Amy and Trevor's blog

Australia G'Day

2012-01-26T03:40:00.000-08:00

Today was Australia Day celebrating the arrival of the first fleet in Australia.

Canberra celebrates with a concert and a free barbecue in the park. Last year we had a guest performance by the Wiggles, this year it was the considerably lower-budget (yet less controversial) Fireman Sam.

In their bookings the organisers had chosen a slightly odd way to celebrate Australia Day - the host of the event was a Kiwi and Fireman Sam (and Prime Minister Julia Gillard come to that) is Welsh.

Still it was a lovely setting and we enjoyed the Citizenship ceremony that followed. I always think Australia does things like this really well. I'm not really sure they could achieve days like this in the UK without them either becoming full of Daily Mail jingoism or watered down and rendered pointless through extreme amounts of political correctness.

Flag waving can become a tricky thing politically but on the whole it was really well handled during Australia Day and during the celebration things were excellently organised and presented.

That said the day was also the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal tent embassy in Canberra and following rash comments by leader of the opposition Tony Abbot the day culminated in a bit of a punch up. Fortunately we'd long since left for home.

A meeting with Fireman Sam

free craft for the kids

Julia Gillard welcomes new Australian Citizens (wonder what happened to the hat in the melee?)

Australian Wildlife Encounters No.8

2012-01-26T03:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, so perhaps I shouldn't put a post every time we see a creepy crawly, but this preying mantis hung around on our outside wall for some time. It was really bright green and Eli even got brave enough to touch it!

Cockington Green

2012-01-26T01:05:00.000-08:00

Together with Catherine we paid a trip to Cockington Green, Canberra's model village.

It always amazes me that the town can support a model village, especially one that is so incredibly well tended and maintained as Cockington Green is, but as an attraction it seems to do ok.

I suppose it's a constant flow of tourists who support it. A Tripadvisor review I read recently said that it was Australia's best model village. As I've not been to another one in Australia I can't really comment on whether that's true but I guess it's interesting that while the rest of Australia is concentrating on 'Big Things' we've got the best 'Small Thing'.

We hadn't been for a couple of years and I don't think Audrey remembered anything about her last time there when we pushed her round in her pushchair. Unsurprisingly both Audrey and Eli loved it. What they most enjoyed were the multitudes of buttons which brought some of the models to life (windmills turning, trains starting etc). At one point after starting a model Intercity 125 Eli jumped up and down several times with excitement.

Buttons to press, miniature houses, a sunny day and a bbq for lunch what could be better?

on the mini-train that circumnavigates Cockington Green

Eli chose a sheep to sit on

Audrey sat on a pig

Eli by the wishing well

Lanyon Homstead Picnic

2012-01-25T03:09:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of pics of us enjoying a picnic at Lanyon Homstead in the outskirts of Canberra. I really like visiting there as every time we go we seem to see and learn something new about the place. As well as the lovely house and gardens they've also got an incredibly well maintained vegetable and herb garden as well which keeps the cafe/restaurant supplied.

Catheringe, Amy, Eli and Audrey

Eli found a tractor

Summer Sounds Concerts at the Botanical Gardens

2012-01-22T02:02:00.000-08:00

Amy's sister Catherine is staying with us at the moment and so the five of us went along to watch local band the Cashews play as part of the Summer Sounds concert at the Botanical Gardens.

The concerts take place on the Eucalypt lawn at the Gardens. It's a lovely shady spot in the pretty gardens but the patchy weather we've had this year meant that we weren't bathed in the warmth of a summer evening which we have been in previous years. Nevertheless there were hoards of people and we were lucky to find a spot to lay our picnic rug fairly near the front.

The Cashews were preceded by Koko-loco who got everyone dancing frantically to zumba. I like the Cashews - a duet - with really nice Canberra based lyrics, and we enjoyed our lovely picnic too with one of Amy's home made quiches.

The BIGGEST caterpillar I've ever seen (a 15cm white-stemmed gum moth)

Scrummy picnic

Separated at Birth? (Don't tell Audrey)

2012-01-16T16:38:00.000-08:00

(once again with thanks to Private Eye)

Considering the striking similarity between Boy George and the Duchess of Cambridge, could it be that Boy George has been has been misunderstood for many years?

A trip to the Australian War Memorial

2012-01-14T01:22:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to the Australian War Memorial this afternoon allowing Amy a chance to recuperate a bit at home.

Audrey and Eli were happy to tag along (they had been promised milkshakes when we got there). In truth it was a bit of a selfish trip as I've wanted for some time to visit the new Hall of Valour, celebrating the 98 Australians who have been awarded the Victoria Cross. The hall features the soldiers' stories of bravery along with many of their medals. I must have been slightly deluded to think the children were going to give me the opportunity and time to look at the displays, but it was a nice trip nonetheless.

The memorial has a whole host of things laid on for children from craft sessions to story time, but I thought it was still a slightly awkward trip for two pre-schoolers to make. "Daddy what's that big gun for?", "...Erm to maim and kill people...." not the greatest of conversations really.

Nevertheless they loved the planes on display (of which there are many). We weren't there for long but I discovered a couple of huge galleries which I didn't even know existed in previous trips there. I'm definitely planning on a return trip (minus children) before too long.

Audrey on our front lawn

Those last bits on an icey pole/ice lolly are always the hardest to get Eli outside of the War Memorial

Is the Daily Mail trying to attract attention?

2012-01-09T18:17:00.000-08:00

We love Peppa Pig.

For the uninitiated Peppa is an animated cartoon pig who lives with her Mum and Dad (Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig) and her little brother George. Her best friend is Suzy Sheep. I'm not sure when we first became acquainted with her... like many of these things it happens by osmosis without really trying. We don't watch it really frequently but it does provide a good uninterrupted 5 minutes every now and again.

I accept that (as with all TV children's characters) she's a merchandising phenomenon with her image on everything from back-packs to duvet covers and even now a theme park in Hampshire. It's success is displayed in the fact that gross revenue for Peppa merchandise in the UK in 2010 was over £200 million. Doubling the £100 million it achieved in 2009. Who knows how much it must be if you add in Australia and other parts of the world?!

Despite this we do love the simplicity of the shows and the fact that there's often as much for the parents as the kids. Apparently all of the frames are hand drawn rather than computer generated.

We're lucky too that Grandma posts regular comics from the UK (the kids love receiving them). I sat with Audrey for 20 minutes this morning (at 6am!!) completing the puzzles in one of the Peppa Pig magazines and sticking in the stickers. Was it educational, I don't know. Was it fun (for both of us) definitely.

I've had conversations with another dad as to whether the show is 'classist' - the professionals who feature on the TV show (Dr Brown Bear the GP for example) tend to have 'posh' accents whereas the blue-collar workers (Mr Bull, Mr Fox etc) tend to speak with regional dialects (Dr Hamster the vet being the exception) . The same dad also suspected there was a degree of sexism with Daddy Pig often made to be the fall-guy in some of the jokes whereas Miss Rabbit possesses plenty of 'girl power'

Personally I haven't got the same hang-ups about it (perhaps because I'm often the butt of the jokes in our family anyway). I came upon this tosh though from the Daily Mail yesterday (I followed a link there)

Click on the image if you want to read the whole gumph written.

I'm certainly not 'despairing' - sure our kids sometimes answer us back and both Audrey and Eli possibly have a greater penchant for jumping in muddy puddles than they perhaps would have done if they hadn't watched Peppa, but I think there's far more potentially damaging things on TV than Peppa.

We were in a public children's play area last week where they started showing a cartoon with devils, demons and evil figures on it (we left) and we've been puzzled by the amount of Disney cartoons which have an obligatory 'baddie' which can frighten the bejeesus out of our two (pre-school) kids.

Of course there's lots of nasty things in the world so it's not great to wrap your children in cotton wool (I don't think we do this) but 'despairing' about the bad influence of Peppa Pig, really?

Snort. I'm falling over laughing.

National Film and Sound Archive

2012-01-08T01:17:00.000-08:00

Audrey and Eli learning that there's more to Australian film than Crocodile Dundee

Despite having lived in Canberra for a little over 3 years we hadn't (as a family) ventured to Canberra's excellent National Film and Sound Archive.

We're lucky here to have a pick of wonderful galleries and museums and the NFSA hadn't featured in our day trips out. Today was rainy (still a really nice 28 degrees) but not much opportunity to do much in our garden so we headed out.

The archive is in a wonderful art-deco building. A guide explained that it had originally been the Australian Institute of Anatomy (to house the collection of Professor Sir Colin MacKenzie) in the 30's and in fact had originally been gazetted to be part of a zoo (which was never built).

