Goodbye Grandpa

Grandpa has spent the last 8 days with us and it's been fantastic. Grandpa proved to be a good distraction while Andy was away. The last few days have been busy. Thursday arvo was spent planting a few more plants around the garden.

On Friday together with Al, Max and Mira, we drove to Cooma (or just past) to check out the assembly area at Buckenderra and Glenbrook for the up coming orienteering carnival at easter. A long day for all involved which was tolerated quite well by our two little girls. Friday night for Grandpa means fish and chips so we headed over to Ainslie shops as rumour has it there was a good fish n chip shop. As fish n chip connosieurs it was terrible so won't be heading back there again.

This morning we ventured out to Commonwealth Park for a ride around the pond followed by a play at the rock castle. Then back home we had a game of hide and seek before taking Grandpa to catch his plane.

We left home for the airport with lots of time to spare which was lucky as Grandpa had to change out of his jeans - but wrong information from the check in lady saw him change twice! Firstly into shorts only to discover that both jeans and shorts aren't allowed when you are upgrading to business class as a staff member (my brother works for Qantas - hence cheap flights). Anyway he did manage to make his flight and should be landing in Perth soon.

As Grandpa prepared to leave, Ella gave him a big kiss and cuddle and according to her she wasn't sad that Grandpa was going. We waved at his plane as it took off and Ella was still happy. Meltdown occurred as we got to the car when she realised that Grandpa had actually left!

Anyway thanks Grandpa for all your help. Hope you can recover after an energy sapping week with your granddaughters. At least you will be able to enjoy your naps on the couch without having a little person yelling 'wake up Grandpa!' as soon as you close your eyes!. We look forward to seeing Grandpa AND Nana in just over a month when you come over to help us out during the Easter Twenty10 Orienteering Carnival.

Volcanoes

Off to Questacon this morning with Grandpa. We arrived in time to have a play in Mini Q and then off to Science Time. Today's topic was volcanoes. After talking about volcanoes it was free time - the activities included making a volcano out of a plate, looking at rocks and some colouring in. The most exciting activity by far was making our own exploding volcano with bicarb soda and vinegar. The presenter was fantastic - she was so good in engaging the children.

Skype

The wonders of technology... While Andy has been in the US, we have managed to talk to him via skype. Now Ella is quite familiar with skype as we occasionally talk to Nana and Grandpa. However the first time Andy came on skype Ella asked "What are you doing in the computer Dad?!" Katy recognises her Dad too on skype - with lots of smiles and laughs and is even starting to point!

Grandpa Arrives

Grandpa arrived on Thursday night to help out while Andy is away. We've been doing lots of playing, walking & riding which Grandpa isn't accustomed to and hence he often nods off while sitting on the couch!

Grandpa has been a busy handyman fixing pram tyres, planting trees and stopping the backstep of the deck from squeaking. He also has become proficient in packing the dishwasher, hanging out the washing, making jelly and even holding little Katy!

Tomorrow sees Grandpa cooking dinner - fresh pasta with a ratatouille sauce!

San Francisco

Yesterday I left on my first trip away since Katy was born -- 2 weeks in the US, mostly in Milwaukee and Portland. I was feeling somewhat guilty at leaving Nat to fend for herself against two children (partly because Nat has been banging on about it continuously;-). Nonetheless, the whole family trooped off to the airport together to wave goodbye. I've been warning Ella about this trip for a little while, and she claimed (nodding, wide-eyed) to fully understand that Daddy was going away on a big plane and that he wouldn't be back for 2 weeks; but as I turned to wave goodbye from the airport gate she was already in full meltdown mode. I guess that's when Nat also realised just how long 2 weeks will be!!

Anyway, I had an uneventful flight, in that not much happened (not even much sleep) and touched down in San Francisco before I left Canberra (technically speaking). I have a night here to recover before I head out to the snow in Milwaukee. My primary attempt to overcome jetlag has been to head out for a run, and where else would I go to but the Golden Gate Bridge. The first part of the run was pretty steep -- via the crooked street (see photo) and then down onto the foreshore.

I caught my first glimpse of the bridge after 20 mins, and it looked pretty close. But the bridge is deceptively large and it turned out to be quite a way. At least there was a nice track around the foreshore, with no real road crossings -- I suspect it's the only nice place to run/walk in the city because about a million people had the same idea as me. Half an hour later I finally found myself under the bridge itself, took a photo and headed for home.

Hopefully this will help me sleep tonight and I'll be straight into the american time zone.

