Merci Mere Terre
Good evening loved ones :) I think everyone agrees that it is wonderful to go out and explore, yet equally wonderful to come home and fall in love with your home again. Having in-laws who clean the house while you are away and upon return sweep the children into their arms and entertain them while you unpack is quite a bonus. Each time I come back to our little abode, it is the floor that makes me smile. It is not only cleanliness that makes me smile, but the floorboards: knowing them so well having seen them all cut, laid, nailed down, sanded and polished. So we have gone and come home. I am now loving the floorboards, Mary's hot corn chowder and the luxuries of light switches and a bathtub.
Last week before we went camping, Jacinta still had her cough so I cancelled French class. We had a lovely home day resting, packing and preparing for our trip. We dug up a few buckets of potatoes to bring for dinners. A new friend from dance class popped over for French class (not knowing it was cancelled) and although we hadn't even brushed our hair that day, we had a lovely time anyway. The mom grew up speaking French but hasn't worked out how to share it with her daughter and son. Thus joining us for French class will be perfect for them. Jacinta and five year old Isabella had a ball, and thus far found no need for competition. Perhaps it's that pecking order rule: things are often easier if you know where you stand. We shall see.
On Tuesday, Jacinta stayed home from preschool. She and Genevieve went to "Poppy Preschool" instead. When Genevieve heard the word "pre-school," she excitedly exclaimed, "JUMP!" She associated preschool with the trampoline. So Keith turned the couch into a trampoline. They had a lovely time jumping around, playing games, doing arts and crafts, eating, and watching a video. Genevieve trotted back and forth from Keith to me and eventually had a nice nap. Although I had all morning to prepare, I still worked for five more hours that night! I wanted to be ready for anything, mainly cold weather.
Wednesday morning we were off. Jacinta was relatively well, Evie and I were fine. I could have stayed here and waited for Jacinta's cough to go away, but honestly I think she'd still have it anyway. We were all excited so away we went in the overstuffed car. We were only traveling about three hours away, but we managed to stop three times spending an hour each at the Honey Place, a petrol/fruit shop and Coffs Harbour for lunch, recharging the cell phone and exploring the camping store. It was 4pm before we finally arrived at Woody Head Campground in Bundjalung National Park. Choosing a campsite was the hardest task. Setting up camp and lighting a fire for dinner before dark was a bit of a rush. The girls were in heaven though, climbing everything, chasing birds, jumping in and out of the tent, checking out the public toilets and playing with flashlights and the few toys I packed. We ate our eggs and toast by candlelight. Evie was very tired and actually said, "sleep?" I took her to the tent and she ran away crying and tried to get in the car. She did not know a tent could also be a bed, but with a little effort she learned. Sharing one big sleeping bag was cozy and cuddly, Genevieve learned quickly how to fall asleep peacefully this way, just staring at the candle hanging above her head. One morning she awoke and the first thing she said as she pointed at the candle holder was "all gone."
Genevieve woke at the crack of dawn each morning, it's hard to avoid this in a tent. I tried to persuade her otherwise but she instantly wanted food and to get out of the tent. "Zip?" she would persist. She pointed at Jacinta each morning, "Seeping…" or "je dors," (I am sleeping in French). She would lunge at her big sleeping sister and ask, "Wake?" Eventually I gave in and went outside in the cold with her so she could explore and let Jacinta sleep. Birdlife in the morning was amazing, birds of all colors all trying to steal our food, even drink our tea. Genevieve quickly learned the phrase, "Go away!" from Jacinta.
Jacinta learned a few new things on this trip too, as you would expect. She can put logs on a fire under supervision and loves collecting firewood although she will not do the most important job: search for small sticks. She also practiced taking pictures and really loves this skill. Today she took a picture of a wild emu. She learned to appreciate darkness a little more and fell in love with wide open spaces. I wanted her to learn the art of non-attachment because she is at a stage of such possessiveness and total attachment. So we played in and loved many different places, and moved on. At one point she said, "I love our campsite so much I never want to go home! Why do we need to leave?" Just a few hours later she said, "I think I want to go home now."
