Too much fun?

Is it o.k to have too much fun?   To have too many sweet friends?  To see too many beautiful things?  To have too much opportunity be inspired by the loveliness that life has to offer?  To miss church in order to have one more day of the mountains?  To miss early morning seminary in order to have one more hour of sleep? (o.k.  I realize I am fuzzing the lines here!)  

Life requires a certain ability to, shall we say, justify.  Looks like I am managing very well wouldn't you say!

We have been off playing again.  If it's just making you sick with envy sign off now, meanwhile, I'll  do my best to throw something unfortunate into the mix of what must sound like a never ending vacation.  Surely I mentioned my washer breaking down a couple of weeks ago?  The mud all over the boys new white tennis shoes?  The fall Jeremy took at the water falls?   Lest I forget, this most recent excursion had a nice whack of stinging nettle in the calf region of my right leg that was most unpleasant.  There was a spider the size of a full bloomed peony in the kitchen at the condo, along with an array of spider webs loaded with a nice variety of dead bugs hanging in the corners of every wall.  The wallabies pooped on our sidewalk and we forgot the ice cream for the birthday cake.  Oh, and the birthday candles, too.  Riley and Jeremy had to do some babysitting for the two little ones and they got bored.  Um, what else?  We got lost going out to the swimming hole so we had to, horror of horrors, ask for directions.  No one was home at the first two houses where we stopped.  The roads are narrow out in the country and sometimes I sorta yelled at Bart to slow down.  He didn't like that. The water at the swim hole was brown.  Several people were smoking which is something you won't see in the pretty pictures.  I gained weight and Bart pulled muscles.  We all smelled like bugspray.  We ran out of milk.  Hmmm,  maybe there's more, but that' about all the bummer stuff I can think of right now.  I promise there's always more where that came from. It's just a matter of putting some real energy and focus into it.  Looking for the negative takes practice, effort and time you know!

So, back to the good stuff.  Bart works for/with a man named Kevin.  Bart refers to him as his client/customer.  That's how we are connected originally but I can truly say that now he, his sweet wife Julie, two little ones, Jonathon (5) and Michael (3), are our good friends.  You either are or aren't going to be bonded after 4 days and 3 night together.  We are.  And you would be too.  These are delightful people that know how to enjoy the simple goodness of life.  They are gentle souls and have managed to blend the South African (him) and American (her) cultures in their 12 year marriage.  Throw in Kenya, Malowi, Virginia (they were with Delta T at one point as well but left about 5 months before we came on board)Wisconsin (hated it), Florida and Brisbane and this last move to the Australian country side and  you've got the recipe for some great stories!  We enjoyed learning about them and getting to know them better.  We all felt so much happier and relaxed after sharing time together as families in the beautiful Bunya Mountains.

We actually started at their home out in Dalby.  They graciously hosted us overnight on Thurs. and then we all went up Friday to a great condo with 2 master rooms and a 3rd room with 2 sets of bunkbeds.  It was a super arrangement for us.  Julie had rolls and meats and cereals and milk and had also brought up her goods for her "tea time".  She even brought me some Rooibus!  The first day was feeding the birds, a hike to a scenic overlook and home for lunch.  Unfortunately I left the camera home for our quick walk over to the local "Tea House" so there are no inside shots of the gift shop, balcony out to the trees or gorgeous food.  The big boys tended the little boys for that one.  (They would much rather that then sit in a restaurant of any kind, hee, hee)  It was great to see and remember what happens when a man and a wife take that first step out of the house for a little free time.  Ahhh, the relief was visible!  They are amazing parents and the boys are at that age of requiring lots of physical attention, plus, Kevin is quick to inform us that at 47 he just doesn't have the strength to keep up all the time like he used to with his two older children from a previous marriage.  We think he still does great after watching him ferry each of his children across the swimming hole and chase them around the rocks!

After lunch we were all HOT, HOT, HOT so we found out about this little swim hole about 40 minutes away from the lady that runs the place.  The directions were a little sketchy and we did get lost but eventually joined a nice group of locals at this hidden swim hole.  The water was so refreshing, thank goodness, and the big boys had a total blast jumping off the rocks on the other side.  Despite being on high alert (Mom Packer would be so proud.  I promise, I watched every jump to make sure they came back up!) for drownings and falls on the rocks I still enjoyed the time there so much.  You felt privileged to be with all these "real" Australians enjoying their cooling off treat with them.  

We hiked out of there and back for dinner which was, again, delicious.  Our favorite has to be the Pickled Bunya Nut relish on brushetta.  MMmmmm.  Plus I had some Aubergine (eggplant) that was very yummy.  Usually it's thin cut but  this was thick and loaded with a cheese and tomato sauce.  Of course now there's no money for this week's groceries but I don't think anyone will mind!  He, he (Just kidding.  We still had some old milk and Bart found a  moldy piece of bread in the pantry.  Hee, hee)

I think this was one of the most laid back outings we have had since we arrived.  It was just enough time to let down your hair and stay awhile versus our customary drive and drive, arrive, eat, sleep, hike, get dirty, wash off, load up, drive home.  Playing is sometimes harder than staying, if you know what I mean?

Highlights for me?  Carrying little Johnathon (Johno) back up the trail and having him use his little baseball cap to brush hanging vines and foliage out of my face.  Listening to Michael call for the turkeys, all of the eating (as ususal), witnessing Bart race Riley in a short sprint until he beat him (whew, that was a close one - thus the sore muscles), my run through the trees, chocolate cake for breakfast, seeing Jeremy let Michael drag him around by his pinky, having Riley take on Michael as his one and only responsibility for our lunch, the  talk about religion (who knew Kevin is practically a preacher?), celebrating Julie's birthday, the flowers on the little Eucalyptus tree, breathtaking views, the Glass family that we met at the scenic overlook who's teenage son introduced our kiddos to all sorts of bugs he'd collected and then gave Johno the cup with a millipede, beetle, and a grub.  

O.K. time to pick up the boys.