How old is old .. ?

Christian, Saava, Imogen, George, Matilda and Omkara spent the day together at the farm .. ..

.. .. and it really was a wonderful day.

At one point, Christian told me his, 'Great, great, great, great grandmother was ninety-nine and having a birthday soon.'

I didn't worry too much that all those greats meant amazingly young mums in the family line... ...instead I asked if it was mum or dad's family.

Christian told me his fathers, mothers, mother. 

So we got down to one great before grandmother and he went on to tell me she was going to get a special letter or certificate.

I told him that was true, she would get a telegram from the Queen for her birthday as that is what happens to everyone living in Australia when they turn 100.

Christian seemed pretty happy that I knew about this as we talked about how that was a long life and really worth celebrating.

A while later he asked me, 'What if you lived to a thousand or something?'

I told him that I'd never heard of anyone living that long and I couldn't imagine it happening as it would be so very old.

He persisted, 'Yeah, but what would happen?'

I said again, 'I couldn't imagine .. ', quietly thinking of the signs of aging carried onwards for 1000 years (phew, that would take a body to it's limit and beyond)  and  asked Christian what did he think .. ?

He replied matter of factly, 'Well you'd have to at least get another certificate!'

... and I got it, if 100 gets you a 'certificate', 1000 is way older, could it possibly get you something better .. ? 

Very curious and enterprising little mind inside that boy ..

... before and after that moment we covered much ground and had a huge amount of fun and adventure.  The dynamic between the children was pretty extraordinary all day.  Lots of interest in each other and willingness to find out about each other and shifting dynamic of play ... ... eveyone together, then older and younger, then siblings and not and then girls and boys, evey arrangement possible happened throughout the day quite naturally and with ease and grace.

Why not see it all in the slide show at this point of each and all of the chidlren ...



We cooed over baby lambs and chased the baby goats, we watched the peacock dancing and listened to his call. We walked in the drizzle and sheltered in the barn.  We climbed trees and played cubbies and fed horses ...

 ... and played hide and seek in three different spots on the farm.

One game happened down the back in the 'Witches Garden', our little bit of scared ground where hardly another soul comes.  Not a bad place to play, though we did find each other quickly.

We then played near the big Oak Tree.  There we found most lush green grass of all where you good just flop to the ground and be hidden from sight.  Pretty good.



The best place of all was in the vege garden.  It is like one giant enormous maze and with all the different little patches and the way it's set up, it is oh so easy to hide and stay low and move on when you hear the seeker coming.

We also climbed an enormous hill with a walking path to the bottom that makes the best slide of all.

... come on Georgie, your turn to come up and we know you can do it ...

and he did with a smile!

This was an adventure for Christian, Saava, Immi and Omkara who all relished the challenge of getting to the top.

For Matilda it was an awsome challenge which she tried again and again.  She clambered up behind the older children and when the going got tough called out, 'Hey wait for me, I'm not berry strong you know.'  I kept telling her how brave she was and that was all she needed to hear to keep on going and enjoy the ride down, even if looking a little timid about it at times ...



For George it was a curiosity to try and then he had the most fun with me at the bottom watching everyone head up and them slide and tumble their way down ...

... and the gentler aspect of our day looked a bit like this ...

From Collages

... and if you want a peek at how rich and full our day really was, treat yourself ... ... roll your mouse over the photo below, click and take a large slow slide show tour with us all ... it really was a wonderful day ...

farm27.09.10