Birthday Crayfish

I believe in celebrating. I believe that when there is an occasion and sometimes even when there isn’t, that we should celebrate. I have always loved a party or a “do” and have never understood how some people just can’t wait until the party is over and everything can be clean again. I love the planning, the inviting, the cooking, seeing everyone have a laugh and a catch up.

Miss 3 turned, well 3, this week and so far she has already had 2 birthday cakes. We had planned to get up early on Wed which was her birthday to give her, her pressies but of all the days, she decided to sleep in. Hence it was very rushed before school drop off affair and she was a little confused as to why her party wasn’t that day. Apart from that, she took the day in her stride, taking phone calls and text messages of good wishes (yes, at 3) and we are now looking forward to her birthday party on Sunday.

I am thankful to Miss Mandy from “A little Space like Home” for inspiring me to do Miss 3’s party at home. I was very tempted to book a play centre (which I have done many times and am an advocate for!) but she convinced me of the fun of doing it myself and I am really looking forward to it.

Miss 3’s birthday is hard for me too because it makes me think of my dad who passed away 18 months ago. Her first birthday party was the last happy family function that we had with him there. I remember he and my mum came early (the party was in the afternoon) and he brought Crayfish for us to share. I told him not to give any to Miss, then One because I was scared she may be allergic to it. He gave it to her anyway and I will always remember that Miss 3 got her first taste of Crayfish at age one.

The very last celebration that we shared with dad was his “festa.” My dad died on Christmas Eve 2009 and on December 20th, 4 short days before, he had a festa with 100 or so of our closest family and friends to celebrate his life. He was so sick but he wanted one last celebration with everyone who meant everything to him. It was his dying wish. Oh and it was my birthday too. He didn’t know it then (he was too sick) and I didn’t want anyone else to know. Some people did and gave me a hug and some flowers but it was his day. Any time I think about a celebration or of growing another year older I think of what a privilege it is to be able to celebrate and to have another year. I am grateful for that legacy – that inspiration to celebrate. I wish he was here to give Miss 3 her birthday crayfish.

I am linking up with Maxabella Loves and her Grateful post. Also check out Miss Mandy at "A Little Space like home". I also couldn't resist the Anderson Crews, "Embrace the Camera" - check out Miss 3 and me!

 

 

< href="http://alittlespacelikehome.blogspot.com/">

Our first snow trip!

Well, we had our first family trip away to the snow! Even wary husband commented that he would do it again and that's saying something. We headed off on Saturday morning and met our good friends who have done this before in a small town called Narbethong to hire our snow gear. Our friends have a pigeon pair of boys to match our pigeon pair of girls and everyone got along like a house on fire. (Actually, not a good analogy given we stayed in Marysville, a place that was ravaged by bush fires on Feb 7th 2009). We partly wanted to stay there so we could put some money back into their economy. There is still a lot of re-building going on there and the effects of the natural disaster are still evident. In saying that, it's an absolutely gorgeous place and I am keen to go back again.

After getting fitted out in our waterproof pants and all in one suits for the little ones we headed up to Lake Mountain.Seeing the snow slowly appear was amazing and thrilling (except nearly Miss 3 was asleep of course!). It was a lot more civilised than I expected and we were lucky to get a sunny afternoon. Miss 6 and half amazed us with her courage as she got straight into it, flying down a hill on her toboggan. It was good clean, bit messy fun and I am so glad we did it. We tobogganed, threw snow balls, made a small snow man and  nearly Miss 3 got her moneys worth of eating snow everywhere she went!



All the kids had a bit of a meltdown when it was home town, tired and emotional but they all calmed down scoffing freddo frogs and salty chips in the car down the mountain. We checked into our motel, The Tower in Marysville which was really lovely -basic but nice and clean with great view of the town. We had a queen bed, single and trundle bed - very family affair. After a quick clean up we headed out to have dinner at the Black Spur hotel. Quick tip - make sure you book if you are going out for dinner - we first of all turned up at the pub in Buxton to find it was booked out. Had the best steak with mushroom sauce while the kids scoffed nuggets, chips and lemonade. By about 8pm everyone was exhausted and we went back to our room to get ready for bed. Getting everyone to unwind was a bit of hard work (although snoring husband didn't seem to have any problems!!)

After check out today (Sunday) we went to the bakery in Marysville for bacon and egg breakie followed by jam donuts (I know breakfast of champions). Unfortunately  it was a very rainy day so we were limited in what we could do. We popped in to the visitor centre to buy souvenir snow domes and also the lolly shop (currently trading out of a shipping container). They are due to start their rebuild tomorrow! Next time  we want to check out  "Bruno's sculpture garden"  which looked beautiful and many locals mentioned.

Breakfast donut!

