Another Year Older

Andy celebrated his birthday earlier in the week. The girls and I bought him a pod chair. I know he is looking forward to spending many hours relaxing reading the paper, with coffee in hand all in the dappled sunshine. The reality though will include many interruptions by two daughters and not much reading!

Little Athletes

Last Saturday dawned bright and sunny to signify the start of the Little Athletics season. My deprived childhood meant that Little Aths was never an option for me, much to Natalie's disbelief. I plan to make up for it by projecting my own personal Little Aths dreams on my eldest daughter, and here was my first chance...

Nat was at work for the morning, so I took both Ella and Katy down to the Cook Oval, where hundreds of kids mill around each Saturday in identical T-shirts to run around in circles. The U6's do a program called "On Track" which involves more skills than running races. Ella learnt how to pump her arms while running, do two-footed jumps over skipping ropes and throw balls at a target (she preferred to target me rather than the cone). The day culminated in the excitement of a 50 m race (where Ella spent the whole race looking at the boy next to her to see if she would beat him).

Meanwhile, poor Katy was bored to tears and hot and bothered to match. So, she spent the entire morning putting on umpteen layers of suncream on her legs and was pretty grumpy by the end. I was a bit concerned this experience might turn her off the idea of running, but I needn't have worried. This morning Nat put Katy in the bike trailer and took her for a run which involved pre-school drop-off for Ella and a stop at the park for Katy. Leaving the park (which is near Jamison, about 800 m from home) Katy refused to get back in the pram, so Nat told her she would have to run with her. And, much to everyone's amazement, she grabbed the opportunity. It took a few bursts, and she ran out of puff about 200 m from home, but a good effort from a little tyke. Nat just managed to keep up with her, trying to video the whole thing while pushing the empty trailer and holding the dog...

Farewell Floriade

Floriade began it's final week so the girls and I took advantage of the only remotely sunny day on Wednesday and spent the morning there. Our first stop was the ferris wheel! As normal, Ella couldn't wait to get on while Katy was quite unsure. Safely in our basket and with Katy perched on my lap, the ferris wheel slowly gathered speed. From the lofty heights above we had wonderful views of the flower beds and Lake Burley Griffin. After about 5 times around, Katy relaxed her grip and was enjoying spotting the little people below! Eventually when the ferris wheel halted while we were at the top we knew our ride was coming to an end.

From the ferris wheel our next stop was the Reptile Inc which took over from Matilda's Farmyard for the second fortnight of Floriade. A small interesting display of a variety of reptiles including several large monitors, freshwater croc, turtles, frogs, frilled lizards, carpet and water pythons some of which we got to touch!

Then we wandered around to the gnome hill where you could paint your own gnome. Unfortunately for us this activity was very popular and as a result they had run out of gnomes to paint. They did however have pots so the girls painted one each.

While waiting for the paint to dry on the pots, we had a picnic lunch in the snow. The fluff falling from the trees appears as snow and for those students at ANU it is a reminder that if you haven't started studying then it's too late!!!

Back to pick up our pots before taking a few last flower photos and then it was goodbye until next year!

Church Rock Walk

We joined up with the Walters/Jones and McCrae/Allison families for some public holiday fun at Tidbinbilla. While Belinda and Alison ran up to Gibraltar rocks for their long run, the children enjoyed the excitement of the adventure playground.

After the girls returned it was time for the boys to depart meeting up with a few other orienteers for their epic which started from Corin Dam ascending Stockyard Spur, then Mt Gingera followed by Mt Ginini (see Andy's attackpoint for more details).

So we had the whole afternoon to entertain ourselves....Belinda and the girls had another commitment for the afternoon, which left Al and myself to cook up a few sausages for a picnic lunch before embarking on another adventure.

Having been to Tidbinbilla on several occasions, we decided against going to the pelican feed and watching a sleepy koala and opted for a 2.5km easy walk! Church Rock walk began at Flints (named after Sid and Annie Flint) where a big mob of kangaroos hang out. We thought the walk would mostly be around the flatter paddock like areas and thus bike friendly...little did we know!

This area has a strong european history pioneering history from the late 1800's. Several families resided in Rock Valley and reading a few of the information signs within the first few hundred metres of our walk, it sounded like a tough life. The closest town was Queanbeyan, a 3 day round trip assuming the conditions were good and the Murrumbidgee river wasn't too high. Thankfully for us, these signs were a slight distraction from the uphill grassy slope our children were trying to ride up!

Ella was out in front only to have her first experience of a swooping magpie. In her panicked state she decided to throw her helmet at it! Once regrouping with us, the magpie seemed to lose interest. However no too soon after this, Mira was running out of energy fast, Ella found it difficult to pedal her bike uphill while Max and Katy kept plodding along. Incentive of tiny teddies seemed to perk the kids up slightly.

Luckily just around the corner of the now very steep hill (everyone was pushing their bikes), we found a perfectly positioned seat overlooking the valley. Energy levels once again boosted after consuming the teddies and with our encouragement about being nearly at the top we pushed on.

The track dipped for about 100m before climbing again! Mira was a little over 'riding her bike' (don't blame her really) so she enjoyed a shoulder ride with me while the others continued upwards. Finally we emerged at the top!! I'm sure Al was thinking the same as me - great should be nice (hopefully not too steep) ride downhill all the way back.



