Here we come

We're counting down the last few hours before we board the plane for Perth for the easter orienteering carnival although Andy definitely won't be competing (he was diagnosed with pneumonia earlier in the week) and I'm a maybe after straining my calf again *sigh* at the ACT champs. Oh well at least we'll be able to catch up with family and friends over the 2 weeks.

Growing Up

If you have ever visited Andy's parents house and looked on the inside of his wardrobe door, you will see a record of various peoples heights with corresponding dates. Obviously most popular names on there are Andy's, Cathy's and Susie's starting somewhere in the late 1970's. There are also random ones like Tomoki (Andy's bear), someone's arm span and someone else standing on their head. I think I have even managed to get my name on it in the mid 1990's!

And so the tradition continues in our house. I took this photo last month. As you will note Aoife's name also appears as she towers above Ella and Katy aged 21mths is much smaller than Ella was at 23mths. The other slightly funny thing is that we record the girls heights at so called 'random' times. However if you look closely it seems that the weekend of 19/20th March is a boring one in our household as we have nothing better to do than measure heights!

Wine Tasting

Yep starting the girls at a young age! A couple of weekends ago, we joined up with Andy's colleagues who were wine tasting in the Murrumbateman region. Unbeknownst to us the Wine Harvest Festival was on so there were a few out and about. We sampled Jeir Creek and McKellar Ridge wines. With the beautiful weather it was a perfect way to spend Sunday afternoon.

Yoga

Unexpectedly post dinner a couple nights ago, Ella began showing us her yoga moves - dog, cat, shark, mountain, candle, peacock just to name a few all while singing a little song which goes with each pose! Just another benefit of childcare. Katy thought it looked liked great fun so before we knew it, she was down on the run copying everything Ella was doing.

Lilli Pilli

Our little blossom Katy has graduated from Billy Buttons to become a Lilli Pilli. A new concept started last year at our childcare centre, the Lilli Pilli's are a group of 4 toddlers who are getting a little too big for the Billy Buttons baby room. The Lilli Pilli's have their own carer who takes them into the next room (Sundews) mid morning where they interact with the bigger kids. When the weather is warm it means playing outside in the BIG playground and for Katy that means seeing Ella. Apparently they both get very excited seeing each other. The Lilli Pilli's eat lunch with the Sundew kids before heading back into Billy Buttons for their post lunch nap. On waking up, the Lilli Pilli's once again are involved in the activities of the Sundews prior to returning to their room to prepare for home time.

Generation Z

So much for good old pencils and paper! Gen Z is apparently highly connected, many having a lifelong use of communications and media technologies. Ella is definitely living in that zone - skyping her grandparents in Perth, wanting to look up Princesses on the computer, watching our GPS dot in google maps on the iphone while driving around Melbourne, loving taking photos just to list a few things....

Tonight while I was busying putting Katy to bed, I could hear Andy and Ella playing around on Andy's newest toy - his ipad. Now that both girls are in bed almost asleep and I've finished cleaning up, it was time to check my computer. My inbox contained an email titled Love from Ella. Completed on penultimate (an app that allows you to draw with your finger or a special pen on the screen) here is the attachment -

A beautiful drawing of a fairy in front of her house!

Sit

Andy caught the bus home tonight so the girls, Pippa and I decided to walk to the bus stop to meet him. On the way home we stopped at the curb to cross the road - Katy was holding both our hands, Ella had Andy's while I held Pippa's lead. I said 'sit' to Pippa however both Andy and I had to giggle as Pippa wasn't the only one sitting - little Katy was pulling on our arms trying hard to sit down!!

And the Years Roll On

While at Mossy Point, Andy and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary and captured the moment at where else but Pooh-bear Corner!

2011

2009

1995

Mossy Moments

There are really only three main activities to keep us occupied while down at Mossy Point. Firstly, most obviously, we spend a large amount of time at the beach. Actually most of that is at Candlagan Creek, the little creek at the north end of Broulee which is perfect for toddlers and babies. Katy was obsessed about running from the edge of the grass, over the sand and into the water. There were a couple of sand stacks as well as a face plant into the water which Katy thought was all very funny. Ella joined Katy a few times running around but then was off to dig in the sand, explored the rocks and frolicked in and out of the water. Ella insisted on playing in the waves. So off we would go crossing the creek and into the beach waves. Katy was apprehensive about the waves but eventually was giggling as we jumped over the very baby waves together.

After intensive playing at the creek, next main activity involved refuelling and rehydrating at the Muffin Shop. Good coffee, milkshakes and delicious muffins. The boat and surrounding area kept the kids entertained for much longer than normal at a cafe!

Finally while at the coast it is essential to have fish'n'chips because as we all know Canberra is terrible at it! The three families ventured to Moruya, a little town south of Broulee where we had our fill of fish'n'chips at the local park. The fish'n'chips unfortunately didn't live up to expectations however the park was great - a flying fox had been installed since we were there last!