BIG FAMILY, little income: Gold Rush

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Gold Rush

Today was Gold Rush time in Gympie - meaning it's parade time. Unfortunately, so many people want to be involved it usually seems there's more people in the parade than watching from the sidelines.

Their Highland Dancing group was asked to join in the fun today, so Miss8 and Miss5 got to dress up in traditional clothes and march and wave down the main street and, afterwards, dance a jig in the park. What was really lovely was so many of our family turning out to throw their support behind the girls.

My dad was having the time of his life, chatting with total strangers who've never heard his funny stories before. He loves fresh meat. I heard him start up a conversation with one man which began, "I was talking to a bloke yesterday who had a receding hairline like yours...." I left at that point and went to stand with my mum, who hardly ever picks fights with people in the street.

The girls haven't been to a lot of dancing lessons yet, but they flung their hands and feet around like pros today - just maybe not Highland dancing pros.

Miss8 did wonderfully - she loves the dancing and dressing up. She wasn't as taken with the public appearance and said she felt a bit sick, but soon overcame her nerves.

"They told me to wave at people when they waved at me and at first I didn't, but then I did and then I started to wave at people before they waved," she told me. The old preemptive wave - not an easy maneuver to master, but a game changer if you can pull it off.

Little Miss5, on the other hand, was dancing to the beat of her own drum. Literally. I mean she was dressed like everyone else in the group but that's where the similarities ended.

For starters, whereas the other dancers swanned onto the dance area, Miss5 decided to squat down and jump, frog-like, over to her spot. Then she found half a dozen things to do with her feet for every one toe point the other girls did, plus there were twists and turns when everyone else was simply facing forward. And, for the finale, whereas the other girls ended with poise and a knee bend, our Miss5 decided to go for tiger claws. It was a Strictly Ballroom moment.

Afterwards, I made sure to thank everyone for coming to cheer the girls on.

Some family members having the time of their lives :) Actually I
think they'd just found the 'butt crack' photo Tracey snuck onto
their camera. It's okay guys, it's really just a close up of my arm pit.

"No worries. It's nice to support them in something they enjoy," Uncle Jason told me. "Beats the months I spent supporting them in something they didn't," he added, referring to the girls' season playing soccer, which turned out to be nothing like the dancing and gymnastics they asked for.

Besides, I think the Highland Dancing is a big improvement because there were no soccer clubs dancing in the street today.

Happy Birthday G-town!