Swimming, Snorkeling, Sailing

We have had a regular sort of busy week or so...
Saturday
Bailey and I went to sailing for the first time in a month and Bailey did really well. Jim (the coach/rescue boat driver/gear rigger and repairer/general Jim Friday) didn't give him a chance to hesitate and they went out from the beach to the sand bar - futher than he had been before. Bailey left the beach at the same time as one of the larger cruise boats which didn't cause him concern but made his mother have kittens. He was then sailing to and from the sand bank a dozen times and doing quite well. Jim came back in to pick up a couple of parents in the rescue boat at which point Bailey forgot to tack away to return to the sand bank and kept on going. He then decided that he had better turn around now and jibed - with the result being that the boom donked him on the head and swept him overboard! Of course he had a life jacket on, and the boat didn't go far. We motored over and pulled him out - no damage done but he got a bit of a fright. We went back to the beach and that was that for the day.
Sunday
Dinner at the resort with Stephen and Poppy and two......unusual......travel agents out of the States. Enough said.
Monday
First day on the school 'bus'. The driver wanted to have them in the truck cab but the boys were quite determined to sit in the back. Hurray - one less trip to make with my dwindling fuel.
Tuesday
We received Bailey's correspondence school papers - all two cartons of it! WOW masses of resources for art and maths, two terms worth of booklets and CD's - about 4 hours of work per day! So we started Mummy school on Tuesday. Maths was great and a piece of cake. English was....complex - an activity booklet, spelling, handwriting, creative writing, independent reading, guided reading, shared reading........and I'm sure I have left something out. Technology - Bailey's first choice - very cool 'design your own paper bag'! PE - running and skipping (we haven't got to that yet)! Jamieson was UNIMPRESSED that his brother should get so much one-on-one attention and had the mother of all tantrums. I'm suprised he didn't put a hole in his bedroom door, where he endured a prolonged period of TIME OUT! I will need to find activities for them to do at Mummy School...
Wednesday
Bunked off school and went on the lagoon. We attached ourselves again to a Bishops Cruise and had a lovely time again. Bailey loves snorkeling. Lots of sun and snoozes on the way back to the island. I mean, it's not like the kids will be missing out on anything....
Thursday
...except the notice that said the whole school was going snorkeling on Thursday! So typical - 2 days notice, 2 teachers in the (admittedly very shallow) water, 2 mums on their motor bikes coming to see the Papa'as wife to get togs for her 2 boys who are sitting on the beach while everyone else (50 kids) are in the water. So Sienna and I went along to the beach, 25m along from the resort, and stayed until 12 when we all went home.
Friday
Bliss - Pareau day and a full day (to 1pm) at school for Jamie.
Saturday
Sailing again, and I took all 3 kids. There was a nice king tide and a stiff breeze. Bailey, Jamie and Sienna helped the mums (no dads there) rig the boats and off they went. But Bailey did a leg off the beach and then back and was motoring along at a fair clip when he burst into tears and decided he wasn't having any of it. So he sailed back to mum on the beach and a cuddle. "It was going toooooooooooo faaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssstttt" That's ok, we'll try next week. Most of the older kids weren't there due to a series of vaka (waka/canoe) races. So it turned out that the senior crews were paddling from town to Ootu beach, where we were - some 18km. So we hung about for the crews to arrive which was very cool. There were lots of supporters there, lots of biscuits that Jamie could ask for. My island boy has NO shortage of confidence at all! So the kids swam all morning, a beach full of parents watched, and it was nice.
Sunday
The rain is back for a few days. We were amazed that Sienna slept through the (more gentle) thunderstorm (although I confess to feeling quite nurvous myself and each flash). She is sleeping in the same bed and one or both of the boys and is actually sleeping through the night, which is very nice. Michael went to work of a while, preparing for our time off, and we looked in on the staff village where our house will be built. It is nice and close to the beach and there are two 2-year-olds there for Sienna to play with, so that will be nice, though the house will be much smaller. So it was an easy day - hot chips for lunch, a bit of mummy school (still a novelty) and an early night.
Monday - today
Michael has flown to Raro, we are following this afternoon, and we will be there until Saturday on our first round of remote leave. It will be good to get off 'the rock' for a while. The kids are excited to be going on the plane, and have a 'family holiday with 5 of us'.