school fun

We have been back in school for three weeks now and the kids are loving year 1. The classes were rearranged so some of their classmates are new but many were in their class last year and others they know from out-of-school hours care. They have just started having homework. They have reading and spelling words to work on every night. They have a homework book to write out their words and they are very excited to sit down each evening to do their homework.

We are back into our busy weekend routines. By Saturday afternoon the kids are usually knackered. After school Friday they both do Auskick, which is Aussie Rules Football for kids. I think Ellie just loves all the kit you get for signing up, a backpack filled with goodies such as a football, water bottle and a collection of magnets, trading cards, kids magazines and other little things which are now littering up the house! After that they do martial arts. I usually pick them up before 1700 and we just have time to run home and get changed for T-Ball. Alex just loves T-Ball and unfortunately 3 out of the 4 sessions  this year have been rained out. Ellie enjoys watching and we get some time to chat. Last night it poured rain and Alex was the only T-Baller there. They couldn't play baseball but he had a blast playing rugby in the pouring rain with the big boys who help coach the sessions. We had our usual hotdog for dinner afterwards while waiting to see if they would cancel the A league game (the top amateur level) scheduled for later. We usually hang out and watch the men come in and start to warm up for the Friday night game. Last week Ellie correctly identified a quote played by the DJ as part of the pre-game trivia contest. She just walked right up to him to identify the movie the quote came from. She hadn't even told me she was going to answer the question. Saturday morning we are at the pool by 0700 for swim lessons. Alex is now swimming laps in the 25m pool for his lessons and they have just started learning breaststroke. Ellie is content to stay in the "warm" pool and is still improving although backstroke is what is keeping her from moving up a level. Later Saturday morning Alex has an hour soccer practice and Ellie is now doing three dance classes back-to-back-to-back. She has continued her ballet and modern jazz from last year and has now added tap. By the time we are done with lunch the kids are really tired!

Last Saturday night Emma and I went to the wedding of one of her good friends from work. The ceremony was held at a gorgeous church right by the river, St Mary's Anglican Church.

 The ceremony was lovely and drinks on the front lawn afterwards had a stunning view of the city. the reception was as the Green Papaya. The food was amazing and we all had a fabulous evening. Rick Swart and Cian and Niamh came over to watch the kid for us while we were out. Alex and Ellie have a blast hanging out with Cian and Niamh who are so good with the kids. Ellie got to work on lots of her art and craft projects she has and Niamh did an awesome job on her nails. Emma forgot to clean Ellie's nails before school on Monday so Ellie has already gotten in trouble for wearing makeup to school! (As Ellie said her teacher just gave her a warning and we had it off by Tuesday. )

Alex has become more studious already and loves to tell us how he goes to the library to read at lunch time this year. Last year he spent every minute he could playing on the playground. He loves playing sport, anything that is available. A new favorite now is water polo in the pool against me. We spend most of our pool time playing and the games get quite physical. It is perfect for him as he cannot stand in the pool and is getting good at dribbling and shooting. He has gotten so serious we had to go buy a real water polo ball as the soccer ball we were using just wasn't cutting it. He is getting much better at keeping his glasses on and thankfully we spend less time every week searching for misplaced glasses.

Ellie makes me forget everyday that she is still only five. This week in school her teacher asked for a "gr" word and the first word that came to Ellie when it was her turn was "gravity"! The other day she was talking with Emma about how she wants to go and build-a-bear at the bear shop at the mall. She told Emma that you can get a bear on credit and so she needs a credit card so she can go get a bear. At dinner tonight she and Alex broke out some of their jokes. It is nice that they can now actually tell real jokes. Ellie asked me how turtles communicate. The answer was "with shell phones"! After I chuckled she actually asked me "Do you get it Daddy?" then went on to explain why the joke was funny.

It is fast approaching three years since we said goodbye to Latha. We have tried to get her a visa to come visit us here but the application was rejected by the Australian government. So we have decided to go to Sri Lanka to see her over Easter Holiday.  Emma and the kids will leave a week before school lets out and I will join them when I finish. We will also spend a week at the same resort in the Maldives that Emma and I stayed at almost exactly 10 years ago while we were travelling. We will have a week altogether in Sri Lanka after our week in the Maldives before we travel back for the start of term 2.

One more day to rest up and then we are back to school!