Supportive parenting

Day 2 of being a Ref for Tyler today. Another 7:30am start, and this time we supported him fully by letting him cross busy Military Road by himself and wander over to the oval, whilst I cooked breakfast on the ever reliable Weber. 

He has 5 games in a row today with only 10 minutes break and we are betting he is going to be knackered. 

Dylan and Kayla had no intention of going to watch today, despite the cool but near perfect weather. 

After an hour on the jumping pillow, they announced they wanted to go in the pool. This put us in a bit of a dilemma as that is not the place I want to be sitting right now. 

So like all good responsible parents should, we told them to tell anybody that asked their age, that they were 12, 

Then Tracy and I headed over to the fields to support Tyler in his day of referee-ing and make sure no one was abusing him. Just like all helicopter parents would. 

It was finally after 3pm and he was finished. And exhausted. 

He had done an awesome job but hadn’t stopped running and concentrating all day. 

This meant it was time to go back and see if the other 2 were alive, or worse, banished from the pool. Luckily, neither scenario was true, so we set up for Wine o’clock. As you do. 

The cold rolled in, the wine and bourbon was flowing and the chatter around a non existent winter fire continued on. 

It was finally time to crash... ready to pack up in the morning and say goodbye to soccer for the weekend. 

Its all about the Ref

The sleep in ended at 6:45 this morning. Tyler had to be at the check in station for Refs at 7:30 ready for the 1st of 4 soccer games he is referee in. 

The 1st 2 are as a linesman (or do I have to say lines person nowadays), with the last 2 as the primary field ref. I went with him to make sure he got orientated, watched the 1st half then headed back across the road to fire up the Weber for breakfast. 

The BIG4 we are staying at is reputed to be one of the largest parks in Australia and is massive (not that we have yet explored anything past the van site we are on)

Kayla was desperate to show me her manoeuvres on the jumping pillow and managed to put on an amazing show for anyone that was watching. Very talented. 

I then wandered back over to watch Tyler while Tracy took Kayla back up to Mt Barker for her usual Saturday morning Cheerleading practice. 

Tyler did an awesome job (and as a Weyland child, it was never going to be any different! )

It was a very late Wine O’clock start thanks to the soccer across the road. But it did happen (was there ever any doubt??)

A butterflied chicken on the Weber with roast veggies finished off the night, well finished off the food part of the night.... well except the chocolates and snacks,.... and we settled down with a few more drinks to see the night disappear. I set up the projector against the shade sail on the side of the car, which kept the kids both out of our way and quiet for 2 hours. 

More soccer for Tyler tomorrow, more wine and cheese for us. 

I might even go for the 300m stroll to the other side of the park and down to the beach. Maybe. 

West Beach in June - Why not?

June long weekend always guarantees one thing. It’s cold. And damp. And cold. 

It was a strategic destination this year thanks to Tyler being selected to referee in the SAJSA state soccer carnival all weekend. The games are being held directly across the road from the caravan park, so like all good responsible parents should, we have arranged to get stuck into the wine and cheese tomorrow whilst he does his “reffing”. I reckon there might even be the possibility of me wandering over there at some stage to check out what is happening. 

The van had been packed during the week with just fridge food and last minute items thrown in today, and we were off soon after the kids got home from school. Arriving in near darkness thanks to the miserable grey winter clouds and being middle of June, we were setup within an hour and sitting down with drink in hand - well I was anyway.... Tracy may have got a bit involved in organising tea for everybody apparently. Jerry towed the van beautifully as expected, this is our last test before setting off on our 6 weeks trip up to Darwin (leaving July 1st). 

The Footy is now on with Port outplaying Richmond easily. Here’s hoping the 2nd half is just as positive.