The gallery displayed a bit of the history of Australian film, television and radio. It also has a lovely outdoor area where, in summer, they show films.

Here's a picture of us in the children's interactive area, playing our guitars "like Murray" (red Wiggle).

Audrey and Eli opening presents on Christmas morning

2012-01-05T19:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Mildura

2012-01-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

We spent a few days over Christmas with Amy's parents in Mildura. It's a decent drive from Canberra (800km/500 miles...about 11 hours) and 40 minutes out of Canberra Audrey was asking the legendary question 'Are we nearly there yet?'

Fortunately both kids were excellent both ways during the drive and we stopped for breakfast in both directions at the excellent park in Narrandara which broke things up a bit.

Mildura is a nice town on the Murray river and while we were there I did a spot of fishing with Amy's Dad (the river is overflowing with carp) and we also paid a visit to nearby Wentworth, considered a potential for Australia's capital city in 1901 following federation. We also had a slightly traumatic trip to the swimming pool (Eli getting overawed by the wave-machine there!)

Here's some pics from what was a thoroughly enjoyable Christmas/New Year.

the family sized swing in Narandera Fishing on the Murray with 'Poppy'dancing After running under the sprinklers in Wendy and Ivor's garden

2012

2012-01-02T18:02:00.000-08:00

A Mayan 'long count calendar' nice - but it does lack any pictures of country scenes or puppies.

So here we are in 2012. Year of the imaginatively named film '2012'.

According to the (not very good) action film, or perhaps more correctly the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, the world will end in December 2012.

Apparently it's all written in the stars - I should have asked them when we went to Mount Stromlo a few weeks ago.

My prediction(!?) is that the months leading up to December will be preceded by countless newspaper and magazine articles and no doubt the odd documentary or ten refuting or supporting the end of the world prediction. REM will be rubbing their hands at the royalty payments from their 80's penned song 'It's the End of the World as we know it' which will form the soundtrack to the many documentaries.

I went to Mexico and Belize a few years ago where the Mayans had lived. They seemed a pretty advanced lot who then, (once they'd worked out that the World will end in December 2012) seemingly disappeared back into the jungle some time around 900AD. The conquistadors later added to the confusion by by burning a fair bit of their stuff and doing the usual looting and pillaging (and small-pox bringing) that foreign invaders tend to do. Were the Mayans right? will armageddon arrive? Should I stop making pension contributions? I guess we'll know in 12 months time.

More likely in January 2013 the media will be searching around for the next end of the world prediction. Presumably though even if someone gets it right it'll be a hollow victory, with not many people left around to say 'told you so!' to.

Even Spiderboy has to stop for his dinner!

2011-12-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

The curse of the tiny little plastic toys.

2011-12-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas has brought with it a whole load of challenges in the form of new tiny little plastic toys (TLPT)

TLPT must have been scourge of the family household since a Danish vacuum cleaner first choked while sucking up a stray bit of Lego in 1958. Now some of the Lego blocks (even those fiddly one piece bits) look positively gargantuan in comparison to some of the TLPT available.

Possibly the tiniest were some 3 Playmobil ducks, which all disappeared about 5 seconds after the pack was torn open. I reckon they were about 2mm each. Occasionally one reappears for a few minutes before disappearing in the chaos of the toy strewn living room floor. On Christmas Day not long after opening another packet we spent 20 minutes looking for one of Tinkerbell’s tiny tiny slippers (now securely superglued to her feet) to the background of tragic screams and wails from Audrey which accompanied its loss.

My Little Pony (which themselves are pretty microscopic) came with companions (a dog and a mouse) which are about 1/10,000,000 life scale. As a result on Boxing Day We lost hours of our life looking for a 1cm high plastic mouse and found it long after Eli had given up caring about its existence.

A search for the proverbial needle in a haystack would have been an absolute doddle by comparison. Besides I’m sure Fisher Price would now be able to design a toy which fitted comfortably on the end of the needle anyway.

And if you think your mobile phone is small, you should have seen Barbie's (which of course vanished almost instantly).

I’m not sure about Father Christmas, there are clearly a few things which question his existence (not least the lack of chimneys in new homes) but I'm beginning to suspect he must be real as given the micronisation of the toy box it would only be elves possessing fingers small enough to pack TLPT in boxes.

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-24T01:06:00.000-08:00

Bob blows out a tune!

Amazingly Christmas in the Hickman household started just before 7am (Audrey is often awake at 5.30am). Both Audrey and Eli were hyped up about their main presents (a Barbie and fire truck respectively) and so everything else took 2nd place until these boxes were torn open.

Although we didn't go overboard with presents, the packages that had flown in from the UK meant that they had a pile of new toys to play with. Over the preceding couple of weeks (during various tantrums) we had talked to the kids about Santa 'making his list', 'checking it twice' etc and had even had a couple of earnest conversations with St.Nick on the phone (in earshot of both Audrey and Eli obviously) but in the end he came through with the goods, despite the kids being both naughty and nice at various times in the last year.

Here's some pics of the children with their stash.

Update on Amy

2011-12-20T01:59:00.000-08:00

Some good news from my doctor today. My tumour marker levels are down again (third time in a row); my organs are all clear and the cancer in my bones has only spread a little. We're very hopeful that this is a sign that the medication I am taking is going to stabilise things for me. Hurrah! A much better end to 2011 than 2010!

Pavlova Magic

2011-12-18T18:27:00.000-08:00

Pavlova is one of Australia's national dishes. Unless of course you're from New Zealand in which case it's origin is hotly debated. They both stake a big claim to it. A few years ago I had dinner with a group of people (one of whom was a Kiwi) and she was so angered (and got in such a huff) that I thought the dish came from Australia that I eventually conceded that the dish must surely be from New Zealand even though I didn't really know (or care).

If you want to read Wikipedia's thoughts on the matter you can go here

Amy made a lovely Pavlova on Saturday (thereby underlining Australia's rights to the title) here's a pic.

It's cherry time

2011-12-18T18:18:00.001-08:00

I received a box of beautiful cherries the other day which the kids devoured with joy. Here's some pics

Hail!

2011-12-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

We've had an odd start to summer in Canberra. Although the weather has typically been in the low 20's apparently it's the coldest start to summer for 50 odd years. All the climate change stuff people have been talking about is now aligning just nicely.

At the weekend we had been due to go to Carols at Lanyon, an old homestead on the outskirts of Canberra, but a couple of hours before the start we were hit with a huge storm featuring marble sized hail which unfortunately washed the event out. Here's how our vegetable patch looked.

the white on the ground are hail stones

Amy's Gingerbread house

2011-12-12T01:50:00.000-08:00

Amy went to a ginger-bread house making evening at Audrey and Eli's daycare. Arguably it was just an excuse for a large group of women (they had 30 people there) to get together and have a natter while eating a multitude of sweets and lollies.
Still I wasn't to concerned as she brought back this marvelous creation which has enough sweets on it to last us until the new year. Here's the house as it was and then as it was destroyed by Audrey, Eli and a couple of their friends.

tucking in with glee!

Mount Stromlo Open Day

2011-12-04T18:25:00.001-08:00

The Oddie 2 telescope which we all looked through

At the top of one of the hills on the outskirts of Canberra is Mount Stromlo observatory.

I find it a fascinating place to visit. You ascend up a winding road where you're often watched by kangaroos and then, just as you're looking down admiring the spectacular view of Canberra and the surrounds, you come upon a whole village of university buildings, academic blocks and white observation domes.

I learned this weekend that one of the buildings up there lays claim as being the oldest Commonwealth building in the ACT - the Oddie Observatory which was erected in 1911.

Unfortunately the bush fires which gripped Canberra in 2003 have burnt out a lot of the buildings and there are numerous skeletons of buildings and observatories which have either burnt to the ground or are shells of their former selves. It is a true phoenix from the flames though and there are plenty of new buildings and a really nice cafe which has just opened to serve the many mountain-bikers who plummet from the top of the hill to Stromlo forest below.

Sunday was the anniversary of the placement of the Oddie telescope. James Oddie was an intriguing man in Australia's history who made (and then lost) a fortune. If you want to read more about him this is a good link and here is an excellent short TV clip about him too!

There were numerous astronomers and astrophysicists on hand and it was a really interesting trip. There was the obligatory sausage sizzle and balloons and a bouncy castle for the kids.

Audrey had entered a colouring competiton. She didn't win, but being proud parents that we are we thought her entry was just as good as the 10 year old who did win.

admiring Audrey's colouring

There was an opportunity to touch a meteorite as well as look through a re-constructed telescope. I headed back there after dark to look through some powerful telescopes and as well as several planets admired a globular cluster.

