Term 2 Weekends

It's the end of Term 2, and the start of three weeks of school holidays. Hurray! This term has been short, but combination of shorter days, cold and rainy weather plus "Saturday Sport" for both Andy and me has made it pretty draining. But as I said to Andy last night, sipping on a cold glass of Chardonnay, we've made it through the hardest part of the year. Everyone is still alive, and we are still married, so I'm counting it is a success.

I'm sure I've explained Saturday Sport on here before, but just a quick recap: Two of the large independent school bodies in Victoria are the APS (Associated Public Schools of Victoria) and AGSV (Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria). My school is part of the AGSV and Andy's is an APS school. Schools within each of these groups play each other in sport, and games are played on a Saturday morning. Most APS/AGSV schools require teachers to coach or manage one season of sport. Students have to play two seasons. A season consists of nine Saturdays, plus a weekly training session after school. 

There are many, many benefits to working at an APS/AGSV school, however the Saturday Sport program is a drawback for teachers. I don't mind having some co-curricular involvement, but no one wants to work Saturdays on top of a full time job. I have always been a team manager of soccer, which means I have to do the admin related to the games, but I don't do any actual coaching. Most of these schools will hire external coaches (many are alumni of the school) and then as a teacher you are just the team manager, so there is no pressure to have any in-depth knowledge of a particular sport. 

This year my external coach is an alumni from the class of 2019, and he's really good with the team. For the last two years I had a different coach who was really useless, barely coached at all during the games and just had no presence about him. Having a good coach makes SUCH a different to the experience of the games on a Saturday for me (and for the students). Since we moved back to Melbourne in 2021 I've managed Year 11/12 boys soccer, and they are a great group this year. By this age the students are pretty self-sufficient so my role is pretty easy, so I can't complain too much! Really the issue is just having a 6th day of work, where in the morning we have to get up and get out the door like it's a weekday. Monday morning tends to roll around very quickly and you never feel like you've quite recovered over the weekend. 

This year we had the added complication that Ella also played netball at 9am every Saturday morning. So every week we had to plan out our Saturday mornings based on what time Andy and my games were at (the starting times vary, any time from 8am to 11am), where we were playing (some away games could be half an hour drive or more), Ella's netball game, and what we had planned for Ollie. Luckily we've had some very nice parents helping us out, taking Ella to her games and watching Ollie occasionally. 

I had to have them with me at one soccer game and it was unfortunately a rainy one, although the kids don't seem too distressed by that fact:

We had a very rainy season this year, though we did manage to have one bright and sunny Saturday morning, which makes all the difference in the world.

I was able to watch one of Ella's games this term due to my game being a late start. Luckily I ended up seeing her first goal which was very exciting!

I took Ollie to that game with me as well. He is VERY bored by the idea of watching his big sister play netball. I have to bribe him with a treat from the nearby café, and we usually take along his "Where's Wally?" book which keeps him amused for most of the game. Thankfully netball is a very short sport and games only go for 45 minutes.

This weekend I was supposed to have a game all the way down in the Mornington Peninsula, but on Wednesday the opposition called to forfeit, and what a WIN that was! There is nothing like your Saturday Sport game getting cancelled! You feel like you've gained half a day of your life back.

So that's a snapshot of what our Saturdays have been like throughout this term. Sundays have been a mix of getting out and about, along with cleaning the house, doing laundry, and getting groceries for the week. All that fun stuff! I've joined a yoga studio again for the first time since the pandemic, and I've made the Sunday 8am class a regular part of our weekend. It's a fantastic way to start the day, and I really appreciate getting back into a studio. There is something about practicing live, with other people, that can't be replicated with a YouTube video in your living room.

Below are some pictures and highlights from various weekends throughout this term. 

Ollie's Birthday

Our baby turned five last month! I can't quite believe it. For the first time we had a little birthday party for him, with three other families coming around for some party games and a BBQ. It was a bit nuts to be honest. Ollie had a bit of a meltdown as he didn't understand why the other kids could win a prize on his birthday. Like no one else should be getting presents. I think the whole thing was a bit overwhelming for him, and for some of the other younger kids. But after about an hour of everyone adjusting to each other, they all came out of it and we managed to have a good time. I think Ollie's memories of it all were positive anyway!

Swimming

My default activity on winter weekends is to take the kids swimming. They love it and the indoor pools tend to be nice and warm. The kids have a swimming membership with their weekly lessons, and that includes free entry into any of the pools in our local council. Our favourite one is about a 20 minute drive away, but worth it as the set up is pretty good. There is a small, 90cm pool that is heated to about 34 degrees, along with a good splash and slide area for the kids. They also have a sauna and hot tub, so when Andy and I both go we take turns watching the kids and sauna/hot tubbing. 

The last time we went to this pool it was just me on my own with the kids. We stopped halfway for some lunch first and it was warm enough for us to eat outside:

Now that Ollie is 5 I don't actually have to get in the pool with them anymore. The rules are that kids under 5 have to be within arms reach at all times, but now he and Ella both just have to be actively supervised. Amazing! They played so well together for nearly two hours. I actually got a little bored, next time I'm going to bring my air pods and listen to a podcast while I watch them. 

After swimming we enjoyed the winter sun and had a snack outside by the outdoor pool. 

Bike Riding

We are lucky to have a lot of bike paths around us, so we've gone on a few bike rides this term. Ella can ride further and further all the time. We still have Ollie on Andy's bike, riding up front with Andy, which he loves. We really need to teach him to ride a bike, but I think Andy secretly wants to ride with Ollie for a little while longer before he's too big/old. 

Beach

I really like going down to the beach on sunny winter days. Even though it's too cold to swim, the kids still have a blast playing in the sand. There is a restaurant called Beachcomber in St. Kilda with tables on the sand, so we are able to relax for a bit and have a drink while the kids play. The food is average and overpriced for Melbourne, but you can kind of pretend like your on holiday in a tropical destination so it's worth it. 

Chilling out at home

And lastly we've just enjoyed being at home. The kids play pretty well together at the moment. Andy is teaching them both chess, and Ella is catching on pretty well. Ollie actually asked for this chess set for his birthday.

Ollie has started to be able to do Lego on his own:

And both of them love drawing and creating.

Sometimes I can even get them to do a bit of housework:

And that's a little peak into our lives during Term 2! I'm looking forward to the next three weeks of school holidays. We have a road trip to Adelaide planned, and other than that I'm just planning on doing yoga, catching up with friends, and just not going to work for a little while!