Anyway we took the kids to Nasa to have a look around. Darth Vader was visiting with a couple of Storm Troopers for photo ops..... Ol' Darth scared the crap out of Sharni and we had no intension of lining up for a photo we just needed to walk by. Funny how Darth did but none of those crazy Disney characters bothered her.
Dene got a BBQ/Grill for his birthday/fathers day so we had a big cook up last night and made enough to feed half the apartment complex.
The kids have been going to swimming lessons all last week and this week. 2 weeks of school holiday swimming lessons. Not quite like Emu Point though. Both of them seem to enjoying it and think it is wonderful. Nait still cries to lie on his back. But I would too knowing they are going to flip you onto your front at any point. Basically his class is about falling and getting them to flip onto their back and swim to the edge to get out. Apparently they do this to them fully clothed at a much later date..... I can imagine a few mothers who will well up when it gets to that point.
They both have male teachers which suprises me only because I know how mostly with teaching back home it is all females. I would say it is about 50/50 with the swimming teachers where the kids go. Sharni wanted to know why her teacher was the only 'brown' teacher? He is a huge (I am guessing 6' 3), very dark African American. 'But why isn't there other brown teachers?' hhmmm don't know the answer to that one. Anyway she thinks he is the best thing ever and 'Mr Rudy said this' and 'Mr Rudy said that'. I am sure you get the picture. They are both excited to show Dene what they are learning. The parents sit behind one sided glass to watch the class. Which as having been a swimming teacher before I think is a bloody good idea.
I can't remember before if I mentioned or not that Americans are extremely conservative. So much so that you can not change your children in public. I sometimes forget this and got in trouble the other day as I changed the kids out in the open not behind closed doors/curtains. There are not enough change rooms for how many people go and the kids were freezing. They have a 'strict no nudity' policy obviously. The poor young guy that had to tell me I think he felt bad. I asked patiently remembering this cutlural difference and not to get too annoyed as to where I could change my children. And there were toilets that I wasn't aware of out in another room. So now I take the kids there. But is a little, but huge difference between our cultures. You would NEVER see naked little kids running around here. Not even babies or toddlers. I guess we don't think much of it but they certainly do. An Australian I was talking too was told by her neighbours that she should not allow her children to run around naked in their own backyard as someone may be able to see them! I think she told them basically it would then be their problem, but of course nicely done.
I have heard that about the Yanks - the lack of nudity....... kind of bizarre huh. What's so wrong with the kids running round naked in the yard? Does Mr Rudy have a full on southern accent cos if he does I want to meet him when I come visit!
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