An old Australian (Dennis) fire engine

Adi - (a very clever yet funny guy) tells us all about a meteorite and comets)Audrey and Eli test a magnet on the meteorite

This bit of kit looks for 'space junk' using a laser
We stood in this looking out to space - a great evening

Where it all started - view from inside the Oddie observatory (sadly now destroyed by fire)

Young Cherry Festival

2011-12-04T16:33:00.001-08:00

Audrey tucks into a plum

A date that had been on our calendar for a while was Young Cherry Festival.

Young is a 2½ hour drive north of Canberra, but the scenery en-route is beautiful. Miles of wheat fields and orchards. Think Wiltshire, but bigger and with gum trees rather than the chalk.

The kids slept in the back of the car, a night of Justine Clarke behind them followed by a morning of swimming. We arrived in time for lunch at the excellent bakery in the high-street

The actual festival itself was slightly disappointing. We'd loved Boorrowa's Irish Woolfest where the whole town had been involved in some way, but this one didn't seem as much fun somehow, country town life was still going on despite the festival.

Young itself has a questionable history. Anti-Chinese protests had been held there in the 1860s as the town grew out of the gold rush era. If you want to read more about this then click here

We stayed in town for a little while but then headed back (after getting hopelessly lost due to diversions) to an orchard where we enjoyed pick-your-own cherries and plums. I think if we head that way again (which I'm sure we will) we'll give the festival a wide-berth and head straight to where the action is - the many orchards which surround Young.

The guy in the fluro jacket (back of picture) had just won the annual cherry pie eating competition

Cherry orchard

Lighting of the Christmas Tree, Civic Square

2011-12-04T15:37:00.001-08:00

On Friday night after a Christmas party we headed out to Civic Square in Canberra.

Architecturally-wise Civic Square is a bit of an odd place. Somewhere that probably looked good in the 'artists impression' when it was conceived in the 70's and now looking a bit tired as similar concrete-laden squares in Telford, Basingstoke, Bracknell, Townsville etc.

The occasion was the lighting of the Christmas Tree together with a free concert.

The shopping trolleys had been hauled out of the fountains and the place given a spruce up (no pun intended)

The main attraction for the night was Justine Clarke. We'd last seen her two months earlier, but this time she had license to sing more Christmas-ey numbers as well as our favourites.

Dreadful DJs Joe and Biggsy compered the evening and there was a painful 45 minutes of carol singing lead by Mrs Santa Claus (toe curlingly unnecessary) but Justine was just great. The kids kept going until 9pm and the tree lighting was fantastic.

Civic Square in all its glory
the lights went down and the kids were still rocking Justine Clarke

Open Day at the National Zoo and Aquarium

2011-11-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

The National Zoo is only a short 10 minute drive from our house and earlier this year we took up the offer of an annual pass. It means we can call in whenever we like and it's a nice place to spend an hour or two. Amy has taken Audrey and Eli a few times since we've signed up for the pass, and the children have now developed their own routine in terms of which animals they see and in which order. Every trip ends in a milkshake in the cafe.

Sunday was an open day for members, which gave you the opportunity to feed a number of the animals. Amy and I fed a (very sedentary) lion with some bits of meat while he lay on the sun.

A while ago someone gave us a giraffe fancy-dress costume which Audrey decided to wear to celebrate the occasion. She got a number of admiring glances and it made a nice change from her usual fairy attire.

me feeding Christian the lion. I opted not to go in the cage and give him a hug afterwards.

Eli by the monkey enclosure

Audrey as a giraffe

Sign reads: Please do not touch the glass - National Zoo and Aquarium a touching experience

Our local park

2011-11-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

Here's some (perhaps uneventful!) pictures of our local park. It's only a short cycle from our house and the kids love riding there while I pull them in the bike trailer...who wouldn't?

Last week's rain gave way to some lovely sunshine on Sunday.

A really nice thing about watching Audrey and Eli growing up is seeing their imaginations run wild. The slide in the park sometimes doubles as a rocket-ship, the area under the slide is almost always an ice cream shop and we invariably meet dinosaurs there. On our latest trip Audrey sold me an (invisible) raspberry ice cream for $110. It seemed a bit on the expensive side, but it tasted divine.

Chloé's 3rd Birthday

2011-11-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

Lots of fun was had as well as a lovely birthday cake!

An audience with Princess Mary

2011-11-24T03:05:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark were in Canberra for the day. Audrey is quite smitten with princesses at the moment so I decided to take her and Eli to the National Art Gallery to see if we could catch a glimpse of Princess Mary. I couldn't believe it when we arrived - there were not many people about and we got prime position to see the royals arrive.

To top it all off, Princess Mary actually stopped to say hello to Audrey and Eli. Eli had taken along his Big Ted and dancing card (which he'd just got that morning at dance class and was well chuffed with) and Audrey had her favourite Barbie doll, nicknamed Princess Catherine. Princess Mary was rather bemused with the name of the Barbie doll!

I think I was rather more in awe of the royals than Audrey and Eli. The following day when our neighbour asked who Audrey had seen on Tuesday she replied, "A brown and ginger cat"! I had to prompt her again before she remembered her audience with Princess Mary.

Here's a still

Audrey, Eli and Amy appear about 1.30

With thanks to Private Eye Magazine

2011-11-22T18:03:00.001-08:00

4000% percent pay rise anyone?

Pat Cummins

2011-11-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

It’s not often I have admiration for an Australian cricketer. There’s one or two I enjoy to watch but on reflection the last time I think I really ‘admired’ an Australian cricketer was Brett Lee at Edgbaston in 2005.

I’ve been following the Test Series in South Africa (a terribly short 2 test series), South Africa v Australia with interest and found myself actually cheering an Australian cricketer’s success.

Pat Cummins was the stuff of Victor comics – an 18 year old plucked from obscurity (after only playing 4 first class games) who then took 7 wickets in a match and hit a four for the winning runs (recording his highest batting score in the process). It was the stuff of dreams. Australian cricket has struggled for the last couple of years as old-hands retired or were dropped and mediocre or inconsistent players took their place. Throughout it all I haven’t shed a single tear at the team’s demise but I remember an Australian telling me (after Australia had drubbed England at cricket a few years ago) that things are cyclical, and so it appears.

It’s always great when young players ‘come through’. Whether it’s a 22 year old Gazza a youthful Ronnie O'Sullivan, David Gower, Andy Murray, Robbie Keane, David Beckham and even dare I say it Wayne Rooney. Some rise and then fall, some become sporting institutions and some get extensively tattooed.

It’ll be interesting to see how Pat Cummins fares, and probably I’ll change my view of him if he takes 7 wickets in his first game against England

Pat Cummins biffs a four

Swimming+Tennis = tired children

2011-11-19T03:57:00.000-08:00

After our weekly Saturday morning swimming lesson this morning we headed off to Lyneham Tennis Centre (National Sports Club) for their free tennis fun-day morning. It was a beautiful sunny day and we made sure the children were well basted in sunscreen. The morning was led by a friendly bunch of coaches and even though it wasn't hugely attended by the general public there were enough people both adult and junior on the courts to make it worthwhile.

Audrey and Eli took part in a junior coaching session. It was Audrey's second try at tennis, but although she really enjoyed it she didn't share quite the same enthusiasm as her little brother who tore around the mini-courts with a really determined look on his face. Both of them earned new racquets (given by the National Sports Club) for their enthusiasm and hard work. Here's them finishing their session followed by the drive home.

Garden Party Pics

2011-11-18T02:52:00.000-08:00

We went to a really lovely BBQ/Garden party last weekend at some of Amy's friends.

They've got a beautiful garden with big trees a cubby house and a hammock which Audrey loved. I tried to sneak off to lie in it for a few moments peace myself but was thwarted by children taking turns to have a go. Here's some pics..

New sand in the sandpit

2011-11-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the forthcoming summer with a few new bags of sand in our sandpit. The beach comes to our back garden!

Mantis Ant (Australian Wildlife Encounters No.7)

2011-11-13T15:45:00.001-08:00

There's no denying that Australia is full of creepy-crawlies. six of the ten most venomous snakes live here as well as a menagerie of cockroaches, mosquitoes, scorpions and spiders.

In truth though most Australians live in suburban cities and a lot of Australia's insects and bugs are pretty shy.

