Seven to Eight to Nine

I took this photo while standing under the boardwalk at Coogee Beach during Mr W's swimming classes this week. I had been sheltering under there not because of the scorching sun but incredibly because of the driving rain. Something about the lapping of the waves and the darkness of the tunnel created by the black pylons leading to the light at the end called to me and I just wanted to wade out there. I took a bunch of other photos trying to capture the moment but this one turned out to have the best framing, I was juggling my umbrella, beach bag and umbrella so I guess you had to be there...

Are you wondering about the cryptic title to this post? Well the Seven to Eight refers to my son passing his beach swim certificate. I'm so proud of him, he had to stay out of the water until he was 6 due to recurrent ear infections, and us not wanting him to undergo surgery to insert drainage grommets in his ear canals. His ENT specialist cleared him to begin lessons when he turned six and he has passed 7 grades since then. During this class it was the first time he has been allowed in the ocean without a parent holding his hand to keep him safe.

Here he is crashing into the surf to head back out to the instructor. He is racing another student who is obscured by the girl standing in front. She was also in Mr W's class but is about 12 years old and taller than me... that is a big height difference!

Eight to Nine in the title refers to Mr W's birthday, I can't believe my boy is nine years old. I am beginning to understand what my Mother and Grandmother meant when they said raising their babies to adulthood seemed to pass in a blink of an eye. He still fits on my knee (just) and is still happy for hugs and snuggles so long as none of his mates are around. We began the day with homemade buttermilk pancakes and opening gifts at 6am (initially it did seem more like 3am though I managed to generate a more than adequate level of enthusiasm after a few minutes of waking) Here we are cutting his cake, it was an Echidna and I forgot to take pictures before we began cutting into it, but it was an ice-cream cake so we couldn't wait around or it would have melted away to nothing. Thankfully Miho had grabbed my camera as we sang happy birthday or we wouldn't have any pics at all. We had a casual family barbecue tonight to celebrate and in a few weeks (closer to the start of school) we'll have his party with his buddies at the local ice arena... and that means a new cake so I'll try to get pics of that one.

Mr W ate a piece of this cake that totally filled and hung over the edges of his bowl (the one near his hand) and Miss D ate a slice almost as thick... I was sure she wouldn't be able to eat it all but she did which just goes to show what I know. Mr M (who is allergic to dairy) had his own mini pavlova cake piled with fresh pitted cherries. I think the children will all need to eat 1/2 a cucumber, 3 carrots and a whole head of lettuce each tomorrow to make up for all the sugar they consumed tonight.

Goodness me, after all this excitement today I'm off to bed... I think I deserve to indulge in some temari making tomorrow.

Hope your day brings you much joy!