A month of visitors

 The last week or so of July we had a visit from Nick's Mum, Trish and her friends Helen and John.  It was a really fun week with lots of entertainment for the boys.  It was like Flynn and Aidan had three Grandparents visit, complete with an early Birthday party for both boys.  They loved the party and Nick loved his mum's sausage rolls!  It looks like we may have a doctor in the family; the Doctor kit present from Aunty Tess and family has had a lot of use!  

We finally found a visitor (Trish) who wanted to see the jumping crocs with us (well, agreed to anyway!!).  We headed to the Adelaide River and boarded a boat where they feed the crocs pork chops and make them jump for them!!  We got a really good view of the crocs and were amazed at their different colours, including greens, browns and yellows.  I was working most of the visit so Nick took everyone out to Litchfield and down to Adelaide River for a look around.  The highlight was that Angus, who runs the cattle station where we live, paid us a few visits, told a few 'yarns' and took us all on a tour of Cameron Downs.  We learnt some interesting things about cows that went in one ear and out the other, however I do remember that the word 'Downs' means a cleared area.  Angus has to clear his land every few years as the bush starts to take over.  Trish met quite a few locals as we went to a 50th birthday that was held on a friend's block of land nearby.  It consisted of a spit, a dance floor, a cowboy DJ and a ute with a tray full of drinking boys.  We all had a nice night, meeting some interesting people; the territory never disappoints when it comes to being surprised by the amazing people you meet!  

 While Trish, Helen and John were here, our little Flynn had his first debut on the footy field- playing Auskick at the Port Adelaide vs Melbourne game in Darwin.  It was very exciting to watch Flynn play for of such a big noisy crowd.  Because Nick has been helping to run the Auskick in Batchelor, he was required to be an umpire on the ground, which was reassuring for Flynn.  Flynn decided that Dad's job looked pretty fun and had a mini tantrum about wanting to wave the flags.  At the end all the kids ran around a small section of the perimeter to high five the crowd.  It was so gorgeous seeing the little kids given so much attention by the crowd.

Batchelor has its own festival once a year, called the linga longa festival, and this year the theme was food.  The primary school was heavily involved and had several stalls, including a vegetable art stall which was very popular and produced some very artistic creations.  The class that I work in gave a drumming performance to open the festival, and we were all involved in a grand parade (on bikes).  All the kids spent an afternoon decorating their bikes and a lovely girl in my class offered to do mine.  I had lots of colour and sparkles and some interesting cardboard panels that meant I couldn't really ride it without it all coming undone.  However, the grand parade was really just a stroll up and down the stalls and I didn't even have to mount my bike!!  David, Jasmine and his parents (friends from Philip Island ) joined us for the festival.  Jasmine had a go at some stick twirling and both Jasmine and Flynn loved the rock climbing.  We discovered chocolate dipped mango cheeks- yum!!  It was an amazingly relaxed day of hanging out and chatting to friends!  We had a really nice day. 

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Yet another relaxed day- we headed down to the Adelaide River Show Society (ARSS Club) Country Music Festival.  There was a small gathering of locals and most of the acts were local people.  We had a great time watching Ellie Mills, who is a well known indigenous musician.  Also the local school teacher in Adelaide River played, and she had about the whole school there to support her.  (Go Miss Jackie!)  Perfect venue for us- to one side is a sand pit and playground and in front of the stage is a grassy area for kids to go wild.  Our two ran between the two areas and we sat where we could see them and didn't have to move apart from going to the bar!  And we stayed past 9pm!!  

Banging on the pots and pans!

Backgammon in Batchelor

David, Bhavani, Isabel and Jasmine stayed with us for a few days and Nick and the boys had a camping trip out to Litchfield with them.  They went on an adventure to Surprise Falls where they had a great time swimming.  I decided to stay with friends in town who don't have children, and I missed them all terribly whilst I enjoyed the luxury of TV, morning walks with friends before work and generally just lazing around!!  I had forgotten how much spare time you have pre- kids!

We all headed out to camp for the weekend at the Douglas hot springs, which was very relaxing.  David cooked a delicious camp oven roast, and we spent the rest of the time soaking in the hot springs.  Aidan turned two on the Saturday, and we had a little cake and he was pretty happy to receive a bubble gun, which his brother is having a lot of fun with also.  We said good bye to David and Bhavani as they set off for more adventures, as do we!!