I am really grateful for such a fun weekend away with good friends and also grateful to come home (cliche but true!) I am now keen to do some more road trips (although not too far...also discovered we are not a road trip type of family...the whinging of "are we there yet?" really does my head in and that is largely from me!!)   Although this wasn't my usual city, I hope you enjoyed it. Check out more cities by linking up with "Unknown Mami" for "Sundays in my city" and the gorgeous "Maxabella Loves" for more things to be  grateful for!    
 

Main St, Marysville

Where we stayed:
The Tower Motel
33 Murchison Street
Marysville, Victoria, 3779
Phone: 03 5963 3225
Fax: 03 5963 3472

Where we ate:
The Back Spur Inn 
436 Maroondah Highway,
Narbethong, Victoria, 3778

03 5963 7121

The bakery
Murchison St, Marysville

Cranky Miss 3

This morning I was looking forward to nearly Miss 3’s bedtime about 10 minutes after she woke up. Nothing was going her way today. Breakfast cereal was not right, shoes were not comfortable, jacket an annoyance…grrrrr….

We dropped Miss 6 at school and I thought there is no way I can spend the day at home with her royal grumpiness so we headed into “town” as you do here in G town. Lucky for us there is a great little play area in Westfield shopping centre “on the bridge”, which has free Wi Fi for those inclined and 2 cafes in sweet smelling coffee distance. We were there by 9.15am, got us a nice perch right near the play area, ham and cheese toastie ordered along with café latte, baby cino with marshmallows and apple juice. Had a great morning out and made the rest of the day bearable!

Have been spending this evening procrastinating and avoiding packing as we’re heading off to Marysville tomorrow and then up to Lake Mountain to try tobogganing for the first time! Kids are way too excited and cautious and wary husband is getting out his thermals as we speak!

Here’s us getting ready as I link up again this week with the Anderson Crew's, “Embrace the camera”…More on the snow to come!

Where I went today:
Westfield
Malop Street Geelong VIC 3220
Phone (03) 5224 2384

Obsessed with colour

Since getting my new camera I am obsessed with photographing colorful things! Here's a few favorites from last week! 


Afternoon tea with a dear friend

The girls made flower soup with their nana

 



Nearly Miss 3 cooking!



House Specs, another Bollard and Mill Market

I am linking up with the Anderson Crew for Embrace the Camera...
Me and Bollard no. 3, "The Portuguese Exlporer" - Portuguese explorers were said to have landed before Captain Cook and may have lost the 5 keys. (Have no idea what that's all about but will investigate!)

I am also using poetic license for Sundays in my City seeing as though  today is Saturday (Unknown Mami said it was ok!)...



Husband and kids waiting in car while I take pics!


Today, happy husband (who had a night out with his brother the night before at the Casino in preparation for their Vegas trip...that's another blog to be written about why I am the best wife ever!) and I had a meeting with our builder to disucsss the "specs" - specifications of "our project"... we have moved out of the la la land of isn't it wonderful that we get to build a brand new house to this is how much it actually is going to cost down to the last door nob. Can I say...not as much fun now! Came away with a big headache and reality check and will stop crapping on about how I need piped music in every room! Next step...review "the specs" and sign on the dotted line!!

On our way  home we quickly popped in to the famous Mill markets in Newcomb - a collection of  stalls selling lots of vintage, collectable, odd goodies all under one roof and obliging husband also paused on way for me to take some pics of another Bollard with my new camera!

Where I went today:
Mill Markets
114 Bellarine Hwy Newcomb
Telephone: 03 52482390
Email: newcomb@millmarkets.com.au

From their website...

 "...Each Mill Market centre is divided into 100 plus, 16 square metre stalls with stallholder’s rent including performing a four hour duty per week to maintain the centre. The stallholder’s four hours are rostered around the week allowing the centres to be adequately staffed. All sales are processed at the front counter with stallholder’s numbers written on their price tags, allowing clear and concise sales activity. At the end of the month, stallholders receive a cheque from the centre for their month’s sales. Stallholders are only required to be at the centre for their four hour shift per week, however their stall effectively runs from 10am to 6pm, seven days a week. "

Mill Market, Newcomb

  

Grateful for family

This week I am grateful that I am part of a big family and that we had a chance to get together to celebrate nothing other than being grateful that we have each other. Often in the school holidays one of my cousins would have my mum, aunties and cousins and the kids over for lunch for a catch up, to eat lots of food and have a laugh. Over the last two years, two of my mum's sisters have very sadly passed away and it makes the catch ups difficult because they are missing but very necessary too. This week, everyone was able to make it and it was a "Christmas day" like gathering. I was sad that my aunties weren't there but grateful for the family that I still have. When you lose people close to you, it can give you great clarity about what is important. This week I am linking up with Maxabella Loves Grateful link and also with "Yay for homes" - things I know...

