Cat in the Hat

The highlight of Grandad's visit would have to be going to see Cat in The Hat at the Canberra Playhouse. We caught the bus in, a little too early but luckily it was a beautifully sunny day so we enjoyed a coffee on the steps of the theatre before the doors opened.

Al, Max and Mira were also at the show, seated in the row in front of us in what turned our to be a rather empty theatre as you can see in the photo. The production itself was about 45 mins long. Another cleverly written script with minimal props and loads of sound effects which kept the children entertained for the whole time. We all thoroughly enjoyed the show.

We returned home on the bus stopping briefly before heading out for some groceries. Our journey ended up at the new Sushi shop at the Belconnen Markets for lunch followed by a quick play at the mushroom prior to returning home to finish the mulching job in the front garden.

Grandad Visits

Grandad arrived in time for the second week of the school holidays. Our first day was the public holiday which meant more time spent with Grandad. Perhaps following in his own father's footsteps Andy headed off to work, while the rest of us rode down to Jammo. Katy was very keen to show Grandad how much she has grown up and rode really well on her peddle bike! We enjoyed some lunch before playing and picking up some supplies.

Tuesday started by taking Pippa for a walk and a throw of the frisbee at the Cook playground. We'd ordered some mulch prior to leaving, expecting it to be delivered sometime in the afternoon. We were surprised to hear the truck pull up about 15 minutes after getting home from the park!

Perfect weather for gardening but first had to prepare the garden a little. Grandad taught Ella how to use the secareurs to trim some of the overhanging bushes which she did well. Then it was on to moving the 7 cubic metres of mulch. Grandad and Ella concentrated on spreading out the playground mulch on the paths while Katy and I focused on the forest mulch transporting it to the backyard garden.

A quick bite to eat and short rest then more of the same! It was a fairly slow process as we couldn't load up the wheelbarrow, then wheel it to a spot and tip it out as there were too many plants in the way! The aim for the afternoon was to finish the back garden. Our two little helpers had other ideas though. Katy disappeared inside only to be discovered later asleep on the kitchen floor! Ella on the other hand decided to make her own village in the sandpit complete with trees, houses, a lake, people and even animals!

We achieved our goal and could admire a beautiful back garden by the end of the afternoon. I love our garden in spring - the full pink blooms of the flowering cherry and the vibrant blue of the blue pacific. The vegie patch is beginning to come along too. The potatoes are sprouting; tomatoes, snow peas, spinach, corn and eggplant seedlings are in as to are the basil, zucchini and cuecumber seeds.

Latest Craze

Aston Crescents last fads include origami chatterboxes reigniting my own childhood memories Ella had great pleasure during the school holidays creating a few of these. Fantastic for improving fine motor skills and patience! The only downside was being subjected to trying them out for the next hour or so!

For Katy it's been all about going fast - scooting and tag along riding but more on that later!

Then both girls love to hang upside down at any opportunity. On the trapeze or rope ladder out the front or down at the park! Cath and I went for a mountain bike ride on the public holiday last week and left Eoin and Andy to entertain the four girls - Aoife, Lily, Ella and Katy. Apparently Lily and Ella spent most of the time upside down and in tandem on the rope ladder too!

The Gib

Our second weekend of national orienteering competition was held at the Gib, a rocky hill near Bungendore with the Middle Distance on the Saturday and Relays on the Sunday.

Our split starts meant Andy entertained the children first taking the gang around the string course. A perfectly created course meant Andy could supervise the gang from the centre watching them complete the string course numerous times and then several more backwards!





On my return it was evident that the gang was still full of energy despite their laps of the string course so we decided to take them out on the blue (easy course). Turns out the gang dwindled a little and we were left with 7 girls! Together with Cath and Carolyn we wandered up to the start hoping they would still be there and we were in luck.




Assessing the gang, we opted for several groups each sharing a map - Lily & Aoife; Luca & Ella; Mira, Zoe & Katy. As soon as we started the older group sprinted away and it was the last we saw of them! So I had the pleasure to trundle along with the younger ones.

The three girls very diplomatically took turns holding the map between the controls. They each had an SI stick and checked each control number. Planning the route sometime involved choosing which bare rock to sit on to look at the map! I encouraged them to find where we were, identify which was our next control and we planned how we would get there.

We had the usual occasional fall but nothing too serious, drink stop and toilet stop. We saw love heart shaped rocks, the occasional pretty flower and admired the view down to the assembly area even waving to the parents! Early on in the course, a kangaroo was hopping around panicked looking for an escape route. I was just about to point out to the girls that I though the kangaroo's pouch looked big when out plopped the joey! Still very stressed, the mother kangaroo was madly hopping around with the poor little joey desperately trying to keep up. Finally she found a hole under the fence and hopped off with the joey still trailing behind.

Some 45 minutes later, the girls ran down the finish chute all very chuffed with themselves and by all accounts had a great time out there.

With no string course or easy course available on the Sunday, the gang spent most of their time between watching Makhaya's magic tricks, swinging in the hammock (until a few people fell out and hurt themselves!) or playing in the pine trees! All very low key but they still enjoyed themselves.

One of the really great things about big competitions is that we get to catch up with our interstate friends. Sunday night we had a full house with Cath, Eoin & Aoife and Ceri, Graham, Kate, Lachlan & Rohan for dinner.

Spot the Difference

Orienteering at Slap Up Creek 29th September

Orienteering at the Gib 4th October

School Holiday Fun

Ella has been enjoying her first proper school holidays since the previous two were incorporated into our UK trip. Thankfully it's been made easier due to the two Mondays being public holidays! Last week's highlights were -

 Making pizzas for lunch and butterfly cupcakes.

A day of chores required a trip to the mall which in turn involved spotting the giant trampolines. Katy plucked up the courage for her first time on the trampolines and thoroughly loved it even doing a back somersault! Ella was thrilled to jump as high as possible. The trip was topped off with takeaway sushi that was consumed at Weston Park prior to another session of outside play.

While the rest of us were at work and childcare, Ella had a Nanna day which included a visit from the cousins too! Ella loves spending time with Nanna. She comes home excited by the fact that she gets to look through Nanna or Grandpa's treasures, polished the silver, sew buttons and the latest was learning how to knit!

Friday was a Daddy day. With a clear and sunny day, Andy decided it would be perfect opportunity to oil the front deck. Ella and I had managed to wash it down before I started my late shift which allowed enough drying time, before Andy and Ella sanded and oiled it. Ella was very enthusiastic about painting despite Andy insisting her to be careful!

Then they rode the tag-along bike to the arboretum to check out the new pod playground. Apparently it's pretty cool and Ella spent 45mins exploring. A quick coffee at the cafe before returning home in time to pick up Katy from childcare.

One week down, one week to go!