The Gang

For your enjoyment.....

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!

January 26th is Australia Day - the day of the first landing of the First Fleet at Sydney in 1788. That's right we celebrate the day our country was populated with convicts from England, that are our ancestors. Well they sailed for six months on barely any food, landed in conditions completely foreign to them and no insect spray to speak of - they deserve some congratulations. So we have just had a long weekend to celebrate -yippee! Of course, the only way to properly celebrate Australia Day is to have a barbie with friends, eat lamb (well not all of us), drink beer, watch the cricket and of course go to the beach! So we had a few friends around yesterday afternoon to hang out in the back yard and enjoyed relaxing on a sunny day and celebrating being Australian. Then today, it was off to the beach to splash in some waves, dig some holes, play with trucks and make footprints in the sand. All the ingredients of a great weekend. We have been blessed with beautiful weather and having time to wind down and relax is very valuable, as well as enjoying the great outdoors. It gets very busy around this time of year in our town, everyone enjoying the beach and picnic-ing and enjoying the end of the summer holidays/vacation. School goes back next week , so this weekend is really the last hurrah for summer, despite the fact that the warm weather will be around for another two months. So on one hand it's nice to see families together, enjoying their time outside of normal routine, but on the other hand, we won't have to fight for a parking space or spot to put our towel on the sand. Or stand in line for 15 mins at the bakery to grab some rolls for lunch. So there is definitely plus' to everyone heading back to their homes tonight and work and school. Hope you have all had a wonderful start to the year with the first month almost over and done with. Take care and go with the flow........

Down on The Farm

We have just had a great weekend at Jim's parents farm. Tom loves it down there because there is so many unusual activities to do and most times Dadda is there to enjoy it all as well. So we all had a lovely time relaxing and enjoying the fresh country air and Tom got to ride his trike, see the cows and the cockies (birds), and play with Grandma's new puppy who loves Tom and Tom loves her. Tom walks around the yard yelling, "Jedda, where are yoooooooouuuuuu?" and she lays on her back so Tom can rub her on the tummy. All very cute. Also included in a weekend on the farm is rides on the 4-wheeler and tractor with Dadda (being a city girl, mamma doesn't know anything about riding a motorbike or a tractor, although I can tell a bull from a cow - 5 stars to me!) and having fun on Grandma and Grandad's trampoline which is just the best because we can, "jump, jump, jump", to quote Tom himself. He also got to feed the chooks with Grandma, which was very exciting, and I think Grandma loved having a little man to help her out . I really value being able to show Tom a different environment to what he's used to also. Not a road or a neighbour in sight, the milk tanker driving down the dirt track, bulls in the back yard and paddocks and trees as far as the eye can see. I like to think that he'll learn that everyone lives differently, from one Grandma in the suburbs, to us down the coast, to the other Grandma on the farm. I wonder if that will maybe sew the seeds down the track to him becoming aware that if those differences can exist, then what must it be like for people who live in a different state, or even a different country?
Anyway, we had a lovely time and probably don't get down there enough, so if we haven't been for a while and are unable to make it on a weekend, I try to get there midweek with Tom, so that he gets to spend time with his Grandparents and he's familiar being there. It will also be nice to go visit when my sister and brother-in-law are living down there temporarily with their new baby. Grandma can have a busy little man to help her out around the place and I'll be able to spend time with the new addition to the family as well as everyone else.
As an aside: the new season of Gray's Anatomy is starting in a couple of weeks here, I'm sure to Jim's dismay - but I'm very excited about that; as well as hanging out for May for the release of Sex and the City - the movie. It's all good.
Stay safe......

