Another flashback photo

I'm the skinny one on the left with the hair "sconned back". My sister Nick is holding the Bubba, who is my cousin Bianca and the other two girls Marce and Gub are sisters and my cousins also. Their Dad had driven us to Gladstone in his Toyota Coaster to visit all the relies, you can see it in the background. I don't know what Mum was thinking because he's not the sort of bloke I'd entrust my small children with that's for sure! Talk about a character. Our kids give him folklore status like Ned Kelly - on the few occasions they've ventured over to see Uncle Michael (he has a farm next door to some of our property) they always come back with these stories of him cooking up a big pig tongue stew or something as equally as squirmish - could be all true but I tend to avoid the guy since he developed the habit of calling my boyfriends things like "paw-paw head" and "hairy c*nt".

The other day Anakin held the hose right in my face and that feeling of getting water fair up my nose brought back all these memories of those girls. We use to have a great swimming hole down the back of Uncle Michael's. He set us up a rope swing on an overhanging tree and one of us would have to tread water while we flicked it up to the other standing in among all the tree roots on the bank of the creek. We'd wrap the swing up round the tree climbing up to our jumping spot. We'd then launch ourselves out and try various flips and somersaults, usually ending in a big stinging belly flop and a nose full of water. They'd call me "Nelly" because that was my way of saying "nearly" and I'd say it every time as I tried to encourage the others toward a perfectly executed trick.

I've also got this really heartwrenching memory of Bianca too (the littlest one). She was about that age (in the photo) and toddling along infront of me, I saw that she was coming up to a muddy patch in the yard and lifted her up a little from under the arms to swing her over it. Well I lost my footing and stumbled and we kind of fell over together in a heap. It wouldn't have been so bad but she hit her mouth on the corner of a concrete slab and her lip was bloody and split. I was so distraught I spent the entire day sobbing my eyes out on the bottom bunk bed going "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.." Looking back it was hardly that drastic but as a little kid I felt SO guilty and it was so hard to face her mum after I damaged her perfect little girl. Goes to show how supersensitive kids emotions can be.