I'm absolutely certain that if you went wandering around the thousands of miles of outback something would sooner or later bite, sting or scratch you, but nothing (except for perhaps sharks and crocs) is going to hunt you down. (erm well ok maybe the mosquitoes)

Having said all that digging in our garden is always an experience. In the UK you occasionally unearth a worm, garden snail and woodlouse or two, here the creatures coming to the surface are invariably more exotic and surprising to my English eyes.

I occasionally come across the odd red-back spider (which DOES scare the bejesus out of me) and there's a fair number of bugs flying around that would similarly terrify me if they landed on my face.

Last week we witnessed huge number of soldier beetles flying onto the blossom laden trees and at the weekend I spotted a few ants on a plant outside of our front door which turned out to be (I think) mantis ants. I looked them up and found they are remarkably voracious. It made me glad to know they were only 5mm in size! Here's a picture I took of one before I learned that they were actually very good at jumping!

A Butterfly and a Tiger

2011-11-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

We went along to Holy Trinty's Fayre yesterday where the kids enjoyed some face painting. I'm always amazed how still they sit when someone is painting their face.

Panoramic Pictures of our holiday to WA

2011-10-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Our new camera has a natty panorama feature which allows you to take multiple pictures which it then stitches together to make a picture which is wider than usual and takes in more of the view. The problem is they are difficult to display anywhere - Blogger only allows 'standard' images.

I managed to suss out how to add scroll bars, so here's some pics from our holiday in 'panorama' style.

Moses Rock Beach

Hamelin Bay Wines (we stopped here for a spot of lunch) the view over the vineyard was beautiful (not really done justice by this picture)- this is actually a 360 degree view

Overlooking Cape Naturaliste

Amy and Audrey on the descent to Jewel Cave

A picture of Audrey and Eli at Floriade

2011-10-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

Taken before our holiday. Audrey in very appropriate attire

The Queen Comes to Canberra

2011-10-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

The Queen* came to Canberra this week. She's here for the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in Perth and they're trekking her and Phillip around the country at break-neck speed. The Queen is 85 and Phil 90 so it's possibly their last trip over here.

She came to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial and the four of us went along to watch. As is typical with these occasions you don't see much more of them than their faces behind a tinted Range Rover window. In fairness I think they did a bit of a walk-about when they arrived but it was raining when they left so they headed off for tea and cake leaving us commoners to huddle under umbrellas. They drove by at 11.15am - the lady standing next to us had been there since 8.30am..

Here's a couple of pics

Even after we had seen them I'm not altogether sure that Eli really 'got it'. On the way back to the car he kept asking 'When are we going to see the King?'. It was too hard to explain.

*I must confess to unbridled ambivalence towards the Royal Family.

There are obviously loads of pros and cons to their existence. Ridiculous suggestions that they bring in tourists to Britain vs the demonstration of the effectiveness of a 'neutral' head of state vs a politically motivated one vs the inbred and privileged nature of the role vs a constitutional monarch in a guilded cage etc etc. It's all a little dull. To be honest since I've been in Australia my view has softened as I've been grateful that a much smaller slice of my tax is going to pay for them as well. I still suspect that Johnny Rotten had it about right when he sang 'God Save the Queen' in 1977.

It does makes me chuckle that she's head of State in Australia and appears on our coins and $5 note. I can't really be bothered to consider if it's right or wrong but I do agree that it serves to lift the tone of the place a bit. Having a 4 year old daughter who talks incessantly about Princess Catherine also helps.

Anyway, enough of that.

Holiday to Perth and Margaret River

2011-10-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

The four of us headed West to Perth and then onto Margaret River for a week's holiday.

I had to go to a conference for a few days in Perth so Amy took the kids round the beautiful city while I was tied up in a dull conference suite. As well as many hours in the hotel pool (which the kids loved) they visited Kings Park which overlooks the city and then spent days at Fremantle and Rottnest.

Rottnest is an island just 20k off the coast of Perth. It's a small sandy island which they reached by ferry. The island has a population of around 10,000 quokkas on it. They are small kangaroo-esque marsupials which only live on Rottnest.

When the island was discovered by the Dutch in 1696 (the Dutch got to WA before Cook landed in NSW) he thought they were rats, hence Rottnest (i.e Rats nest island which has a whole different connotation to it). Fortunately the Dutch were mistaken and the kids spotted a number of them on their trip.

After my conference had finished we hired a car and drove the 4 or so hours south to Margaret River.

It's a stunning part of the world. Beautiful green hills giving way to sand dunes and blue sea. A lot of the coast is protected and development free. White sand and crashing waves, pretty flowers and trees lining small country roads.

We tried to take in a number of vineyards on our trip (wine for the adults, beach for the kids) - there was an incredible number of them. I must admit though a quick trip to the Cellar Door of a vineyard for a tasting or three makes parenthood considerably easier!

We spent a lovely afternoon at Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse a really amazing spot on the extreme South West of Australia. It's a point where two oceans (the Indian and Southern Oceans) meet - you can actually see their waters meeting. It was manually operated up until 1982 - one of the last in the world.

We also visited 3 caves, Mammoth, Lake and Jewel. All full of stalactites and stalagmites. The area is situated on huge seam of limestone and so the caves were breathtaking in their size and stature. All of them involved precarious steps through narrow rocks to get into them (not exactly 'caving' but certainly challenging with 2 children in tow). Audrey and Eli loved the caves. Each trip featured an obligatory 'lights out' session where the guide cut the lights so we could experience 100% darkness (which was VERY dark).

We spent time on the beach in Hamelin Bay, Redgate Beach as well as the beach at Moses Rock, where Audrey and Eli splashed for hours (I'm sure they'd still be there now if they could be) in the rock-pools. I swam in the sea a few times, but to be honest I never got much above my waist. Three people had been eaten by shark(s?) in the last three months in WA - an American as recently as last weekend and so I was a lot more tentative than usual. Even the odd bit of seaweed brushing my legs made me jumpy!

We also visited Busselton Jetty. A huge structure going 1841 metres out to sea (I'm sure it must be visible from space like the Great Wall of China!). Since shipping/logging has died out in the area the end of the jetty has been converted into an underwater observatory where you can view the reef which has formed at the end of the jetty piles. There were huge schools of fish. It surpassed any aquarium. Here the fish were looking out at us rather than us looking in at them!

As well as wine we indulged in ice cream (Simmos Ice Creamery) and lovely chocolate from the Margaret River Chocolate Factory and now back at work I can feel the belt on my trousers is considerably tighter!

The journey home was a sad one. Audrey and Eli who had been incredibly well behaved on the flight out (drawing several comments of praise from fellow passengers) were more grouchy and tired on our return.

I'm not sure when we'll next head to that part of the world (it's a long way from Canberra both physically and metaphorically too I guess) but we really loved our holiday and came back refreshed and happy.

I was going to put a big string of pictures here, but thought I'd put a video instead. Hope you like it.

Australia 5 Malaysia 0

2011-10-07T05:18:00.001-07:00

I went to watch Australia 'Socceroos' take on the mighty Malaysia in a friendly at Bruce Stadium tonight.

I wondered how many other souls would join me, but actually there were just over 10,000 there which was surprising really as it was pretty much a meaningless game.

The most remarkable thing about the match was the stature of the Malaysians alongside their much taller counterparts. At times it literally looked like 'men versus boys' and the score pretty much reflected that with two goals apiece by Josh Kennedy and Alex Brosque with a fifth by Luke Wiltshire

In truth it could have been 5 or 10 more. Australia were overly cautious and their finishing woeful at times. Still it was good to see a hatful of goals and the small but noisy Malaysian contingent didn't seem to be that upset by the result. I think the biggest cheer went to the referee who fell over somewhat comically at the end of the match. It was that kind of game.

Canberra has been trying to get a team in the 'A League' (the national football competition) for the last 3 or 4 years without any success, I'm not really sure whether this turn out adds or detracts from their efforts.

Justine Clarke

2011-10-07T05:09:00.000-07:00

We love Justine Clarke. Her talents are limitless from hosting Play School (a children's TV programme), to acting, to singing, to being a Mum. Her CD's are rarely off our car stereo. She came to Canberra and we were lucky to bag ourselves a front row seat.

It was the third time we'd seen her live (in increasingly bigger venues). The first time she was heavily pregnant with her third child and she had nevertheless bobbed and jumped around the stage. Now unhindered by a baby bump she was even more enthusiastic and full of energy.

It was a 'Best of' tour so she played an hour long set of favourites. Eli's favourite song by far is "Happy Dog" which is sometimes on perpetual repeat on the car stereo. After every song she played Eli turned to Amy and asked "Happy Dog?" but alas the song never came and he ended the show a very sad boy. I guess you can't please everyone all of the time.

