Opa reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory to Amelie outside on our front porch.
Nana and Opa at Leighton Beach, Fremantle.
Pieter and Nana at Hamelin Bay where we saw the huge manta ray.
3 generations in hats at Busselton
Ella reading up in a tree at our rented house in Margaret River.
One of Opa Hans' creative, delicious recipes: Chicken Under a Brick (Margaret River)
Where the oceans converge.
Opa Allan teaching Amelie's class circus skills.
Mom and I playing tennis at East Fremantle Tennis Club with Swan River in background.
The first and only wild poisonous snake we've seen so far. Under a rock at the beach on Rottnest!
Biking on Rottnest Island, February
Rob hypnotizing a bold quokka at a cafe on Rottnest
Ella, Amelie and Pieter's first day of school Feb 1, 2010.
Pieter with Uncle Nick and Pba Ann at Australia Day fireworks down at the "North Mall" with beautiful ship in background.
Opa Allan going for a ride with Steve Irwin at Caversham Wildlife Park
Ella playing cricket on Rottnest
Dad and Maureen walking the kids to school with Perth skyline in background
Communion service at the beach at Busselton church retreat
Amelie and Charlie on the croc. at their 7th birthday party
Our pool with Mom, Allan, Nick and Ann.
Once again, the time is going by way too fast. I'm waking up each night feeling like I HAVE to update the blog before I forget everything so hopefully I can do a good job at recapping the past months. These past 2 months have involved 1. us moving, 2. my mom, Allan, step-bro Nick, and sister-in-law Ann (visiting from Thailand) visiting for 6 days, 3. kids starting up with new year at school (including Pieter - kindergarten!), 4. Mom and Al returning for a week, and 5. my Dad and Maureen coming to stay for 2 weeks.
It was great to finally meet Ann, my sister-in-law from Thailand. What a sweet and wonderful person she is. The kids absolutely loved her! Nick has been teaching English as a second language over there and loves his job! While they were here, with Mom and Al, it was very hot! Thankfully we had the pool and the beach. Actually, as I write this, I'm remembering that Ann was actually cold at times because it cooled down a bit at night and it's very hot in Thailand 9 months out of the year! We took them all to Caversham (the wildlife park) and they got to hang out with all the native animal, went to King's Park in Perth, went shopping in Perth, swam in the river, had an amazing Thai meal cooked for us, watched (way too much) Australian Open tennis, learned again to play Cribbage (Nick LOVES cribbage), had a wonderful dinner at Sardellos, and just hung out. It was a really great time and fun for all of us to meet up in Australia of all places! At the end of the 6 days, Nick and Ann went back to Thailand and Mom and Allan went to visit Uncle Frits and Aunt Els in Bali.
The kids started school on February 1st. Ella is now finally in 4th grade and has Mrs. Weston again :/. We were a bit disappointed by this because we thought it would be nice for Ella to have a different teacher. Also, she got separated from her great friends Samantha, Olivia and Millie. She's still in Tia and Tara's class, though. I went and talked to Mrs. Weston and said that she really needs to challenge and engage Ella because she loves to learn. Now Ella and 2 other girls go out of the class to do 5th grade math and Ella has asked for a report topic because the pace in the class is a bit slow. Not quite what I meant when I spoke to Mrs. Weston (having the girls teach themselves), but better than utter boredom in the classroom. Thankfully Ella is super self motivated and did her report(on Christopher Columbus), does Mathletics on-line and does a workbook daily. She never ever has homework that comes from school. When we return to the USA this summer Ella will be starting 5th grade so we really need her to know what she's doing.
Ella is really enjoying gymnastics, guitar, tennis, soccer and swim training. I don't know what happened but all of a sudden she's involved in all these things and loves every minute of them. Swimming is 2 days a week before school down by the river at Bicton Polo Pool (ending next week) and Tennis is 1 day a week before school (at the school). The swim training was for the school Swim Carnival, which was today (I'll talk about it later). Ella originally didn't want to do the swimming and now she's suddenly addicted. She wants to go again tomorrow morning (at 6:45) even though the carnival is over and she doesn't need to train for the Inter-school Carnival because she's not in it. Gymnastics is almost over and Soccer just started. They are just overlapping for a couple of weeks.
