The Deck is Done!

Today we placed the finishing touches on our summer project the deck!

 Before

 After

Winter Sports

Canberra winter has it's disadvantages, but lately we've been trying to take advantage of the cold we endure here -- that is, that we can introduce the kids to some real winter sports.

Activity #1 was a few weeks ago -- actually, when Grandad was in town, and we took both girls to the open air ice skating rink in town. Katy got in for free, but even so she didn't get her money's worth, and she was off the ice after 2 minutes. But Ella stuck it out for the whole (90 minute) session. At first she was clinging to the railing around the edge, but after a while I started skating behind her, attempting to catch her every time she fell (I probably got her about 75% of the time). By the end she was quick enough that I couldn't get close enough to catch her, so she was on her own.

 We had planned to go skating again last weekend, but Aunty Cathy rang up with a better offer -- leading to Activity #2: X-C skiing. Cathy & I drove up with her kids and Ella, Katy once again missing out. When we got to Perisher we found that parking was pretty scarce, and  had to park closer to Smiggins. But we eventually found some flat (slightly icy) snow for the 3 kids to learn to ski on. Ella did much better than I expected -- lots of falls, but also lots of times when she skied along looking semi-coordinated. It was a bright sunny day, not too much wind and we managed lunch in the snow, a few hours skiing, several runs on the toboggan and a snow man before we had to head for home. A long day, but very worthwhile.

Tidbinbilla

Last week saw us travel to the south of Canberra to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve to help celebrate Belinda's birthday. We couldn't of asked for a more perfect day - the weather was sensational with bright blue skies.

Arriving before the rest of the gang, Grandad, Ella, Katy and I headed into the visitors centre to explore the exhibits which I didn't know existed. We tested our knowledge of animal footprints, touched a snake skin, looked at different animal poo(!), took a flyer and paper to make an origami pelican, touched many of the stuffed native animals (wombat, platypus, possum, kookaburras...) hunted for the frogs, lizards and snakes all alive in the various glass exhibits.

Once we finished at the visitors centre, we headed down with Al, Max, Mira and Alma to the adventure playground.  We played here and eventually Belinda, Abby and Zoe arrived followed by Shannon and Zaf and finally Em, Mica and Isobel. All in time for sausages!

One of our aims was to see the pelicans being fed at 1.30pm, so with our tummies full and some energy expended we hopped in the car for the short drive to the Sanctuary. This area is a large wetlands ecosystem surrounded by bushland and protected by a predator-proof fence provides sanctuary for a range of native animals. There are 2 resident pelicans - George and Mildred who are fed daily. From the cars our small army of children some on bikes, some walking and some in prams set out for pond 4 arriving just as the ranger did! While feeding George (above), the ranger chatted about the Sanctuary, the pelicans and other animals. Once George was full and the ranger had finished his speech, he asked if there were any questions. A couple of children put up their hands to ask questions like 'How do you know George is full?' Seeing this Ella decided to get in on the act, put her arm up straight into the air and said quite seriously 'How do you feed the pelicans?!!' The ranger was a little taken back but recovered to answer as nicely as he could.

After leaving George we continued wandering around the ponds until we found a perfect spot for a rest and birthday cake! Al's yummy chocolate cake was devoured by all and provided the much needed energy to complete the journey back to the car.

The ranger during his talk has told us that several platypi had be seen during the day at the area know as the weir. With 10 children I doubt that we were going to be seeing any platypi. We arrived at the weir and stood still (well as quietly as possible) and low and behold on the other side of the pond adjacent to the reeds a ripple appeared followed by a nose! We watched this platypus for about 10 minutes as it intermittently surfaced then disappeared again. My unimpressive platypus photo above reminds me of the time just after Andy proposed. We were sailing to some thermal springs off the coast of Tofino, Vancouver Island when we spotted some whales so out came the camera. It wasn't until these photos were developed (yes pre digital days - it was 12 years ago!) that we laughed at how many photos Andy had taken of the whales (or more precisely a small bit of their back) which was more difficult to distinguish in the photos due to the similar colour of the water and the whale!

While the gang headed home, we decided to say hello to Moe, the local koala who on our arrival woke up briefly before nodding back off to sleep.  Our drive home was complete with seeing a few emus and lots of kangaroos grazing. All in all a wonderful day spent in a beautiful place.

Grandad Visits

Grandad has just returned to Perth after staying with us for nearly 2 weeks. Grandad's perfect timing meant he arrived several hours after I had knee surgery (more on that later). So for the first few days while Andy was in Melbourne, Grandad was our taxi driver, entertainer and general hand. We did loads of fun things together including going on our favourite merry go round, orienteering, a visit to Tidbinbilla, swimming, going to library, ice skating, walking the dog and of course lots of playing! 

Grandad handymaness saw him fix the front door (apparently there was a draft), adjusted the girls light fitting in their bedroom, and together with Andy finished off the wires on the deck. We also introduced Grandad to salmon and avocado sushi and raspberry and pear bread.

 I'm sure Grandad won't miss the early morning wake up which normally involved one or both girls yelling 'wake up Grandad' proceeded by tickling and jumping around and eventually the girls telling grandad there wasn't enough room in the bed! We certainly will miss having him around.

As per normal it was sad to see Grandad go however we look forward to his next visit which hopefully will be in September and if we are lucky enough perhaps Nanna will come too!

 

School Holiday Fun

With Ella on school holidays, we ventured to the mall with Grandad (who is currently visiting) to do a few errands. These trampolines were set up in the main arena. We had previously seen these while we were on holidays in Perth and at the time Andy had promised Ella a turn in the following week. Unfortunately, when they returned the trampolines weren't there. So you can imagine Ella's excitement when she saw them again on Friday. Her patience was tested with the 35min wait for her turn! It was lovely to see her enjoyment once she was bouncing away.

Yarralumla Bays

We invited Ella's friend Eleanor and to her family to come orienteering with us on Saturday. Located at one of the local bushland parks next to Lake Burly Grifin, we decided to split from the beginning into two groups. Ella and Eleanor (with Andy and Anne) went first while Katy and Henry (with Grandad, Chuck and Nat) trailed behind. A nice chilly morning out - we found all the controls, saw some kangaroos, played in the trees and mud, collected leaves and rocks..

First Time For...

Ella, Katy and Nat to plant garlic and potatoes. I was informed by friends that garlic should be planted on the winter solstice and harvested on the summer solstice. Didn't quite plant the garlic on time so will have to harvest a week late!!

Baking bread. Time to throw away the bread maker - this 'no knead' recipe is the easiest and yummiest. Thanks to Al Jones for the tip.

Meanwhile Andy has been busy building the balustrades for the deck which nicely defines the space. This weekend's task is to add the 4 strands of wire so that his summer project is completed! Must say I can't wait for summer to fully utilise this area.