Holidays

The way the Australian school year is set up in quarters, with breaks between each quarter, means that children have regular holidays. The frequent holidays make it tough on working parents who are not afforded such niceties but make the school year much more manageable for children. While Aurora has only been back at school for four weeks she was nonetheless very excited for holiday time. I don't even go to school and I was excited. All the enthusiasm reminded me of Pippi Longstocking who decided that she absolutely must go to school so she could get holidays too.  

After months of moving to our own beat it was nice to be able to create each day to our liking. We filled our days in town with play dates, workshops and nature excursions. The kids learned how to make damper, tend to bonsai, identify birds, kayak, play ice hockey, and make temporary backyard shelters. We got to go to the Blue Mountains, Parramatta (the kids have been asking to go back there for a year now), Sydney, and camping at Jervis Bay. Even I got to do some long distance hiking, ocean kayak, play ice hockey, and boulder. All the diversity in physical activity was exhilarating and made me feel like I too was going to have to go back to school so I could have more school holidays. It is holiday weeks like these that make me feel good about prioritising the kids over a career. 

A cute anonymous unafraid bird 

The girls slack rope when their arms get tired

Tova picked up kayaking in a trice!

Learning to make damper

Oh Jervis Bay, why are you so beautiful