Our Eventful Week

It's amazing just how much one can pack into one week!  Here's a brief summary of the past few days:


1.   Easter.  This was rather a peaceful occasion – Jessica was singing in the choir for the Easter Vigil Mass and of course, there was Mass on Good Friday, but otherwise, Easter was a quiet affair.  But things were soon to change…

Jessica's Birthday Celebration

2.   Tuesday.  My son’s friend arrived from NSW for a couple of days.  We really love this guy – but it is rather like a tornado hits the house when he arrives – total chaos!  It’s fun having him around, though.  Unfortunately, his visit was short, and all too soon it would be time to take him back to Adelaide so he could begin his journey home.

3.   Wednesday.  Before the trip to Adelaide, however, we celebrated Jessica’s birthday with a cake and pressies.  I had a sudden panic attack, thinking I hadn’t bought her anything – until I remembered we’d bought her a car!  She will have her licence soon, and we purchased a Toyota Camry at an auction, which she will use until she decides to upgrade.

Archery

4.   Thursday.  We return one teen to Adelaide, only to collect another one – and coincidentally, this was another friend from NSW.  ‘Carpenter’ arrived on the afternoon plane for his first visit to SA, and we were delighted that he’d made the effort to visit us.

5.   Friday.  My Mum had an appointment in Pt Pirie for her eyes, so we packed everyone into the bus, and headed out for the day to show Carpenter our ‘big city’, have a look at the shops, and then go geocaching.  Afterwards, we headed home, and the teens took each other on in ‘Band Hero’, followed by an archery session.

Sing Australia

6.   Saturday.  Our local Folk Fair.  On arrival at the fair, I proceeded to the Art Gallery to ask if any of us had won any prizes in the local ‘literary awards’, which several of us had entered.  Unfortunately, none of us had been successful this time, however, they informed me that I had won the Art Prize for my pastel drawing!  I was quite stunned; and very honoured; it was most unexpected. 

Then it was off to the opening at the main stage, to perform with ‘Sing Australia’; several of our family members were involved, and spent the afternoon performing wonderful classics such as ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘A World of Our Own’. 

Afterwards, we stayed on to enjoy the bush dance and the spectacular fireworks display, which are always a hit.

Bush Dancing

 

The Fireworks

Clare Valley Concert Band

The Percussion Section

7.   Sunday.  The Folk Fair continued, but today it was concert band.  Several of us are in the band, and we even managed to convince Carpenter to become an honorary member for the day. Some friends from Adelaide also joined us, increasing the number of our percussion section to three, and our homeschooled members to four.  We rattled off our favourites including medleys from Aladdin, Pocahontas and some old-time Comedy Classics, and then packed up to enjoy the rest of the fair.  

Our Homeschooled Band Members

Sunday also brought about one of the main events of the Fair – the annual ‘Ice-Cream Eating Competition’.  Our three youngest girls entered the junior section, and the older teens tackled the task with the seniors.  They did not win, but they all gave it a good shot!

Ice-Cream Competition - The Juniors

Ice-Cream Competition - The Seniors

Fortunately, this coming week is not quite so eventful, but no doubt we’ll be taking off for some more sight-seeing and showing Carpenter all the lovely green vegetation brown landscapes of South Australia.

Linda.