Quidditch with Shaved Legs

Originally posted July 13, 2016

One staple of Australian culture that we had yet to witness was an Australian rules football game, known around here as just “footy.”  We recently checked out our first footy game and it was really quite exciting!

If I had to describe it, I would say it is most like a combination of rugby and quidditch.  Sure, they don’t fly on broomsticks, but the players jump insanely high and the field is an enormous oval with multiple poles at the end of each side marking multiple goals associated with various point options. The game is fast-paced and invokes punching (not throwing) the ball as well as kicking it, and lots of fast running.  Given all this, the players look to be in amazing shape and they all seem to have perfectly shaved legs, highlighted by the very short shorts they wear.

I think my favorite part of the game (other than the shaved legs and short shorts of course) was the throw-in that must be done when the ball goes out of bounds, much like in soccer.  The ref turns around with his back to the field and throws it as far as he can behind him.  It looks like some inappropriate maneuver I would do while playing H-O-R-S-E on the basketball court!  It’s a really fun game to watch, not to mention the fans!

People are very into footy and since they are also very into drinking, it makes for some very enthused and energetic cheering at the game.  So much so that they carve out a separate area of the stadium for kids/families, which turned out to be awesome for us as we could even get Isla her own seat for a really cheap family package price.  The footy games are known for having very intense fans (much like going to an Eagles game in Philadelphia). In fact, I actually was reading some footy stadium FAQs online to learn a bit more prior to the game and one of the first bullets states, “The Mexican Wave is strictly prohibited.”   Nate and I figured the Mexican wave must be a really bad kind of wave that involves punching, or maybe the last person in line getting lightly stabbed or something,  but when we looked it up, it is actually just the regular old wave I grew up doing at Orioles games.  I’d love to learn how that one got banned from footy games. We loved the game and are still learning what is even happening half the time, but will definitely return to another game soon to continue our education.

As far as other updates go, we returned home last Sunday after spending a few weeks in the US. Isla is getting to be quite a good traveler and shocks all the flight attendants with the amount of food she eats on the plane (on our leg from LA to DC, she actually ate the pilot’s meal when he didn’t want it!)  Coming back to “winter” hasn’t been too tragic – I put it in quotes because the highs are still in the 50s every day; it’s just a bit raw and windy most days.  Not too bad.

Now that Isla and all the other babies in our playgroup have turned one, there were, of course, a number of kiddie birthday events and parties, but the main event was a Friday night dinner and drinks out for all the moms without the kids.  It was the perfect way to celebrate the previous year!   While I continue the mom flirting when it seems most appropriate, I’ve also found that play dates with wine very much entice lots of moms. I’m hosting my first “Mum & Bub Happy Hour” this Thursday and am expecting a decent turnout already. Afternoon wine and cheese for adults and raisin boxes while playing in our Mountain Hardware camping tent in the living room for kids. What could be better?!