John leaves :(

On Tuesday morning Jules, John, Custard and I walked down to Manly for a farewell breakfast as John flew back to the UK in the afternoon.  It was a stunning day and we had a leisurely breakfast sitting in the sun.  Saying goodbye is always so hard and wherever possible I make sure I'm running out the door so that I don't break down in tears.  I can't thank John enough for coming over and looking after the children whilst I did the rally.  With Jules' work schedule I wouldn't have been able to do it without John and it really was a once in a lifetime experience for me.  The kids loved having Naughty Grandad around and he wasn't always naughty........in fact he even managed to teach Tom how to make his own scrambled eggs for breakfast!

Tess had a half-game of netball on Saturday so we raced off afterwards to watch Tom's rugby game.  I was very glad we made the effort because within 5 minutes of us arriving he had done an awesome tackle and then scored a try!  Here he is with the other try-scorer of the match, his friend Corrie.  

After rugby it was a quick stop home for Tess to get changed into her tennis gear before heading to her comp.  She played exceptionally well today and won her singles 4-0.  She was on such a high from her game that I persuaded her to play tennis with me in the afternoon and the two of us had a ball.  We only had an hour at which point we were at 1 set each - there will be lots more tennis playing I suspect.  

It was an early start on Sunday morning as the kids participated in the Northern Beaches Band Competition.  It's been quite a while since I've heard either Junior or Concert Band play and I was thrilled to hear how they've come on.  Junior Band was particularly amazing given there are 75 of them and just one conductor.  The minute the conductor stands on his podium he has 75 pairs of eyes on him watching every cue he gives until the end of the performance - quite astonishing.  

 Tom mid-piece

Concert Band getting ready to play

We finished the weekend taking Custard for a long walk up at the park.  Tess found some friends and played touch rugby whilst Tom found some other friends and played soccer.  I love where we live.