Amelie is in 2nd grade (!) and has Mrs. Maloney and Mrs. Button (whom she has called Buttmon for the 1st month because it said she was the teacher "Button - Mon and Tues" and she put them together thinking her name was Buttmon!!). The are both fabulous teachers. She was placed into a class with a wonderful group of girls who are much more like Amelie than the girls last year (here in Australia). They like to play pretend, do ballet, play with stuffed animals and dolls, and like the color pink! She's been having tons of play dates and hasn't mentioned home in a long time. Amelie is continuing to play catch-up in respect to school, as you can well imagine, and she's trying really hard. When Maureen/Nana was here (a retired elementary school teacher after 45 years of teaching), she worked each day with Amelie on math and really helped her and taught her in a much more patient way than I am capable of. She does a couple of pages of a math workbook every afternoon and also goes on Mathletics. Amelie is also taking swimming lessons and loves it. She's a great swimmer.
Pieter started Pre-primary, which is equivalent to Kindergarten! He can go to school 5 days a week from 8:45-3:00! It's non-compulsory so each week varies as to how many days he actually goes all day. He's totally thriving there and it will be difficult to recognize him when he gets back to the USA. He started off trying to be very brave, but just broke down each morning when it was time for me to leave and at lunchtime (because he missed ME...so cute). Now I've completely lost my status as "Mommy is the best" and it's all about Daddy! The teachers have been really wonderful to him understanding that a lot has been going on such as moving across the world, moving to a new house 1 week before the start of school, being the baby of the class, having a lot of visitors, etc... He made some really good friends: Matty, Joey, and Lucas D. who would seek him out and try to draw him in so he wouldn't be sad. NOW, he is loving school and every once in a while needs the teacher's aide or roster mom to sit with when I leave. He's actually become a real boy and has become a bit wild at times with all his new buddies. Then, other times I see hints of my sweet little boy who used to mostly had girls for friends. He did initially become friends with a little girl Bonnie and he said to me "Now I don't know who I'm going to marry, Julia or Bonnie?". Then 2 weeks ago he came home saying that he's realized who he is going to marry and "it starts with an L". "Elizabeth" is his new love and she is a beautiful sweet girl. Too funny that he even thinks about this at all. Pieter has been loving doing his math books and has been sounding out 3 letter words. He loves to learn! He's also an amazing little swimmer and can do a beautiful freestyle and backstroke!
2 days after school started, Mom and Allan returned from their 5 day trip to Bali. We had lots of fun going to play tennis several times (as the kids were all at school now), going to AQWA (an amazing aquarium up north), going on a Fremantle Prison tour (now a historical museum (stopped having prisoners only 15 years ago)- which I had to leave because I got a call from Pieter's school that he was inconsolable), going out to lunch, buying souvenirs and going to Rottnest Island.
Amelie's 7th birthday was on February 5th so we decided to go to Rottnest Island for the night. This is 17 km off the coast of Fremantle. We took the kids out of school at 11:00 to catch the 11:30 ferry (Rob was arriving on the 7:30 ferry). When we got to the parking lot I could not find a spot anywhere and we were running out of time! In the end, I had to park the car in a random lot, didn't even have the chance to pay for any kind of parking ticket because I'd run out of time, left the door unlocked with the key under the mat and ran as fast as I could to get on the ferry. I just made it! Now what?? I called my friend and saviour, Janelle, and she drove down to the lot, moved my car, fought over a parking spot and found and paid for an ideal spot! Thank God for mobile phone and amazing and willing friends!!
