Good Friday was Good

Well, I'm wondering whether or not it's actually a good idea to be busting out another midnight blog, but here i am, so beware of any rambling....

It's been a lovely day. We, all five and a half of us plus the dog got to clamber into Gramps' boat this morning with Nanajenn and Todd, venturing out amongst the islands and gas rigs. The weather was a balmy 33degrees-ish and the water was flat and turquoise. I think about 500 other people with boats had the same idea as Gramps but the water certainly accommodated us all comfortably.

It's the first time we've been out on the boat as a family since we moved here, this week pretty much weather-wise marking the beginning of the dry season and therefore being far easier for my wimpy self to handle the outdoors, apart from Gramps' boat problems and the odd cyclone making it difficult to plan a lovely day on the ocean before today.

For anybody that may be interested, no, we didn't catch any red emporer. I noticed in the paper this morning that it's tradition to eat fish today? That's the first I heard about that. We didn't put a fishing line in today, but all the boys had a go wake/knee boarding or on the seabiscuit. Nate had a blast. Woz commented that he took to the ride far better than the last time he had a go, which made me remember him being notably unhappy about being removed from the boat to begin with. I wondered when that was? - Woz quickly commented how that was pretty much a year ago, so yeah, that may explain things. Amazing what happens to a child between the ages of 2.5 and 3.5!

It was also Lily's first family excursion and the first time we braved taking her to a beach. I was well aware that, being a labrador she'd be very keen to get in the water and splash on the shore. But she is still a bit iffy about coming when she's called, even though she is well behaved she does prioritise working out where that scent is from first. So taking her out has always been on the lead up till today (barr that one experiment the first week we got her which ended in me and three little boys running silly in all directions around the oval yelling "LILLEEEE!! LILLEEEEEE!!" and the littlest boy becoming upset at not being able to keep up at all). When we arrived at a bay on an island where there were other people (and two other dogs) but really not much she could get up to, she ran riot. She made fast friends with the other dogs there and was extremely happy swimming around with the rest of us. But then we learned, from one of our island neighbours that dogs on the beaches there are illegal, because of the turtle wildlife. So she spent the rest of the time in the boat. (Still enjoying herself, she was very interested in watching crazy guys get towed around, swinging themselves here and there).

Pilbara Cities have plans to expand the population of these places five-fold, making world-class cities and all this jazz. I'm interested to know how this includes the interest of the turtles. Especially as, well there is not much else going for the place. There are some beautiful beach spots and waterholes, and when there are fifty thousand people and more sharing these beautiful places because THERE IS NOT MUCH ELSE TO DO, there are going to be a lot of illegal dogs, a lot of litter, a huge increase in general in the average pilbara persons' environmental footprint (which is not half as careful as that of a person in eastern australia in my opinion) and I think the turtles are going to have a hard time of it.

But today, it was just a couple of dogs on a public holiday splashing around on the beach with their families, completely harmless.

When we got home, the sun and salt got to me, and tears were pouring out of my eyes. I wasn't crying! They were sore.  I had to shut 'em. My wonderful husband put some food in my kids' bellies. And when it was time for them to go to bed, they were all nice and worn out and settled quickly. Woz and I were treated to a meal by ourselves then.

We had retreated to bed by 9.30pm and were youtubing the comedy of Reginald D Hunter when Woz's phone rings. Our family, traveling up from Perth for the school holidays, have run into trouble: the axle on the boat trailer went or something, and a dad and four of his kids are stranded in the desert with not really any options. Oh! Don't worry, Dad's a superhero. He gets my husband over to his place, they are getting the axle of off His trailer and then going to drive 500km and back to deliver and fit it in the middle of the night, so they can still get the boats in the water tomorrow. Amazing.

So I threatened Woz that Lily will have to sleep on his side of the bed tonight, but it turns out it was an empty threat, cos she's still all damp and salty. Anyway, she's not as cuddley as Woz, as surprising as that may sound to some. And he actually smells better too. I'm not sure who I'm offending when I make that comparison.

I still haven't attempted the hot cross buns again, but i'm determined to tomorrow morning. I had a few things I wanted to do for easter with the kids but lost all inspiration when we got sick. We'll see what tomorrow brings!