Let me tell you about Fridays!!

Let me tell you about Fridays! Back in January sometime, Marie invited me to have coffee on a Friday morning. Well, most Friday mornings after the morning school assembly, there is a group of women that meet for coffee at Litani's. This is a Lebanese coffee shop that is on the next block from the school. Well, needless to say, these women have become really good friends. They are always helpful in explaining things I don't understand and listening when I am excited about something from home. Above is Donna, Kate, Maria, Marie and Corrine.
In the afternoon, the same group meets again at about 2 pm. So above is Renee, Sonia, Kate, Me Marie, Donna, Maria and Maria. It is sort of a standard date and anyone who can make it is invited. So it maybe just 2 or 10 of us but we share laughs and coffee.

Culture in the Sydney CBD

There is lots of entertainment as you walk along the streets. John enjoyed the bagpiper
This artist is making chalk drawings.
Sam and John are watching a guitar player entertain.
Sam really enjoyed the hip-hop dancers. We had to pull him away and then he kept trying to "dance" as we continued shopping. We had a good time in Sydney. We are beginning to learn our way around. This time we drove in. The other times we have gone to Sydney, we took the train. We still have things we want to see there so I am sure we will be back.

Sydney CBD

We spent the day in Sydney in the CBD (Central Business District) or shopping district. There are a few beautiful malls that are from the Victorian period with amazing architecture. The shops are high end specialty shoppes--like hats, purses, antique and designer jewelery, Individual designers have stores here. John, Kait and Sam are standing in front of The Strand.
This is the inside of The Strand. In the center is a coffee shop. It goes up two more levels and there is a lower level as well.
This photo is in front of the Queen Victoria Building which is also beautiful. It had Coach, Esprit, Swarvoski, and many high end designers store fronts.
Kait got new glasses in Wollongong on Friday and she wanted you to see the new updated Kait!

Kait's Play

Kait had her mid-year performance for her drama class at Illawarra Performing Arts Center on Friday Night. She was Alice in Wonderland for a skit, "Humpty Dumpty is Missing."


"Alice" is interrogating Henny Penny on the where abouts of Humpty Dumpty. This was a simplified performance with the characters as the only props.
Some of the characters pause for a photo in front of the real box office for the theater. From left to right, The artist formerly known as the Handsome Prince, Henny Penny, Sam Spade, Alice in Wonderland, The troll of billy goat gruff, Police Chief.
Fiona, is Kait's Drama Teacher. She is fantastic with the children!!

Wollongong Diocese Netball Gala Day

Kait represented the school in the netball tournament yesterday. She had a great time and did quite well. I had not seen netball played so it was learning day for me too. The game is most similiar to basketball and is a traditional girls sport in Australia, although there are increasing boys teams. There is a hoop, like basketball, but no backboard. The girls have defined positions. For example in this picture Kait was Goal Shooter (GS). Her other teammate in the photo is Wing Attack (WA). There are also positions called Goal Defense, Goal Keeper, Goal Assist, Wing Defense, and Center. The ball can only be moved by passing and only the two offensive goal positions can score. In the defense position, the opponent's feet must be 1 meter from the offense's feet--so you cannot get too close. There is much more to this game than I can describe here but the girls had a great time and it was quite fun to watch.


Here is Kait GS and her teammate GA scoring. All other players , like the Wing Attack, must stay out of the semi-circle.
Kait played Center in this game. She was responsible for throwing the ball in from a center circle to begin play. She could move all over the court --just not in the shooting semi-circle. So they are watching the offense--goal shooter, goal assist and the defense--goal keeper and goal defense under the basket.
They played 7 twenty-minute games. It was a busy day!! Kait, Emma, and Vy are in the front. Rachel, Grace, Holly, Becky, Madeline, Naimh, Carmen and Edwina is peeking over the back. All of these girls are year 5. Bronte and Ally chose not to play. I think all of the girls in Kait's class are coming over for her birthday party on July 4th--So I will have more pictures of them soon.

Saint Francis Xavier Athletics Carnival

Kait and Sam participated in the school athletics carnival. It was a track meet with the kids competing by age group in track and field events. What an exciting day. It was cold(about 58 degreesF) and windy, but the kids had a really fun time. They did the 200m and 100m run, the high jump, long jump, discus and shot put. There was a short bus ride across town to use the Beaton Park facility. Without any practice or specific instruction the kids just began competing. Sam is doing the long jump. I am not sure of his distance or place on this one. We will have to wait until Friday's assembly to find out for sure. But he did quite well.


Kait is running in the 200 meter dash. She was so happy at the end of the day. She kept repeating, "I broke my losing streak!!! I got 2nd in the discus!!!
Kait and her mates waiting to do the high jump. From the left, Kait, Alison, Edwina, Rachel.

Sam's high jump. It took him a few tries to get better form. A few times the bar moved but it didn't fall.
He kept going round after round. He finally got out at 1meter and 10 cm. That gave him 2nd place! He also thinks he got 1st in the shot put, 4th in the 200 and 100 run. I will let you know the official score on Friday after the assembly.

Girls Night/Boys Night

Friday Night, the guys went to a rugby match and the girls went to the theater. Shawn, John, Alex and Sam went to see the Illawarra Dragons play the Brisbane Broncos in a footy game. Helen, Emma, Kait and I went to see "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at the Illawarra Performing Arts Center (IPAC). This is the same theater that Kait takes her drama classes. The performance was great and the girls really loved the singing and dancing.
John kept the camera and got a shot of the playing field. On the left hand side of the field, behind the grass hill is the ocean.

John and Sam in the team clothing.
The team won and Sam and Alex celebrated the whole walk home!

Winter Uniform

Kait and Sam have a winter uniform that they wear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So Kait is in her blouse, tunic and tie. Sam is in his pants, shirt, tie and jumper (sweater). They both have their hats! Sam is wearing the hat he earned from Cross Country. It has "sports representative" embroidered on it. You might think these uniforms are really strict--but every school --public and private wear uniforms similar. The colors, stripes and plaid may differ but the general style is the same. On Tuesday and Thursday, they wear the same sports uniform as they wore in the summer. On really cold days they also have track pants an jackets.

OK, really, really cold is a 10 degree day. That is Celsius. So translated to Fahrenheit it is about 50 degrees. Most winter days are in the 60's 0r 15-19C. Today it is to be 20C so about 70F. It is June and that is a winter month here. So it would be comparable to December at home. The restaurants still serve outside on the warmer days. And surfers are still out in the water. So don't feel too sorry for us as you are enjoying the warm summer days!
This is one of Sam's mates at school--Brock. He and Sam have a lot of fun together!

Brock's mom, Renee, is a good friend of mine and his sister, Bronte, and Kait are great friends.

Renee is part of a wonderful group of women, most are year 5 mom's, that I meet every Friday for coffee. I need to get a photo of them on here, as they have been really great friends. It is nice when others make you feel just one of the group!