Not Back To School Day

Yesterday was the first official school day here in Australia, so of course we enjoyed it as any Aussie home educating family should, by spending a day at the beach with friends!


Only a small group, I think the beginning of the year has come around much more quickly than most of us were ready for. But really it doesn't matter how many friends you spend the day with, it is always fun.


C had a fantastic time, as he always does. He is such a little explorer, loves investigating everything and making sure that he never misses out on anything that the big kids are getting into. He'd just had his belly full of watermelon before this photo, hence the pale pink face.



B certainly loved seeing his friends and is more than happy to be back into the swing of things with our homeschool group.



In the far corner of the 'inlet' where we spent the morning was an extremely deep body of water (I didn't realise how deep it was until the tide had gone out) however it was also covered in seaweed. Not that really gross seaweed that floats around and freaks you out when it rubs against your legs. Everyone spent a considerable amount of time exploring the seaweed and wondering what creatures may live there, hiding amongst the weeds.

As the tide retreated the hunt began, the hunt for solider crabs and we weren't disappointed, that's for sure. They are the fastest little critters and can hear you coming some distance away. The kids would be on one side of the 'pool' when someone would yell, "Crabs", everyone would make a mad dash to the other side of the pool where literally hundreds of them were scurrying here, there and everywhere. Most found there way under ground but the odd one got scooped up into buckets for closer inspection.

I was so impressed when I heard B remind everyone that they needed to let their crabs go, he didn't need reminding at all that they really belong below the wet sand and not in their buckets.

The highlight of K's day was finding some type of sea snail, she was so excited, we've never found a creature like that at the sea before so it certainly was interesting.


Since mummy forgot our boogie boards, K borrowed one and had a fabulous time kicking and splashing around in the water. Her confidence this summer in the water has grown tremendously and it really shows.



Now what a perfect spot! Here's a few of the mums (the others are off to the side a little) We had that shade the entire time we were there and apart from the odd adult we had the entire beach to ourselves. Cool breezes and lots of shade right there on the beach (when at home it was a stifling 34 degrees) meant no one wanted to leave.

I couldn't think of a better way to spend our first day of the school year.