Summer Day

What a great day we had yesterday!

The day began at 4:30 with Azariah waking up and asking for an ice block.

We began watering the plants early. We've developed a system where I fill up a larger bucket with water and Zem gets a smaller bucket and pours water onto the pots  and plants. Azariah also gets a bucket and pours water onto himself.

We got our windscreen replaced yesterday. The crack in it was getting bigger every day. (It started when a truck threw a rock at us on our trip from Brisbane in late December). The boys and I decided to spend some time down at the beach while we waited for the work to be done. The shop wasn't far from Front Beach, so that was a natural choice and we got to see other parts of the beach that we hadn't really been to yet.

There was a small shelter dedicated to the 'Catalina' floating planes which apparently had 11 squadron and 20 squadron stationed in Bowen during the 2nd world war. The whole place was quite nicely done. The tide was out and we could see many different birds out sifting through the sand looking for crustaceans and worms. Further on and we went to the playground where we usually spend our time. The boys spent most of the time wanting to play on the wheelchair swing. Which I'm not sure I understand entirely because it couldn't move without a key. Anyway, they played quite happily on/around it for about 20 minutes - until I got bored and decided to try something else.

Next, we went and had a water drinking party on one of the tables there. Bowen water is notoriously unreliable and potentially health threatening but I decided to chance it. The boys were definitely thirsty and we also enjoyed watching the black cockatoos in the she-oaks above. Following our drinks, I tried to get Zem interested in tree climbing by putting him up in a tree fork (about my head height). He wasn't too fussed at first, but got more interested when he could see the ants that were crawling up the tree. Even so, he was keen for me to try it. So down he came and up I went. It wasn't the easiest tree to get a hold of and up, but eventually I made it and Zem loved it. Azariah was watching from a safe distance in the pram. Now Zem wanted up as well. I couldn't reach him so we exchanged places. This time he liked it more and signed for me to go up, up, up (to the count of 10). (Which, for the uninitiated, means that he wants me to go up the tree as high as humanly possible). I decided that it was time to go try something else.

Next stop was the rocks. These rocks were used by the original surveyors to lay out the town. I released Azariah and both he and Zem had a lot of fun climbing up the rocks to get me. The only problem was that these rocks were out in the sun and so the boys got a little pink from this activity.

From there, we still had a few minutes to wait, so we went to the IGA nearby, besides being air conditioned, it still had a few low quality peaches remaining. (Because of the floods down south, all our fresh food up north has not gotten through. So we have a lot of empty shelves at the moment.) I got a peach each for the boys and we sat down outside to eat them. That done, it was time to go and get our car and drive home.

We had only been home for a few minutes (long enough to each a sandwich each and hop into bed) when Sharlene came in through the door - early home from work. The boys had a short sleep and then what to do? Why what else but go outside and chase and catch grass hoppers. And that kept everyone entertained until it was time for tea, baths and bed.

Thanks for a good day boys.