Our boys say the funniest things but a few have really made me laugh this week.  I'm trying my best to remember them to share with you all.  Enjoy and LOL!

Sunday - Khye (age 5)  While looking out the plane window at the snow covered mountains in New Zealand
 "Can we buy a sled and GO THERE??!!"

Sunday - Kent (age 10)  After not eating a meal for 8 hours, Kent scarfed down 3/4 of a Big Mac, looked at the remaining 1/4 and then looked at me across the table and said, "You know there's nothing real in here, right?!"  And then he shrugged and just kept eating!

Wednesday - Cody and Kent (ages 12 and 10)  After I was sick on yet another ocean cruise and didn't get to go swimming with the dolphins, the boys were feeling pretty bad for me.  This was the conversation I overheard while they were having warm showers. 
"I feel bad for Mom."
"Ya.  She doesn't like the water."
"No.  She likes the water.  Just the ocean doesn't like her."
"Ya.  Like, she likes to swim at the cabin and she likes a bath."
I was teary because they were very thoughtful and because I was laughing so hard!

Wednesday - Colt (age 7)  Howard and Khye were at the store, Cody and Kent were having showers and Colt and I ate a quiet supper together.  Actually, I ate and he talked nonstop about school and friends.  At the end of the meal he said:
"I like when it`s just us, Mom.  Me talking....and you just listening.``
That`s more sad than funny, actually.....

Thursday - Kent  After eating two servings of steak, two servings of potatoes, one serving of peas/corn, four glasses of drink and two cookies.  Kent leans back from the table, looks at me at uses both hands to pretend that his belly exploded and he flopped back dead!
I guess that was his way of complimenting the cooks!

Monday - Khye (age 5!!!)  Khye worked very hard colouring a large picture.  When I told him I really liked the colourful bush, he replied:
"Mom, you should say tree because a bush is.....(and he pointed to his GROIN!!)"
What have my children been learning over here?!?!

Sunday - Kent (age 10)  Cody has given Howard the nickname Doug or Douglas and I've become Mug or Muglas.  On the drive home from Sydney,

We have a new job for Bopa Ralph when we get home to Canada!  Four years ago, we had Bopa bring a load of dirt into the yard so our young boys had something to jump over.  Well, that one jump soon became boring and covered with grass and was more of a lawn mowing obstacle!

Cody's best mate, Lucas Fabris, is a super lucky young man!  His parents ripped out 8 rows of grape vines to build the family a HUGE dirtbike track!  Oh man...it is amazing!

Lucas (and family) and Cody have been waiting for weeks for the track to be finished.  The 3 blokes building it were delayed seveal times due to weather, etc.  Finally, on Sunday, September 16, it was ready to use and, boy oh boy, did it ever get a workout that first afternoon!

Four Fabris', three Jacksons and three other friends/cousins used the track.  Cody, Kent and  Colt borrowed equipment and a few different bikes to test it out.  All were cautious because they weren't in full equipment and they weren't really familiar with the bikes.  By the time we left, Cody, Kent and Glen (the Dad) were the only three to lay down their bikes.  Glen blamed it on some loose dirt.....hmmmm.

It is an amazing track and dirtbiking is one of the two things that our boys miss the most. (Hockey is the other one!)  Thanks Glen, Tiz, Nicole, Lucas and Reece for letting our boys share your track, bikes and equipment.  I'm sure the boys' new plans will keep their Bopa Ralph busy for a long time!

After a picnic at the zoo, we returned to the house to watch the footy game, rest, and scrapbook (Colt's unfinished school project!).  After an hour, I convinced the boys that they should go swimming.  After Howard and I loaded the 6 of them into the van and drove down to the pool, they were starting to get excited.  They could see two outdoor waterslides and an outdoor pool.  There was only one problem.....they were dry!  Ahhh!  I redialed the pool number and listened more carefully to the hours this time.  Oops!  The pool opens next weekend!  What to do with 6 disappointed, tired boys now?  We took them 10 pin bowling!

After spaghetti and salmon for supper, it was a quiet evening of footy on the TV and a bit of a movie.  We were all exhausted so were in bed early. 

The adults in the group thought it would be a good idea if we checked out The Western Plains Cultural Centre before leaving town.  Another oops!  It was a lot to ask of our tired boys.  They were bored with nothing to touch and wierd artwork to look at.  The most interesting part for them was the robot that wanted to dance with them or the old school room with two new laptops on the desks.  They were watching YouTube videos instead of learning about "the way things were".  It was time to hit the road.

We are all glad that we made the trip to Dubbo even though it was rescheduled several times.  Hanging out with Rachel and Steve is relaxing and lots of laughs.  It is also so much easier to raise 4 (or 6) boys with two extra adults in the house.  (Maybe Rachel could be my sister wife or we could all live like Hutterites?!)  We're going to make a point of visiting with the Tervets one more time in 2012 before we all head home to our respective countries.  After that, I'll have to wait for Rachel to come to Canada and insult me in my own country?!?  That is, if they let her in....I hear she's a bit rowdy!  :)   JJ

The next 3.5 hours were filled with laughter, friends, family, gifts and great food.  Vince, they checked out every corner of your home and, now that they know how big it is, I think you will be hosting annual staff parties!  In total, there were 16 kids (ages 5-12) and 20 adults.  The kids busied themselves with wrestling, balloon volleyball, mini sticks, ping pong, dancing, handball, Playstation and Twister.   