Boorowa Irish Woolfest

2011-10-02T04:48:00.000-07:00

100k due North of Canberra is a little town of Boorowa. It's a beautiful drive there, through the wine regions of the Murrumbateman and past green fields full of horses, cows and sheep which stretch out to the horizon on both sides of the road. Sometimes I'm amazed by how BIG Australia is; the sky, uninterrupted by houses or towns seems to be enormous at times, the vistas seemingly falling off the edge of the world.

We were on our way to the Boorowa Irish Woolfest. An annual event which promised 'The Running of the Sheep' a safer, (and let's face it more sensible) alternative to Pamplona. We'd left late from Canberra, and were dashing to arrive in time for the 12pm street parade and ovine celebration where a herd is paraded down the length of the high street.

We made it just in time. The town log-jammed with parked cars and the main street packed four or five abreast. Boorowa is lost in time somehow. There's a big courthouse (now an arts and crafts co-op) from the 18 somethings and a lot of old buildings including an old school house and an old fashioned Australian pub (for sale). It was heaving with visitors throughout the day, but with a permanent population which numbers 800 I'm not sure how vibrant it would be on a non-festival day.

The sheep arrived and miraculously we stumbled on front seat to see them stream into the corral at the end of the high street. Then the 'Magical Mirage of Meandering Floats' which the poster promised came past us as well. In truth it wasn't the Rio Carnival, but this was rural Australia and so there was a massed Irish Pipe band, a float demonstrating sheep shearing, an array of historic vehicles from around the area (including a very rusty tractor) and a representation from the local Chinese restaurant (several kids standing in the back of a trailer). It was all great fun. Simple, cheap, excellent.

We didn't do much while we were there to aid the undoubtedly ailing economy. I doubt if the sausages and jacket potato we bought will keep the Post Office open past Christmas, but it was lovely to be in Boorowa. We visited the petting zoo (a goat took a fancy to Eli's coat and I fortunately knocked it away before he made lasting damage to it) and wandered down the high street - a great Irish/Gaelic band kept us tapping our toes and Audrey had a dance in front of the main stage.

We ate delicious ice cream watching a (decidedly doddery and geriatric) magician, but our kids and the rest of the audience loved him. He probably had 50 years experience and he must love having a new audience for his jokes.

We drove back after a thoroughly enjoyable day. It had rained and drizzled all day in Canberra (the sun had shone on the Boorowa Woolfest) our decision to go spend Sunday in Boorowa had certainly been the right one.

people waiting expectantly for the sheep

ice cream on a sunny day

Cotter Dam

2011-10-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we headed out to have a look at the enlarged Cotter Dam. It's a huge project that will increase one of the dams providing water to Canberra from 4 gigalitres(GL) to 78 GL.

Eli fell asleep on the drive and so Audrey and I headed up to the viewing platform along the excellent 'Cotter Dam Discovery Trail' It was a nice walk and Amy and (a slightly grumpy) Eli joined us at the top. Here's some pics

1 million tonnes of concrete is going to be used in the dams construction making it the highest dam of its type in Australia

Audrey tries to release a few gigalitres of water

My Grandma lived in Gooligulch

2011-10-01T03:17:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of our friend Jo, the four of us enjoyed a trip to Canberra Theatre to see My Grandma lived in Gooligulch.

The play is based on a children's book (which we haven't read) so we weren't sure what to expect, but we certainly weren't disappointed. It was the only performance of the show in Canberra and we were treated to a real 'Aussie' musical complete with a talking wombat and cheeky cockatoo!

Audrey sat on the edge of her seat throughout the hour long performance (Eli sat on the edge of his Mum's knee) and it was fantastic to see how engrossed they both were with the story.

We've been to a few musicals and plays with the kids and this was definitely up there with the best. The theatre was probably only two-thirds full (the timing of the show - 6.30pm on a Monday evening didn't help), which was a shame as it meant a lot of people missed out on an excellent show. Highlight of the evening was probably the three emus who shared a dance routine (complete with white handbags) - really great fun. Gooli-Gooligulch for me!

Thai Food and Cultural Festival

2011-09-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Audrey wasn't that keen on Thai food, Eli loved the green chicken curry and we all enjoyed the jazz and Thai music laid on for us.

It was (I think) our third annual trip to the Thai festival at the Thai embassy in Canberra which despite the changeable weather was absolutely packed with people. In the morning we caught up with our friends Gill, Anthony and their two children Tommy and Chloe, and due to the close proximity of their house to the Thai embassy we were all able to walk round to the festival and smirk about the gridlocked roads as people struggled to park in Yarralumla's (posh) streets.

The festival had loads going on, from dancing to massage to music but the main attraction for the vast majority of visitors were the busy and bustling food stalls which surrounded the main embassy building selling Thai food of every description.

We negotiated the voucher payment scheme, bought our delicious food (and beer!) and sat on the lawns near the fortune tree. Here's some pics of our day.

that's me in the hat

Eli enjoying a lollypop!

Relaxing on the lawns by the embassy

Bunnings

2011-09-18T18:46:00.001-07:00

Trying to repair our house leads to plenty of trips to Bunnings DIY store. I've wondered whether it is quicker and easier just go get my salary paid directly to Bunnings stores. We've got 3 stores in Canberra and the largest of them includes children-sized shopping trolleys (which Audrey and Eli absolutely love). It's a good initiative as it often means that the kids are reluctant to leave the shop! Here's us on our trip to get more stain for the fence.

Like watching paint dry

2011-09-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

We've got a slatted fence round our garden and for the last couple of weeks we've been digging out the ivy and vegetation which was growing over it. We've done a pretty good job - when we moved in the vegetation actually concealed an oil drum and old broken swing set (which gives you an idea of how much greenery there was).

At the weekend, (in between a 4th birthday party for one of Audrey's friends and swimming lessons) we started staining the fence which, considering how much it's been ignored, is not in too bad a condition. The kids of course wanted to 'help'...although a lot of the 'help' ended up with them painting each other. There's still a bit more for us to do (probably not as big a job as the Sydney Harbour Bridge)

Audrey lending a hand A dragonfly in the way hard at work

Someone up there likes us...

2011-09-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

I read an amusing article this morning about the Wolves emblem appearing in the clouds above Telford.

Personally I wonder if it's not a bit of jiggery-pokery with Photoshop, but it makes a nice story nonetheless (on what must have been a very slow-news day!)..

If you want to read the full article - click here

Chocolate pudding is so much fun...

2011-09-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

....especially if you choose to eat it with your hands rather than using your spoon....

Some good news at last!

2011-09-14T03:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had an appointment with my oncologist. Usually Trevor goes with me but this time he took the kids to dance class for me so I went on my own.

I changed my medication around 6 weeks ago as the previous one hadn't been working for me. I wasn't expecting any real news as the oncologist had warned me at our previous appointment that we might not get any results for 3 months. My tumour markers had been trending up and up and up so I was feeling slightly anxious when we looked at the results....but Hurrah!! at last the markers have decreased and are now at the same level they were 5 months ago. Still way above average but a lot less than what they were 6 weeks ago. A positive sign that the medication I am on might actually work and stabilise my condition for a while. I was so happy as every other time I'd been to the oncologist I've had to deal with disappointing news.

As I didn't have Trevor with me, I kissed the oncologist instead!! She didn't seem to mind! So, I go back in 7 weeks for another check up. I'm hoping that the trend has now reversed and my markers will continue to decrease and maybe I might even get them down to 'normal' levels some time in the future.

Mondegreen No.2

2011-09-13T14:52:00.001-07:00

Trevor: "Audrey, when you go to school next year we'll have to buy you a uniform."
Audrey: "A unicorn?"

Audrey at Blueberries dance studio

Supersize Me!

2011-09-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

American retail colossus Costco opened recently in Canberra.Sadly it seemed to be a major event in Canberra’s calendar – everyone we know is currently starting conversations with; ‘Have you been to Costco yet?”. A smattering of American friends we have (from Audrey and Eli’s playgroup) are overjoyed that the US chain has finally come to Australia – with Canberra the country’s third store.

We paid a visit on Saturday after swimming lessons. It’s a weird experience paying to go in a shop ($60 for an annual membership). Apparently (according to the Canberra Times) 8,000 people have already signed up – so a cool half a million dollars just for opening your doors.

It’s a strange shopping ‘experience’. A shop as big as a small town, basically laid out no-frills and ‘big-boxes’. Essentially if you’re looking for a 15 inch meat pizza and 5 kilos of strawberry ice cream washed down with 10 litres of Coke then this is the place for you – big boxes of chocolates sit next to Levis 501 jeans and children's toys. Coles supermarket's biggest packed of crisps (175g) topped by Costco’s giant sack (500g) an obese person’s heaven.

