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'!