Gorgeous girls

C girl recently got the urge to shop (don't fall over). She wanted a special dress for the gala dinner after the sports competition she was competing in over in Kuala Lumpur (more on that when the photos are on the computer (there was a major hiccup)).

She spotted this dress in March and wanted to go back and see if it was still there - she was in luck. Luckily the shoes were close by and the total shopping time from our door back to our door was 1.25 hours - and that included a lap of ACE hardware. These photos were to show off the dress for our friends who popped over.

Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.......would it.........

But this one - hold the butter

You can dress a girl up - but you can't make her act like one.

Please note - this was a sunday - we have no staff on sundays and can do massive damage in a very small time (especially when there are 4 sports bags to be packed and they haven't already been done for some reason).

The Countdown is almost over

We are anxiously counting down to Wednesday for the interschool sports being held in Kuala Lumpur. C girl is representing her school in Football (soccer), T ball, Swimming and Athletics.

She has been getting up at 5:30 every Tuesday and Thursday (since easter) to do swim practice and has done 2 semesters of competitive soccer in order to be picked on the team. Since easter she has done 14 hours of training a week, both before and after knowing she was on the team (and there are some kids who are the reserve who won't be going, but they have still done the training -now that is tough). 6 girls and 6 boys were selected from Year 4, 5 and 6 (about 96 kids in each year group) - so it has been very competitive.

She is VERY excited. I am VERY excited (because there is no way she is going alone). Jay is excited because he is getting to go on Friday - Sunday. Munchkin and Bear are being bribed because they want to come but we know they will not appreciate the waiting between events, bus trips, airport terminals etc (plus babysitting when the parents social events are on).

She isn't staying with us. The kids have to stay with their team in a seperate hotel. The parents stay next door and have been looking forward to this nearly as much as the kids.

This photo was taken minutes after they won the final. If you had a photo of the spectators (that were from our school) - they look almost as elated as these girls.

Fingers crossed we will get a repeat of last year's soccer result. No. 1, No. 1........no really - it's all about the kids having fun (honestly). Don't they look like they are having fun.

But seriously - they are going away with their best friends to do something they love doing. There are social dinners every night, a big gala dinner on Sat night and NO SCHOOL WORK for 3 days plus they spend sunday doing fun stuff before coming home in the afternoon. If they don't win everything - they are still going to come home very happy, because that is not the focus of the games (there is no winning school).

Wish us luck - all messages of luck should be sent directly to C girl......her phone will be on.

BWA Fashion Show

Went to the BWA fashion show in May. It's the end of the balls for the year (northern hemisphere school year) and we now have to wait now until September for the ANZA ball (yes getting a dress made as we speak).

Believe it or not - I felt like I looked a million dollars. But I don't have a single picture to back it up. This photo was taken at 1am and I really should have put an effort into sucking in that gut. Not the best (far too much sweating from dancing for 2 hours), but I felt I was confidently not looking the best.

We had to leave early so the family could compete in a Biathlon the next morning.

Sambolo

We went to Sambolo in March for the long weekend. It happened to be Jenjen and Jay's birthday so it was a double celebration. We stayed in our usual 4 bedroom bungalow.....6 kids, 4 adults (a 5th adult for one night) and one spare bedroom (not when the 5th adult was there).....you do the math...and we chose this.

Yes - she does surf. This isn't her board - but who says five year olds can't have fun (okay - 5 years 11 months). She had a great time while GJ stood out in the surf for 4 hours helping her. You've got to admit - she has surfer chick written all over her - just glad she's doing the surfing and not waiting patiently on the beach for some boy.........

There really is something special about catching waves.....I love it....in fact the whole time Munchkin surfed, I was boogie boarding just meters away.....it had nothing to do with wanting to be there incase I needed to help.....nothing at all. C girl was very cautios - but at least she was out there.....baby steps.

In fact we all have the bug for boogie boarding.......the alternative of course is the river. But for some reason the kids felt overdressed for that one.

Going to Ocean Queen next month for a long weekend (before the Aussie tour).....kids are not going in the ocean at all. Have only recently read the story of a family with children older than ours. 3 of the 4 family members (both parents) almost drowned along with 4 other adults in their party. These were not people who didn't know how to swim. We are using the pool and believe me - not going past our ankles in the ocean. We may sound pathetic - but the ocean here is unlike anything that I have ever encountered. I just want to come home and still have 5 people in my family.....happy thoughts.

Update cause I'm too lazy to think of a name

Hi,

long time no writing. Sorry about that.

It's not that I haven't been doing anything - it's that I have been doing so much.

Time is counting down until C girl goes to Kuala Lumpur for her interschool sports. We are so excited - we have now officially broken the one week to go mark.........wednesday here we come. I am going on the same flight and Jay is flying Friday morning and coming back sunday morning (we are flying back Sunday afternoon). I say we, but I mean me.......she is staying with the school and we are staying in the adjacent hotel.....not allowed to stay in the same hotel. It will be great - not only parent get together time, but supporting their team time (6 boys and 6 girls in each team, 4 different sports (T ball, Soccer, Athletics and Swimming). She has put a tonne of effort into her swimming this semester and wants to continue now from this point on.......got to say - I don't mind the early mornings and I have been going in with her - I want it to continue as well.

I have just come back from Kalimantan (the Indonesia state on the island of Borneo). I got to fly 1 hour instead of having to sit in the back of landcruiser for 10 hours (with bumps the size of the road and 1m deep - truly). Left monday morning - back Wed night - quickest trip ever.

We went to Singapore a few weeks ago. It was a great family vacation. Jay has been travelling too much (even missed easter holidays with us). We went with our friends and had a really nice time.

This photo was taken in Feb or March. I just worked out how to download (slack aren't I). All in soccer clothes for the 3 of the 5 games we had that day (Jay had one and C girl had another one in the afternoon). I think they look gorgeous.

t

More soon - will post some photos now that I have some (thanks Jenjen for giving me a cd with some).

Saddest thing - C girls very good friend who is a boy is leaving on the tuesday after interschool sports. I'm very sad on two fronts - his Mum has become a great friend, plus - he is a close friend of hers. They will be missed a lot......why do people have to care about silly things like careers that move families all over the globe.......okay.......we all might be guilty of that......