Visit to Goolwa/Victor Harbor December 13-15
Ryan, Bob and I drove down to the little town of Goolwa on Thursday morning. They had rented a beach house that was about a 2 minute walk from a beautiful beach. Delsa, Garrett, and our kids had driven down the day before.
The weather cooperated beautifully, warming up just in time to hit the beach on Thursday. The one thing I wasn’t prepared for were the flies. I guess I’ve never had to worry about flies when I go to the beach, but in Australia you don’t have heat without flies. It was a good thing the beach was so great or I would have gone crazy. The kids can entertain themselves for ever with shovels, buckets, and waves.
The previous night, Delsa had taken everyone to the “Whistle Stop Café” for dinner, where there was a sign hanging that said “Work is the curse of the drinking class.” It created a lot of conversation as Mason tried to wrap his mind around what that was supposed to mean.
So we bypassed the Whistle Stop and went to the Saltwater Café for dinner the night after we got there. They had great Australian style hamburgers (gynormous) with the traditional topping of beetroot (which was skipped by all).
We went back to the house and had fun playing games. We resurrected the game “Draw 2” to give us a variation of Scrabble (Bob and Delsa’s staple game these days), and then tried playing Scrabble with 2 boards and 5 people. Bob one on a clutch last-minute play that was almost subverted by Delsa. It was nothing but dramatic.
The next day we went to an “Adventure Park” in Victor Harbor, a nearby town. They had all sorts of activities like a maze, a climbing wall, a water slide, go carts, etc. It was the kind of thing that is perfect when you’re between the ages of 2-14. It was great for Ryan and I because it was so entertaining for our kids. Andrew and Katie loved the little kids water slide, and Mason loved the one for the older kids. It was a great way to spend the morning, and we followed it up with our almost-daily dose of McDonalds. I had told the kids that we wouldn’t do McDonalds more than once a day, and they interpreted it as me saying that we could GO once a day. I quickly disabused them of that idea.
If we keep Katie and Mason busy all morning, then by the afternoon they are content to sit and play Pokemon with each other all afternoon while Andrew takes a nap. As much as it drives me crazy, it is amazing how much Pokemon has kept them entertained this whole trip.
That night, we gave the game Rummikub a try, and after Amy got really frustrated by the 1-minute time limit being enforced, we took a little game break and just sat and talked.
Here’s where the best line of the night came. We were talking about having a sense of humor, and Ryan mentioned how when President Faust had done baby blessings he had blessed the babies with a sense of humor. Then Delsa turned to Bob and said “What were you blessed with? Oh…I forgot—you WEREN’T blessed.”
Although there’s no way it was intended as such, it came out sounding like prime spiritual trash-talking. It’s impossible to recreate it in a way that does it justice, but it was great. It’s fun just to sit and laugh at stories.
We went home early the next morning since the nice weather had left us and all we had was rain and clouds. We spent most of the day just getting things washed and unpacked, and getting things ready for Sunday since the stores close at 5:00 pm on Saturdays here.
As I was unpacking things from the car, a guy (probably in his 20’s) came walking his dog into the parking lot that divides the mission home from the church building. He was shouting at the top of his lunge a constant line of confusion that I couldn’t make out (although it was clear it wasn’t admiration for the church). I guess he had been there once or twice while we had been gone, including dumping some garbage on the doorstep of the mission home. The office elders had called the police, but since no one actually saw the guy dump the garbage they wouldn’t do anything about it. It was funny to see everyone in the office and all of us just watching this guy walking back and forth shouting craziness. Eventually, he must have gotten tired because he left. We’ll see if he comes to visit again.
One of the highlights of the day for me was having Bob tell Mason and Katie Giant Jellybean stories on the swing out on the patio. We have to get three years of visiting done in 3 weeks, so that means a lot of Giant Jellybean stories.
Ryan, Bob and I drove down to the little town of Goolwa on Thursday morning. They had rented a beach house that was about a 2 minute walk from a beautiful beach. Delsa, Garrett, and our kids had driven down the day before.
The weather cooperated beautifully, warming up just in time to hit the beach on Thursday. The one thing I wasn’t prepared for were the flies. I guess I’ve never had to worry about flies when I go to the beach, but in Australia you don’t have heat without flies. It was a good thing the beach was so great or I would have gone crazy. The kids can entertain themselves for ever with shovels, buckets, and waves.