Watching my girls play either together or on their own is one thing that will make me stop what I am doing and smile. I watched Jacinta sit alone in the grass smiling, sing with the birds and play meditatively with a toy or two. This was lovely. She seemed free, unencumbered by an overwhelming choice of activity. Genevieve just kept moving, never stopping unless she was being carried on my back or eating something sweet. She roamed picking flowers and interesting things off the ground, often trash. She sought enclosure at times and at these times she said "Car…op.." (translation, "mommy please open the car door for me. I would like to go in and play.") One morning it was so cold that we all played in the car for an hour until it warmed up. I had a lot of organizing to do anyway.
Besides the obligatory activities like cooking, eating cleaning and sleeping we found many exciting things to do. The rock pools at Woodyhead were amazing, just perfect fun for little girls. We searched for seashells, played in the sand, waded in shallow water, watched big waves from afar, chased seagulls and got very close to four big pelicans trying to snooze on a hot rock. Genevieve watched Jacinta jumping in the rock pools and just couldn't stand it anymore, she wanted to jump so badly! She did little baby jumps for the first time and would call out every few seconds on a new rock, "Jup?" meaning she wanted me to hold her hands and help. The big strong banksia trees were great for climbing. There was also a section of the beach that was covered in driftwood big enough to climb and use for Hide and Seek. When Genevieve wants to play Hide and Seek she starts counting: "Noo, nee, noo, neee, noo, nee" and goes on until someone is found.
We met a lovely French woman on the beach, Elodie. Whenever I hear a lovely foreign accent, I hopefully inquire. She was wandering Australia in a campervan and had so many interesting stories to tell. Jacinta and Genevieve enjoyed her company also so we decided to have dinner together. We had a lovely time with our new friend and spoke French all afternoon and evening. This inspired both girls and made the language a bit more real, hearing it spoken by someone besides their mother. One of my goals this week was to speak more French with the girls and voila! It came naturally after listening to us gab for hours while sitting at the beach, making a fire, making dinner, eating and falling asleep by the fire. Elodie left the next day but we may see her again. The girls still speak of her and feel a little more French in their souls.
Besides the beach, we explored a coastal rainforest. Jacinta happily walked for over a mile, swinging on the vines like a monkey and searching for treasures to collect. I kept asking her to tell me when she was ready to turn back. "Mommy, you are just going to have to decide when to turn back because I just want to keep on walking." Genevieve mostly rode on my back but came down a few times to play en route. Playing Hide and Seek in this forest was great fun, noo nee noo nee. The flowers and berries were beautiful, but the vines were certainly the highlight. We eventually turned back and I think Jacinta was ready by then. Genevieve was ready: asleep on my back.
Cooking on the fire took a little extra time, even though the meals I cooked were extremely simple and very bland. We had fish and chips a few times, even squid, and ate a lot of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, but mostly we cooked at the campsite. We cooked fish, eggs, potatoes in the coals, pasta with canned tomatoes and beans, toasted sandwiches, applesauce, and of course, marshmallows. One evening I vowed we would finish cooking before sunset. Just in time we made it up the hill to a picnic table where we watched the sun go down and eventually finished our tea and pasta in the dark. Jacinta was a little wary of the dark the last few months, but not this night. As the light disappeared she played with her shadow, and ended up singing and dancing under the stars. Genevieve and I had to join her of course. Spinning under the stars is always fun.
In French class we sing a little song called Merci Mere Terre (Thank you Mother Earth). It is a poem I did with French classes in the past that I adapted for my little class here. Genevieve is with us in class now and takes in more than I know. This week she heard me say merci quite a bit and associated it with the song from class. At any dull moment in the car or on the beach she started to sing, "Merci…" and do the motions to the song. She only said the one word, which then prompted Jacinta and I to sing the whole song while she did the motions. Her favorite action is the last word, animaux, upon which we act out a bouncing kangourou.
Our next campsite was in Yamba, a slightly ritzy surf town with a thriving fishing industry. It was a busy town, so our caravan park was not so isolated and lovely, nor could we have open fires. Eggs in the microwave are not very nice but a lovely lady introduced Jacinta to homegrown grapefruit. The beach was pretty and the girls liked the playground. Our grassy campsite was beautiful and great for a little game of soccer, but left Jacinta with a nasty bull ant bite which eventually led to a sprained ankle. The big fishing boats were great to watch and kept us in French song. This time it was a song I had just taught them when we sailed our styrofoam boat across the dam, "Bateau sur l'eau." We don't know the rest of the song, so it was like a chant every time we saw a boat, over and over. Evie calls out bateau every time she sees a boat now.
