Monster Mash

   Time for another weekly round up, I think. Last week we received sad news from Andy's dad. Great Grandma Joan, matriarch of the Gray family, passed away at the age of 100. She was survived by five sons, 15 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. She will definitely be missed and remembered. 

Joan Gray on her 97th bday, with some of her great-grandchildren

   Friday was National Bandanna Day. Bandannas are sold throughout the country to support kids with cancer. The girls held a sale at the park earlier in the week to raise money to buy their bandannas. They made bracelets, necklaces, drawings, bath lotions and gels, and (under Andy's supervision while I was safely out of the house to avoid temptation) brownies and chocolate chip cookies. They had a very successful sale, no doubt aided by their smart pricing scheme. One person, looking at the bottle of lotion for $1, commented, "These are American prices!"  

   The girls bought their bandannas at school, and turned in the extra money as well.

Thinking of you, MaryClare and Elias, our brave cancer-fighting friends!

   That afternoon was the Junior School Assembly, for grades Prep-2. Aliya received an award for being "an excellent Reader of the Day".

Jr Assembly awards

   On Sunday, we drove into the city for a Halloween Spooktacular event. 

Lady Guinevere and the Jester

The cold, occasionally drizzly weather seemed to keep the crowds away, and they did get in quite a few rides.

Scrambler-type ride

Alanna can't wait

Aliya's not so sure...

Bumper Cars!

Cliff Hanger

They also had two areas for Trick or Treating! They were small, about five 'houses' in each place, but still fun. We thought it amusing that they workers asked if we knew what to do. Aussies aren't used to Trick or Treating. Besides chocolate, they also got apples (rather yummy ones at that), string cheese, and big snack cups of Chips Ahoy and Oreo cookies! Not too shabby.

With Trick or Treat bags

They also got to hold snakes...ewwww.

Yes, it's a real snake!

Yes, they're braver than me!

   Monday was Halloween, of course. Not a holiday in Australia by any stretch, although Aliya stayed home with a cold. I got a call from another mom asking me if we wanted to join them at the beach. "Aren't your kids at school?" I asked, in a bit of a panic since I'd let Alanna walk to school mostly by herself (watched her cross the one street.) "No, it's an optional day." I was told. Not really of course, but many parents made it into a four day weekend.
    I was also quite surprised to get calls from three separate parents at school asking if we wanted to go Trick or Treating! What??? The girls had piano lessons which we couldn't skip, but afterwards I checked in with our neighbor. She offered to take the girls around, and since I had the beginnings of a nasty cold, I took her up on her offer. The girls quickly got ready. Alanna didn't want to be Pippi again, nor Guinevere, so I told her she needed to come up with her own costume:

In case you're wondering, she's a DJ.

 They ran down the street to the neighbors house. And then I heard it: the doorbell rang! Trick or Treaters! Oh no. I quickly grabbed the candy we'd collected yesterday and gave some to the little boy from across the street. At this point I had no idea how many trick or treaters I might get, so I grabbed a Costco-sized box of Fruit Nuggets from the garage just in case. The next trick or treaters were Alanna, Aliya and the neighbor girls.  I had one more group of four, bringing the grand total to nine, which of course was nine more than I had expected. The girls came back an hour later quite happy and with a decent collection of lollies, some of which were unwrapped. We promptly threw those out.
   The next day, November 1st, was a holiday. Melbourne Cup Day. Gotta love the state of Victoria that gives you the day off to wear fancy clothes (view pics of the day or some pics of the fashions) and watch a three-minute horse race, billed as the "race that stops a nation." I don't know if it does or not, but the girls were happy to get the day off school. (Andy, alas, was in Adelaide, which is in the state of South Australia, so no holiday for him.)  I couldn't help but think back to arriving in Australia last year on Melbourne Cup Day. 
   Because all three of us were a bit under the weather, it was a quiet day at home. Alanna worked on a scrapbook for her best friend who is moving back to Malaysia on Saturday.

Scrapbook for a departing classmate

   We did tune in to watch the race at 3:00. And wow, what a race it was. Good pics and coverage here if you're interested. This pic, from the The Age, shows how exciting it was.

Photo finish for first place, and for third!

   Wednesday was pretty uneventful. Alanna started to feel worse, so we skipped her softball game. Good call, because she was pretty sick. We had a  very long night as she had a very upset tummy. I'll spare you the details, you can thank me later. Both girls threw up Thursday morning, so they both stayed home. No basketball for Aliya that night.
   Friday morning both girls had their piano exams at the Australian Guild of Music
   Friday afternoon was another Junior School Assembly. The Year 1's sang Soap and Water, to the tune of Single Ladies.

   And that's your A-team update for the week.