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!