Risky Fun.....words by Jill McCallum (James's mum)
The morning broke with me on bended knees, praying for a short respite to the weeks of monsooning, flash-flooding, torrential downpours we had seen. My prayers were answered. As I saw the first rays of sunlight piercing the grey clouds, the bullets of anxiety-driven sweat were replaced with humidity-driven sweat. Nonetheless, the "Plan B" gazebos were not erecectd, but all the other party plans were in full swing.
Family after family arrived and I saw parents visibly relax, as they sank into the hammocks, the wine, or nature in general. The kids were put through their paces on an obstacle course. They tried out a maze where {unfortunately or fortunately} the hedging was low enough that no one got lost.
Then they discovered the foefie slide.
Although Leigh assured me it could take an adults weight, I didn't see any try; but that may have been because it would have taken too long to get a turn from the children.
Then they were taken to the dam. A few stayed behind and spun themselves silly on a mind altering roundabout.
Some climed into the tree houses and explored nature from a higher perspective.Those at the dam started out tentatively. Being essentially city kids, the mud seemed, well, a bit icky.
Then suddenly, spurred on by the same instinct that makes kids jump into puddles of water, someone lobbed the first mudball. War ensued and when the kids returned to Ground Zero they had to be hosed off so that we parents got the right kids to take home!
Two long suffering and gentle ponies carried child after child around a paddock, as the eternally patient Leigh and her helpers led them. Then it was time for the ice cream cake, which was squashed into bowls. Due to a sudden heat-wave, the dry ice and freezer couldn't cope and the ice cream became soft-serve.
We ran out of time as everyone was having so much fun at each new activity that they couldn't tear themselves away for the next. At the end there were some kids that refused to get off the foefie slide, and some parents bribed, threatened or eventually dragged their children home, kicking and screaming.
There were were minor casualties along the way - a foot cut open, a face bruised from a fall out of a tree-house, and an almost runaway fire when the fly candles burnt the fly net. Despite the hoards of bees, no one was stung. So, true to the place's name, there was a lot of Risky Fun!
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