Quick Stint Down The Coast

Some peeps we party with (him & her) from time to time have visited us twice in the last 18 months so it was high time we made the return journey.

I had arranged to take the Friday off work, the original plan was to leave for the coast Friday morning however in a last minute (well the monday before) I suggested to MB we make the journey from CBD to Geelong on Thursday afternoon then do the remaining drive on Friday getting us to sunny Warrnambool several hours earlier on Friday

MB picked me up from work at 3 and within 2 hours we were settled into our accom, we enjoyed pizzas for dinner (all the children moaned saying they preferred my home made pizzas). I was up early so I had all the tribe showered and dressed so we could make the 10am check out before doing a spot of shopping) and finally hit the road just before lunch time. We decided to step away from the usual style of accommodation in warny and opted for a house that we had let for the 3 days, it had everything we needed, slept 8 and was soooo much better than any onsite cabin alternative. Surprisingly we were there bang on 2pm for check in. We settled in, gave the beds a test run, watched some commercial TV (how I have not missed it whatsoever) and then headed out for the meet point.

After hooking up with our compadres at the local lake/play area we killed off several hours of flying foxes, monkey bars slides and roundabouts with the odd kick of the soccer ball to boot (did you see what I did there? with the Pun??).

Friday Dinner was at one of the local pub/clubs for a bit of a steak and pasta bar feast, of the many rounds completed was Mr T who went for 5 return servings from the ice-cream bar (can you tell we don't have ice cream at home) I watched J-man slowly progress from sober to typsy to stammering over the course of evening and we bid each others good evening and retired to our houses. I sat up with MB and enjoyed the other luxury, a big screen TV as we watched butterfly effect.

Saturday we had planned to spend the day out amongst the cows with a lunch/dinner play day with our friends so we headed off with supplies and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of laughs and children getting zapped on electric fences washed down with fish n chips.

Sunday was home day but as promised all the children had been asking to go swimming at the beach for 3 straight days so we opted for the scenic route via the great ocean rd with a stop at one of the many sandy coves for swimming. I don't understand children and how temperature doesn't deter them when it comes to swimming. The pics speak for themselves.




Foxy
Dodgy Bridge
Foxy Mr C
Foxy Miss P
Scaring Ducks
Big Foxy

You can hardly tell it was freakin cold
My foot print compared to Miss H
I was cold


Didn't seem to phase them
Ok Mr C looks a little chilled
Miss H and her first time at the beach
She loved it
They all did


Tuckered out

Until Next time - thanks to our hosts it was a blast.

Missing Family & Thanking Friends

The quiet was nice for the first few hours here at MB's parents but now I can safely say I'm ready for home. I really miss the chaos of my children and the company of my best friend.

MB and I chatted for hours last night on IM, we even hooked up video and I was able to say hello to Mr C and give him a sneak peak at some pressies I bought the children. Its funny saying it so much but we are really missing each other. I guess its amplified because MB has been so ill with the pregnancy over the past months so I have been making extra sure that there is little for her to do in the way of washing, cleaning & cooking. While MB is more capable than I at managing 6 doing it solo for most of the week while feeling ill and having no energy makes me worry more. She isn't the sort of person to complain or expect people to help as historically we have always "gone it alone". I knew MB was really low last weekend when she started suggesting Queensland and moves and stuff, something that was once our dream but had to be put permanently on hold. I think 20 years in the one house has made her a bit of a nomad.

I'm so grateful for our Friend, Neighbor & Doula Julie who offered to take our girls (Miss L overnight). She also cooked a meal for MB and delivered it. Julie has had a had time herself of late her a new bubba and to see her make this gesture was truely heart warming. Things like this show you what true kindness is. I've seen MB help out her lots of friends over the years so its good to see some karma in action. I do find it interesting that friends that have been helped out the most by MB have remained somewhat detached. I guess its not the done thing to ask a superhero like MB if they need a hand.

On a lighter note Julies offer to have miss L up for a sleepover then Miss P as well in the afternoon for a play date was an excellent opportunity for miss L to spend time with Julie's daughters. Its my one gripe about homeschooling that Miss L isn't as outgoing with other children and tends to shy away from new people (despite clearing wanting to be included) I cant wait to hear her version of how her sleepover went.

