The Warmth of Goodwill
The Goodwill Games were held this weekend. If you haven’t been round this blog for more than 12 months, the Games are a fabulous small schools/homeschoolers sports day held at Dash and Violet’s little one-teacher school. And it’s always held in June – generally on the coldest day of the year. With an emphasis on good sportsmanship and goodwill, the warmth of the camaraderie tends to make up for the physical chill in the air. That and the hot pies and sausage rolls!
We were luckier than usual this year – I managed to get my maroon parker off for a couple of hours during the day – unheard of in previous years!
Temperatures ranged from 5 degrees Celsius to 21 degrees – no frost, but nippy enough with cold breezes creating little goosepimpled legs as they assembled kids did their traditional marchpast around the school’s oval.
Our little school had an unfair advantage, with the cutest mascot of all time: Kenny the three-legged dog (owned by the teacher and adored by the students!). They took out the prize for this section despite Kenny attempting to trip them all up as they marched around the oval.
Of course the paparazzi (aka proud Mums) were out in force too!
The hawt Daddys were also there in droves (I am trying to get back on the good side of the bloke on the left – ex-owner of Millie and threatening to sue after this post!).
G’day Harv… we really appreciate you sharing your darling dog with us, y’know. (He was a bit unimpressed that I painted him as the bad guy in that post – I figure if I call him ‘hawt’ and claim all responsibility for my smart-alec references to his generosity, he’ll forgive me.)
Are we good yet, Harv?
The kiddos were all gussied up in the school colours…
Hello Goo-Goo! This child is just adorable – and related to me, of course!
Goo-Goo competed in the famous Beer Carton hurdles (kids only!) which always draws an enthusiastic crowd…
My own darling Violet leapt for her little life over the empty boxes… you’d think her mother would take a leaf out of Goo-Goo’s mother’s hair preparation, wouldn’t you? Poor Violet spent most of the day peering through her windblown locks…
And unfortunately her Mother also passed on her ‘well at least I can swim‘ genetics, which mean that land speed is not among her blessings…
Luckily she managed to peer enough through the freaky fringe to spot her Daddy, waiting at the finish line…
I couldn’t possibly wrap up without sharing Dash’s close buddy (and Harv and Elle’s little man) who travelled with his family about 5 hours to take part in the events. I adore that the cowboy hat remained firmly in place throughout the race (and didn’t slow the little ever-ready bunny down either!)… we good yet, Harv?
And speaking of dashing characters… here’s Dash. Our little trooper was putting in the hard yards in the relay event… like his sister, running distances might not be his thing, but he sure is a ‘team man’.
There was sooooo much more, but you get the general idea. It was a long, exhausting day for one and all. Many, many pies were imbibed. Hands were clapped til they were raw, and medals were handed out for the fastest, the strongest, and the best exponents of that great little (undervalued) trait: sportsmanship.
It all warmed me from the inside.
Anything been warming you lately? Weatherwise or emotionally, please hit the comments and share…
13 Comments
Bush Babe
Am hoping the comments section remembers y’all now… yes? 🙂
gramps
Would that this “competition” spread throughout the world, eh Harv!!!!
Nancy in Iowa
Yes! It remembered me!!! Now I just have to follow your instructions to get my picture back. Your little darlings have grown soooo much since I started following your blog!
Cheers to the kiddies….
debby
Oooh. It remembered me too! I love this competition!
Blustery, gray, tornado warnings until 3.
.-= debby´s last blog ..Stress =-.
Bush Babe
Instructions to get ‘your little pics’ back beside the comments again:
http://bushbabeofoz.com/2010/05/07/new-tricks-and-tips-at-my-new-place/
🙂
BB
Kelly
More than warm here in south Arkansas. More like hot and humid!
The kids all look snazzy in their blue and white! Kenny looks awfully cute, too! I guess all that activity keeps them from getting too cold in their little shorts?
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..Oreo Truffles =-.
Red Dirt Mummy
What a wonderful event. I’d love to see this held in every school!
What’s warming my world – the huge bonfire we had last night. Was VERY warm LOL
.-= Red Dirt Mummy´s last blog ..Oh, hello! =-.
jeanie
Yay – it remembers me – now to see if it remembers my picture…
Well done all!!! Love the hurdles race.
.-= jeanie´s last blog ..Sisters… =-.
Tara
It remembers me too! 🙂
I’ve been looking at the weather for the week; specifically for Wednesday (incidentally, my birthday).
Monday: 8 – 27
Tuesday: 9 – 17 with 30% chance of 2mm
Wednesday: 9 – 11 with 60% chance of 12mm (brrr!)
Thursday: 6 – 12 with 30% chance of 2mm
Friday: 6 – 14 with thunderstorms
Saturday: 8 – 19
Sunday: 6 – 18
Maybe I should just stay at home and claim a pjyama day on Wed?
.-= Tara´s last blog ..Rosemary and Orange Roasted Chicken =-.
Lil Mama
I really don’t think those kids could be any cuter! I love kid events. Our big “warming event” around here is a benifit my horsemans club puts on called the Battle Of The Barns. It is a horse “playday” to raise money for a theraputic riding acadamy called Xenophon
(xenophontrc.org) We hold it the last Saturday of July every year. This is the first year we aren’t having it because we didin’t get enough entries.(Very sad) We are going to hold a replacement playday in hopes that some folks will show up.
Kate
Hey, my info is here! This is great! And loved this cute post, BB. Our weather was perfect today. That hot awful muggy weather has taken a back seat and cooler climes have moved in.
.-= Kate´s last blog ..While I was sleeping =-.
Amanda
You just totally MADE MY DAY 🙂 I LOVE events at little schools like this. I adore the beer carton hurdles 🙂
Naomi
i always hated sports day. i’ve always been built for comfort, not for speed. i love your photos and the kids look like they had a fabulous time.
mmmm…sausage rolls!
yes, it’s finally warmish here. it’d probably be warmer if it would stop raining for more than a day at a time. it’s been warm and humid here of late (could it be all the rain?) but i’m not going to complain about the rain too much though. we’ve been going through a drought the past years so having a record breaking wet spring isn’t necessarily a bad thing…unless you’re trying to seed wheat/rye/barley/oats/canola/pulse fields.
.-= Naomi´s last blog ..Hell On Wheels =-.