Summer Camps and Years 5 and 8

Just a quick note about the opportunities the girls had over the summer here.  This summer the girls did a variety of summer camps, but the three most notable were a sailing camp, horseback riding, and circus camp.  

The sailing camp was a neat opportunity to get out on Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of Canberra and learn about sailing.  I'm so very proud of how brave they were and how much they pushed themselves to learn something new! The first day was a little bit traumatic for at least one of the children because it was windy and the boats were rocking quite a bit. But they did not ask to not go. In fact, they were determined to meet the challenge. 

During the horse riding camp, we got our own horses to ride. The kids enjoyed learning how to brush and put the saddles on them, and even got to ride them and then clean up their poop.

 

They have been to circus camp many times, and they learned how to use a diablo, trick sticks, and the lyra hoop. 

 

And just like that, summer was over, and it was time for a new school year to begin:

 

And multiple musical performances:

And homework that couldn't be done without enlisting the help of our Australian colleagues.  Actually, Mike knew the bird I didn't, which was an Ibis (otherwise affectionately known as a bin chicken).

Over the summer, we also learned what Brushtail Possums sound like in a way that Mike described as Nightmare fuel:

Try going to sleep with this outside your window.  We felt MUCH better when we figured out what was making the noise.