We left Yamba after one night and looked for greener pastures, stopping en route at the Blue Pool of Angourie. This was a natural pool quarried out in the 1890's next to the ocean. With Jacinta's foot in great pain, I pushed her in the pram and carried Evie on my back, slightly questioning my own sanity. When we found the pool and sat on the ocean watching massive waves and awesome surfers, then I felt a little more sane. We then drove south to Minnie Waters and stayed in Yuragyir National Park at Illaroo, a rustic campground right on the water. Jacinta stayed in the tent and did arts and crafts while Genevieve roamed and watched birds. This was our last night, so we had a marshmallow feast after dinner. Then I accidentally mentioned that there were dingoes so we went straight to bed. The next morning, Evie woke us for our first sunrise on the water, and we could just peer out of our tent to enjoy it. Jacinta and I agreed that this was worth staying for.
We left after I packed us up on Monday morning and moseyed on home. We stopped at an organic farm to buy fruit and veggies out in the middle of nowhere. Our last stop was in Woolgoolga, partly because we liked the name and partly because I thought there might be a naturopath to look at Jacinta's foot. Turns out that we found exactly what we needed, as I usually do. We walked into a clinic, and they squeezed us in! This lovely lady massaged Jacinta's leg for a half an hour. After carrying my big girl, pushing her, and hearing her wince in pain for almost two days, Jacinta left walking. Talk about magic, my gosh. We celebrated with lunch and a playground on the beach.
The girls were troopers, so much fun to be with and so easy to please. It was slightly tiring, as proof I fell asleep with them every night and never saw the moon rise. I won't hesitate to take them camping again. It will be harder when they aren't as trusting of their whimsical mommy and happy to do whatever I choose. But for now we are traveling well together.
Matt seems to be traveling well too. He is at my mom's house tonight and leaves for home tomorrow. We've spoken briefly amidst his tightly packed social schedule :) and he sounds happy and tired. We will see him in just two days, the girls and I are anxious to see him. Any time Evie saw a man with little or no hair on our trip she called out, "Daddy!" Jacinta is counting down the days.
I hope you are "traveling well" also. Life seems to work out better when you believe in the presence of overflowing goodness. I'm sure it's harder in places that are not so abundant and peaceful, but may help a little. Have a great week.
Peace to you,
Shana
Last week before we went camping, Jacinta still had her cough so I cancelled French class. We had a lovely home day resting, packing and preparing for our trip. We dug up a few buckets of potatoes to bring for dinners. A new friend from dance class popped over for French class (not knowing it was cancelled) and although we hadn't even brushed our hair that day, we had a lovely time anyway. The mom grew up speaking French but hasn't worked out how to share it with her daughter and son. Thus joining us for French class will be perfect for them. Jacinta and five year old Isabella had a ball, and thus far found no need for competition. Perhaps it's that pecking order rule: things are often easier if you know where you stand. We shall see.
On Tuesday, Jacinta stayed home from preschool. She and Genevieve went to "Poppy Preschool" instead. When Genevieve heard the word "pre-school," she excitedly exclaimed, "JUMP!" She associated preschool with the trampoline. So Keith turned the couch into a trampoline. They had a lovely time jumping around, playing games, doing arts and crafts, eating, and watching a video. Genevieve trotted back and forth from Keith to me and eventually had a nice nap. Although I had all morning to prepare, I still worked for five more hours that night! I wanted to be ready for anything, mainly cold weather.
Wednesday morning we were off. Jacinta was relatively well, Evie and I were fine. I could have stayed here and waited for Jacinta's cough to go away, but honestly I think she'd still have it anyway. We were all excited so away we went in the overstuffed car. We were only traveling about three hours away, but we managed to stop three times spending an hour each at the Honey Place, a petrol/fruit shop and Coffs Harbour for lunch, recharging the cell phone and exploring the camping store. It was 4pm before we finally arrived at Woody Head Campground in Bundjalung National Park. Choosing a campsite was the hardest task. Setting up camp and lighting a fire for dinner before dark was a bit of a rush. The girls were in heaven though, climbing everything, chasing birds, jumping in and out of the tent, checking out the public toilets and playing with flashlights and the few toys I packed. We ate our eggs and toast by candlelight. Evie was very tired and actually said, "sleep?" I took her to the tent and she ran away crying and tried to get in the car. She did not know a tent could also be a bed, but with a little effort she learned. Sharing one big sleeping bag was cozy and cuddly, Genevieve learned quickly how to fall asleep peacefully this way, just staring at the candle hanging above her head. One morning she awoke and the first thing she said as she pointed at the candle holder was "all gone."