From here the track disappeared into a forested section and initially looked lovely. The track narrowed and began winding it's way through the forest before the first (of many) steps appeared and so the bike carrying began!! It was a lovely area with huge boulders next to the track. And then around one of the corners was Church Rock. Opportunity for another photo and information board reading. Known as Church Rock due to it's large spire-like shape, this rock had religious significance to the community as apparently masses and Sunday school sessions were taught up here.

Once leaving Church Rock, Mira was determined to ride her bike down the steps and did so with Al watching over her. Eventually we emerged at the top of the kangaroo paddock with a small downhill, over the dam wall, past the many kangaroos to the car.

The loop took us about 2 hours and was quite enjoyable but definitely not bike friendly. As a reward for their efforts we all enjoyed an ice cream at the visitors centre before driving home.

Discovering the Cotter

Last Thursday with no preschool or blueberries dancing, I decided to do something different with the girls. So with a sunny day forecast initial plans involved heading down to the river for a picnic. After discussions with Belinda and Al this was revised to meet at Cotter Avenue for a play on the new playground and wander up to look at the new Cotter Dam wall. I hadn't really taken much notice of the new dam wall development until our visit and was pleased to learn a new thing or two!

The new dam wall will increase the the Cotter Reservoir's capacity from the current 4 gigalitres to around 78 gigalitres which is almost 20 times it's current size, thus hopefully securing Canberra's water supply. Planning on the dam began back in 2008 but pouring of concrete didn't begin until August 2011. Interestingly the flood in March this year submerged the old dam wall by 12m and the volume of water that spilled over the under construction new wall was enough to fill and overflow the new dam had it be finished.

Anyway, once the children had given the playground the once over, we were off to explore the Cotter Dam Discover Trail. Beginning by crossing the Cotter river, the pram friendly path meandered about 700m up to a small amphitheatre which also served as a viewing platform. From here we could watch the construction workers going about their business. Currently standing at 50m tall, the dam wall has another 30m to go. The finished Cotter Dam wall will stand about 80m tall equivalent to 26 storeys!

Crossing back over the Cotter River beneath the dam wall, we made our way slowly back to the playground area to finish off the morning with a BBQ.

Zoe, Max, Ella, Abby & Katy watching the diggers!

Goodbye Grandies

The rest of our week was filled with various activities. First up there was swimming lessons however not much actual swimming was done. As it was 'water safety week' and the girls seemed to spend nearly the entire lesson out of the water talking about safe water practice. As a result we decided to go swimming after school on Thursday which meant Grandad came in the water too.


After dropping Ella at preschool on Thursday, Katy took Nana and Grandad along to her Blueberries dancing class. Despite going all term, Katy took her normal 20mins of clinging to my leg before joining in, which was not helped by the fact her regular teacher was away. However by the end of the lesson, Katy really connected with the new teacher Amy.





Being the final lesson for the term, the children were encouraged to dress up (not that they needed much encouragement!)  Katy chose her fairy dress. Another bonus was Katy's childcare friend Ana, turned up unexpectedly.

Ella and Katy were very lucky to receive scooters from the Grandies. Both girls loved this new form of activity, instantly retreating outside to test out their presents. For Ella, she rode her scooter to and from preschool the next day which meant that Grandad had a better chance of keeping up with her.

Of course all this excitement was a little too much for some of us!

Andy arrived home from Hobart on the Friday night, while Grandad and Nana flew out the following morning for the next stage of their journey - 1 week in Manila!

Tulip Tops

After a few rest days for the grandies (the girls were at childcare Monday and Tuesday), we decided to continue the theme spring and flowers and head out to Tulip Tops. Located just off the Hume highway about 30 mins north of Canberra, this little privately run garden boasts a hidden valley of lush green grass, numerous blossom trees and weeping willows and thousands of tulips.






It was amazing to see the photograph records of the growth of this place from bare paddocks to today's spectacular display. However with the $12 entry fee per adult, it didn't really live up to expectations especially when compared to Floriade which is free, much larger and loads more kid type activities. We did leisurely strolled through the park, taking photos, climb up to the lookout, then back down to have morning tea which took approximately 90mins.

Once again Ella commandeered the camera. Katy also joined in with Ella teaching her what to do. As you can imagine this sharing of the camera didn't always go smoothly.

Ella's photos

 Katy's photos

Grandies in Town

Last week both Nana and Grandad came to Canberra to keep us company while Andy was in Hobart. As always the girls were excited by their visit.

First excursion was Floriade, a must at this time of year and a regular fixture on the grandies calendar (for the past 5 years either Nana or Grandad and occasionally both have seen Floriade). We had a beautiful day to enjoy this years theme Style and Design, so garden bed designs included Hair Fashion, Lipstick Kisses, Stiletto Parade, Art Deco, Pop Top Hat, Martini Delights, All that Jazz....  Some beds were easier to interpret than others especially when not all the flowers were blossoming.













In front of Lipstick Kisses.





Despite getting there early, we had a long wait at Matilda's Farmyard.  Nadia the pony was in her own pen (as I think she was getting a little over being patted and poke by thousands of kids), so we only got to look at her. There were however many other animals to capture Ella and Katy's attention. Favourites included the piglets, a rabbit and the little pink headed chickens. Actually come to think of it, pink seemed to be the fashion of most of the farmyard animals

Once we extracted the girls from the farmyard, it was back through the garden beds. Ella took control of the camera getting up close and personal with the flowers. She captured some wonderful pictures.

Then there is nothing better to finish the morning with a chocolate ice cream!