Walking to Regionals

It was a grey and drizzly day when we showed up for Ela to compete in the Sydney regional Finals at Sylvania Waters. The grounds were pretty basic but that didn't stop the kids from having a great time.

Grandad came down to cheer Ela on in the 700m walk which was good because he was able to keep his eye on Tom - hiding under the umbrella! I had to volunteer on the stopwatch (backup timer) which I recon was more gruelling than the races themselves lol. But it did give me a birdseye view of my gorgeous girl giving it her all (as always).

Tom didn't appear much from out under the umbrella but her seemed to have a great time and was wearing his athletics uniform in support of his club.

Ela did fantastic - came in 5th place close behind her friend Maisie from Balmain. Though her good friend Bronte got disqualified for incorrect walk style. Great work Ela.

Husky Holiday

Spent two wonderful weeks relaxing at Huskisson on Jervis Bay. Highlights included our dolphin boat ride - where kids got to go boom netting with dolphins and we got to see all the beautiful beaches of the national park and surrounds from the ocean, and of course lots of dolphins.


















Then there was my early morning kayak trip round the coast towards town with one kid on either end and the dolphins coming close up.

A few day trips to our favourite Murray beach, once with Grandad for some beach cricket and snorkeling over the side of the inflatable boat and hanging in the hammock.



















The bakery coffee was another highlight of the holiday as was the final night of the churchies (or SUFM) where they held the H-factor and Ela won 1st place by doing her rolling on a river dance.


Tom's bike riding was something not to be forgotten as were the multitude of bruises scratches and scrapes and the whole box of band-aids we went through. The first night he was so shattered from riding his bike that he fell asleep with his helmet on. We also loved our family night at the movies to see Disney's Frozen and dinner out at StoneGrill cooking our steaks on the volcanic heated slab. For the kids there was also the crazy golf (put-put) and carnival rides with Grandad. Having him join us half way through the holiday was great and thanks to Nanie and Grandad in cronulla for bringing him down and for dogsitting whilst he was with us.

 

And of course there were low lights too. The Shark sightings made swimming in the bay a PITA. In fact the kids probably only ventured once into the creek and once into the boat after we were told they were around. My paddle board experience was also crap - too windy for the bay and too shallow for the creek. Spent most of the 2 hours pulling it back against the tide or dragging the kids around for a joyride! And depending on who you ask, Mark's 5 hour round trip back to sydney for his bike turbo could be viewed as a low or highlight! All in all though a wonderful holiday and we have booked again for next year!

New Years Resolution

Well a whole year and more has gone without a post from us. 2014 will be different. Concerted effort to record our adventures for posterity. Here is the first - a great NY celebration starting with the carnival run by SUFM. Henna tatoos and inflatable football pitch followed by dinner at the Husky pub with our great friends Alex, Chris, Tom and Isobella.

 

 

A Wedding

 

 

Today Steve and Alyssa got married at the Botanical Gardens. Ela was to be one of the flower girls with her cousins Sophie and Lulu and Tom was to bring on the rings with his cousins Harry and Angus. It was a magical setting and beautiful weather. The Bride was stunning, the Groom was besotted and the audience was teary as the beautiful wedding vows were read out. All the kids had bubbles to blow and the adults had bubbles of the other variety. Absolutely Beautiful.

Logistics of getting the kids off home went off to a tee as our good friend Alex offered to meet us after work and take them, plus they got to stay at her house for a sleepover.

Then Mark and I strolled over to Woolloomooloo to the reception in the Bay hotel. Everything there was stunning too. The view from the balcony, the purple black and white theme, the cake with bride rugby tackling the groom to the name-card tags each with a keyring attached from Dubai. They even had a great pub-quiz with questions on Steve and Alyssa's romantic journey to the aisle. They did an awesome job of the organising and looked so happy and relaxed. Thanks guys for including us in your special day.

Foster Ultimate

This weekend we all went up to Forster for two days. Early start Saturday morning, with a vomit on the way as Ela regurgitated her breakfast :( A few Loo stops and we were about 15mins from our destination when we saw this coffee shop on the side of the road. It advertised a fairy garden and doll museum...and an Elvis Collection. Had to stop and take a peek. So glad we did, it was unbelievable. I've never seen so many dolls in one place. Tom was somewhat put off by all those eyes staring down and didn't stay long but Ela and I had a ball in there.

Saturday night was a very early one as the clocks were going forward and the Ironman had to get up at 4.30 to have his breakie.... nutter. Mind you we were in a motel room so we didn't really escape the early start either! Then we dropped him off at 7am in the cold to jump into a lake and we went off for breakfast by the beach.

The weather was pretty nice so we got to sit on the beach and swim for most of the weekend, while Mark did his crazy swim (2K), bike (120K), run (21K). He was pretty stoked with the results (14th in his age group) and we all arrived back in Concord tired but rested...well not Mark of course.

Tom's 5th Birthday

Tom's long awaited 5th Birthday finally arrived! Luckily for us the date was a saturday so the party was same day. He opened all his presents and then we told him to go check for the final one in his bedroom.... Hoping a new bed may help him actually sleep in his own room. Hope.

Decided his cake this year would be a bunch of red and blue spiderman cakes with spider candle. He loved it. Then at 1pm 20 young boys arrived for two hours of fun with Spiderman. He was great - even if he did ring me from the driveway asking for soemeone to go out and help him zip up his costume! We were in the middle of the Pinata being bashed to a pulp so sent Paula out. He had aslso forgotten his facepaints at his last party so poor Paula had to run home and get him some replacements! Other than that though he kept the kids running around the garden and they had a ball. Except for the fact that Tom got upset by reports of a Green Goblin and has not been able to sleep since. So much for the bunk beds - which Mark and I assembled in silence the night before his big day. *sigh*. I heard this expression recently 'sleep terrorist - suits Tom to a Tee.

Anyway Tom got tons of Lego and Ninjago as well as Spiderman presents and has been kept busy ever since playing make believe with Ninja and superheros till the cows come home. Thanks to all for the wonderful presents and cards.

Zone Athletics - school

Today Ela went with a bus load of kids from her school to the Zone athletics carnival. After coming 2nd place in the school final of girls (8yrs) 100m, she had qualified to attend at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics centre. She was so excited about it and when she heard that the girl who had come first from her school was not going because she was sick, Ela was even more convinced that she could win.

We bought her a new pair of running shoes (they were needed!) and gee'd her up to do her best. She was sooooo nervous the night before she hardly slept and she woke up saying she felt sick in her tummy. I kept telling her it was butterflies and nerves and it was normal and we waved her off on the bus at 7.30am. When we arrived at the stadium to watch, there was an enormous din and all the schools in the area were already chanting.

Ela's race had 4 heats and Ela was up in the last of these. She was in lane 5 and ran her little heart out. Whilst she didn't place this year, we kept reminding her how proud we were for her to even reach the Zone since she was running against girls in the year above her. It was a bit emotional afterwards but luckily she had her cousins Sophie and Lulu cheering her on and they helped cheer her up.