Camp...Piano...Tennis...Splash

James is really excited about going to his year 6 school camp on Wednesday. It is a recreational camp on the Sunshine Coast for 3 days with lots of activities like abseiling, archery, swimming, etc. I hope the camp matches up to his expectation. It will be strange to have no contact with James for 3 days. He has been having a bit of trouble with bullying from a few 'tough' guys in his year and going to school hasn't been as attractive as it used to be. Lani and I are monitoring the situation at the moment. If things don't settle down we will go speak to James' school teacher.

I've started to give Jasmine piano lessons again. This time she appears to be much keener and has been practising. She is also technically and mentally stronger now and I think she will make some good progress, which will help her stick with it.

We've been playing a bit of table tennis with the kids over the past week or so and they have made some good improvement and actually seem to enjoy playing. A few days ago they played a few games (up to 11) against each other and it was a lot of fun to watch because they were both keen to win and their competitive spirits really came out.

We started swimming in the pool again on the weekend. It is still a bit cool but very refreshing when you get in. At first I didn't want to jump straight in until I knew how cool it was, so I was edging my way into the water slowly. Then James just walks up and jumps straight in. James really feels the cold, so I was surprised to see him being so bold. Anyway, he got out immediately and jumped in again then got out. I then had the courage to just jump in myself and after an initial shock to the system I found it quite nice. The kids enjoy mucking around in the pool and I enjoy the therapeutic and fitness benefits, particularly for my back. It's nice to have a swim before going to work in the morning.

Yesterday we played tennis down at the local courts. It has been a while but I really want to try and get Lani and the kids to play a little more regularly. I think if the kids start to show some real improvement they will be encouraged to keep playing.

Fully sick...boats

Sickness has struck the whole family over the past week or so. James seemed to be worst affected and missed a week of school. Lani and Jasmine were next to get sick and then I seem to have caught something also. We have all had different symptoms, James and Lani definitely had some kind of cold but all of us are struggling with lethargy and generally feeling off.

On Friday night I went to the Brisbane Boat Show after work with my boss. It was the first boat show I had been to and I found the experience quite informative and motivating. I now have a fair idea of the type of boat I'd like to upgrade to (realistically), I just need to get the money together. My current boat serves me well in the Broadwater and up the rivers but it is just not suitable for fishing offshore. The back and sides of my boat are not very high and Lani is worried that I will get swamped one day by the wash of a big boat or a choppy swell.