Kiernan goes on a field trip and other fun happenings

On Wednesday the kids had school and the rest of us took it easy after our travels. Barry had to work most of the day. Lydia and I took Mary, Madonna and Jim to Point Lonsdale Pier to see the views. Then we grabbed meat pies from Rolling Pin Pies and Cakes. Once Barry and the kids were home we decided to go to the Naranda Aboriginal Cultural Centre. For some reason it wasn’t open (even though it should have been according to their website). The kids played for a bit on the playground there before we left. We had spaghetti pizza and salad for dinner.

On Thursday Grade 2 at Ocean Grove Primary School took a field trip to Werribee Mansion, which is about an hour from here. Kiernan was so excited! Here’s Kiernan’s description of his day:

Kiernan with his 2nd grade classmates at Werribee Mansion

2^nd grade field trip to Werribee Mansion by Kiernan Bradford

On Thursday, April 23, the 2^nd graders at my school went to Werribee Mansion in Werribee, Victoria. First we were outside the mansion’s front door and we learned about the mansion from a tour guide who we had just met. The story is that Andrew and Thomas Chirnside came to Australia from Scotland. They raised sheep and sold them to save money to build the mansion. The mansion was built in 1877. Once inside we went into the men’s bedroom, then the women's bedroom. The men and women were kept apart back then. Next we went into the dining room. Then we went to the kitchen. We saw a wood stove and a table in the kitchen. Then we went into the scullery maid’s room. The scullery maid is the person who makes bread and butter and other important food. We saw a knife sharpener and a butter churn. Next we went into the children’s room, where you could play with all the toys. There was a puppet show, a wooden castle set with soldiers, a rocking horse, a dress-up area, a book, a doll and beds.

After visiting the mansion we went to the farm near the mansion. There were homes on the farm for servants. There were horses and carts that had won many trophies from horse races. Then we went and did the laundry. The laundry was interesting because they used something called lye soap. They shaved the soap with a cheese grater and mixed the soap into the water. Then you had to rub the clothes on a washboard. There was also a churner to wash clothes in. After the clothes were washed we squeezed the water out with squeezers. Then we went to the ironing room and we put all the wrinkles out with irons.

After we left the ironing room we had lunch, then we went to a grotto by a lake. The interesting thing about the grotto was that it was made of rocks, seashells and baby teeth because their parents thought the teeth were too beautiful to give to the tooth fairy.

My favorite part of the day was when we rode on the school bus to and from our trip. -Kiernan

Kiernan’s teacher, Kate Greskie, took photos that she shared with me.

Kiernan, Blair, Cooper and Asher dressed as young boys in the 1800s

Georgia and Kiernan playing with soldiers in the castle

Kiernan grating lye soap

Churning clothes to get them clean

2nd grade class on way to the grotto

While Kiernan was on his field trip and Hannah was at school, Lydia, Barry and I went to lunch with the Bradford crew at MrGrubb Café at Oakdene. Good food and great atmosphere!

Oakdene Winery (clever idea for a building, isn't it?)

Barry and crew went to the Wool Museum in Geelong and then to the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) for a tour and a seminar by Barry for the afternoon. Here’s Barry’s description of the afternoon:

Geelong's dominant industry for the first 80+ years of its existence was the wool trade. It was the closest port for the Western half of Victoria, and brokers who set up shop there to ship wool to Europe became extremely wealthy. In fact, many of the impressive buildings that still line the central business district today were built by wool brokers 100 years ago. Later, a major carpet manufacturing industry sprang up, with its heyday in the mid-1900's. Today, almost nothing is left of these industries, but the Wool Museum does a great job of describing their growth and decline.

We also got to see a temporary exhibit using clothing from World War 1 to discuss the role of key women during the war. The best part was a display of well over 4,000 poppies crafted by people in the Geelong area after a call to collect 1,914 poppies in honor of the 100th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli (more below on that).

Wool Museum

We then moved on for a quick tour of AAHL, which did not include a visit to the secure area (requiring an hour or more of training and a shower to get out), but did provide some video footage of people in the level 4 lab wearing "space suits". I was on the hook for the weekly AAHL seminar that week, which gave me a chance to provide a broader overview of what I'm trying to accomplish in my research for folks that I don't work with directly. -Barry

Playing with Grandma Bradford

Friday morning the Bradford crew left for the airport with Barry around 5:30 a.m. They arrived home in Iowa as scheduled. Phew! I’m sure they were exhausted, but I hope they had a great time while here. We loved having visitors and we are sad that we won’t have more during our time here.  It was something we had really looked forward to and made the months here away from all our favorite people easier. Now that all the grandparents have come and gone we are a bit homesick. We’ve got some great trips planned to break up the rest of our time here.

Saturday, April 25th was ANZAC day. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. It is a day of national remembrance and services are held at dawn across the nation.

Hannah made a poppy at school in honor
of ANZAC day. She also made ANZAC biscuits.

It rained all day on Saturday. We had a family movie night at home Saturday night and watched Rise of the Guardians. It rained again all day on Sunday, so Hannah and I spent three hours shopping in Geelong. We needed a new swimsuit for Hannah (for swim lessons that start soon) and new shoes for Lydia. She's already wearing size 10 shoes! Big girl!

Family movie night

Kiernan sewed a zebra sock puppet

Lydia and her gum boots

Lydia is a big fan of Peppa Pig, who likes to jump in muddy puddles. We've entered the rainy season here in Ocean Grove, so there is plenty of opportunities for "jumpy muddles" as Lydia likes to say. She has a new pair of gum boots to jump in puddles (or muddles)!

Monday I had the opportunity of experiencing Australian dentistry. I had a tooth that needed work and I didn't want to wait until July or August to get it repaired. Overall experience was similar to U.S. dentistry. One less thing to deal with when we return.

Sarah