Still on the family front (albeit extended) I have really enjoyed the 1-1 time with my inlaws. I rarely see them without the whole fam in tow so we've been able to have some great chats about life, parenting, the children, cars, motorbikes and all sorts. I brought them a new DVD player to say thanks for having me. Theirs was old, didn't eject dvds properly and wasn't multi format. Now they can play all formats (including TV shows I have downloaded) and with a USB port they can also look at their photos on the big screen tv. Its one technological step closer to computer ownership. A concept they are slowly warming to after years of my subtle hints. With us living a fair way away and MB's brother and family even further away its my mission to get them setup with a PC and internet in the coming months so we can all communicate freely. They have helped us out on countless occasions over the last 17 years and now I'm really focused on returning some of my immense gratitude.

I also find it amazing saying this.... I wish I could have been working in the office today. I have an important meeting, one that pivotal in the work I've been doing since I started and how our work will pan out in the future. Its been an ongoing cause of stress and considerable heartache for my manager as there is a particularly prickly person involved that makes a point to be snide and insulting wherever possible. I really wanted to be there to back her (My Manager) up, I'm dialing in but on the phone isn't the same as being there.

MB will be arriving with the clan sometime this afternoon so I'm really looking forward to lots of hugs and kisses and to give the children some gifts.



Until Next Time......

Home Ed Camp (Slightly Pic Intensive)

How does one some up camp fest 2011??

Firstly you may want to peruse my previous postings on last years camp to get an idea of the sorts of things we got up to. This is the 4th year the awesome camp has been run, we missed year 1 because Miss P was born and year 2 because of Mr C's first round of tissue expansion.

After arriving dead on time for the camps commencement last year we decided to arrive a few days early this year. With Camp starting at midday on the Tuesday we arrived around dinner time on the Saturday prior to soak up some sun and chill before switching things to overdrive. The first thing that greated us was a full lake Hume, last year the water was barely visible but with this last 12 months and the drought breaking rain we were extatic to see water withing 100 metres of our cabin door step.

After settling in and unpacking le boos we decided to hit the pool. This also served as an opportunity to catch up with other home ed families we already knew from regular catchups or last years campfest. I made up a spag bowl for the whole fam and MB went and checking in with Jenni (one of the awesome organisers). Our first night was somewhat rowdy as the children all had excess energy so we stayed up watching movies til we all passed out.

Friends were reunited

The mouse that roared
Green hair washed out pretty quick
Chillin'
Grrrrr
Lounging about
Day 1 Sunday started at midday (yes we all slept in) after doing up a batch of porridge, toast and various cereals for the whole fam we headed straight for the pool and spent the majority of the afternoon there. We were invited to a pub meal with some of the other families but as we had already taken meat out to do a BBQ. Instead we teamed up with another family who also have 6 children and did a bit of a BBQ smorgasbord, I made up a batch of rissoles using 4 different kinds of sausage mince which surprisingly turned out fantastic, we also fried up potato "chips" that MB had hand cut earlier. After chatting for ages and cleaning up we ended up at the pool again. The evening included a sleep over whereby miss L swapped with our friends son (aged between B & T). Sunday was Also MB's birthday however the cakes I had planned to bake were a little difficult to cook in our oven that wouldn't light so we settled for a candle in a rissole, only I forgot candles so.... year..... MB was still happy :) Our Home Ed Friends from Adelaide handled out dozens of glow sticks so the evening was spent watching the children from afar in an extra terrestrial light show.

Day 2 Monday Started slightly earlier than the previous had with us all up by 10AM, to be honest I tried to recall what we did this day and for the life of me cannot remember, no doubt it involved swimming, and an attempt at fishing, I was amazed to see the boys catch a small fish on a hook with no bait. MB and got to spend some time chilling by the pool chatting with friends while the children all socialised with their mates. We ended the day with another impromptu BBQ with 4 adults and 12 children, fun was had by all.

Day 3 Tuesday First official Day of Campfest. With the camp officially starting at midday and a compliant stove agreeing to behave I spent the morning making a giant batch of sausage rolls (for lunch and snacks over the comming days). As the day progressed more and more families arrived and we started to get an idea of just how big this year was going to be. We all filled out info sheets and placed them on a central board and made introductions.

