Trip to the zoo

Tuesday is normally Tiny Tots day (that means I take Ella to the gym and she jumps around on trampolines and mattresses). But Tiny Tots doesn't run during school holidays, so today we were at a loose at end. Until Aunty Cathy rang us up to see if we wanted to go to the zoo.

I'm not much of a zoo person, and in the past neither was Ella. She went to Dubbo zoo, aged 3 months, and for some reason was completely oblivious to the animals she was supposed to see. We also went to Mogo Zoo last summer, but again she was a bit young. This time (and despite the fact that the Canberra Zoo is probably the crappest but most expensive zoo in the country) she loved it.

Ella's favourites were the giraffes, who poke their noses up to about baby height, and the emus which are roaming free (and required parental intervention to end a mexican standoff).

Painting

Our windows are in need of some TLC.   So this afternoon in the warm sunshine, Andy got stuck into the washing and sanding of the lounge window.  We did have a false start with painting when I returned from Bunnings with 4lt of the wrong paint - DOH!  Anybody need exterior paperbark paint?

Anyway as per normal these jobs take way more time than you think they will and today was no exception. We had to figure out how to lift the opening part of the window off, which was quite simple in the end but boy were they heavy!

Unfortunately sunset beat me and so only 3/4 of the window got painted.  Luckily my parents are arriving on wednesday (they should be at Kalgoorlie by now on the Indian Pacific) and so with a babysitter (mum) and another labourer (dad) we should be able to get all of them done.

Dog doors are for....

toddlers???  As you can see not only has Ella found the dog door but she's mastered climbing through it.

And as for ironing boards well, they're not just for ironing right?

Planting

Now that spring has arrived, I am able to plant more things in the garden.  Today, while Andy travelled to Qld for some orienteering, Ella and I have been busy planting.  Some tiny toms, roma tomatoes, leeks, lebanese cucumber and some thai basil christened our new vegie plot. Elsewhere in the garden a grevillea, callistemon, acacia and a eucalypt were planted. Now we have to hope that summer isn't too dry and everything dies! Also that Pippa and Fuji, who is having a holiday at our house for the next 10 days, don't trample or dig them up. 

Floriade

Our mothers group decided to meet up at Floriade this week.  It's the big flower show held in Canberra every September.  The theme this year is Films that Shaped the Nation. Thus all the flower beds are based on classic Australian films such as Moulin Rouge, Crocodile Dundee, The Castle...

This year saw the introduction of the Patting Paddock.  It was great for the kids.  Ella had a small problem in differentiating between puppies and any other animal.  Hence while she wandered around the PP encountering rabbits, goats, sheep, ducks, cows and chickens according to her they were all puppies!  

Her favourite puppy, as you can see below, were the goats.

 

 

No Longer Lopsided

 We were beginning to think Ella had only 3 front teeth on the bottom however over the last few days the 4th tooth has finally emerged!

On another note, I walked into the lounge yesterday to find our little girl standing on the dining table quite proud of herself!  She had managed to climb on to the chair and then onto table - not sure how I am going to stop her climbing. Perhaps she'll grow out of it or otherwise fall off....

New laundry

This weekend I was injured, so couldn't head up to Mittagong for the orienteering race I'd planned. Instead, I was put to work acquiring our new laundry. When I say new, I mean it was the same physical space, but that a part of it was being revamped. Makes it look pretty much like new.

The ingredients were as follows. We went to bunnings and bought a bunch of cheap flatpack cupboards + a benchtop and a few other things. Then we knocked it together (I had some help in this regard -- see the photo). Then we installed it in the laundry. This all takes longer than it sounds (two full weekends to be honest) and it's not helped by the assistant chief engineer testing the merchandise before it's completely finished (see second photo).

Anyway, the final product is not too bad. A bit of extra cupboard space and a fair improvement on the old one (pictured right) ...

Dancing with Broc

Today was the 30th birthday of the Belconnen Markets as we found out when we met up with the Belinda, Jase, Zoe and Abby for coffee.  The girls were looking very grown up in their baby bjorns. Prime Possum and Broc, the Broccoli were there entertaining the kids.  Ella managed to get on to the stage, unlike last week, along with numerous other children to play, dance and stare at the possum and broccoli. 

Apart from going for coffee we had a really productive day but I suppose when you get up at 6am, there is more time to do stuff.  Our main achievement included replacing the lock on our screen door and revamping the laundry - more about that tomorrow.....

Friday Funnies

On arriving home on Thursday night, Andy mentioned how he (somehow) managed to lock his keys and wallet in his office.  Not too much of a big deal really as he decided later that evening, to drive the next day to work with Ella, while I would ride and then he would swing past my work on the way home and pick me up.  Sounded good to me.

