Snow on The Brindies

We went on a spontaneous trip to the Brindabellas after school and work today. William was super excited but both boys fell asleep on the 40 minute drive up the mountain. We found the mountains dusted with snow and we were able to make our way through the orienteering track near Picadillly Circus until the sun was almost down. 

Adelaide to Port Augusta - Birthday Tour

When the opportunity arose to travel with work to South Australia and research what the SA schools were doing to improve outcomes for Aboriginal kids I was keen to put my hand up. 9 teachers from our cluster schools went on the adventure and we were welcomed into 3 urban schools in Adelaide and 3 schools in Port Augusta. 

We met some of the Aboriginal elders on our first visit and heard their stories. 'Uncle Jim' left Sherberg and trained in boxing back in his day and was keen to chat about engaging the families of the school where he mentors young aboriginal teens.

At an urban primary school the Principal gave us a tour. We were quite amazed with his yabby breeding tanks and the agriculture program.

The 3.5hr drive to Port Augusta was beautiful and the Principal of a local school with 99% aboriginal students showed us around the town. We enjoyed a coffee at the Botanical Gardens followed by a drive to the foot of the Flinders Ranges and an insightful visit through the Aboriginal mission.  

Saturday was warm and we went for a short walk down to Alligator Gorge. When we were back in Adelaide we stayed up until midnight for my birthday and enjoyed a debrief on our adventures.  

It was wonderful to come home to the boys who showered me with hugs, presents, home made cards and a malteser cake. The best part was the tidy house, empty washing baskets and happy faces of course.

Random Fun

 

After a very busy few weeks back at work I've finally made the time to upload some of our most recent and random memories. 

Sunshine after the rain

 Poor Jackie has the worst sort of flu. High fevers, aches, exhaustion, asthma, nausea and a sore throat. He has been in bed for 4 days and only been out to pick William up from Preschool or visit the doctor.

He really pushed himself to walk down to the preschool when he was feeling miserable and I saw a glimmer of hope as it had rained all day and stopped in time for us to get William and walk him to the car. He went straight back to sleep in the car and left William and I to entertain ourselves all afternoon. So we did a selfy and a painting or two.  

After another night with asthma attacks and fever we went back to the doctor who put Jack on more bed rest. William went to the playschool concert with Jules and Sam. 

When he got home he took care of Jackie, bought him juice and took his temperature. He made some cupcakes which Jack thought was great but he was still to sick to eat one. It has rained and hailed today so with any luck the sunshine will be out tomorrow and Jack will be a bit better again.

William rides on 2 wheels and Sam's birthday

 

William loves his babies. He has a caring nature and loves to play Dad. He learnt to ride on 2 wheels faster than any kid I know. He has been chasing the older kids in the street on his balance bike for the last 12 months and our lovely neighbor handed him down a peddle bike this week. It took him less than an hour and he was riding on his own. He was as proud as punch and stayed out until Dad came home to show off. 

  We've had a busy holiday and enjoyed in the festival of Sam's 5th birthday. There was a dinner at Sam's house, movies, pancake parlor, a sleep over, playing at Beth & Grace's house, an enormous party including the cake we made below!

The Snow Report

 

There was 15cms of snow on Selwyn and patchy rain. It made for an interesting drive through the fog. The boys had been excited to see the snow since 7am so as soon as they were able to get out of the car they fled down the toboggan run. Jack had no fear and got some good speed. William was very independent and didn't want to share his snow ring. 

 

After an hour of running up and down the hill William said, 'me loosing power.' He had the best seat by far.

 We dined at the Snow Goose Hotel and had a perfectly positioned table, close to the fire and within sight of the arcade games and toys.

The boys were very excited to sleep in the snow cabin and took some time to stop their giggling before they fell asleep.

On the second day we went to explore Perisher and found the roads far less windy. The weather had cleared beautifully and there was little wind. The toboggan run was a lot of fun and we ran up and down the hill until the boys had damp socks and were completely worn out. 

Room on the Broom

 We were lucky to have Stu at home for 4 days so we made the most of our holiday at home. Stu missed out on the Gruffalo so he was keen to join us for Room on the Broom. The story of a witch who is off to fight a dragon. William instantly fell in love with the story when we bought him the book last week. He knew the words by heart today and was mesmerized by the puppets that came to life.

We dined at Riccardo's in Jamison which has the most amazing dessert counter I've seen since Vegas. Stu had the chocolate mousse and cheesecake boxed up for later. I hope they taste as good as they look.  

 

Later, William made a gallery of dot pictures while Stu and Jack upped the stakes in Star Wars and played the full version of the game.