Another month gone...

This year is flying along and we cannot believe it's almost November.

A LOT is going on, as ever.  The LOT includes way too much sport, a few parties, loads of school activities, quite a bit of Cub Scout events, some surfing and more.

The BIG news is that James has made it into the OC (Opportunity Class) next year.  The OC is 4 classes on the North Shore of Sydney that are for "gifted and talented children".  The class provides extended teaching and pushes the kids a bit more.  We are incredibly proud that James is one of only two children in his school that made it in after a really tough exam.  He starts in late January and will do years 6 and 7 in this OC class.

Other news includes:

• Jack thinks he is funny....all the time
• Olivia's rat keeps escaping but does not roam far and Emma has found her every time so far
• James has had 4 surf lessons and is improving fast
• Olivia had a ballet exam last week (result not yet known)

I'll let the photos explain other activities.

It's Halloween and so we went to the Kimball's annual halloween party today.  James as a "vampire", Olivia as a "witch", Jack as himself (was too grumpy to wear his kangaroo outfit), Me as a Golfer (only stayed 10 minutes then went to play 9 holes) and Emma as a "witch" - yes, she dressed up.

 Olivia has a new pastime - dressing up Jack.  This photo will come back to haunt Jack in about 18 years.

 Olivia has to have her hair done just right for her ballet exam.  Emma takes ages making her look just perfect.

 It's not just me that has been playing some golf, James came out a few weeks ago and tested himself out on the new back-9 at Manly.  He drove well but his putting needs some work...

 Olivia's birthday party was last month and she had a group of friends round for a fancy-dress party.  Courtesy of Lenka there are some great photos.  Above - Olivia and Tess.

 Look carefully for Jack in this shot.

 Yes, Jack got dressed up again but had a great time at the party playing musical chairs.

 It's hard to believe Olivia is 9 now.  Wow.

 Taken today - Jack is also growing up fast.

He is still obsessed with cars.....

More soon.

Ken

Yes I know, I only blog when we go on holiday...

The kids have just finished their two week Spring holiday and return to school tomorrow.

For the last 8 days The Reids, Hoffmans, Kellys and Highnams spent their time just South of Bowral on a fantastic 200 acre cattle farm.

The house was fantastic.  It held all 20 off us comfortably (there was a small cottage attached which we also used).  Sitting beside a pond (that in theory held Yabbies) it was a great location to watch the world go by and keep a loose eye on the kids as they ran wild.

When the sun shone we sat out for breakfast.  On the first few days though it was cold - down to 2 degrees at night.  Our high for the 8 days was 35 degrees - the weather was kinda odd, but generally good.

The husbands took everyone down last Saturday, stayed until Monday and returned on Friday.  While we were gone it seemed to just be a series of short walks, coffee shops, cake shops etc.  The wine seemed to all have been drunk as well.  Other than that I am not sure what the wives did all week...

 We did find a great pub last Sunday in a stunning little village in the Southern Highlands.  Everything was perfect, hedges trimmed, flowers blooming, blossom pink.  We had a great lunch here in the gardens.

 As it was an Emma inspired trip, we did do lots of walking.  The photo above was off the kids about to start a walk through the rainforest.  The sign said it should take 2.5 hours. We marched up and down in 1 hour and 4 minutes.  Did not see much of the flaura or fauna - but worked up a sweat!

The photo below was at the stunning Belmore Falls.  These 80 metre high falls were worth the drive/short walk.

The kids had a really, really good week.  All 12 off them played well and there were very few arguments.

Jack and his girlfriend Claudia had the best time together including a week early Birthday Party with party hats, cake and presents.  They both turn two this week (which I cannot believe).  Jack's favourite thing was the trampoline this week as you can see below.

Click Here to see Jack & Claudia

A great week. But back to school/work/reality tomorrow.

Will try to blog outside of a holiday next week.

Maybe.

Ken