Friday morning dawned, sunny but a little chilly 2C when I departed home at 7.15am. Got to work by 8am and was changing when my phone rang - it was Andy.

He was puffing away so I asked him what was he doing?  He replied currently riding his bike with Ella - why you ask? Well he forgot to ask me for my car keys and I hadn't realised he needed them! Even funnier was the fact that he search the house for the Ella's backpack, so he could take Ella and the dog for a walk.  Couldn't find it anywhere but had another check around only to discover it in the car (where he had already checked). While he was outside, Ella decided to lock the back door so he couldn't get back in.  Thank god for our spare keys in the garage!

As it turns out, he did eventually get Ella to childcare and himself to work.  That evening turned out to absolutely gorgeous for riding and we even managed to meet up halfway home on the bikepath. 

Clever Climbing

How many things can a toddler climb on in one day?

Here is Ella's list for today:

- Climbing on mum during swimming 

- Climbing up and down the ramp at Nana's with Makhaya

- Climbing on to Fuji while she is lying on the floor (new)

- Climbing onto mum and dad's bed, then jumping on it

- Climbing onto up the big ladder to slide down the big slide

- Climbing onto the coffee table and dancing (newish)

- Climbing onto the couch and then into my highchair

- Climbing into the kitchen drawer and emptying out the contents

- Climbing up into the pram (new)

- Climbing under the changeroom door at the sports store (new)

- Climbing on mum while she is lying on the floor

Father's Day

Well Andy enjoyed a rather busy father's day. 

6.30am -  Ella wakes - she hasn't quite learnt yet what a sleep in means!  After drinking her milk, she climbed onto the bed and gave Andy a very LARGE 'The Best Dad' Toblerone.  Ella's main present involved taking him to Bunnings last Thursday and buying a spirit level - although according to Andy he had to buy his own Father's Day present.  Pippa also got in on the act. Her presents were two native plants (actually replacement plants for the ones in the backyard which didn't stand up to being trampled on).  She chose a wattle (which are all nicely flowering at the moment) and a giant candle banksia.

8.30am -  First father's day dad Jase arrives at our place for a 90mins run with Andy.

10.30am - After a quick shower we set off for a friends house for brunch.  

11 - 12.30pm - Andy has brunch cooked for him - pancakes, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, strawberries dipped in chocolate. Ella played happily with Sorhaya and Eleanor.

1pm - Back home. While Ella was napping, Andy worked on installing the new flatpack laundry cupboards.

4pm - Off to Tilleys to meet up with the Dees (aka Stacey and Dave Searle) and the McCrae/Allison clan.

6 - 7pm - Normal Ella routine of dinner, bath, books and bed.

7.30 - 10.30pm - Andy has dinner cooked for him, watches a bit of TV and then bed :)

Street View

As always, I'm a little behind the times. When Google StreetView came out a few weeks/months ago I decided it sounded pretty cool. Like the rest of the world my first thought was that I could look at my house -- which is completely ridiculous, because I can see my house for real every day. Anyway, unlike the rest of the world I didn't look at it immediately. Instead I put it off until today, when I was looking up another address in Canberra and suddenly thought -- hey, I could look at my house.

So I clicked on Aston Crescent. Somewhat embarrassingly I missed my house, but ended up a few houses down the street. Number 13 to be exact. Number 13 was precisely where it should have been, but in front of it was some weird guy in shorts pushing a pram. He looks pretty dawky, I thought, with a cap on and his unkempt hair sticking out from beneath. Surprisingly, he even had exactly the same pram as we do. Hold on a minute ... that is me! Now that really is embarrassing ...

Playdough minus the play!

When I pick up Ella from childcare, I always sneak in hoping she won't see me and spend a few minutes watching her play and interact.  Last Friday it took me a while to locate her.  She was tucked away around the corner in the wet area seated at the table with 4 other children.   All of them happily poking and prodding playdough with little cutting instruments!

Today as Andy had to give a lecture, I swapped my working day to Thursday and looked after Ella. The idea came back - to make some playdough!  Found a recipe - which was for uncooked playdough involving 5 cups of plain flour and 2.5 cups (!) of salt, with a few other things thrown in.  Mixed it all together, found some cookie cutters and set up a table.  

Ella's reaction to all this? The photo below tells the story - she preferred to play with her christmas bear. Oh well - suppose I'll save it for another day!

Mmmmm

I have been searching for some time for a lemon tart recipe and finally found one in the weekend australian magazine of all places!  So yesterday afternoon while Ella was napping and Andy was doing some work, I baked. Ingredients included: 9 eggs, way too much caster sugar, some cream and a heap of lemons. Special thanks to the Allison/McCrae lemon tree for the delicious lemons. The baked lemon tart turned out terrific - speaking of which it's time for dessert.....

Andy's definition of work = lying on the couch 'thinking'!