Happy Birthday, James!! Cairns Style.

 Today James turned 10.  A decade, doesn't seem possible.  It was his birthday and the first day of our vacation to Cairns (pronounced Cans).  We spent James' birthday at the Wildlife Dome on top of the Reef Casino.  They have a zoo and a ropes course and zip line.  It was awesome!

 The girls were so patient waiting for us to do two different ropes courses.

 We were there for the crocodile feeding and got to zip line over him.  He could care less we were flying over his head.

 Another highlight was holding a koala, Kiah.

 Birthday dinner at Hog's Breath

And birthday cake back at our hotel.  Happy Birthday, James!  We love you heaps and hope you always remember your tenth birthday!

House Shout

 In case you were starting to think that sport is the only thing of value at the boys' school, I was pleasantly surprised to see that music is just as important.  Hope and I went to Grammar this afternoon to watch a music competition between the houses, House Music.  It's a two day competition, the first day being smaller musical groups from each house performing.  Today we went to watch the second day of competition, the House Shouts.  They had a panel of judges to judge each house.

 The results from the first day of competition, House Rock.  There are eight houses at the senior school and Spencer is in Edwards House.  I'm not sure how they decide what house you are assigned to.  I doubt they have a sorting hat.

 It was really fun to watch all the different houses perform a song. The boys played the music, sang, did a small skit and had some "dancing" (small movements).  Garran House did the song, Some Nights.

 Jessie's girl.

 The Holy Grail.

 We came of course to see Edwards House perform Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

 Spencer really is on this stage.  They put him in the back and you can't see him.

 The only picture I got of Spence was when they were coming back into the hall after their performance.

 Clements House locker room.

The War Memorial Hall where the boys performed.  What a  fun day for us to watch Spencer.  

Happy Camper

Spencer has been to camp with school twice, and it is FINALLY James' turn!  He was so excited to go to camp with his school June 12-14 to Warrambui.  They stayed in a great facility and stayed dry in the rain.  James told us he was going to stay under a dome, to which Spencer replied, "Like Hunger Games?"  Here are some pictures James' teacher took of their camp adventure.

That is the dome in the background where they stayed.  James slept in a bunk bed on the bottom bunk and was grouped with his best mates.  Their cabin name was the Blue Blueberries, which James thought was totally lame.

That's James two to the right of the smiling kid wearing black.

 Year 10 Boys went to act as counselors for the boys. James loved movie night where they watched Narnia.  He loved it all (maybe not the food).

Around the World in a Day

 Today we helped with the Faith in God activity for Primary by teaching the kids all about America at the international day.  What do kids think of when they think of America?  Disneyland.  James helped dish out our American dessert, S'mores Cookie Bars.  They don't really make s'mores in Australia--too hard to find graham crackers.  They absolutely loved our dessert.  

 Yes, that is the same dress Hope wore yesterday to get her hair cut.  Hard to get it off her.

 Our America presentation wasn't nearly as exciting as the Cook Islands.  

 They gave us coconut buns and taught the kids how to dance.

One of the missionaries in our ward is from Japan and he taught the kids how to Sumo wrestle.  

James judged each country by how well he liked the food.  Smart kid.

Long Overdue

 Hope has been needing a hair cut for a long time.  I've never cut her hair because I just didn't want to cut her cute curls.  Since all the other kids were getting haircuts, we plopped Hope in the chair too.  Here is her BEFORE picture.

At least her hair is out of her eyes.  She is just growing too fast.

Seventeen Years

Seventeen years, five kids, three continents, seven homes, and loving every minute.  Some years we celebrate in great ways.  This year we celebrated at a swimming pool with a birthday party and a work party for Doug.  No matter what we do, it's always great to think of what the next seventeen will bring.