5 sleeps till Colin is here!!!!

Colin is here in only 5 sleeps (plus nap times of course as I have to be very specific for my kids). Now the arrival of Colin is almost as exciting as the arrival of the man in red. Only Colin gets here first! So, who has absolutely no idea what I am talking about????

Colin Buchanan is the most brilliant kids performer in the world and he happens to be an Aussie. Most people know him from Playschool and the Playhouse Disney or as a country music performer. But by far the best stuff he does is Kids music. CHRISTIAN kids music. and he is coming back to Stable on the Strand this year. This is his third year at Stable and I am so excited... oh, the kids are too a bit. So, Julie B from The Other Boufs... here is the answer to your question courtesy of Colin Buchanan...

Julie B. said...
LOL - loving those old posts and your your mum's as well.I never really thought about it, but do you have a whole different set of traditional "Christmas movies/cartoons" that take place in tropical weather instead of snow? :)

Dashing through the bush

In a rusty Holden ute

Kicking up the dust

Esky in the boot

Kelpie by my side

Singing Christmas songs

It's summertime and I am in

My singlet, shorts and thongs

CHORUS

OH! Jingle bells

Jingle bells

Jingle all the way!

Christmas in Australia

On a scorching summer's day

HEY!

Jingle bells

Jingle bells

Christmas-time is beaut

Oh what fun it is to ride

In a rusty Holden ute!

Engine's getting hot

Dodge the kangaroos

Swaggie climbs aboard

He is welcome, too

All the family is there

Sitting by the pool

Christmas Day the Aussie way

By the Barbequel

CHORUS

Come the afternoon

Grandpa has a doze

The kids and Uncle Bruce

Are swimming in their clothes

The time comes round to go

We take a family snap

Then pack the car

And all shoot through

Before the washing-up

CHORUS

Sorry about the dodgy formatting there...

So we do have some very Aussie songs, perhaps I'll put up another Colin one soon...

Is anyone wondering what Stable on the Strand is??

It is the biggest Christmas celebration in town and it is celebrating the birth of Christ. It is a free event all the churches get together and they create a whole town in a big park made to be Bethlehem, there are people playing all sorts of roles, roman soldiers, beggars, town folk, Mary, Joseph and Jesus

They had a particularly spunky trio playing them one night back in 2006. They try to rig it so they have as many "holy families" as they can so that each baby only has to do one session. we did 3 hours this night, the Mary dress is designed so you can feed while still wearing it if you want or you can go away to feed and a doll becomes Jesus and Joseph is a single father (to a very compliant baby) for a little while. I just sat there and fed, I don't think anyone even noticed, they thought I was just cuddling him. This particular year it was in a HUGE air conditioned tent but the air con blew it's nut and shut off, we had some lovely roman soldiers and also some angels fanning us (well baby Jesus anyway) so that we didn't overheat. Now it is all open air stuff.

One thing the kids love (other than Colin) is the REAL animals. Camels, donkeys, baby chicks, sheep, goats, they are all there and the kids can pat them and even hold the little ones. It is so well done. Apparently I am involved this year but have been unable to get to any of the training so I am unsure if I am still doing anything. Nothing up front this time... just going in after they have set up and saying that window is crooked, you need more palms over here, this stage is too prop heavy on one side, that sort of thing I think. They have a website you can check out. There is nothing else like it in Australia, it was all started by one church setting up a "live" stable each year and the crowds became more than their church could handle and they saw the potential for something bigger.

Once you enter Bethlehem they try to make it so real that they will only let you have a pottery cup to drink out of "on set" and you cannot wear a watch or anything modern like that, the costume ladies do really well making sure everyone is up to standard before they go on and the set designers do an excellent job making sure everything fits the period.