Lorne Homeschool Camp 2016 - Day 3

Once again LiAM and Caitlin were up early, and went down to the beach to see the early sunlight on the water. They found another homeschooler down there practicing her violin, and they sat on a rock and listened to her while they watched the waves. I had a cup of tea and read my book. Amelie slept for a while longer, and got herself up and dressed before she came out of the tent. While I was eating my breakfast a lady walked past who I wanted to introduce myself to, so I abandoned my toast and ran out to meet her - Asphyxia, who has created the online Auslan course the kids and I are doing. I knew she'd arrived at camp the night before so I'd been practicing my signing so that I could introduce myself and tell her we loved her course. She was really lovely and came and met the kids, the girls both signed to her as well, Caitlin introduced herself and Amelie said 'pink' so they talked about Amelie's pink flamingo towel and she showed us the sign for flamingo. We chatted for a little while and it wasn't as hard as I was worried it might be, I was so glad I'd gone to say hello. When she left I turned around to see my toast being stolen by a cockatoo - he sat up in the tree above our site and fought off all his friends who wanted to share it with him...

Sunrise

After breakfast LiAM went over to K's tent and I hung around and read my book some more. I also introduced myself to a few more of the families who were camping near us, we were all feeling more comfortable after a few days in the area. Caitlin went for a walk with M, and after a while Amelie's new friend A came past and said they were going to the playground, so we joined them there. K and his other friends were going up to the main playground in town, so LiAM went with them. After a while Amelie and I, and A and her family decided to join them - we got there just as they were about to leave. They stayed for a little while and chatted with us, then LiAM went back with them and Amelie and I headed home soon after - and everyone agreed to head back up to the flagged beach for a swim after lunch.

We had some lunch and then one by one (or in groups) basically the whole homeschool camp moved up to the main beach. It was cool all being together, without everyone having to get there at the same time (so it wasn't stressful to organise). The waves were bigger today, but LiAM and Caitlin had no problem with them. Amelie mainly played on the beach with A and her brother, and I spent some time talking to A's Mum, and some time in the water with LiAM and K. K had a boogie board, and his Mum had one for a while which I then borrowed - it's been 25 years or so since I rode a boogie board, and I thought I'd be too scared to drop down the face of a wave that was about to break. I was right, at first I was trying the waves that had already broken, and was able to occasionally go a little way - eventually I did try one (not a big one) that was about to break, and did have a little tiny drop down the front of it, and made it all the way in to shore!!! It was very exciting, and extremely tiring. I handed the board over to one of the dads at that point, I was happy to go out on a successful ride. I took Millie in to the surf for a little while, she was OK with me carrying her in and holding her very tight. She got splashed a bit and was a little scared but enjoyed it for a while. I was worried that her extra weight might push me over with a bigger wave, so I was pretty careful and it was fun. She was happy to go back and play in the edge of the waves after that, and went out a little further than she had been. Caitlin and M were way out near the back of the break again, and LiAM was happy to go further than he had been before - it was exciting for me to see them all becoming more comfortable with beach/surf swimming, as it's something that I've always loved so much and I'm happy to be able to share it with them.

Amelie and A buried their mother's feet in the wet sand again - not as high as the bigger girls the day before, and a bit closer to the edge of the water so it kept getting washed away - they had fun and we were happy standing there chatting. I talked to Asphyxia again and her son helped me a bit with the boogie boarding. It was an incredibly beautiful and enjoyable afternoon. We had to keep moving our stuff further up the beach as the tide came in, which created a bit of amusement and panic at times. I think we were there for a few hours, the kids had so much fun in the water and really didn't want to leave until they were completely exhausted. One by one families headed back to the campsite. LiAM and Amelie and I eventually wandered back, and Caitlin came later with M.

We got changed and I left the kids playing in the tent and went over to the shops to get more milk, and some noodles for Caitlin's tea, and a couple of other things. I kept running into people to chat to on the way, and I did get there eventually. I walked home in the other direction, down the side of the river and over the bridge, which I hadn't done before - at this evening hour the water was clear and reflecting perfectly, it was so beautiful (and I didn't have my camera with me!). For tea Amelie had an egg and ham omelette, Caitlin had noodles in a cup, I had fried eggplant and LiAM had a ham sandwich - everyone was happy and it was all easy to prepare. E and M came and sat with us and we talked about Maths and books and camping and all sorts of things. Caitlin by this stage had also met some of the other 11 year girls at camp, so they decided to try and join the teens party that was happening that night, I said that was OK if they stayed around the campsite, so they happily went off with M to do that.

Our tent and associated swimming gear

Amelie and LiAM played on the computer for a while and E and I talked until we were tired enough to call it a night, so we went to bed. Amelie and LiAM went to bed quickly, I waited up for Caitlin who came in a bit after 11 having had an awesome time at the party. She wanted to go back for a little while so I said another half an hour, and she came in very happily just before midnight.