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.

Sports Carnival

Today it was school carnival and Ela was very excited about it because they were having a mini olympics. Complete with parade, torch and even dancing (warm-ups).
This year the school decided not to award positions - so it was fair to all. Can't say I agree with that but for Ela she did get the opportunity to really compete as kids who were turning 8 this year from year 2 could compete with the stage 2 kids (years 3 and 4) and compete for a place in the zone finals.
Ela did awesome, winning her heat way ahead of the others and then coming 2nd overall in the final! Well done Ela. She is still to hear if her time is fast enough to go to the Zones but either way she was pleased as punch (as were we).
It was a freezing cold day so the kids had a lot more fun than the parents watching!

A new image

Ela has been begging me for months and months to have short hair so today i finally submitted and we went to the hairdressers.
There was a bit of debate as she sat in the chair as to the actual length. She wanted it to her chin and I said shoulders. I won.
Then the fringe debate. She wanted one and i didn't - she won!
The result was a very smiley happy girl.
She is getting glasses at the end of the week so then we will really notice a new image!

Toy & Game Expo.

 Today we had an unexpected treat at the Sydney Show Grounds. It was a wet and miserable long weekend and so i thought we would give this a try. The kids were under strict instructions that they were not to ask me for anything. There would be no purchases of toys but that they could play to their hearts content.
In return i was given strict instructions from Ela that I must not get a cofee and talk to Dad but I must play with them too :)

It was amazing. Playdoh, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, craft, Trash Can heros, bouncy castle, Nerf arena, go carts and motor scooters, Laser inflatable, Jigsaw puzzles, Chess, Lego pit.....

We could have spent the whole day there.

This is something I highly recommend and we'll be going next year especially if its a wet day (although i'll probably take them a friend each and a good book :)

And no, I didn't quite escape without a purchase but it was the cheapest thing available (a $2 toy!)

Queens Diamond Jubilee

Well watching all the celebrations has made me feel quite homesick this weekend. At first when we tried to encourage the kids to watch they just yawned 'boring!' Can't we watch it next time said Ela :) Well once I explained that there may not be a next time and that this was history in the making, she soon changed her tune. We even managed to get her to wear her Jubilee dress for the disco - what a princess :)

Vivid Sydney

   

Tonight we took the ferry into the city to see the harbour and the Opera House lit up with changing images, plus many different light installations. It's called Vivid Sydney and has been running for a few years now. It was really cool although the crowds meant that keeping an eye on the kids was really difficult!

       

Jenolan Caves

Well what a fun weekend away at Jenolan caves (past the Blue Mountains) with our friends. Though it didn't get off to a good start (Tom vomited in the car on the way - projectile, just missed my head) it certainly was a lot of fun in the end. We were 6 families from Mortlake - 5 kids from one class (1/2M) and 33 of us in total. Even the class frog got to come along.

We stayed in dorm style accommodation - we each had a basic room with bunks, with shared bathroom and kitchen. The kids ran riot around the joint, overjoyed with their new found freedom and pack mentality. We toured the Lucas cave for 2 hrs in the afternoon, and Tom spent most of the first hour crying and screaming to get out. Mark had to carry him most of the way as he was terrified, but eventually he got used to it and calmed down. The tour guide was very good humoured and got the kids attention by getting them to stare up for bats whilst he told us stories. Then we gathered for some pre dinner snacks and drinks whilst the kids chased butterflies and lizards!
We had a little trouble finding a place to BBQ that a) worked and b) fit us all in. You would think with all that wonderful nature it wouldn't be so hard..... But it was great fun and the kids had a ball chasing each other, looking for possums and generally running wild!

Some parents made it for drinks in the kitchen but a few of the dads retired early with the kids. The best move of all was made by Paula our organiser who sneaked off early back to Sydney to work on her book (upcoming bestseller!)
The next morning I got up early and went for a walk through the bush. I thought it would be a well marked trail - well sort of - but as i was first out i had to deal with lots of cobwebs - yeuk! I was also a bit scared cos it was so so silent and outstandingly beautiful and serene. I met up with Mark and Tom at the small pond near the caves entrance and we saw a platypus. When we returned and had breakfast, everyone was very jealous to hear it (apparently they are pretty rare in the wild) so we took them down to see. Though with all the kids running and shouting, the serenity was broken and the platypus stayed away!
We headed out after breakfast, packed up the cars (amazing how much 'stuff' you take for just one night!) and ventured back up the narrow winding roads out of the valley. Already talking about where next year will take us for our group adventure. We're moving up - first year was camping (Cokatoo Island) then dorm, next 5 star resort in Fiji?!

A little swimmer

Today was Ela's first swimming carnival. We weren't sure it was a good idea for her to attend as the deal was you had to be able to swim 50m. Ela could do it - just - but that's a long way for a 7 year old. She begged and pleaded to give it a go so we succumbed and today was the big day.

Mark went along to support and she did an awesome job. She race in the 8rs age group (turning 8 this year) and came 3rd. What an excellent effort - we are so very proud of her. Mark said she climbed out of the pool and had a bit of a cry - probably overwhelmed by it all, but she certainly has her Dad's competitive spirit. Well done Ela!

Husky 2012

Can't believe a whole year has passed since the last time we were in Huskinson for the Mark's triathlon (half iron-man). This time was remarkedly different however. We went down with our friends the Smiths as Chris was competing on the saturday in the sprint course and Mark on the Sunday in the long course.
The house (Sail Away) we had booked in Vincentia was absolutely gorgeous, right on the beach and smack in the middle of both the bike course and the run course. (one passed in front and one passed out back!) That meant we could watch from the balconies as (right on schedule) Mark passed by and gave us a shout as we cheered him on.

Despite forecast of rain, the weather was perfect. Warm and sunny. So we spent most of the weekend on the beach with the kids jumping and riding the tiny waves of Jarvis Bay. Fantastic - hope we can go back again next year.

New Computers

We all scored an apple product this xmas. Ela is now the proud owner of an iMac - now I will have to work out how to limit her internet consumption before my bill hits the roof.

I got a new MacBook Air from work, Mark got an iPad2 (though we pretended it was a present for Tom otherwise he'd be the only one without an iPad) and Tom got his own computer too. We had a Mac Mini which was hardly ever used, so I bought a new Samsung screen, connected the Mac to it and now he has his own computer too. Along with two new Ikea desks, they are all set to follow in my footsteps :)