Parent Lesson #136

To a nearly 3 year old maragine is a little like playdough. Hence when you are serving up dinner in the kitchen don't leave the marg on the table unsupervised with the 3 year old!

How to Catch a Star

Currently one of Ella favourite books is called How to Catch a Star. And yes the story line goes along the lines of a little boy trying to catch a star. He tries to jump up, climb a tree, persuade a seagull to get it, fly his rocket ship - all which obviously fail. He sits on the jetty upset only to see a starfish in the water which washes up on the beach. Finally he has a star of his own!

According to Ella she could get the star for the little boy by using her fairy wings to fly up and get it! Hopefully she won't actually try to fly otherwise there may be some injuries...

Party, Party, Party

Yep that time of year again. We had Adah's 3rd Birthday at the Miniature Train at Weston Park - exciting train ride & lots of cool play equipment. This included a rope climbing structure which Ella nearly mastered with coaching from Aunty Susie.

The following weekend was Mia's 3rd Birthday at the Rock Castle in Commonwealth Park. The kids had fun exploring the castle's tunnels and played hide'n' seek with Nana. The highlight was the biking around Nerang Pond.

Then last weekend Luca turned 2! Her pig party was at John Knight Memorial Park on the shores of Lake Ginnindera. Fun was to be had going down the BIG slide as well as having turns on the flying fox. I'm surprised that all the kids pretty much survived without injuries - you'll know what I mean when you play the movie below!

Loic's 3rd Birthday was on Sunday. Filled with loads of exciting things to do, Loic's backyard kept all the little ones entertained. The swimming pool was a hit even though it was raining and the water temp was on the cool side! And yes Loic and Ella are sitting on top of the cubby house!

Siblings

The way Ella plays with Pippa I sometimes wonder if she ever really did need a sibling! Together, Ella and Pippa play fetch and occasionally Ella is the one doing the fetching when Pippa forgets to bring the toy or ball back! It's lovely that having a pet can provide such entertainment. Ella insists on holding Pippa's lead if we go for a walk. And recently I showed Ella how to give Pippa her dinner including shaking paws - which she thinks is hilarious!

However the two girls do interact really well. Usually it's Ella making Katy laugh whether that's by playing peek-a-boo around the stuff on the dinner table or giving her raspberries while we are Coles shopping with Katy in the seat and Ella standing in the main section of the trolley.

Today we were at Wybalena Playground. Most of the time was spent on the swings - Ella on one and Katy and I on the other - lots of laughing. Just before heading home, Ella insisted on taking Katy (with my help) down the slide - Katy was a little unsure of that one.

Proof

Katy's first 2 teeth! They started coming through in early Jan and have slowly become more visible. No sign of the tops ones as yet...

Kidshotz

Kidshotz 'found' us through Ella's birth notice and as I really liked their style I arranged for a sitting. Ella was about 5 months at the time and we loved the results!

Hence the time had come for Katy to have her turn, so before leaving for Perth we arranged for Kidshotz to photograph both girls. Last week we were shown the package and again we were really happy with the end products.

Kidshotz give you the flexibility to choose your photos and even if you don't buy anything, they will give you 10 free postcard size prints. And for those who do purchase the photos, Kidshotz immunize 6 children in Asia against measles - 20,430 children to date! If you're interested visit their website here.

Biking

We bought one of those balance bikes for Ella for xmas, and have been trying to coax her onto the bike for the last month. Easier said than done, it turned out. To put it bluntly, she just didn't get it. Then, last week (Australia Day to be exact) something clicked. It happened during a trip to the shops, when Ella persuaded me she could ride her balance bike all the way there and back. I knew she couldn't but decided to humour her. It took about 15 minutes to get down the road, but she laboured on. She wanted me to ride next to her on my bike, but riding that slow simply wasn't possible. As we neared the shops, she got an occasional roll on. Then, on the way home (still insisting she could ride) I got bored and rode off ahead. Crying at me to wait she zoomed up to catch me and suddenly realised how fun this biking was. Then we rode most of the way home (until she decided to run the last 100m).

Since then, biking has been mandatory pastime every time we've been home. During last week, Nat took her down to cook shops playground and back (pictured, enjoying herself). On saturday morning we had to ride all the way to jamison; saturday afternoon we had to ride around a farm we visited (including our first major stack when we were incapable of braking on a steep downhill rocky track). And on sunday it was an all-family affair at Mia's 3rd birthday -- see the movie below with Josh, Ella and Mia having a race-off.