Thank you, Cass, for planning such an excellent evening.  You have no idea how shocked I was!  I also had to fight for control over my emotions several times during the party....looking over the crowd and seeing so many of my new Aussie friends was a bit overwhelming!  Now that our time in Australia is counting down, tears having been springing up quite unexpectedly.....

Today, September 4, is my real birthday.  We had cake at work and several of the students brought me gifts!  Even three of the grandmas got in on the birthday action making homemade scarves and a bag.  The most unexpected and yummiest birthday gift was a cooler bag full of homemade perogies with bacon and sour cream!  Oh Canada......we have missed this!  They were so delicious; Khye ate 7 and I thought he might burst!  Thank you, Kerrie!

Thank you for all of the gifts (chocolates, spa gift certificate, jewellery, money, cards, scarves, bag, lotions, etc), food, e-mails, phone calls and birthday wishes!  I think this has been the most memorable birthday ever!  36 was a great year, but 37 is off to an amazing start!  xx  JJ

What started as an innocent comment at the boys footy game, led to an action packed weekend with the Bennetts!  I had mentioned the possibility of attending another professional footy game and Louise said, "We should all go!"  And then a plan was hatched...the original idea was to attend the Sydney Swans vs. Hawthorn Hawks game in Sydney last weekend but that wasn't possible as the Sydney Cricket Ground is under renovation and there were very few seats available.  Instead, we were able to take this past Friday off work and head to Melbourne to catch the Hawthorn Hawks play the West Coast Eagles. 

Our weekend started early Friday morning with the 5 hour drive to Melbourne.  The time flew by as the men drove, the women read "Shadey" books and the 7 boys watched movies and played Ipods!  There are moments when I really love technology!  After checking into our apartments, we enjoyed a pizza lunch and a windy walk along the pier.  We found an adventure playground where the boys could run wild for an hour.  After snacks and relaxing back at the apartments, we dawned the Hawthorn colours and bundled up for the 8:00pm game.  Friday, August 31 was also the last day of winter and there was a bright full moon over top of the stadium. 

The Hawks jumped out to an early lead and gave us lots to cheer about!  There were several trips to the snack bar and the toilet and the 3 little boys took turns cuddling and sleeping during the late night game.  The Eagles made a very strong comeback in the 2nd half but the Hawks held on for the win!  In the crowd of 50 000 fans, there were around 5 000 cheering for the Eagles.  Somehow, we ended up sitting in the middle of them all! 


At the end of the very exciting game, the Hawthourn fans sang the team song and then those sitting in the lower seats gathered down near the field so they might get the chance to interact with the players.  It was Colt's VERY lucky day as he was given a footy signed by the team captain!  Colt has been a Richmond fan (because they are the Tigers like our hockey team at home) but he may be a convert after this exciting night! 


Saturday morning saw us enjoying breakfast and then spending the day at Luna Park.  The boys loved the 100 year old roller coaster, Khye spent most of his day on the dragon roller coater and Louise and I obviously ate waaaayyy too many hot chips and churros!  Look at those hips!

After another couple of hours relaxing at our apartments, we peeled ourselves off the lounges and hit the city again.  This time, the Bennetts took the boring Jacksons out for Thai food and we loved it!  They went easy on us and only ordered mildly spiced food but it was all excellent.

We weren't done yet!  We hopped off the tram and walked throught the city around 9:00 pm Saturday night.  You would think the 7 boys are 15-22 and not 5-12 years old by the way they react to pretty girls!  We had to walk like speed walkers to catch up to and follow the "yellow skirt"!  We made our way to the casino where the dads and boys played the arcade games for a couple of hours and the moms went shopping.  Yes the shops were open at 10:30 pm on a Saturday night!

After returning to our rooms at midnight for the second night in a row, we had our 2 little boys in tears and several other walking zombies!  We had hit the wall!

And today we wished a Happy Australian Father's Day to our two super Dads...Howard and Jamie.  They both are incredible with their boys and with each others.  Kent spent more time cuddling and walking hand in hand with Jamie than with anyone else this weekend!.  Khye was climbing the guy like a tree too!  And can you blame them for loving him?!  Jamie teaches them about the most important things in young boys' lives....farting, girls and sports (not necessarily in that order!). 

After breakfast in Melbourne, we drove part way home and stopped in Shepparton for a picnic lunch in the park.  We agreed KFC is greasy in both countries!  The boys kicked the footy with their dads, whined because they couldn't go fishing and then darted off to the playground for a few minutes.  Then it was a few more hours on the road. 

It has been an excellent, exhausting weekend with great friends.  Our 7 boys mix and mingle very well (and the parents aren't bad either!).  We can't think of a better way to spend our first weekend of spring and Father's Day than with our family and our new friends.  Long live the Bennsons!