They did the ropes challenge






Day 4 Wednesday Campfest Day 2 Our first full day of camp started with activities, we completed the low ropes cousre first followed by a hike to the top of one of the nearby hills, this was somewhat of a challenge for me as I was left to carry Miss P & Mr C up. Once at the top we were all allowed to paint our names on a water tank. The night Saw the Trivia night and I have to say as somewhat of a trivia boffin I found at least three quarters of the questions a little on the difficult side. Inspired by this Mr B went on to organise a Kids Trivia" More on that later.

After walking up the hill we painted our names on the water tower
Miss P had the easy ride down
Stopping to pose of course
T waited for us so he could take turns piggy backing his little sister
Miss H was very content to watch from the pram

Electronics (Making an electric motor)

C was very impressed with Air hockey
He and I swam the most hands down
His swimming improved so much in the first few days
Linesbaby
One of our friends injured herself and had to spend a night in at Albury so we joined our tables for dinner, 10 kids with 2 adults
Mmmmm a mouthful of sand


Day 5 Thursday Campfest Day 3 Our second full day of camp started off with more low ropes followed by boomerang throwing. As dinner arrived Mr B who had been somewhat dismayed by the level of difficulty of the Wednesday trivia went on to organise a kids trivia night. He recruited some friends to sign up teams, he rallied prizes for every team he recruiter myself and one of the other dads to jot down some questions. He then went on to run the whole night s the quizz master, I scored and despite the "adults" table winning by a narrow margin they were promptly disqualified (which brought emense cheers from the kids). I was so proud of B, to see a ten year old step up, organise the whole thing from scratch including prizes then go on to read all the questions it was amazing. It brought tears to my eyes. They also abseiled again.

B Off the tower
C was a little nervous

Boomerang throwing (DUCK!!)
The kids found some great climing trees and swinging ropes
More ropes
B helping his little sister
Everyone chipping in to help the little ones
Its MY platform!

Face plant smiles
I helped with some of the meals
Chess masters
Before noticing mum with the camera
After
MB helped out with an impromptu swing display
Miss H was clearly Bored
I have a bit of a confession.................... I love to bead
B running the kids trivia night
Day 6 Archery



Too cool for school
Day 7 Obstacle Course
War paint





End of day 7 talent show, miss L and one of her friends did a dance
Miss H getting down with her boogy

Slightly sun burnt, Very tired
Disco
yeah it was hard getting a shot without shaking the camera as I cracked up laughing

Learnings:
- Diversity is awesome, we had so many families from the country, the city, from diferent countries, different nationalities, different religions it all added up to a brilliant group, parents and children alike.
- You cant beat socialisation, most non home ed peeps say "what about socialisation?" as soon as you tell them you home school. The best part about a socialising amongst other home schooled children is that they all get alone (more or less) there aren't the cliques or the other negative factors you find in a school playground.
- Footwear. Our biggest challenge was that the activities scheduled each day required closed toe footwear but with the amount of swimming our children where doing thongs were there preference so there was more than one occasion where we had to go searching for a pair of Miss P or Mr C's thongs. It was also just as chaotic finding socks for each child as they would take their shoes off to go swimming and leave them everywhere. Next year there will be one pair of closed toe sandals for each child to avoid constant swapping and lost socks. On a positive I wore my trusty Merrels and never pulled up sore despite hours on my feet.
- I Said it last year and we never got around to doing it but Walkie Talkies are a must for next year.

- Its hard work wrangling a large family spread over a place as big as camp fest, next year we may look at inviting MB's parents

- Cool down. With Camp finishing on the Sunday and me returning to work monday I'm pretty tired now, next year I think we shall take 3 days either side.

Awesome things I saw:
One of the highlights for me was hearing my 9 year old son Mr T and his mate (also 9) discussing creation theory vs evolution theory then digressing to covering greek mythology and how certain things crossed over to the bible. EG. Hercules was a demi-god who had a father who was a god and a mother who was mortal, does that make Jesus a demi god?"

Thats my memory dump of camp, there are heaps of parts i've missed, if you want to know more I suggest you sign up for 2012

We stopped at the Etamogah pub on the drive home, it was kind of lame

The look on MB's face tells what the condition of the place was like

Maids day off?
Le Boos


Well earned kips on the drive home