Nationals at Ballarat

We headed south for our first week of the school holidays for some orienteering and fun in Ballarat, teaming up with Cath, Eoin and Aoife. Our rendezvous point was the Paddlesteamer Motor Inn at Albury. Leaving Canberra a little later than expected, we weren't able to make it there for dinner, so stopped at a pizza place in Holbrook only to bump into one of Katy's kindy classmates and her family!

It was a fairly snappy start to the next morning as we still had another 4 hours of driving to the event. Luckily there was a fairly decent coffee shop almost next-door to the motel to help us on our way.

Ballarat is famous for it's intricate gold mining terrain. The carnival program was two middle distance events on the first weekend then the sprint, long and relays on the second weekend with a variety of other events during the week. Ella was keen to officially enter the M/W10N a shadow class for those just starting out.

The Victorian Middle Champs were held at Creswik Diggings, on the outskirts of Creswick. As I was on the earlier start, Andy ran around with Ella before going on his course. She had fun and managed to make it around with a little assistance. Meanwhile Katy played with a gang of girls at the assembly area.

The next morning was the Australian Middle Champs held at Petticoat Gully adjacent to the previous days map. Katy and Jessica were excited with the prospect of a string course and charged around discovering the many animal controls! With the allocated start times, Andy shadowed Ella around the challenging blue course. I bumped into them while on my course with Ella sounding pretty happy.

Post events we always seemed to end up at a coffee shop which is not surprising really when travelling with Andy, Eoin and Cath who all love their coffee. While the adults chatted, under Aoife's guidance, Ella became very proficient with her cat's cradle.

Reno Boo Boos

As newcomers to the renovation scene, we were fairly impressed (on a whole) as to how smoothly it went. Yes there was the normal extended deadlines with stuff taking longer than expected however as for problems encountered there weren't that many which couldn't be solved by taking a different approach. Saying that, three incidences stand out although I'll only discuss two in this post.

Both are located in the kitchen. The first is associated with the repositioning of the fridge. Our old fridge cabinet was dismantled, turned 180ª, slightly adjusted in size and reassembled. What we didn't realised was that the side panel (which was partially hidden by the glasses cabinet, bench top and bottom cupboards) and now faced the backdoor had writing on it. We were disappointed to discover this scrawl was in permanent marker and unable to be sanded off.  We struggled to comprehend why the joiner knowing the writing was there, didn't ask us whether we wanted to splurge out on a new panel. Anyhow no crying over spilt milk - we asked to reuse the existing wood and thats what he did. Now was the time to brainstorm potential solutions.

Coming out on top of the list was to paint that side which is what we have done. Jury is still out though as we slowly decide on how to use that space. Current thoughts are to shorten the ends of the shelving above and purchase some sort of sideboard.

The second was a very large boo boo thanks to the electrician. When installing the extra power outlet which includes 2 USB sockets, he needed to drill through the cupboard and into the wall except that as he was doing this, he apparently hit something and the drill deviated coming out through the bench top!! The poor electrician was mortified at what he had done and the builder was even more so! Again the finger sized hole is still waiting to be fixed. At one stage there was talk of replacing the whole bench top (an expensive and difficult job) however the joiner first wants to try filling it with black resin (making it look like a knot) then have the whole bench top re-sanded and finished. This is all planned for next week.

Time Out

The ASUM conference was held in Sydney this year so off I trekked. My journey began with a very relaxing bus ride up on Wednesday night arriving at central railway station to see Cath waiting for me! It was wonderful to be able to stay with Cath, Eoin and Aoife for the 4 nights.

The conference located at Darling Harbour was split over two wharves (a 5min walk between the two). The obstetrics and gynae components had several wonderful international speakers and was well worthwhile. I also spent a morning session refreshing my musculoskeletal skills now that I back working in general ultrasound one day per week.

It was the longest stint I've done away from the family however everyone back home were doing just fine without me!

Afters

The girls have been enjoying attending afters this year. Here is how Katy came home on the last week of last term....in fact I received this photo at work! All I can say is that I have a lot of work to do...

Girls Move Out

Another big weekend with the aim to paint both girls bedrooms - ceilings, walls and a feature wall plus the hallway ceiling and walls!! Work began after soccer. We took to our expert areas - Andy prepping by filling the edges, patching and sanding while I started painting the cornices and edges followed by the rolling. We finished up fairly late with Katy's ceiling finished with 3 coats but only managed the 2 coats on Ella's.

Sunday started early with Ella's ceiling finished before Andy and the girls were up. Perfect timing really to help the girls cook Andy a Father's Day breakfast in bed! Once all the formalities were over it was back to reality and we began painting the walls. It was another long day with a late finish but the jobs were completed, a very satisfying feeling. We moved the girls back in on Monday night much to their delight. Their rooms aren't quite done - pictures need to be hung, inside of wardrobes painted and blinds purchased to name a few....all in good time though!!

Ella's room before

Ella's room now

Katy's room before

 Katy's room now

Hello Brown Bear

A very excited Katy exited her room last week bringing with her a 'special' bag. Tucked inside was a small brown bear appropriately named Brown Bear, his favourite book 'We are Going on a Bear Hunt' and a diary to record his adventures over the next few days.

That afternoon Brown Bear came with us to Little Oink, our local coffee shop where he shared a croissant with Katy! Then it was off to swimming lessons, however Brown Bear had fallen asleep in the car, so we left him there! Back home Brown Bear enjoyed potato and leek soup for dinner.

Tuesday was fairly quiet for Brown Bear. We ensured Pippa didn't become too friendly (and chew off his eyes - the fate many of the girls soft toys have succumbed to!) As Andy was at a conference, the girls attended after school care so Brown Bear was by himself for much of the day. Once home Brown Bear joined in a game of Bird Bingo before Katy read him 'Two Hungry Bears' and then cuddled him to sleep.

On Wednesday Andy arrived back home just in time to attend the Maths Night at school. Brown Bear loved immersing himself in all the different Maths activities!

Thursday morning, Brown Bear had to be returned to KJK to continue his journey with another class member. Katy showed the class Brown Bears Diary of his time spent with her.

Old Dog New Trick...

Who said you can't teach an old dog a new trick? Here is Ella utilising the tree root as new play equipment for Pippa. Obviously just throwing the frisbee for Pippa is not challenging enough!!

Happy to be Home!

After an extended break Loopsy is back where she belongs!

Freedom Again on Saturday Mornings

Our first soccer season is over with both girls partaking in their respective presentation day(s). Friendly matches followed by an award ceremony (where everyone receives a participation trophy) and as expected both girls were pumped. Ella had an absolutely wonderful team of girls with superb coaches and an excellent manager and hopefully will tee up with most of them next year. Katy is very much looking forward to having her 'own' team for lots of fun and friendship!