To get there we took the highspeed ferry which got us there in 45 minutes. This is an amazingly beautiful, tropical and extremely expensive place. The 7 of us rented a "Villa" for the night in Longreach Bay. We took the bus to Longreach, the only free thing on the island, got off and immediately saw some wild quokkas. Quokkas are little marsupials, the size of a rabbit, which are very cute and very tame. We pet them until we read the signs that said "Don't touch or feed the quokkas". Amelie got her greatly desired camera from Oma and us and took many pictures of the cute little guys. We then walked to "The Basin" (about 1 km from our place). This was a bay that had all kinds of limestone in the water that you could snorkel in and cool limestone formations along the shore that Ella read in and under. It was spectacular. The water was so clear and an aqua color. I couldn't believe that we could be experiencing such beauty and snorkeling so close to home and in February!!
We were going to eat dinner at the local cafe and then decided last minute to take the bus to Thompson Bay where we had first arrived. I looked at the bus schedule and realized it was leaving NOW and then not again for another hour. I told Ella to run out there and hold the bus (half joking, but deeperate). Mom and Al were half dressed and struggling to hurry up. The bus actually listened to Ella and waited! By the time we all got on, which felt like an eternity but was probably 3 minutes, everyone clapped and was laughing. Apparently, the bus had picked everyone up at the stop and was leaving when Ella came along and said "WAIT!" and then took off again to tell us the bus was waiting. Came back with most of us and the bus went to leave again and she said "No, there's more". Anyway, this is such a perfect example of Aussies for you: they are so laid back and have a great sense of humor. We thanked them profusely and the of course said "No worries" and thought the whole thing was hilarious!
Anyway, we had a nice bday dinner once Rob arrived, with quokkas wondering around our feet. The little kids and I took the bus back and the rest walked under the beautiful moon. The next day we all rented bikes (Piet and Amelie in a bike trailer), except Oma who wasn't feeling great, and had a blast exploring this beautiful and hilly (!) island. We stopped at this one bay and did some amazing snorkeling and finally saw our first real venomous snake in the wild. It was hiding under a rock on the beach. It wasn't little at all! When Ella and I snorkeled out along the rope we got a bit freaked out and had to swim back. I am WAY too terrified of sharks.
When we were waiting for ferry at the end of the day, Rob, Al and Ella were sitting on a ledge watching some guys play cricket. The ball flew in Rob's direction and he caught it so they were all invited to join in on the game. It was so fun! When we entered the Swan River on the way home we saw a few dolphins in the river. So incredible.
In the 2 1/2 weeks after Mom and Al left and before Dad and Maureen arrived we had BBQs with friends, lots of plays with friends and lots of swimming in our pool, made dinner for the teens at church and ate with them, had all Pieter's new buddies and moms over after school for swim, and had Amelie's birthday party. For Amelie's 7th birthday we had a joint party with her friend Charlie as their birthdays are just 1 week apart. We had it outside at the Fremantle Leisure Centre pool with 30 kids. This will probably be Amelie's only outside summer February birthday party as a kid. There was a huge blow-up crocodile that the kids climb on, over and slide down. It was a perfect day and the kids had a blast and got way too many presents!
We also went to Bussleton (3 hours south of Perth) for a 3 day weekend family church camp. I can't even begin to describe how amazing this was in all ways. First of all, the government gave all these religious organizations a plot of land, right on the ocean and a 100 year lease. They call this area "the Holy Mile" because it's just church camp after church camp for about a mile. At our camp there were several dorms with individual rooms with bunks for families or friends and 4 self-contained cottages for families with very young children. There was a large female and large male bathroom facility, dining area and kitchen, great room with ping pong and tennis courts. Best of all, we were right on the beach!!! Soft white sand and super clear water. The theme of the weekend was "The Amazing Race" and Rob and I were responsible for 6 different challenges to help people earn points. This was just amazing weekend with our fabulous new friends, beautiful surroundings, gorgeous weather, and great challenges and Bible Studies from Andrew.
