August 24 this week

We slowed it down just a little this past weekend due to a few runny noses, but then we started up again.  We took the passenger ferry to Mandora and were rewarded with a visit to a fun little b
each bar, a picnic, and our first view of the Darwin skyline. The following day the family went for a walk through a monsoon woods.  We found all sorts of plant life to examine.  Jordan found a whole family of twirly twigs to cherish.  Meanwhile, Bryson did his best to destroy any leaf or stick he could grab, but undeniably enjoyed every minute of his demolition.  We tried the great outdoors again the following day, and were rewarded with one absolutely terrific day.   We headed to Litchfield Park this time.  Paul, Sean, and Eddy from B watch led the adventure along with Tommy and Cooper--Sean's boys.   The plan for the day was to show us a few of the places in Litchfield where you can go swimming--a watering hole tour.   They showed us three spectacular swimming hideaways complete with cascading falls  (some several stories high) that I'm certain have graced more than a few postcards.   Jordan made us proud by swimming through some of these waters on her very own.  She's still pretty raw, but she's come a long way since the hot tub back home.  Several of the swimming holes close in  few months during the rainy season, so we'll have to make it a point to go back soon.  

Friday we had our first taste of lawn bowling, a pretty popular past time around here. The B watch came out in force with about 30 fire fighters and their families. Matt and I didn't discover any hidden talent for the game, but we didn't humiliate ourselves too badly.  That night we stayed at Paul and Sue's who, generously opened their home to us despite the fact that Bryson clocked their little girl in the chin with one of the bowling balls. They live near the bowling greens right on the golf course, so we were chauffeured home in a golf buggy in the stealth of night.  The next morning Matt took the kids while I got to go the second ever "Hit and Giggle".  A ladies only event for those of us who don't know anything about golf.  80 women showed up!   They divided us into  groups of 4-7 and placed each group with a woman who knows a bit about the game.  I  joined 6 other women who also knew Sue--my host form the night before and our resident golf pro.  We each received hands on golf lessons throughout out the day.  Since we played off the best shot in our group, we made it through nine holes with a pretty fair score.  I was the weakest link, but grew stronger through the day (despite visits from the beer cart).  I had so much fun, I put my name for the next event-a half golf/ half  lawn bowling day.  

Today brought us to the Teddy Bear Picnic.  Hundreds of kids and teddies showed up to this great extravaganza of kids crafts and entertainment.  Bryson was entranced by one of the entertainers in a bug costume, he kept following her everywhere, while Jordan's favorite part was the teddy bear hospital.  She made up an elaborate story of how her bear was run over by a car and continued to find injuries that required, bandaids, dressings, lots of love, but no shots!!  Hmm, maybe there's  been too much shop talk in front of the kids?