We wandered round for a bit before we decided to purchase anything. There’s an array of sampling tables (which we all gorged on), tempting you to buy everything from dried fruit to cheese to meatballs. There’s a really awful bakery section with huuuge cupcakes with fake cream piled on top. (12 for $10). A few years ago I visited a similarly gigantic Walmart in Texas which sold bullets and guns – a line (fortunately) unavailable here.

Some of the aspects of the store were amusing – a guy cooking steak had a large bi-lingual sign on the front of his burner which read “Hot/Caliente” (it was clearly intended to cater for America’s Hispanic population, who unsurprisingly absent from Canberra) definitely a "lost in translation" moment (unless all of the shoppers are Dora the Explorer fans)

At one point a fat guy walked past us sporting a t-shirt which read ‘real men don’t eat salad’ I wish I had taken a picture of him as he personified the store he was in.

Does it add anything positive to Australia? Probably not? Is it somewhere to go to buy a zillion toilet rolls for $20 probably so.

Afterwards we went to Rodney's Garden Centre - a short stones throw away from Costco and had a nice lunch in their garden (where we took these pictures).

Eli and a metal dog Audrey shows off her 'pink hair' and Wolves tracksuit bottoms which have suddenly become very short

Eli and his two friends

When Sleeping Beauty met a Tarantula

2011-09-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

The kids left this scene on the bathroom sink (they said the spider was giving the princess a cuddle). I'm waiting for the B-movie to be made - probably starring Bruce Campbell.

Out of the mouth of Audrey no.10

2011-09-04T20:14:00.001-07:00

"Even though Eli tickles me sometimes, I still love him."

Let's go fly a kite!

2011-09-04T04:00:00.001-07:00

Aldi had kites in stock this week and they were selling for a bargain $7. Together with Audrey, Eli and our neighbour Phil we headed down to Lake Griffin by the Yarralumla boat shed to fly our latest craft. It was Fathers' Day in Australia and the children and of course Amy, had treated me with cards and chocolate in bed this morning.

Even though we're only a few days into Spring the days have been warmer and the wind blowing across the lake was pretty good for getting the kite aloft.

Here's a picture of me and the kids flying our kite..it's a normal sized kite not a miniature one, (it's a perspective thing)

I did let Audrey and Eli hold the twine for a while, even though it seems from this picture that I'm the only one having fun!

Audrey at Kids' Pantry Canberra

2011-09-04T03:44:00.000-07:00

Audrey went to her friend Ivy's party on Saturday (with Amy) while I took Eli swimming.

I later came home and killed Ivy in the garden (the weed not Audrey's friend, but amusing nonetheless)

It was Audrey's 3rd party in the week - she has a much busier social life than we do. Ivy's party was was held at Kids' Pantry - a cooking party led by 3 chefs where the kids learned to make cheese twists (which we all shared for lunch), fruit sticks and decorate a cupcake. The excellent venue also had a chicken coop with some very well fed hens and vegetable garden. Here's some pics

waiting pensively with decorated chefs hats

Sitting in the veggie garden

Just because it might not happen again for a while....

2011-08-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge and then feast your eyes).

It's the first time Wolves have topped the table since September 1962 (when they finished 5th). Wouldn't a repeat of that be incredible?!

Audrey's 4th Birthday

2011-08-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

There were quite a few highlights to Audrey's 4th birthday bash on Sunday. I'm not sure whether the stand out things were the pin the wings on the fairy competition, the princess birthday cake, the (obligatory) treasure hunt, the butterfly cup cakes, the well stocked party bags, or the biscuit wands. I rather think it was seeing Audrey and her friends enjoy a fun-filled sunny Sunday morning at the excellent cottage in Kambah.

It was fairly exhausting trying to keep 16 kids (who aged from 2 to 7) amused, but things seemed to go pretty well. We were really grateful to the parents who all lent a hand too. Audrey went home with a real treasure trove of gifts and all the guests left with an overdose of sugar and pink icing! Here's some pictures.

A panorama view of the party! (you have to click on it for the full effect)

Audrey's "Princess cake" - lots of pink icing (and a few hours labour!)

Pass-the-parcel gets underway! (n.b it's very stressful controlling the music!)

Asha, Audrey and Erin get into the party spirit The birthday girl
Blowing out the candles

Eli devours one of the towers Eli and Audrey on their way home after a successful party!

Kids in the park

2011-08-27T23:27:00.000-07:00

My camera broke a couple of weeks ago, which prompted a new purchase. I'm a big fan of Casio digital cameras and my new EX-ZR100 is probably my fourth or fifth. There's seemingly hundreds of features, some of which I'll never understand, many of which I'll never use. It's got a high-art button on it, which does this sort of thing (click on the image to enlarge).

More than likely I'll drop the camera (again) in about 18 months time and have to buy another one with a whole host more features!

Cement Rendering

2011-08-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

I did a cement rendering course last weekend (while Amy took the kids to the zoo). It was pretty challenging (blisters on my office hands) but good fun. There was a definite 'nack', to it and even after 8 hours I'm not sure whether I totally cracked it. Here's a picture of my final effort which I was pretty pleased with. It's going to be different proposition doing the house.....

The case of the severed bobble

2011-08-17T17:25:00.001-07:00

Amy has a newish beanie/bobble hat which we bought during our trip to Thredbo earlier this year. She is very fond of the hat.

Last Tuesday Amy discovered that the bobble had become detached from the hat. It was interesting to see how investigations into the occurrence developed.

Tuesday
“Audrey, what happened to Mummy’s bobble hat?”
“The bobble fell-off”

Continuing our Cluedo-esque investigations we quickly realised that the bobble was CUT from the hat – it’s a very clean cut and so it seems unlikely that the bobble fell off by itself.

Wednesday
“Audrey, did you cut Mummy’s bobble off her hat using the scissors in your pencil case?”
[Audrey] “Eli did it!”

“Eli, did you cut Mummy’s bobble off her hat using Audrey’s scissors?”
[Eli] “Diddy (Audrey) did it!”

By Thursday the two had found the perfect alibi through conspiracy.

“So which one of you two cut Mummy’s bobble off her hat?”
[Both] “Daddy Did it!”

By Friday Audrey was elaborating on the crime to give authenticity…

“Mummy, Daddy took the scissors out of my pencil case and cut the bobble off your hat!”

Alas it is now too late to investigate further, take finger prints and so on. The crime scene has been ‘compromised’ is what they say on TV detective shows I think.

Mondegreen

2011-08-17T05:45:00.000-07:00

I learned a new word the other day "Mondegreen". Dictionary.com (a favourite site) defines it as;

"A mondegreen is a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that shares homophony (sounds like) another word or phrase that has been heard."

Mondegreens crop up a fair amount in lyrics to songs - my favourite was always Billy Ocean's "When the going gets tough", which needs very little imagination to mis-hear as "Go and get stuffed". There's also the hymn - "Gladly the cross-eyed bear" (Gladly the Cross I'd bear).. if you want to see more of this stuff then click here

I was able to put my new word to immediate use when I was singing Audrey a rendition of "Bobby Shafto's Gone to Sea" (one of my favourite nursery rhymes) as she went to sleep, and being the fairy/princess/mermaid influenced girl she is was convinced my rendition was actually "Barbie Shaftoe" which put a whole new spin on the song!

CSIRO Discovery Centre

2011-08-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

CSIRO Science Week Expo. CSIRO Discovery Centre in Canberra showcases Australia’s science and technology achievements. This week is Science Week and so we took the kids along to see the large exhibition of science related things they had on at the discovery centre during the weekend.

There was quite a lot to entertain them, admittedly a lot of stuff there was for “bigger kids” like the balloon room (yep a room full of balloons) and some of the more complicated science stuff. The face-painters had also only been paid for half a day's work, so we (understandably) had tears from Audrey and Eli as we watched them pack down. The dinosaur petting zoo was similarly being loaded into the back of a Transit van when we arrived just after lunch.

Nevertheless they loved the reptile show – interestingly neither they nor any of the other kids watching were upset at the sight of mice being fed to a huge goanna (fascination obviously overtook revulsion) to the extent that they tried to re-create it at home with Dad as the mouse and Eli as the goanna. We also sat and enjoyed an ice-cream in the sun, which while not particularly "science-y", made for a pleasant afternoon.

Audrey and Eli get up close to a croc!

