Amelie, with John and Darla Barber (USA), lost another tooth!
Amelie, Ella and Angus with their blow fish at the Swan River
Halloween 2009 in our front yard
Halloween 2009
So, what have we been doing for the last 3 1/2 weeks? We haven't gone anywhere exotic or gone on any excursions, we've just been enjoying day to day life in Western Australia. We've continued to get together with friends for tea, lunch, dinner, and play dates.
Halloween came and went without much hype. We actually weren't really sure if we were going to do anything at all because Australia, for the most part, does NOT do Halloween. It was impossible to find any decorations. On the morning of, my friend Amanda called and said "What are you doing tonight?" and I said "No plans, but feel we should do a little something". Next thing you know we had 25 people over for pizza and all went out trick or treating. I said "Amelie, you are going to be a cheetah (turned princess) and Pieter, you will be Batman". They were very compliant though somehow Amelie turned into a princess and we completely forgot that she was to be a cheetah. Ella was a phantom. At trick or treat time, we divided into 2 groups, older kids and younger kids, and went in 2 directions. We went from house to house. Most people had no idea it was Halloween and a lot of people weren't even home (or pretended not to be). Every 5th house we'd get someone who actually had some "lollies" (that's what they call candy here). I also carried around a bag of candy that I'd give the kids a piece of when they struck out too many houses in a row. The kids probably each got about 7 pieces of candy in total, but they didn't care (Rob and I were a bit disappointed, however :-) ). It was very fun.
The girls started "In Term swimming" on November 2. This is when for 2 weeks everyone in the school has a swimming lesson every day. Every primary school in the country does this. Each grade has a time slot when they go and a bus transports them. They wear their "bathers" to school and when it's time to go they strip down to their bathers, grab their towel and goggles and head to the bus. They change back into their clothes once they return to school. The first day of swimming the kids get assessed as to which swimming level they are in. Well, I always thought my girls were good, strong swimmers. Not according to Australian standards! Amelie was in level 2/9 and Ella was in level 4/9! The kids in Australia are fantastic swimmers with amazing swimming strokes. I cannot believe how much the girls improved in 2 weeks. I'm a bit annoyed at the YMCA back home and how disorganized they are. We've put a lot of time and money towards swimming lessons and I realize now that they never taught any technique. Here it is all very structures and well thought out how exactly to get the kids to eventually get it right.
Pieter is also loving his swimming lessons and swims like a fish. He's been working on his own form of freestyle which is pretty cool. Ella continues to LOVE her guitar lessons. She is picking it up very quickly and spends a lot of time practicing. Her guitar teacher is impressed with how well she is doing.
Tuesday, November 3rd, was Melbourne Cup Day which is basically when all of Australia stops for 3 minutes for a horse race in Melbourne. The girls were at school, but Amanda, her daughter Tara, Pieter and I watched it at our house and I rooted for "Newport". He got in 10th. Oh well.
I'm still running with Janelle once a week. I'm finally able to run up the hills at the end of our run, but it's tough. I don't know if I previously mentioned that I saw a dolphin in the river during one of our runs. Unfortunately, Pieter missed it and the dolphin dove down not to be seen again. There are also pelicans standing on wooden posts in the water. So cool!! I'm absolutely loving my tennis lessons! I've been going to play on Wednesday nights as well where you get put into doubles teams. Usually with all girls first and then mixed doubles. The first week I went I was horrendous! I spent my whole night apologizing. But, I noticed that I had improved when I went for my next lesson, so I humbled myself and gave it another shot and have done much better since. I can understand now why people get addicted to playing tennis.
We went down to the Swan River with our friends, the Grants, one afternoon to do a little fishing. The kids and dads stood out on the pier with rods and caught all these little blow fish (blowies). They had a blast! Then we hiked along a trail through the bush and came out to these lookouts that were overlooking 30 foot high limestone cliffs. It was amazing. Apparently there is really good snorkeling down below so Ella has made us promise that we will return with snorkeling gear next time.
Amelie has been losing teeth like crazy! She has lost 3 in the past month and has 3 more slightly wiggly ones. Now we're trying to gently encourage her to stop sucking her thumb. Hard to break those old habits. To make matters worse Pieter has picked up thumb sucking since we moved here! He'd never sucked his thumb before. Why not do it if his roommate Amelie is, right?
For the past few weeks at school all anyone could talk about or think about was "The Fete". This takes place every 4 years and is the huge fundraiser for the school. It's put on by the P&C (PTO) and takes place on The Oval (school yard). The moms and art teacher have been working non-stop creating things to sell at the fete. Almost all of the money earned the day of is profit as most everything is donated. I helped my friend Pia decorate fairy wands and provided our freezer to store all kinds of bottles of concentrated lemon cordial to make lemonade. The Fete was on Nov. 14th and it was a gorgeous sunny, warm day. Ella spent all her money and all her time on the pony rides. She was in her glory. Amelie and Pieter did some activities and got their faces painted. I worked at the Crazy Nail stall and painted nails with designs (I know, I never knew I could either) and Rob and I both worked at the Sausage Sizzle with Janelle and Andrew. The P&C earned $50,000! Unlike the USA (and rest of the world), Western Australia is having a bit of an economic boom. Just a little side note, sausage sizzles are huge here! Everyone has them for parties and fund raisers. It's just a sausage (and onion) in a roll. Not my thing, but I'm told they're good.
Andrew has been doing a series on the "I am" statements in the gospel of John. They have been blowing me away and really convicting me. "I am the vine" and his last "I am" were particularly amazing. You can down load his podcasts if you want to. Google "East Fremantle Baptist Church in East Fremantle" to get the website.
Sunday was the Fremantle Festival Parade. It was another beautiful day and held in downtown Fremantle. This was a very bohemian and eccentric parade with all kinds of people and funny things. For example, there was a man lying down in a motorized rolling bathtub and another man sitting in a motorized rolling big cushy chair. It was hilarious. We ran into a bunch of guys from Rob's work in the USA down there and hung out for a drink with them afterwards.
Monday Rob surprised the girls by picking them up from school and bringing them shopping. This wasn't typical "girls" shopping. Rob had been promising Ella a terrarium for collecting critters and he wanted to follow through with that. In the end, Amelie came home with a crazy crab named "Racer", I mean "Sparks", oh no it's "Stars" and for now it's "Fasty". I think the poor thing is going through an identity crisis. And, Ella came home with a little aquarium that is now housing 5 tiny tadpoles from her friend Samantha's pond. So much for the "No pets in Australia" rule. They are taking very good care of these beloved pets. Thankfully they don't stink (Daffy), yet, and we don't have to feed them crickets (Taco).
Last but not least, we had another BBQ last night with 16 GUYS from Rob's work. They were mostly US guys here to do a certification and a few Aussies from the East. We had a great night and Ella was a star and put Amelie and Pieter to bed. Hallelujah for our mature and willing 9 year old daughter!
We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of my in-laws, Auntie Emily and Uncle John Ross! They landed in Sydney this morning and will arrive in Perth Saturday. They will be with us until 12/3. We can't wait!!
Well, that's it. We are continually blessed in this beautiful, amazing place. We also continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers! God bless!
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