This is what I shared with a couple of friends after the weekend about what I'd learned: "We've been studying Habbakuk. This weekend we studied Habbakuk 3 and praising God in spite of your circumstances. That when we get discouraged we should think about the fact that our names are written in Heaven and that that is real approval! We need to remember and keep repeating the great truths of God over and over until they penetrate our souls and minds. We need to remember who God is always and then rejoice and trust in His divinity and His plan. Reading the Bible and all the tough things that people went through makes you realize that in the end God's plan was always achieved and always the best. Then we went to 1 Peter 1 and that in order to be a Christian, we must be born again; a new birth into a living hope. That Jesus should become our joy and delight and that He should be the one who makes us full. Then our pastor talked about idols that we have right now that we think will make us full: house, job, electronics, etc... and I realized that I have made my kids my idols. That it is through them that I feel "full" or "empty". When they behave well, I am so full, when they don't... You get the picture."
The day after the retreat Dad and Maureen arrived for 2 weeks. We had a great time seeing the sites, going to The Shipwreck Museum (Dad's favorite), galleries, The Round House, Art Museum in Perth, souvenir shopping, the Fremantle Markets (searching for pink peppercorns), Dad cooking amazing meals, a real Aussie barbie at the park with friends using the public grilles, and the beach. We also went to Margaret River (down South) and rented a great little house for the weekend. We went down to Augusta where the Indian Ocean and Southern/Antarctic Ocean converge! That was really cool. Went to Hamelin Bay and immediately saw a HUGE manta ray swimming along the shore. On Sunday we went to a vineyard called Knee Deep, saw wild kangaroos and had fish 'n chips in Busselton. During their time here, Maureen was a fabulous help with laundry and doing math with Amelie. She was much more affective and patient with Ams than I ever am! Dad, as I mentioned before, made some delicious meals for us and also shared a lot of family history, which I loved! He even emailed me a few of the stories so that now I can have them forever seeing that my puny memory is not so good. Dad also read to Pieter and Amelie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at night. I remember him reading this to us as kids and my brother, Pieter, saying he wanted 5 Oompa-Loompas for his birthday.
Now I'll go on to the next entry: Turning 40 and going to EXMOUTH!
posted by Marileen
This is what I shared with a couple of friends after the weekend about what I'd learned: "We've been studying Habbakuk. This weekend we studied Habbakuk 3 and praising God in spite of your circumstances. That when we get discouraged we should think about the fact that our names are written in Heaven and that that is real approval! We need to remember and keep repeating the great truths of God over and over until they penetrate our souls and minds. We need to remember who God is always and then rejoice and trust in His divinity and His plan. Reading the Bible and all the tough things that people went through makes you realize that in the end God's plan was always achieved and always the best. Then we went to 1 Peter 1 and that in order to be a Christian, we must be born again; a new birth into a living hope. That Jesus should become our joy and delight and that He should be the one who makes us full. Then our pastor talked about idols that we have right now that we think will make us full: house, job, electronics, etc... and I realized that I have made my kids my idols. That it is through them that I feel "full" or "empty". When they behave well, I am so full, when they don't... You get the picture."
The day after the retreat Dad and Maureen arrived for 2 weeks. We had a great time seeing the sites, going to The Shipwreck Museum (Dad's favorite), galleries, The Round House, Art Museum in Perth, souvenir shopping, the Fremantle Markets (searching for pink peppercorns), Dad cooking amazing meals, a real Aussie barbie at the park with friends using the public grilles, and the beach. We also went to Margaret River (down South) and rented a great little house for the weekend. We went down to Augusta where the Indian Ocean and Southern/Antarctic Ocean converge! That was really cool. Went to Hamelin Bay and immediately saw a HUGE manta ray swimming along the shore. On Sunday we went to a vineyard called Knee Deep, saw wild kangaroos and had fish 'n chips in Busselton. During their time here, Maureen was a fabulous help with laundry and doing math with Amelie. She was much more affective and patient with Ams than I ever am! Dad, as I mentioned before, made some delicious meals for us and also shared a lot of family history, which I loved! He even emailed me a few of the stories so that now I can have them forever seeing that my puny memory is not so good. Dad also read to Pieter and Amelie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at night. I remember him reading this to us as kids and my brother, Pieter, saying he wanted 5 Oompa-Loompas for his birthday.
Now I'll go on to the next entry: Turning 40 and going to EXMOUTH!
posted by Marileen
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