Weekend with Grandma

We've just had the nicest weekend with Grandma, Pa and Aunty Caz. We took Tom down to a bird sanctuary to feed some ducks and he had his first close sighting of a pelican. He was pretty amazed at it and when Aunty Caz fed it some bread, he was all, "WOW" at the size of it's beak. Considering the pelican was probably bigger than him, I'm sure it would be quite an amazing sight to a little one. Tom doesn't seem too fussed with ducks and sometimes I wonder if it's because they are brown. In all children's books and toys and puzzles ducks are yellow or white. He knows they are ducks because he quacks at them (just like he woofs at dogs - talk about Dr. Doolittle), but I get the feeling he's a little disappointed that they don't look like the ones in the books. Just a thought I had. We have some black swans in the lake near our house and he likes those, especially when they stick their heads under the water and then pop back up again, but the ducks, it's only if they are eating the bread we are throwing in the water do they have any appeal. I actually enjoy walking down to our lake, watching the swans for a while and then walking onto the park. I think that's one of the better things about being a mum. It gives me opportunities to do stuff that I wouldn't normally do. Like go see swans and pelicans, or go on the swings and slides and the park, or run and jump in waves. No more laying in the sun trying to get a tan (not that that is very sun smart anyway! nb: Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world thanks to the CFC's ruining the ozone layer). But really sunbaking probably had a limited life span anyway, whereas now I get to do things I haven't done in 20 years and it's FUN! Anyway, the second part of the weekend was taken up by hanging out with Grandma and what was going to be a walk along the foreshore turned into a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine. This went for about 40 mins stopping at different intervals picking up and dropping off people along the way. Every time we stopped Tom was looking at me and Grandma saying, "more please", and then choo-chooing as we got going again. When we finally had to get off, we had tears; even after 40 mins! So many promises were made to come back another day. We also saw a Helicopter take off and land multiple times. This was very fascinating and eventually Tom was asking to "hop on 'copter?" Grandma decided that was an activity to do with Dadda sometime - maybe in about 10 years? Best wishes to all......

Summer Lovin'

Well we have experienced the full brunt of summer over the past couple of days with some very hot days and some lovely northerly winds. I've enjoyed swollen ankles and a new level of lethargy, but fortunately Tom and I also got to enjoy the beach and ice-cream the other day. It's packed down here at the moment with both locals and tourists. I thought the mid-week crowds may have lightened up a bit but now I don't think that will happen until Feb. I could barely get Tom's sandals off before he was bolting towards the water. He runs into the waves, shouts, "SPLASH" and then runs out again, only to turn around and do it all again. Then we did some jumping of the waves and then there was the mandatory hole digging which is just the best. Hole digging alone can keep a little boy entertained for at least 20 mins. Although when a little girl tried to join in the digging activities Tom decided that the next hole along looked more appealing. Then some more splashing and finishing up with a 'biccie' sitting on the towel. A wonderful couple of hours at the beach all up.
Our neighbours, whom we were great friends with, moved last week, so Tom and I went for a visit today. It was great to catch up and the boys had a lot of fun playing. I think they miss seeing each other regularly. But they aren't too far away, so we will try and visit often. I also enjoyed having a catch up and a bit of a shopping expedition which is always a good way to spend the day. Stay safe........

It's 2008!

This is my way to combat my lack of communication to all my OS friends. I've been so bad at emailing, writing, calling and worst of all sending Christmas cards. I thought that if I keep this blog and you are interested in reading it, than it's one way of keeping all my friends up to date with what we are up to. I can't promise scintillating reading, but this year is only going to be busier than the last, and I know emailing will be very rare, so I hope this works as a happy medium.
Jim and I had a very quiet New Year as it was extremely hot and I was just unmotivated to do anything other than lie on the couch. We went for a walk down to the beach after dinner with Tom and that was really nice, but no crazy celebrations for us. Jim's back at work today and so am I tomorrow, with Jim getting straight back into his traveling commitments.
We are all well and had a great Christmas though - catching up with all the family over a couple of days and Tom getting way too much attention and loving it! But after a very busy Christmas period, it will be nice to settle back into some form of routine, with days at the beach, catching up with friends for 'barbies' and weekends spent just hanging out at home.
Hope you all had a safe New Year and are looking forward to many happy memories in '08.