Two Meringues - one pink one blue

2011-08-07T04:26:00.001-07:00

Chosen by Audrey after we'd riden on the bike to our local bakery - enjoyed with gusto by both Audrey and Eli on our return...

Greatest Discoveries of Mankind

2011-08-06T03:35:00.000-07:00

In 1543 Poland's Nicolas Copernicus discovered that the earth moved around the sun, which was the centre of the solar system

In 1822, geologist William Buckland uncovers the first dinosaur remains

In 1858 Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species

In 1919 Albert Einstein unveiled his theory of general relativity in which he proposes that mass warps both time and space, therefore large masses can bend light.

On 6th August Trevor Hickman discovers that Banks's Mild can be purchased 10,000 miles away from where it is brewed (Wolverhampton, England) - in Canberra, Australia.

The last one was definitely cause for much celebration!! - what's more they were a snip at just $4 a can - thank you Plonk Beer shop in Fyshwick!

The Fairies come to town....or do they?

2011-08-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday afternoon I (Amy) took a very excited Audrey and a not-so-excited Eli to the grand opening of 'The Fairies' shop in Mitchell. The ad had promised that Harmony and Rhapsody (from The Fairies TV show) would be there to meet and greet children from 1-3.30 pm.

We got to the store around 2pm and I could not believe the number of people at the store...the crowd was spilling out in to the carpark. Never before have I seen so much pink, fairy wings, wands etc. Little did I know that so many young girls lived in Canberra!! We duly took our number from the somewhat harassed Fairy Assistant at the door. Number 10.

"What number are they currently up to?" I asked. "Number 3" the Fairy Assistant muttered, not wanting to make eye contact. Oh dear....we were in for the long haul. I was tempted to leave then but Audrey was sooo excited I couldn't let her down. So we looked at the merchandise (of which there was plenty) and I managed to get away lightly by only buying 2 books (1 each - it seems Eli was now excited to be at The Fairies shop). We joined the long queue to pay for our goods and then set about waiting...and waiting....and waiting.

There was fairy dancing and colouring to keep the children occupied but it all still worked on the number system and they were only up to number 5! Aaarrrghhhh.... The children were very good although Audrey did say a few times, "Waiting is boring". Finally, the dancing was up to Number 8 - I didn't care any more and shoved Eli and Audrey into the space to dance. They did 2 rounds of dancing - for Number 8 and Number 9 and then yes! our number was called for the craft room. Hurrah! We were getting closer to getting into the room to meet Harmony and Rhapsody. I pushed the children into the room to do colouring. It turned out the (other) harassed Fairy Assistant had called Number 10 by mistake and it should have been Number 9. Too bad! My kids were at the table now and we weren't moving. All the other parents thought the same. It was now almost 3:30pm.

Finally, after about 15 minutes in the colouring room we made it into the room to meet Harmony and Rhapsody. I did a double take at the two fairies sitting greeting the children. Something wasn't right. These clearly weren't the fairies from the TV show. They were dressed the same, had the right colour hair, but were NOT the fairies!! I said in disbelief, "It's not even them!". A dad next to me laughed (almost hysterically) saying, "No wonder they hid them away in a separate room!". We muttered about false advertising etc and having to wait for so long but our children didn't seem to be too bothered by it and gladly posed with the fake fairies.

I thought Audrey must have been fooled but on the way home she said to me, "They didn't do fairy kisses goodbye like the TV ones". Did she know they were different or not? I wasn't silly enough to ask, only silly enough to have waited almost 2 hours to have the pleasure of being duped.

Here's the pic of Audrey and Eli with not-Harmony and not-Rhapsody and a picture of the real deal so you can tell the difference!

Audrey and Eli with not-Harmony and not-Rhapsody

Harmony and Rhapsody - the real ones

Audrey and Eli while away the hours doing some art work

Noteworthy Kinder

2011-07-30T04:21:00.000-07:00

We're going on a little day out - we're off to a concert
Listen to the orchestra - blowing on a trumpet
See the girl play the violin - the little boy on the big bass drum
Boom boom boom boom - here it comes

Audrey's daycare had an outing to 'Noteworthy Kinder' which was put on by the Canberra Philharmonic orchestra in the impressive Llewellyn Hall at the Australian National University (ANU).

It was a lovely performance - probably only 4 or 5 pieces, but the conductor (Mark Shiell) was excellent and really entertained the kids. In truth, the main entertainment for most of the children was the bus ride to the ANU and a lot of them seemed to really like playing with the flip up seats more than listening to the music, but it was a nice morning out nonetheless.

I went along for the ride as well, to help out - here's some pictures of our trip.

Audrey's Princess Puppet Show

2011-07-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

Fantastic entertainment can be had by cutting out some Disney Princesses from a tissue box, making them into finger puppets and fashioning a stage... thanks Kleenex - the cost of your tissues has been recouped 10 times over!

Out of the mouth of Eli

2011-07-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

It's not surprising how much kids pick up on in the way you act and talk. Both Amy and I are always on our best behaviour around them in an effort to encourage them to not pick up our bad habits.

Eli picked up one of our 'slips' a couple of nights ago when we having dinner and repeated "Oh bugger!" over and over at least 20 times (very clearly) while smirking at how clever he was. Audrey filled in for us by trying to encourage him to say "Oh dear", but her requests went unnoticed and the Oh buggers continued. Fortunately by the next morning they'd worn off (for now)

Separated at Birth?

2011-07-27T23:25:00.001-07:00

I'm a great fan of Rolf Harris, but there seems to be a growing similarity between one of Australia's cultural icons and one of America's....

Update on Amy

2011-07-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since an update so Trevor said I should write something. I'm always a little reluctant, not because I don't want to share my news, but because the blog is usually filled with stories of our happy outings, the things Audrey and Eli are up to etc and my news is not really uplifting (yet!)

At my last appointment with my medical oncologist (about 6 weeks or so ago) I was told that the hormone treatment I am currently on doesn't seem to be doing the job we hoped it would. The cancer in my bones has spread a little and my tumour markers are still very high. So, the plan - to have more radiation treatment to my left pelvis and to my cervical spine. Then, we check the tumour markers again and if they are still high I go on to a different hormone treatment. I'll have more news on this after my next appointment on 2 August.

I am currently almost halfway through the radiation (10 sessions this time). I have been nauseous again and my saliva glands have been affected so my mouth is a tad dry. Not a good idea to eat dry crackers at the moment as I discovered last night when it took me almost 10 minutes to eat one!

The radiation has also made me really tired this time - twice this week I have been in bed before the children which they find very amusing! The first time, they came into my bed to read me a story but last night I was passed out so no stories for me!

Click go the Shears!

2011-07-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

Some of our friends own a huge farm just outside of Canberra. They shear the sheep there twice a year and this was the second time we'd been out to watch.

Eli was a bit spooked by the noise in the shed, but what struck me about the whole thing was how hard the work was and how quickly the shearers worked.

In the comfy society we live it's rare to witness true physical work (unless you include the odd plumber charging you an extortionate amount of money to change a washer) and these guys really went for it. Apparently between the four shearers they could shear upwards of 800-1,000 sheep a day and work between 6.30am-5.30pm.

We have no bananas

2011-07-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Great. So because of the terrible events caused by the cyclone Yasi we're told the Far North Queensland banana crop has been destroyed. As a result since February this year bananas have cost us somewhere between $15-$17 a kilo. If that doesn’t mean anything to you – here’s a cost comparison

Coles (Australia) $17 per kilo
Tesco (UK) $1.38 per kilo (87p)
Walmart (US) 49c per kilo (48USc)

Basically it’s because Australia has a protectionist policy (masquerading as quarantine rules) preventing bananas being brought in from outside of the country and, because the crop has been wrecked, the consumers pay (30 times more than the US).

I’m sure it’s no coincidence that mad Bob Katter, who was an instrumental independent MP who now carries a lot of weight due to Australia’s precarious coalition government, has long supported Australian protectionism on bananas, beef, wheat in fact pretty much everything else. Fortunately he sided with the opposition, but there must be a case for both parities keeping him onside.

Fiji has the ability to build a banana industry able to supply both Australia and New Zealand (which it used to do), or conversely why not ship in bananas from the Windward Islands and support the Commonwealth? The kids love bananas, but at this rate they're going to be have to get jobs before we can afford to buy them any..

* I once spent several months working for JP Bananas in Perry Barr, Birmingham (and on a Thursday you were allowed to take home as many bananas as you could carry) - ah happy days!

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

2011-07-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

As both Audrey and Eli grow up it's becoming increasingly obvious the differences between boys and girls.

