

   Another text: "Ok, the older girls forgot about that topic, and are now hunting bunny rabbits which wander around after dark."

(from left to right) Lexi, Alanna, Mia, Casey

"Aliyer" (as they say here) and friend

   They arrived home late Sunday afternoon completely worn out from a hard weekend of playing. I'm so glad they were able to go, as it was a great chance to meet new friends, and for Andy to get to know some of the dads. 

   On Monday, Alanna got the student of the week award for her class "For her enthusiasm and initiative when completing any activities." The teacher didn't tell me in advance that she was getting the award, so this is the best pic I could get.

   That afternoon, we ventured out after school to try a swim team. The girls really enjoyed doing Splash Aquatics last summer, so we were hoping for a similar experience for them. No such luck. Aliya's face was windburned/sunburned, so it hurt to wear goggles. She only lasted a lap or two. But she was lucky, according to Alanna, who spent the next hour doing endless laps of freestyle and backstroke. The coaches generally just yelled at them, and the crowded pool and lane meant Alanna got kicked in the head a few times. Unfortunately the coach decided no breaststroke that day, which is Alanna's favorite stroke. Needless to say she was exhausted after a solid hour of swimming. As we left, Alanna made me promise never to take them back there again, saying that it shouldn't be called "Swim Safe" school, it should be called "Swim Torture."

   We'll continue on our search, maybe trying to find just lessons rather than a swim team. It's all part of moving to a new area, it takes time to find just the right activities. We still haven't found a girls soccer team.

   Tuesday was week 2 of piano lessons, and hooray, that's going well. Although, Alanna started off in a bit of a bad mood when she was given about 12 pages of tracing notes. "Mom, this is Year 1 stuff. Prep stuff!" Fortunately, the teacher had a chat with Alanna and figured out what made her tick. This involved focusing on classical music, not jazz or other types, as Alanna's previous teachers were very much classically minded. She also is going to work on Alanna taking an exam in October. Goals and deadlines are good for her. The girls left the lessons happy, so I was happy.

   Wednesday I went downtown with a few other Americans, and we met up with two others. The five of us enjoyed a nice alfresco lunch in the CBD (Central Business District) near Andy's office. Ranjita brought baby Sydney, all of 3 weeks old, but she slept through the entire outing.

   Thursday, Aliya stayed home sick with a cold. She took it easy all morning, watching Liberty Kids and painting:

but by 1:00 she was feeling restless. I decided to take her shopping for a birthday present, as she had a party on Saturday night. We successfully navigated to a new shopping mall. I'm feeling so much more confident driving, but for the life of me I can't remember to get in on the right side of the car. We headed back to the car, and I gave Aliya the keys. While I returned the trolley and got my dollar coin back, Aliya unlocked the car, threw the keys up front to the drivers seat, put her bag in the back, and shut the trunk. Too bad the car was now locked (and I have no idea how or why, unless Aliya accidentally hit the lock button again before she threw the keys forward.) Thankfully I had my cell phone on me, and I was able to reach Annaliese's dad. He was able to get into our house and bring me the spare set of keys. So, we waited in the parking lot.

   Friday was the House Cross Country event for the kids in years 3-6. All of the kids are divided into four different houses, sort of like Harry Potter, minus the sorting hat and crazy names. Points were awarded to the top 10 finishers in each grade/sex level. Years 3 and 4 ran 2 kilometers around the nearby park, while the older kids did 3 kms. Alanna's not a runner, but she gave it her all and got a ribbon for completing the 2 ks. (I got in 18th place).

   All in all, a pretty good week. Today on Facebook a friend asked how I feel about being a sahm (aka, Stay At Home Mom.) I responded that I really miss my work, and my coworkers, and still hope to do some consulting. But in the meantime, I appreciate the fact that now I can work out a lot, volunteer at the school a lot, and the girls are able to have a lot of playdates. I know far more kids and moms here, after two months, than I did at Hawes. Perhaps part of that was my fault. I knew we were leaving and didn't make much of an effort. I didn't have to, since the kids had their friends. Here I've had to work at it, but I've had the time and opportunity to work at it, and I'm grateful for that. While the kids really miss their BFFs back home, they're no longer crying their hearts out at night, and that's a good thing.