Family

Julian came up with the best line today. He was scheduled to be in the 200m run with two other boys, so was expecting a ribbon for whatever place he got. Then a fourth boy was put into the race. Julian's self-deprecating line to his friends: "I came fourth in a race that had three people in it!" 

Long jump

Athletics day

Grandma

Everyone agrees: this is amazing.

It had 142 likes and about 45 comments, many from famous media types
in Australia. Here are the comments:

Mary Laffner fantastic!!

Aviva Duncan Omg my kids are muppets!

Nigel Johnston Brilliant!!! Modern family!! Xx

Jane Badler Wow that is so clever for any age !!

Natalie Hershan Brilliant!

Fiona Brook Gold!!

Ruth Leibowitz Very creative ..

Nikki Hall Amazing

Craig Henderson Magic.

Ivana Bogut Haha love this!!

Cynthia White He's good !!

Roz Lawrence Hilarious. Loved it

Lillian Kline I wonder where he gets that literary talent

Helen Martin Julian HemingMunz.

Steve Taylor 11yo kid pitches for Gumtree Account. Wins.

Natalilouise Millinery Someone takes after his mum, very clever smile emoticon

Jo Elvin This is amazing!

Simone Casey I love it!

Simon Joseph Importantly ensured his own byline!

Nicole Degen Beautifully written Julian 😀 looks like he has your
talent Rachelle

Paul Ternent That's great smile emoticon

Bron Gillespie Gorgeous

Christine Mount Schinck Well done Julian following in mums footsteps

Janice Breen Burns genius!

Lee Dashiell Dr Seuss successor ??

Miky Smith Brilliant!

Anne Sayre Wow! That's REALLY good! It's got the rhythm and humor of
Shel Silverstein! He's talented like his mum!

Bibby Michelini Wow!!! So amazing!! Love the ending!!!

Marika Shapiro That is 100% amazing 😀

Simon Degen How clever, brilliant use of language, so like mum

Valentina Jovanoska Brilliant!

Barri Rachel Brilliant!

Suzy Zail wow.

Carolyn Jagoda Brilliant loved reading it.

Leora Jacks Amazing!!

Brenda Steinberg Wow - talented like you

Diane Turner Like mother like son!

Peter Rubinstein The apple doesn't fall far from the tree or is it bee

Vicky Ellenport Genius Rachelle!

Helen Reizer Fabulous! I love it xx

Marnie Perlstein Love this!!

Sharen Fink Brilliant !

Thomas Dittmar Funny. Not many ppl know that Gumtree is a subsidiary of Ebay

Gwendolynne Burkin gold

Darren Fishcoteque Talent!

Megan Castran How fabulous that is,
To see a kid so smart...
He really has a way with words ...See More

Vicky Leon OMG! That is brilliant! A way with words must be genetic.

Julian update

​We had a brilliant Easter weekend break this past weekend: we went to see Kung Fu Panda 3 (top scores by us all), Julian go to speak to comedian Dave Hughes when we bumped into him in the cinema foyer, we played laser tag and went bowling the next day with his friend Noah (who slept over) and Ben D came the following day. Phew. No wonder it was hard to get up this morning for school.

Julian continues to surprise, delight, amaze. Tonight, he was telling me about his school's battle of the bands - unfortunately, Julian's song of choice, Troublemaker, was not voted in as the choice, although it came a close second. At Julian's recent parent teacher, the adults largely sung his praises, and Julian sat there very earnestly, promising to improve wherever he could. Generally, the only negative remarks is that he gets distracted and can chatter (I do the same), but most noted his creativity and enthusiasm. His drama teacher thinks he will be one of her top students, and his English teacher was also delighted in his work. I posted his poem, Grandma, on Facebook, and everyone I knew went bananas. I will post it here, too. 

And oh, at the risk of him reading this and being embarrassed: he told his sister he loved her, unprompted. (You did not read this here!) ​

Long weekend

After Kung fu panda 3, we went to Hank marvin markets - but not before chatting to Hughesy at the cinemas

Cousins

Purim

I like to think that Julian's Rapunzel outfit was kind of a "stuff you" to everyone who says (endlessly) that his hair is too long and he looks like a girl. To his credit, he takes it in his stride. And the way I see it is - there aren't many things you get to do in the name of rebellion as a kid. Hair is no big deal.  Let him go nuts! 

Great position at Gp

Grand Prix

Last year, we drove around the track at Albert Park lake when it was being converted into a racetrack for the Grand Prix. Julian said, "Can you take me here one day?" and I promised I would the following year. As luck would have it, this was the first year that I also got invited on the race days as  a guest of some of the big days. I decided to take Julian on Sunday, the main race day, as a guest of Mercedes-Benz. I did not know what it would be like. Another fortuitous thing: he was supposed to go on the school father-son camp, but his spot was cancelled at the last minute because of his dad's bad back. So this was truly meant to be....

First step: we got picked up by a Mercedes-Benz driver in one of their new cars, from home. Our driver was Guy, an ex stunt-driver, who took a shine to Julian and regaled him with stories - including the one that Lewis Hamilton had sat in Julian's very seat earlier that day! I could not have wished for a more special, memorable day. The Mercedes-Benz star lounge is such an exquisite spot, a beacon of privilege: its own house, extremely rare cars at the front, special track seating, glorious food at the ready (Biggie Smalls' kebabs!) and a buggy car to take us anywhere else on the track when we wanted. As an added bonus, some of the biggest drivers came to talk to the crowd in the marquee - including the number one and two winners! It was phenomenal. 

We used our break in the buggy to go to the food trucks, and also see the motorcross stunts. We left at the end of the last race, waving our Mercedes-Benz flags as the winner arrived to the finish line. There was some drama - two cars crashed - but no one was hurt. We will never forget the time we had. 

Motor stunts

Grand Prix luxury

Off to the Grand Prix

Biking with Wazza

Moments in basketball

It will be goodbye to this particular team for the season - the makeup of the members always changes. We had a brilliant coach - Tony - and a really solid team of great boys, who made it all the way to the semi-finals. 

Last game of the season

We made the semi finals and put up a good fight - but lost