The thing I know this week is that - its really, really important to live in the moment and really be in that moment. This is my current mantra.  

 

The Block

We bought this block of land about 3 months ago. My mum (Nonna as the kids call her or the old boot -it's not as mean as it sounds this nick name - she earned it by being "the old boot" in Monopoly and it kind of stuck)...anyway I digress...she was saying to us that we should check out this area in Geelong (G-town) called Hamlyn Heights on the top of the hill and we kept saying, what are you talking about you old boot, there's no land there! Well, we drove past this pocket one day and there was 2  blocks of land there, one with  a "for sale" sign from a real estate agent and one with a hand written note with a name and mobile phone number. Efficient husband called the agent on the Monday to find the block of land from the estate agent had been sold. Then he tried the other one. A man answered and said "so do you want to buy it?"... efficient husband said "maybe" and then 3 days later we agreed to buy this block!! So I guess we are going to be home builders (well not us, we are not handy people but there are people out there who do these sorts of things!)

We started visiting display homes and deciding what we liked and what we didn't. I discovered the concept of a "mud room"... a room where you walk in from the garage and dump all your crap and also the "butlers pantry!" This has become the "butless pantry" in our house, a running joke and now we just must have one seeing as though we've carried on about it so much !! It's a pantry where your toaster and food processor etc can hide and not offend anyone!!

We started drawing scribbles of a house plan and thought we best take these scribbles to a professional. We have found a great company we think and we have been presented with our first plan! How exciting!!! We are now waiting on a few tweaks (need more space for dining) and for the costs and then we'll see what happens next!!

Here are some pics of our empty block!!! I am going to document this process and would love to hear from anyone who has gone through this experience. I never thought it would be us!  

Warm new baby

Oh my goodness, how much do you love a newborn baby? Spent a beautiful Sunday seeing my lovely  friend's, gorgeous new baby boy. That little lamb cry and that snuggly little ball...and then I handed him back!

Check out what everyone else is up to on "Sundays in my City" by Unknown Mami!  

My new camera

I have a new camera!! I have wanted a digital SLR camera for ages. Finally, with much help from my patient husband I have one in my hot little hands! I hope to do a short course so that I can learn to use it properly but in the mean time my poor family is going to be subjected to me photographing everything in sight, including them!! Today we had a great school holiday play date with my lovely sister in law and dynamo gorgeous niece which was full of color and action for me to practise on. A play centre in school holidays is not for the faint hearted but the kids ran themselves ragged and had the time of their life. We managed to fit in a coffee too!




This is poor nearly Miss 3 at the end of the play!
 I am linking up with anderson crew for embrace the camera!








Where did we go today:
 All 4 Kids Indoor Play Centre

Level 1, 57 Church Street,
Geelong West, Victoria 3218

http://www.all4kidsplaycentre.com.au/

Bay Walk Bollards!



No 27. VICTORIAN BATHS SWIMMERS 





Can you see the rabbit? 

 One of the things I love in Geelong are the Bollards! Some who know we well may say I have an obsession with them. They are "104 painted wooden sculptures around the arc of Corio Bay, from Rippleside Park to Limeburners Point that tell the affectionate history of Geelong, Victoria, Australia." (Geelong Waterfront Australia) I have a book all about them, which is currently in storage unfortunately and I keep threatening everyone in my family that we are going to do the whole Bollards walk around the bay.  Anyway, I hope to post many pictures of the Bollards and today is my first.

First day of school holidays and I took the day off work to spend some time with Miss 6 and Miss (actually soon to be) Miss 3. We went to a great little concert put on for free by Central Geelong Marketing down at the Pier on the waterfront. The kids were entertained by Peter Combe, who sang such classics as "Wash your face in orange juice" The kids loved it, well Miss nearly 3 was amused most of time that she was not antagonising other children with her dancing actions!  Then we braved the ridiculous blow your head off winds for a play at the Poppy Kettle park. (This is where the Bollard photos come from and they are of  number 27. VICTORIAN BATHS SWIMMERS - these swimmers represent the Victorian Bathing Establishment in 1870. How cool is that!!  Many of the Bollards (I am not confident to say "all" with out my book in storage) have a rabbit painted on them somewhere and are apparently a part of history in Geelong. All wild rabbits in Australia are descended from 10 pairs imported by Thomas Austin, of Barwon Park, Winchelsea, which arrived in Corio Bay on Christmas day in 1859. So there you go!

 I am linking up again this week with "Sundays in my city" - sorry I have taken poetic licence seeing as though it was Monday today - it felt like Sunday because I had the day off!    



 

http://www.centralgeelong.com.au/