Genevieve woke at the crack of dawn each morning, it's hard to avoid this in a tent. I tried to persuade her otherwise but she instantly wanted food and to get out of the tent. "Zip?" she would persist. She pointed at Jacinta each morning, "Seeping…" or "je dors," (I am sleeping in French). She would lunge at her big sleeping sister and ask, "Wake?" Eventually I gave in and went outside in the cold with her so she could explore and let Jacinta sleep. Birdlife in the morning was amazing, birds of all colors all trying to steal our food, even drink our tea. Genevieve quickly learned the phrase, "Go away!" from Jacinta.
Jacinta learned a few new things on this trip too, as you would expect. She can put logs on a fire under supervision and loves collecting firewood although she will not do the most important job: search for small sticks. She also practiced taking pictures and really loves this skill. Today she took a picture of a wild emu. She learned to appreciate darkness a little more and fell in love with wide open spaces. I wanted her to learn the art of non-attachment because she is at a stage of such possessiveness and total attachment. So we played in and loved many different places, and moved on. At one point she said, "I love our campsite so much I never want to go home! Why do we need to leave?" Just a few hours later she said, "I think I want to go home now."
Watching my girls play either together or on their own is one thing that will make me stop what I am doing and smile. I watched Jacinta sit alone in the grass smiling, sing with the birds and play meditatively with a toy or two. This was lovely. She seemed free, unencumbered by an overwhelming choice of activity. Genevieve just kept moving, never stopping unless she was being carried on my back or eating something sweet. She roamed picking flowers and interesting things off the ground, often trash. She sought enclosure at times and at these times she said "Car…op.." (translation, "mommy please open the car door for me. I would like to go in and play.") One morning it was so cold that we all played in the car for an hour until it warmed up. I had a lot of organizing to do anyway.
Besides the obligatory activities like cooking, eating cleaning and sleeping we found many exciting things to do. The rock pools at Woodyhead were amazing, just perfect fun for little girls. We searched for seashells, played in the sand, waded in shallow water, watched big waves from afar, chased seagulls and got very close to four big pelicans trying to snooze on a hot rock. Genevieve watched Jacinta jumping in the rock pools and just couldn't stand it anymore, she wanted to jump so badly! She did little baby jumps for the first time and would call out every few seconds on a new rock, "Jup?" meaning she wanted me to hold her hands and help. The big strong banksia trees were great for climbing. There was also a section of the beach that was covered in driftwood big enough to climb and use for Hide and Seek. When Genevieve wants to play Hide and Seek she starts counting: "Noo, nee, noo, neee, noo, nee" and goes on until someone is found.
We met a lovely French woman on the beach, Elodie. Whenever I hear a lovely foreign accent, I hopefully inquire. She was wandering Australia in a campervan and had so many interesting stories to tell. Jacinta and Genevieve enjoyed her company also so we decided to have dinner together. We had a lovely time with our new friend and spoke French all afternoon and evening. This inspired both girls and made the language a bit more real, hearing it spoken by someone besides their mother. One of my goals this week was to speak more French with the girls and voila! It came naturally after listening to us gab for hours while sitting at the beach, making a fire, making dinner, eating and falling asleep by the fire. Elodie left the next day but we may see her again. The girls still speak of her and feel a little more French in their souls.
Besides the beach, we explored a coastal rainforest. Jacinta happily walked for over a mile, swinging on the vines like a monkey and searching for treasures to collect. I kept asking her to tell me when she was ready to turn back. "Mommy, you are just going to have to decide when to turn back because I just want to keep on walking." Genevieve mostly rode on my back but came down a few times to play en route. Playing Hide and Seek in this forest was great fun, noo nee noo nee. The flowers and berries were beautiful, but the vines were certainly the highlight. We eventually turned back and I think Jacinta was ready by then. Genevieve was ready: asleep on my back.
