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I’ve come to realize there are three types of holidays here in Australia, much like the Europeans see it too. I guess Americans are the odd ones out.

First, Australians have school holidays. So, it’s the equivalent of our school breaks, but there are more, or at least it seems. There are four terms of school and after each term, there are school holidays. {I’m confused why it is plural since it is one block of time, however, I’m confused on other words they do or don’t make plural too. For example, you play sport here, and you take maths class.} Anyhow, Isla just finished three weeks of school holidays between term 3 and 4 of school. Term 4 ends in early December, and then she goes on summer holidays for about seven weeks and restarts school in late January. I like school holidays to break up the school year, but it also means that everyone takes holiday (aka vacation) at the same time so you have to plan ahead. We didn’t go away due to Brent’s work schedule, and also, Isla participated in a holiday program at the local Alliance Francais (place to learn French for all ages). She enjoyed it, and I’m hoping that one day she’s happy she knows another language, especially when she realizes that most kids are “hanging out” on break. ?

Second, as with any country, there are public holidays. On last Friday, the AFL Grand Final Friday public holiday was observed in the state of Victoria (where we live). That’s the holiday for the Grand Final game of the Australian Football League. Yes, that’s right, there was a public holiday the day before the Grand Final football game that was held on Saturday. It’s sort of like having a holiday the Friday before the Super Bowl. I find this fascinating. This demonstrates the fanatical obsession with the sport.

The next public holiday is November 1st. It is Melbourne Cup Day. The Melbourne Cup is the most prestigious thoroughbred horse race in Australia. It’s considered the “race that stops a nation”, so it’s become a holiday. Perhaps the equivalent is the Kentucky Derby. It’s on a Tuesday, so most people have off on Monday too! Why now? It’s a busy week of race activities and festivals. In fact, in mid-August, I was invited to an Oaks Day Luncheon, which is considered ladies’ day for race week held during the week of the Melbourne Cup. I honestly don’t even know if there is a horse race that day, but I know the dress code is strictly race wear (even though we are going to a Yacht Club!). As the confused American, I had to ask/google what I am supposed to wear. Soon, I’ll be off to buy a new dress and fascinator so I can join the ladies. Besides the attire, I was also instructed by the other moms that I was not going to be back for school pickup so I needed to make other arrangements!  Vivian, our lovely babysitter and Brent are on-duty that day! ?

Lastly, Australians go on holiday. Americans take vacation. Speaking of holiday/vacations, we have a lot of travel coming up. Since Brent was busy with work and couldn’t take time off when Isla was off school, we are going away during her birthday. We are traveling to Western Australia to the town of Broome. It’s a secluded area on the Indian Ocean. Yes, really far from Melbourne- about a 4 hour flight which now seems like the blink of an eye compared to the flight getting here.

We are very much looking forward to a week of relaxation on the beach. I don’t think we’ve gone away as a family on a week’s vacation since June of 2015. Much overdue. It’s well known for its camel rides on the beach during sunset, so I better have a picture of us on them on the blog when we return! However, I anticipate that the kids will be scared of their size and also won’t want to ride them for 30 minutes, but I’m hoping I’m wrong. I’m also hoping we can catch a glimpse of the dinosaur footprints during low tide since Greyson has become very interested in dinosaurs lately. Fingers crossed.

In November, we are heading back to the States for two weeks. Brent has to travel back for work so we figured we might as well make the trip at the same time and also be home for Thanksgiving. I have some things that I need to take care of with the house, so we’ll spend the first week in NJ, then travel to central PA for the second week, splitting time between Hummelstown and Shade Gap. Not looking forward to the flight, but hopefully with six months of maturity, Greyson can be entertained a bit easier. Guess I better start practicing using the headphones with the iPad for the flight since last time he refused to use them….