The Cairns Crew 2011
Merry Christmas to you all,
Well another busy year has gone by and Maz and I are just winding down for the year now. As per last year we will be spending the first few days of the holidays up in Mossman with Jim and Ethel and family.
We had a Cyclone event in Far North Queensland in early February this year. Cyclone Yasi crossed the coast of North QLD through Cardwell and surrounding areas causing major disruption and destruction. We were very lucky that it did not come any closer to Cairns but we still had severe winds at the time. Aidan managed to keep a cool head and slept through the worst of it.
The boys have had a great year again sports wise with the main sporting involvement being Surf Life Saving, Soccer and Swimming. Connor and Aidan both played a full season of soccer for Redlynch Cyclones again in under 10 and under 8 respectively.
Aidan’s team (the “Soccer dogs”) had another successful year and he developed both his attacking and defensive skills further this year. His team participated in five carnivals this year and really enjoyed themselves, winning lots of medals and certificates.
All three boys participated in Surf Life Saving with the Palm Cove Club. Bryce joined the Green Caps age group and had a lot of fun with the other young nippers, playing in the sand and learning the basics of SLS skills.
In particular he liked going on the boards the most. Connor and Aidan also really enjoyed themselves and competed very well. Connor ended up being awarded “Ironman of the year” in the under 11 age group at the club whilst Aidan took out runner up for the Nipper of the year. Connor participated in the NQ Championships and came second in the board event, second in the ironman event and first in the board rescue. He has also been selected to compete in the under 11 category at the Junior State championships in March 2012!
All three boys have been keeping up with their swimming lessons all year and over the past few months. Connor and Aidan have competed in FNQ swimming carnivals for the Marlin Coast swimming club. Aidan came first and second in some under 8 events in few carnivals and he likes breaststroke and freestyle the best like Connor and his Mum. Connor has come first in breaststroke at every carnival to date and has also swum well in freestyle and butterfly events.
Bryce started Prep this year and has really enjoyed his schooling at Redlynch State School. He has made some new friends and had a lot of fun learning at school. It has been good for him to start Surf Life Saving and Swimming lessons and finally participate in sports himself. Next year he will be starting under 6 in soccer so he well get to play regularly in a team for the first time.
Maz has been busy continuing working at a local public swimming pool – Tobruk Pool all year. She runs the pool Kiosk and also takes swimming lessons occasionally. Outside of working at the pool she has a had another busy year running round after our three boys – being a Mum, soccer team manager, taking them to swimming classes and carnivals, etc. Maz had her big 40th birthday in September where she starred as Marilyn Munroe at her Hollywood Celebrities Party! We all had a fun night in our fancy dress outfits and being merry!
Our dog Roxy has grown into a beautiful dog. She really enjoys her walks through Redlynch Valley Estate and occasional trips to the beach. We will take her up to Mossman with us for a few days and she will be able to run a muck with her brother Sam who lives with Jim and Ethel.
I have had another busy year with work and family life. The main highlight of my year was going back home for the Rugby World Cup and finally witnessing my favourite team the All Blacks win the Webb Ellis Cup again! I fantastic win by the team and they have finally been able to get rid of the chokers tag once and for all! My main project this year has been managing the design and construction of the redevelopment of a waterslide park in Cairns for the local Council. It has had a lot of public and media attention and we managed to get the two Waterslides and Mat Racer open in time for the Christmas holidays which was a good achievement. The boys, Maz and I recently trialled them out and we had a fun afternoon on the rides.
We had Mum and Dad visit us for two weeks in late June/early July this year. It was great to have them over and to for us all to spend time with them. We had a relaxing few days at Ellis beach with them.
Our house construction did not go ahead this year as planned as the design has taken me longer to work though and the housing market has not been good enough for us to sell our current home. However I will be getting the engineering design completed in the next two months and we will look to sell our current house and hopefully start building around June/July 2012. I am really looking forward to the challenge of building our own home as the design has come up great and it will be nice to live in a sustainably designed house.
We hope you all have a safe and happy year in 2012.
Lots of Love
John, Maz, Connor, Aidan & Bryce