As you know we live on the Gold Coast and this year the Gold Coast is hosting the Commonwealth Games. Although we are not attending any of the actual games I thought it was important to show the boys what’s going around as I’m sure this will be something that will be talked about in years to come, since we have no future plans of moving anywhere else.
The first little bit of excitement that we were exposed to was the Baton Relay which was happening a matter of streets away, so close in fact that we walked to watch it. All of us watched as they passed and ran the baton for our area, all of us of course, except Jasper who fell asleep on the walk to the relay.
The school holidays were wisely planned around the Commonwealth Games, thankfully as the boy’s school is a mere stones throw away from the stadium and getting to school would have been next to impossible. Our school was also the home for the emergency services during the games! There was excitement all around us really with the buzz of it all.
While we spent some of our school holidays in Toowoomba with Gran and Grandad, I made sure that I took the boys down to see some of the activities that had been set up for the Commonwealth Games. There was a lot to see and do, particularly for the kids. They had shows on and craft, some of which we were able to take part in.
One of the first things we saw was a fish net wall where everyone could write a little note, anything they like and pin it up for others to read. I was extremely proud of Preston’s note, he wrote “I love God”. It was a hot day, so I treated the boys to ice blocks while we waited in line to walk through the Arboria; an interactive installation “Architects of Air” a luminarium, walk in sculpture of light and mazes. It’s hard to explain the experience, but the kids thought it was great, all the colours created by the light coming in, a different effect in each space and room. Pockets of air rushing in and an overall calming experience and space.
We walked around seeing the Borobi Mascot statues, went on the beach to chill out and play with our new volleyball, had some sushi for lunch and chilled out on the beanbags watching the games.
One of the most time consuming but very worthwhile activities we took part in was the sewing craft. The craft was to make a flag. Our flag was designed by us all, and I did the sewing. It’s got what we thought to be all the important things to include on a flag. We have the sky, the land and the sun. We have a fruit tree to represent paradise. We have hearts for love. The Cross and rainbow to represent Jesus and God. And our hands to join us all in unity. Ideas from all the boys and myself. We could have brought it home with us, however they did say we could leave it for display, so we decided to leave it there for others to see. I’m very proud of my little men and their flag design. What a great experience for the Comm Games 2018.
