More Winter Time Fun (July)

I think I mentioned in a previous post that the winter season is chock full of festivals, fairs and activities.  There has been something happening practically every weekend.  This month (July), we had the Alice Springs Show Day (which is like a county fair), Territory Day/Fourth of July celebration and the Camel Cup (next post).

Friday, July 1 was Show Day and it is an Australian public holiday, so I had the day off and Ian had to work.  So, Jamie and I headed to the showgrounds with his best mate, Rio.  There was a puppet show, animals (horses, goats and poultry); rides, games, stalls, etc.  We walked around and ate lots of fun fair food:  kettle corn, corn on the cob, fairy floss (cotton candy), fresh made donuts... We really enjoyed the bouncing castle the most.

Bongo and Congo the Drumming Monkeys

Pirates on stilts - Jamie is at lower left - fascinated

Racing remote control cars

That same weekend was Territory Day (July 1) and 4th of July in the States, so the facility had a big joint party to celebrate.  Complete with games (bingo, lolly toss) fireworks, tug o war and much more.  Warning: there is a picture with a snake below.  Its pretty cute of Jamie, if you can stand it.

However, we had a bit of excitement that morning before we headed out to the picnic.  Jamie and I had gone to the markets and on our way back we saw a brush fire.  When we called the fire brigade, they told us it hadn't been reported yet and it wasn't a controlled burn.  That meant they'd be sending a fire truck out.  Hooray!!  We decided to stick around.  The pictures aren't great, because I took them with my mobile phone, but I did manage to get a couple of the small truck.  They also sent a large pumper truck to refill the smaller one, Jamie was in heaven.  The firemen offered to let Jamie get in the large truck and push buttons for the sirens and lights, but he was too shy.  However, he STILL talks about the fire that day.

After naptime, we headed out for the picnic.  I had the boys decked out in red white and blue and they looked terribly cute, if I do say so myself.

Obsession

Gavin is exhibiting a bit of an obsessive-compulsive disorder.  He latches on to objects and carries them in a tight fist, even while crawling.  He will protest LOUDLY if you attempt to remove said objects from his hands.  Unless its dangerous, we usually let him latch on to whatever he wants and carry it until he gets distracted and moves on to something else.  Typically, its a straw or a car or maybe a plastic spoon.  Last week, however, he found a treasure-trove in my bathroom drawer.  He carried them (one in each hand) and chewed on them for about 20 minutes.  I was sure that he would relinquish them when it was time for his nap and bottle.  I was wrong.  Not only did he manage to hold his bottle with out releasing his treasures, he woke up from his nap 90 minutes later still clutching them.

I put him in his chair and got him some lunch at which point, he finally decided to let one of them go so he could eat.  Ian decided at that point, we needed a picture of this.  Not sure for what, except to provide us with giggles for years to come.

A just to add a few more future embarassing photos...



June (Winter) Fun

Winter in Alice Springs is a pretty amazing time.  The weather is pretty awesome (warm days and cold nights).  The Northern Territory is also called the Festival State, so its no coincidence that the winter weekends are filled with fun and quirky festivals.

So, in addition to the boys' birthdays, we have had loads of fun at the Finke Desert Race and the Beanie Festival.

Finke Desert Race is the Australian equivalent to Baja 1000.  It hasn't quite reached the same level of international prominence, but it is getting bigger and bigger.  Last year it had about 400 entrants and this year was over 500.  It'll be interesting to see how it continues to grow and it is definitely good for the town.

We didn't get too adventurous with our Finke watching, we just spent the morning at the Prologue.  Prologue is the time trials for each class of vehicle to determine the starting positions for the actual race. 

On the first race day, cars are first to tackle the 230km track with the first car getting underway usually at 7.30am. The first ten cars take off one at a time at one minute intervals. The rest of the field then start two at a time at one minute intervals. Bikes follow later launching off 11.30am with the 10 fastest bikes (as determined by prologue) starting in rows of two bikes, at one-minute intervals. The remainder of the field will start in rows of up to ten bikes at one-minute intervals.

There is a time limit of 4 hours to complete the first 230km leg of the course. If competitors do not make it down to Finke with the 4 hour time limit they are out of the race and do not start day two as they are out of time. The Clerk of Course has the right to stop any competitor and prevent his/her continuation in the event if it is deemed impractical for that competitor to complete the course within the required time limit.

Competitors must pass through each of the 4 checkpoints situated along the track. There are 3 designated fuel stops also dotted along the track for the bikes; however, the buggies do not stop to refuel. Once competitors get to Finke they must sign off to let officials know they are alive and well so we don’t send out a search party for you in the early hours of the morning. Any competitor who fails to complete the course must notify one of the Official Sweep Vehicles as soon as possible!

After the excitement of Finke, we opted for a more "sedate" event.  The Beanie Festival.  Beanies in Australian lingo refers to knit hats and they get quite creative.  The Beanie Festival was originally founded about 15 years ago to provide Aboriginal women a place to sell their beanies.  In an effort to help them become more economically self-sufficient and teach new skills, local women taught the Aboriginal women how to knit.  Then they needed to find an outlet for them - hence the festival.  It has grown considerably in that time and now has a competition, a gallery, a hall of fame, sales, music and more...There are a few pictures on the website that show some of the more creative creations (http://www.beaniefest.org/), but here we are modeling a few (we actually bought the one Gavin is wearing).

The stage is wearing a beanie.



We are one

year old.  :)