Father's Day 2009

Father's Day is quite the event in the US and the third date on which we have celebrated it[1]. It's almost as big as Mother's Day and very similar in many ways -- breakfast in bed, children shower you with presents and adoration and generally have a bit of a bludge. Ariana is usually the one who insists on providing the breakfast in bed and made me a couple of things with an Australian theme, Vegemite on toast and a glass of cold Milo[2]. The presents were a bit light on the further you went up the child tree but Micah, with the help of his mother, complemented the Australian breakfast with Nanny's favourite stand-by present, a packet of Iced Vo-Vos. And Bryna presented a lovely photo of herself, courtesy of her kindergarten teacher. Ariana and Mara also made a pair of thoughtful cards. Actually, they usually are a pair of cards those two but this time they constructed some as well.

The children gave me a bit of time-off to rest during the afternoon and by evening Gaynor had even managed to coax, not exactly adoration, but certainly a positive comment from Joshua.



[1] Australia: First Sunday in September.
Germany: Ascension Day. Actually, it slipped by, forgotten, one year and wasn't much of a deal the other years. Here's why.
USA: Third Sunday in June.

[2] Spoils of Gaynor's recent journey back to Oz.

Summer Holiday Plans 2009

After saving up my holiday time from work we are thinking about a couple of weeks away. Specifically, a trip to Vancouver, BC, Canada to renew our US visas and a trip to a campground in northern California where we intend to do pretty much nothing for as long as we can get away with it. Perhaps somewhere near Yosemite or Lassen National Forest with a couple of day trips to see the sights. So, glaciers and geysers in one holiday. What's not to like? :)

Rugby 2009

Being Australian we do enjoy a lot of sports and, having left the country, we often go to some lengths to ensure our children receive a good sporting education. This usually involves grabbing relevant sporting events -- Tri Nations, Super 14, State of Origin, AFL Grand Final -- from the internet since they don't receive a whole lot of coverage here. While the education is a whole family affair, the boys, in particular, also enjoy playing. So we felt relatively fortunate to have found a rugby club within half an hour of our place.

The club itself has only been going a couple of seasons, this season fielding both U16 and U19 sides for the first time. Rugby has an odd reputation here in the US, at least here in southern California. It is generally viewed as a brutal game without rules. Generally, American football high school coaches don't want their players playing it for fear of injury. So consequently, the first practice of the season -- which runs January to April -- was bit light on with only six boys. I chatted with the coach, who had supplied a couple of the boys, and appreciated that he was working hard to develop a club with a traditional rugby team culture. I was a little concerned before hand that even rugby might have been infected by the American competitive hype and drive in sports. There were a couple of teams that we played who seemed to have bought into that but, by and large, it was usually sane.

Elijah has always been the most keen to play but Joshua -- who revels in being a bit different from many of the other teenagers in some ways -- also joined in, preferring fly-half to Elijah's wing, centre or fullback. Unfortunately with only a U16 side available the boys were punching above their weight most of the season. The good news is that by the end of the season the club was sporting a roster of over fifty. Our boys did their part in spreading the word with a total of five friends training and playing for the season and a few more who came along to check it out. Too much running for some of those however. The ones who did stick it out loved virtually every minute of it, even when the team didn't perform so well. The fact that rugby allows most of the players to be involved most of the time (well, except for those glory wingers) makes it a fun game to play. I'm hoping they'll get involved again next season too. They'll only enjoy it more with a season under their belts. Oh and Elijah and Josh managed a try each during the season. :D

I also got involved in the administrative side of things. There were three coaches for the club and one of them was handling all the paperwork so it was the least I could do. Having never really played myself, I don't feel qualified to coach but administration I can usually do without too much trouble. We ended up with some great parents contributing to the club and we will only have a better season next year. I can't wait. In the meantime, we'll just have to get by barracking for the Reds and the Wallabies.

Joshua looks for the ball.

Elijah with the ball in hand.

One of the boys' friends (back left) who took up rugby after hearing the boys rave on about it.

More photos of the team.

Broken Boy Elijah

The wrist was first (aggressive inline skating). The knee came after coming off a scooter he wasn't supposed to be on.

Movie Insufficient for Gaynor

Even though we've lived and travelled across different parts of the globe now we still pine for the fjords of Australia.[1] Though it has only been just over four years, sometimes it feels like a different life. A couple of months ago we went along with my visiting brother Martin -- who has been out of Australia much longer than us -- and his wife to see Australia. We quite liked the film; fabulous cinematography, great story and what's not to like about Hugh Jackman? But it also didn't help Gaynor's missing-Australia itch, which she's had for a while now.

So when some relatively cheap tickets to Australia became available we had to make a decision. And the decision was that all children who had lived more than half their lives outside Australia were eligible for a return visit. Conveniently, this meant that the youngest (and therefore, cheapest) two would be heading back and Gaynor, obviously, would need to accompany a still-breast-fed Micah. So it was a win all round -- except for the older children, whom we considered already fortunate having lived more than half their lives in Australia. The next part of the conversation at the family meeting went something like this,

"Well, we would all very much like to go back to Australia but unfortunately that's not financially possible at this stage. So those children who are staying here, not only won't be able to go to Australia, but you'll also need to do extra work, picking up those jobs that your mother would normally do -- cooking, a lot of the cleaning, most of the washing etc. We realise that this is a tough ask, so what we'd like to do is shamelessly bribe you."

To this they all agreed and eventually -- after much negotiation, as is the norm in our house -- they decided on a new computer, primarily for the children. And so, yesterday we picked up a new Mac mini. This bribe also has the added benefit of getting the children out of my study.

Thus Gaynor is now set to fly back into Australia on the 4th of May and will be there for the entire remainder of the month. She'll spend most of that time in Brisbane with a week in Canberra. So while she may not be able to catch up with Hugh Jackman or Nicole Kidman, she will be spending a reasonable amount of time with family and close friends. And I believe that'll be sufficient for the time being.


[1] Though we do prefer kipping on our backs.