Sunday, May 8, 2011

Friday was a very busy day and an exhausting one - I was wiped by the time I got home from school.  I had a good time in the grade four class teaching a second day with Maree.  Since Mother's Day was today, most of Friday was spent working on a Mother's Day gift.  The students created a paper pillow with love hearts inside it with qualities written on the hearts which the students felt their mother had.  They also made a paper scroll which had a wordsearch on it based on the answers to questions the students answered about their mothers.  I also showed the kids my Canadian coins and told them about each coin - it held their attention for quite a while which was good. 

Dad had a really good day at the Family History Centre Friday - he had six non-member visitors - all of them came as a result of the article that was in the newspaper - two of the six were returning patrons and four of them were new.  It's really exciting that so many new people are coming in to use the FHC.  Dad was flat out helping all the new people, but it's good being flat out for that reason. :-)

Robyn and Geoff picked me up after school and brought me home so that they could follow me riding the scooter around - another practice session.  Dad feels comfortable enough to go for his final riding test now, so he decided not to go for a ride that day.  I feel really comfortable riding on the bike, but not about going around town as I still don't know it well enough.  So, Dad and I had mapped out a route for me to go.  I started out and did really well getting to the first road north and then the next road east and then north again and then west, but then when it came time to go south, I missed the turn-off - I didn't know the landmarks of the cross streets.  As I was going over the road, I realized that I had missed it and so turned left at the next street and stopped up a bit.  Dad hopped out of the car and got me back on track and I managed to get all the way home without any more problems.  I totally felt good on the scooter, but I really do need more experience driving/riding on the streets of Hervey Bay.  I think that Dad is going to go for his motorcycle license in the next couple of weeks, but I'm not sure if I am ready to get mine since I don't know the area well enough.  I don't know if that matters or not so I will have a chat with John when he comes to test Dad and see what he says.

Robyn and Geoff stayed for dinner.  We were going to have a barbecue, but Dad and I were both full-on and we just didn't have time to get things organized for a bbq.  So, we had tacos and they turned out delicious - mince (that's hamburger for you non-Aussies ), kidney beans and crushed tomatoes for the base.  I wish that we had our new living room furniture already - we had to sit the whole night at our dining room table - which is fine as far as comfort goes as our chair cushions are really comfortable - but, it would be nice to get up from the table and sit on a couch or chair.  We had a lovely evening chatting with Robyn and Geoff - we get along with them so well - they left yesterday for six weeks to take care of their daughter who lives down south and is having an operation.  We are going to miss them while they are gone.  I told them after dinner that when they get back I would like to have people over from church for dinner and that I thought it would be good to have them and one other couple and they thought that was a great idea.

Saturday was an incredibly beautiful day - the sky was blue, the sun was shining and the temperature was lovely and warm!  I went to Homemaking in the morning and drove there all by myself! :-)  The homemaking meeting was about 'living well for less' and although I didn't learn much new (it was mostly about food storage and how to make natural cleaners), it was really nice meeting with the sisters in the ward - we just don't get enough time to talk with each other on a Sunday (especially those of us in Primary) and so I love these opportunities to get together. 

When I got home, Dad and I went for a lovely drive - the day was too beautiful to stay inside - or even to stay outside at home.  Dad and I both thought about where we wanted to go and decided on a place called 'Rainbow Beach' which is about 1 1/2 hours south of Hervey Bay.  We knew that a lot of people stopped there as it is a popular place to catch a barge to get to Fraser Island.  When we got there, we found an incredibly beautiful beach with brown sand and  going on for ages.  We walked the beach for quite a while - it was such a lovely way to spend an afternoon walking along the water's edge.  While we were walking along, we came upon a wedding on the beach, a parasailor, a dog swimming in the ocean, several four wheel drive vehicles, and some swimmers and other walkers along the beach.  After our  walk along the beach, we walked the main street - one side of a very short block :-)  and then bought some ice-cream and sat on a bench near the beach to enjoy them.  After that, Dad wanted to go up to Inskip Point to see what it was like where the barges crossed to Fraser Island.  Once we parked the car, it was just a short walk along the beach until we got to the barge landing point - the barge just beaches itself in the sand while people walk on or people drive on - in four wheel drive vehicles only.  By the time we were ready to leave, it was almost dark - it was a bit worrisome driving home as we drove on a road which is not well travelled, but we made it home fine and have wonderful memories of a fabulous day.  Here are some pics of our day............

Driving on the road to Rainbow Beach

Rainbow Beach

Four wheel drive vehicles on Rainbow Beach

Rainbow Beach

Parasailor on Rainbow Beach

Rainbow Beach

Sue sitting on a buoy on Rainbow Beach

Mike in the surf on Rainbow Beach

One of the barges taking a vehicle from Inskip Point to Fraser Island

Sun setting on Inskip Point

Another barge at Inskip Point

View across the water at Inskip Point

Crab balls of sand and holes - the crabs dig a hole and then push the sand out and it forms into balls on top of the sand - they were all over the beach

Sun setting at Inskip Point - a wonderful ending to a wonderful day out

We finished off this wonderful day Skyping with Terri-Ann and the boys.  It was great being able to talk with the three boys - well to talk with Colin and Caleb and to hear Benjamin talk to us - he sure isn't a shy boy. :-)  It's so funny when all three boys are trying to talk with us at once.  It was so cute when Colin gave us hugs and kisses over the computer - I am looking forward to getting some 'real' ones when we come back in December. :-)



Today was a really nice Sabbath day - not weather-wise as it was grey and cloudy - but a nice day at church and for the rest of the day.  Our speakers today were Ethan (a young man) and two women who all spoke on (what else?) mothers.  Ethan spoke about how wonderful his mom is and Amanda and Trudy spoke about their mothers as well.  It was a nice way to start the day.  Primary went smoothly and the children seemed to enjoy making their Mother's Day Date Night Kit.  I found the idea on the net and I really liked it.  It meant that I didn't have much to do to prepare the kits and the kids didn't have much to do, either, as we only had 20 minutes for them to do it.  I had put 12 M & Ms in a little baggie (2 of each of six colours), a popcorn bag and a piece of paper explaining the task.  On the paper, the children had to write about what was so special about their mom.  Then, under that was a poem which were the instructions which said that the mother was supposed to pick out an M & M and then answer a question based on the colour chosen.  The child would do the same thing.  Once they were done answering the question, they could pop the popcorn and play a board game together.  The children liked the idea of having a one-on-one date with their mom and I hope the moms and the children have a fun time together.

The missionaries came over for lunch today as they get to call their moms on Mother's Day and they had asked us if they could use our computers to Skype with their moms.   They both had a lovely time talking with their families - it was great for their families to be able to see their boys and to talk with them.  I love that mothers are thought of as so important as to be able to receive a call from their boys (and sometimes girls) on the moms' special day. :-)