Term 2

The last term of school was literally the longest term ever, as it was 11 weeks long, since we had a 3 week break because of Easter. Although it was a week longer than usual, it still seemed to go really fast. 

On Mother's Day we went to my Mum's house and made her tea.  Harri was good and decided it was about time he helped me in the kitchen and made the salad for us :) 

We played Cards for Humanity Family Edition which was hilarious and were laughing so much we were crying. 

At the beginning of term we went to see the St Pat's production of High School Musical with Mum and my cousin Emily and Sophie. 

I'm still absolutely loving my job as an EAL teacher.  One of my students told me that her dad had a food stall selling murtabak (an Asian food which is like a folded omelette pancake) at the local market on Saturdays and Sundays.  Kobe and I often go and buy Afghan bolani from a family whose children I used to teach, but thought we'd go and buy some murtabak.  

I ordered one and said to Kobe that we should share it, as I didn't think he would like it.  The father of my student was cooking and recognised me and said hello and we had a little chat.  

While I was waiting for my order they called me over and gave me a different flavour and told me that there was no charge for it, and that my other order was still coming.  They were both so delicious and it was lucky we had two, because Kobe absolutely loved it and ate the whole thing! 

During the term it was Ramadan and the uni invited the Grade 5-6 classes to come along to their Eid Festival.  We got to eat some amazing food and the kids got their hands painted with henna. 

Jalen has been having the best time in Hobart.  I'm so glad that he's so happy down there and has made so many great friends.  He's been very busy as the Christ College Communications Officer and is always busy planning events with the committee. One of his mates is from the USA so Jay thought it would be fun to have Halloween during autumn.  He and his friends dressed up as Scooby Doo and the crew :) 

In May we had fun celebrating my cousin Tim's 40th birthday which was an 80s karaoke party.  

After not being able to go to any live footy games last year (thanks to Covid) it's been great to watch games again.  I actually don't really follow the footy anymore. I really got into it after Aaron died as I think I felt like I had to keep up the passion for Hawthorn for him and the boys, but I don't watch any games unless we go to the footy now. I still like going to a live game and the boys and Mum still really get into it. 

It's been fun having Josie come along with us this year.  It's even better than she's a Hawks fan :) 

I love that the Queechy footy team still takes a photo when they play on the Aaron King oval when they play there, even though Harri isn't there anymore. Kobe has desperately wanted to play there this year, but hasn't yet. Fingers crossed he will get to play there before the end of the school footy season. 

To end off the term we had a school disco which the P.E teacher and I plan and run together.  We have lots of fun decorating the gym. I am the DJ and she runs the games. It's so fun to see the kid's reactions when they walk in. 

Towards the end of term Harri kept feeling sick all the time with nausea. He loves playing basketball but every Friday he would message me saying he didn't think he was well enough to do training and during his games he would be on the bench a lot, as he would tell his coach he wasn't feeling well. He just wasn't getting better so I took him to the doctor who said she wanted to do some blood tests.

 

Unfortunately the blood test showed that he has glandular fever.  She said his liver and spleen are inflamed and that he shouldn't play sport for at least 6 weeks as there is a risk that they will rupture.  When I rang Harri to tell him he was very upset, as it means he is missing out on the end of the basketball season as well as the college basketball competition. There's no real treatment for glandular fever except to rest, but we had a consult with my cousin Fil who is a functional medicine practitioner and she posted us some supplements for him to take. 

The day after his diagnosis he started to get a very sore throat and then went down hill really quickly.  He was in a lot of pain and was having trouble eating, drinking and sleeping very much. He was okay at home on his own for a couple of days, but then he was so sick that I ended up taking a couple of days off work to be home with him.  I've never seen him so sick before and the worst thing was that there wasn't a lot we could do.  An awesome pharmacist gave me some ideas and things to try and those things helped him a lot, but he had four days where he was really sick. He was so sick that he couldn't do his mid-year exams. 

Because we couldn't take our trip we had planned to Sydney (because they're in lockdown) I decided to book a few nights away in Hobart instead.  When Harri got really sick with glandular fever I didn't think we would make it there either, but he picked up and said he felt well enough to go. I knew we would just have to take it easy and make sure we spent lots of time at the hotel so he could rest when needed.  Mum came down to Hobart with us, so she could stay with my brother Jared and Becky and their family while we were there. It's always lovely to see my brother Jared (even if he does ruin every photo!). 

It was a coincidence that my friend Lynne was staying at the same hotel at the same time, as she was down there for work. It was fun to catch up with her a couple of times while we were there. One afternoon we took a quick walk around the wharf and Salamanca together. 

We went straight up to see Jay when we arrived as the boys hadn't seen his new room this year (AKA The Penthouse as it's much bigger than other rooms) and they hadn't met his girlfriend Jessie yet.  

We went out for tea and had the banquet at Bento which was awesome.  

The next day we had brunch with Jay. 

We then went go karting which was heaps of fun.  The glandular fever mustn't have affected Harri too much because he beat us all :) 

Harri only coped with being out for a few hours and then needed to rest up at the hotel.  

Kobe and I went swimming a couple of times, but he wasn't up to coming with us. 

Kobe and I went for a quick walk to check out the trees which were decorated in aboriginal colours for NAIDOC Week. 

One day we met my sister in law Becky and the kids and my Mum for a walk to Russel Falls.  I had never been before, but whenever I see photos of it I keep saying that we should go. 

It was as beautiful as I expected it to be. 

It's such an easy short walk from the car park, which was great for Harri. 

We kept going to Horseshoe Falls which was just another 15 minutes further, but uphill. 

We always love catching up with our friends Dan and Lou when we go to Hobart. They introduced us to a 'new' burger place (for us) which was Mr Burger.  

My brother Jared dropped off Mum so she could get a ride home with us, and joined us for buffet breakfast before we left the hotel. I always hate going home after a holiday and having to cook again. 

We took Mum to see Jay's room and to meet Jessie before we left Hobart. 

Lots of Jay's friends were around as well which was lovely as we got to say a quick hi to them before heading off. 

Before we left Hobart we made a quick stop at Mona.  

We had a great time in Hobart but I was tired as I can't sleep well with the boys in the same room, so I was glad to get home to my own bed (I'm such an old lady!). 

The second week of holidays have been much quieter which has been good for Harri and also myself as I haven't been feeling well this week. It always seems to happen on holidays as my body knows it's finally got some time to rest. 

Kobe and I joined Emily and Aaron and the kids for bowling which was lots of fun (except that Kobe and I are terrible!). 

I'm never ready to go back to work after holidays, but we unfortunately can't stay on holidays forever. I'm sure Term 3 will be super busy but will hopefully go as fast as the last one.