The previous night, Delsa had taken everyone to the “Whistle Stop Café” for dinner, where there was a sign hanging that said “Work is the curse of the drinking class.” It created a lot of conversation as Mason tried to wrap his mind around what that was supposed to mean.
So we bypassed the Whistle Stop and went to the Saltwater Café for dinner the night after we got there. They had great Australian style hamburgers (gynormous) with the traditional topping of beetroot (which was skipped by all).
We went back to the house and had fun playing games. We resurrected the game “Draw 2” to give us a variation of Scrabble (Bob and Delsa’s staple game these days), and then tried playing Scrabble with 2 boards and 5 people. Bob one on a clutch last-minute play that was almost subverted by Delsa. It was nothing but dramatic.
The next day we went to an “Adventure Park” in Victor Harbor, a nearby town. They had all sorts of activities like a maze, a climbing wall, a water slide, go carts, etc. It was the kind of thing that is perfect when you’re between the ages of 2-14. It was great for Ryan and I because it was so entertaining for our kids. Andrew and Katie loved the little kids water slide, and Mason loved the one for the older kids. It was a great way to spend the morning, and we followed it up with our almost-daily dose of McDonalds. I had told the kids that we wouldn’t do McDonalds more than once a day, and they interpreted it as me saying that we could GO once a day. I quickly disabused them of that idea.
If we keep Katie and Mason busy all morning, then by the afternoon they are content to sit and play Pokemon with each other all afternoon while Andrew takes a nap. As much as it drives me crazy, it is amazing how much Pokemon has kept them entertained this whole trip.
That night, we gave the game Rummikub a try, and after Amy got really frustrated by the 1-minute time limit being enforced, we took a little game break and just sat and talked.
Here’s where the best line of the night came. We were talking about having a sense of humor, and Ryan mentioned how when President Faust had done baby blessings he had blessed the babies with a sense of humor. Then Delsa turned to Bob and said “What were you blessed with? Oh…I forgot—you WEREN’T blessed.”
Although there’s no way it was intended as such, it came out sounding like prime spiritual trash-talking. It’s impossible to recreate it in a way that does it justice, but it was great. It’s fun just to sit and laugh at stories.
We went home early the next morning since the nice weather had left us and all we had was rain and clouds. We spent most of the day just getting things washed and unpacked, and getting things ready for Sunday since the stores close at 5:00 pm on Saturdays here.
As I was unpacking things from the car, a guy (probably in his 20’s) came walking his dog into the parking lot that divides the mission home from the church building. He was shouting at the top of his lunge a constant line of confusion that I couldn’t make out (although it was clear it wasn’t admiration for the church). I guess he had been there once or twice while we had been gone, including dumping some garbage on the doorstep of the mission home. The office elders had called the police, but since no one actually saw the guy dump the garbage they wouldn’t do anything about it. It was funny to see everyone in the office and all of us just watching this guy walking back and forth shouting craziness. Eventually, he must have gotten tired because he left. We’ll see if he comes to visit again.
One of the highlights of the day for me was having Bob tell Mason and Katie Giant Jellybean stories on the swing out on the patio. We have to get three years of visiting done in 3 weeks, so that means a lot of Giant Jellybean stories.
We finished off the night with the movie "Elf." I don't think it will ever get old for me--I laugh so hard every time.
It’s hard to believe our vacation is half-way over. Ryan keeps challenging Garrett and I to Sudokus (his game has definitely improved), and Andrew just keeps challenging us. He has taken so well to everyone, though, even if he can be aggressive in his affections. But he is still as busy as ever. He is presently keeping everyone busy trying to keep him away from the stero buttons so we can listen to Christmas music (I can hear Garrett counting time out for him). Overall, though, it has been so much easier than expected. I think just having the kids sleep so well here has been one of the biggest blessings.
It’s hard to believe our vacation is half-way over. Ryan keeps challenging Garrett and I to Sudokus (his game has definitely improved), and Andrew just keeps challenging us. He has taken so well to everyone, though, even if he can be aggressive in his affections. But he is still as busy as ever. He is presently keeping everyone busy trying to keep him away from the stero buttons so we can listen to Christmas music (I can hear Garrett counting time out for him). Overall, though, it has been so much easier than expected. I think just having the kids sleep so well here has been one of the biggest blessings.
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