Surf Photos of You

Tom went surfing on Wednesday before school as he normally does.  The following day he showed me a photo that his mate Noah had seen on an Instagram account he follows.  It was the most amazing photo of Tom surfing taken by a professional surf photographer.  I got in touch with the photographer to buy the photo and he gave me an additional 20 photos that he'd taken that morning of Tom.  

On Saturday Tess and I met up with her clarinet teacher at a very smart music shop in Sydney to look for a new clarinet.  It was an amazing process and I was so glad the teacher was with us.  It's not enough to simply choose a clarinet that you like to play - altering the mouth piece and ligature (the metal bit that holds the reed in place) can also play a huge part in the sound of the instrument.  We spent almost 2 hours trying every different type of combination until we found the perfect one for Tess.  It cost about the same as a small car but this will be her clarinet for life and it really sounds beautiful.  I am so proud of how talented both the kids are musically and the photo below of Tess playing her new clarinet whilst Tom does some theory study for his upcoming saxophone exam makes my heart sing (excuse the pun).  

The clarinet teacher told us about an amazing artisan gelato shop called The Cow & the Moon which was round the corner from the music shop so we had to try it out.  It was so good that I took Tom there after his water polo game on Sunday.  I pretended that it was because I was being nice but it was actually so that I could go there again!  

Our very good friend Stephen flew in from the UK on Saturday morning.  Jules and he headed straight out for breakfast at The Pantry whilst Tom surfed (Tess and I were at netball).  In the afternoon the big boys went to watch the rugby in Manly and I met them down there afterwards for dinner.  We went to Manly Pavilion which I have always loved because of its location but sadly the food was very disappointing.  

Tom had board training on Sunday morning so Jules and Stephen took Tess to her AFL game.  It was her final one for the season and she is so glad that she finally had the courage to give it a go.  

Tom and Harry at board training

Whilst I took Tom to water polo Stephen and Jules went to Manly for lunch and a walk before Stephen had to fly out to Melbourne.  Stephen has been coming to Australia twice a year for the past 7 years and has spent a weekend with us each time.  Sadly, he is rotating off the audit client that brings him out here so this was the last trip and we are very much going to miss his biannual trips.  

You will notice in all the photos that the weather continues to be amazing - mid twenties for the entire week and weekend.  This is what it was like when we first moved out here in 1998 and it suggests that we're in for a long, hot summer.