Cooking on the fire took a little extra time, even though the meals I cooked were extremely simple and very bland. We had fish and chips a few times, even squid, and ate a lot of peanut butter and honey sandwiches, but mostly we cooked at the campsite. We cooked fish, eggs, potatoes in the coals, pasta with canned tomatoes and beans, toasted sandwiches, applesauce, and of course, marshmallows. One evening I vowed we would finish cooking before sunset. Just in time we made it up the hill to a picnic table where we watched the sun go down and eventually finished our tea and pasta in the dark. Jacinta was a little wary of the dark the last few months, but not this night. As the light disappeared she played with her shadow, and ended up singing and dancing under the stars. Genevieve and I had to join her of course. Spinning under the stars is always fun.
In French class we sing a little song called Merci Mere Terre (Thank you Mother Earth). It is a poem I did with French classes in the past that I adapted for my little class here. Genevieve is with us in class now and takes in more than I know. This week she heard me say merci quite a bit and associated it with the song from class. At any dull moment in the car or on the beach she started to sing, "Merci…" and do the motions to the song. She only said the one word, which then prompted Jacinta and I to sing the whole song while she did the motions. Her favorite action is the last word, animaux, upon which we act out a bouncing kangourou.
Our next campsite was in Yamba, a slightly ritzy surf town with a thriving fishing industry. It was a busy town, so our caravan park was not so isolated and lovely, nor could we have open fires. Eggs in the microwave are not very nice but a lovely lady introduced Jacinta to homegrown grapefruit. The beach was pretty and the girls liked the playground. Our grassy campsite was beautiful and great for a little game of soccer, but left Jacinta with a nasty bull ant bite which eventually led to a sprained ankle. The big fishing boats were great to watch and kept us in French song. This time it was a song I had just taught them when we sailed our styrofoam boat across the dam, "Bateau sur l'eau." We don't know the rest of the song, so it was like a chant every time we saw a boat, over and over. Evie calls out bateau every time she sees a boat now.
We left Yamba after one night and looked for greener pastures, stopping en route at the Blue Pool of Angourie. This was a natural pool quarried out in the 1890's next to the ocean. With Jacinta's foot in great pain, I pushed her in the pram and carried Evie on my back, slightly questioning my own sanity. When we found the pool and sat on the ocean watching massive waves and awesome surfers, then I felt a little more sane. We then drove south to Minnie Waters and stayed in Yuragyir National Park at Illaroo, a rustic campground right on the water. Jacinta stayed in the tent and did arts and crafts while Genevieve roamed and watched birds. This was our last night, so we had a marshmallow feast after dinner. Then I accidentally mentioned that there were dingoes so we went straight to bed. The next morning, Evie woke us for our first sunrise on the water, and we could just peer out of our tent to enjoy it. Jacinta and I agreed that this was worth staying for.
We left after I packed us up on Monday morning and moseyed on home. We stopped at an organic farm to buy fruit and veggies out in the middle of nowhere. Our last stop was in Woolgoolga, partly because we liked the name and partly because I thought there might be a naturopath to look at Jacinta's foot. Turns out that we found exactly what we needed, as I usually do. We walked into a clinic, and they squeezed us in! This lovely lady massaged Jacinta's leg for a half an hour. After carrying my big girl, pushing her, and hearing her wince in pain for almost two days, Jacinta left walking. Talk about magic, my gosh. We celebrated with lunch and a playground on the beach.
The girls were troopers, so much fun to be with and so easy to please. It was slightly tiring, as proof I fell asleep with them every night and never saw the moon rise. I won't hesitate to take them camping again. It will be harder when they aren't as trusting of their whimsical mommy and happy to do whatever I choose. But for now we are traveling well together.
Matt seems to be traveling well too. He is at my mom's house tonight and leaves for home tomorrow. We've spoken briefly amidst his tightly packed social schedule :) and he sounds happy and tired. We will see him in just two days, the girls and I are anxious to see him. Any time Evie saw a man with little or no hair on our trip she called out, "Daddy!" Jacinta is counting down the days.
I hope you are "traveling well" also. Life seems to work out better when you believe in the presence of overflowing goodness. I'm sure it's harder in places that are not so abundant and peaceful, but may help a little. Have a great week.
Peace to you,
Shana
posted by Matt & Shana & Jacinta & Genevieve Henry at
10:34 AM
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