I've always been fascinated in the whole "nature v nurture" thing and as far as I can tell thus far we've brought both children up in pretty much the same way.

We've read them the same books, sung them the same songs, not really given any bias by providing one with Barbies and the other with guns. Despite this (and whilst it's certainly not scientific) it has been amazing to see how much;

Audrey loves cats, Eli loves dogs
Audrey loves fairies, Eli loves Bob the Builder
Audrey likes dancing, Eli likes whacking anything he can find with his toy hammer
Audrey wears pink, Eli wears anything that looks (even vaguely) like something Bob the Builder would wear.

It really struck home last week when we were in a playground and Audrey (who is sometimes a bit slow going forward on those things) was reluctant to climb up a ladder while her brother surged ahead, climbed up part of the climbing frame, fell on his head and then broke into fits of laughter.

They can be the best of friends and also (as I'm sure with all siblings) the worst of enemies. It's early days and obviously there's still time for Audrey to grow up to be a rugby player and Eli to be the next Billy Elliot (not that there's anything wrong with that of course). At the moment though it feels like "nature" is definitely playing a big part in their progress and outlook.

Audrey's first tennis lesson

2011-07-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

During school holidays there's a pretty extensive programme of activities for children in Canberra. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that they ran tennis lessons at the (very nice) tennis courts next to Old Parliament House.

Audrey wasn't terribly keen until Amy and I re-badged it 'fairy tennis' and then she was sold - and super excited to go along.

I only signed Audrey up for a short session (2½ hours) as some of the older/bigger kids do full days from 8.30-4pm for the whole week, but I figured it was better to start small.

She really enjoyed herself. Despite being dwarfed by a lot of the kids there (I think the only child younger was the coaches son) she ran and hit pretty well. Fortunately she never questioned the absence of fairies or the lack of wings, wands and fairy paraphernalia, but I expect she's still convinced the game is called 'fairy tennis'

I'm not sure it'll become a regular thing, nor if she'll ever make the top 10 in the World but it was a nice fun morning.

Audrey hitting the ball to the coach

As a footnote to this post Audrey went to sleep with her tennis racquet and ball. A future star in the making!

Eli helping his Mum gather up the leaves

2011-07-10T22:57:00.000-07:00

It's feeling pretty wintery here in Canberra at the moment. Things aren't helped by living in a brick-veneer 'house' with limited insulation and relying on a deficient (yet expensive) electric heater as your only source of warmth.

Nevertheless we've been having lovely blue skies recently and (if you can ignore the biting wind which blows of the Snowy Mountains) it's a good time to do impromptu gardening.

On Saturday Amy and Eli gathered up the leaves which had fallen under the apple tree, whilst I fiddled with daffodil bulbs and pretended to look busy (while avoiding the hard work). Following my lead Audrey played in the sandpit.

Another couple of pictures from Tidbinbilla

2011-07-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

Michael, me and the kids

Amy and Catherine

Weekend with Catherine and Michael

2011-07-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

We spent a busy weekend with Catherine and Michael heading to our local (favourite) haunts of Bungendore and Tidbinbilla.

Initial shyness that Audrey and Eli had of their Auntie and Uncle has given way to rapturous adoration. Eli spends a lot of his time saying "Where’s Michael?" and Audrey enjoys having another slave, in Catherine, to cater for her every whim.

Bungendore has a (very expensive) wood shop with a lovely restaurant attached where we ate lunch with ice creams to follow.

On Sunday we headed out to Tidbinbilla where as well as the usual huge mob of kangaroos we were also lucky enough to spot emus, potoroos and a couple of koalas. Incredibly (given that koalas sleep about 20 hours a day) one of the koalas was awake and it was excellent seeing the potoroos scuttling about on the forest floor as well.

Tidbinbilla is a lovely place, it seems whatever the weather there’s always loads to see and even if the local animals aren’t as generous with their appearances as they were on Sunday the playground is excellent and Audrey and Eli love the slides there. Here’s some pics

Catherine and Amy in Bungendore

Tidbinbilla

Tired (and more like a Facebook post)

2011-06-29T03:39:00.000-07:00

Audrey came into our room at 12.30am this morning upset that her (Tinkerbell) pillowcase was creased!

Not Just Ned

2011-06-26T02:52:00.000-07:00

Catherine and Michael arrived on Saturday from Darwin, having come from 32 degree heat they're suffering a bit at the moment with Canberra's chilly weather, especially as they're sleeping in a caravan on our front lawn!

On Sunday the four of us headed to the Not Just Ned exhibition currently on display at the National Museum of Australia. It's a really good history of the Irish in Australia (not just Ned).

For the uninitiated Ned Kelly is Australia's favourite criminal/bandit. He's kind of akin to a latter day Robin Hood except that he didn't distribute his spoils amongst the poor and kept them himself. The Kelly gang (who were at their height of notoriety in the 1880s) wore trademark 'armour' to protect them from the bullets fired from police. It's a unique form of armour - essentially styled on a bucket on your head with a slit to see out of. The armour then extended to body/shoulder plates which in theory would stop a bullet/musket ball(?) fired at it. When Kelly was captured the police shot him in the (un-armoured) legs rendering his clever defence ever so slightly useless. They then hanged him for the murder of 3 policemen.

The exhibition featured the armour of the Kelly gang (which was excellent to see) as well as a host of other Irish paraphernalia. I hadn't realised Burke and Wills had been Irish (they planned the first South to North Australia exhibition), their adventure is again famed in Australian history (they died en route).

Other more successful Irishmen included John Curtin after whom our suburb is named who was Australian PM during WWII.

There wasn't a lot for the children, but there was still lots to look at including a huge dolls house which kept them occupied for ages. Even though Australia's population is made up of less than 1% of Irish born people, the influence that Ireland has had on Australia's history is pretty evident.

Halfway Down

2011-06-25T02:36:00.000-07:00

Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn't any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I'm not at the bottom
I'm not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up,
And isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run through my head:
"It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!"

AA Milne

Chilly mornings

2011-06-25T02:12:00.001-07:00

Apparently one of the reasons Canberra is situated where it is (i.e no mans land between Sydney and Melbourne) was that planners wanted to have a capital city which experienced 90 days of frost a year.

There was a thought (and I'm sure this must be seeped in abundant prejudice of the day 90 odd years ago) that the bracing climate lead to a healthier constitution and a more intelligent /productive population.

Obviously we don't get the bitingly cold winters of Warsaw (-20) and there doesn't seem as many chilly mornings (where you have to use your supermarket loyalty card to scrape the ice off the car windscreen) as in the UK, but nevertheless we've had a few days recently dropping to -4 or -5.

The one really positive thing about winter though, is that the clear sky during the day is often an absolutely beautiful blue.

Amy took this picture of our outside tap yesterday. I didn't even know it leaked until we found the stalactite below.

Lazy Sunday

2011-06-19T04:32:00.001-07:00

We had a lovely day today with our friends Catherine and Anthony and their children, Alex and Wil. We'd made a couple of batches of soup to take over for lunch, complemented by lovely fresh bread from the markets. Catherine had baked a lovely chocolate cake for afters.

The children got along famously which left the adults to relax and chat. Most importantly, it gave Catherine and I a chance to play the Duran Duran board game! What fun! Trevor and Anthony thought we were sad cases and left us to it, retiring with bits of the newspaper but Catherine and I had a ball. I sense a rematch coming soon....

Girls on film - re-living our teenage years with a game of Duran Duran - the board game

A morning of Jigsaws

2011-06-18T04:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning I took Elijah swimming and came home to a floor full of jigsaws. Amy and Audrey had spent their time puzzling away and Audrey was really proud to show me her achievements.

Audrey and Eli at Black Mountain Peninsula

2011-06-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

Black Mountain Peninsula is a favourite haunt of ours and is only a short drive from our home. There's a good playground there as well as a nice stretch of grass running down to the lake.

Here's a short video of Audrey and Eli enjoying the park

Kids' paintings

2011-06-15T03:23:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures which the kids have done recently. Feel free to print them out and put them on your fridge!

Louisa comes to visit

2011-06-14T05:04:00.000-07:00

Amy's friend Louisa came to visit us from Adelaide. It was really nice to catch up with her and show her around. Here's some pictures around the National Art Gallery and Lake Griffin A fairy for all seasons. Despite the chilly weather nothing stops Audrey wearing her fairy dress..

Children and technology

2011-06-14T03:52:00.000-07:00

Amy's friend Louisa visited us this weekend and the five of us went to the National Art Gallery. In the indigenous galleries the kids found some information screens which (without any instruction) they took delight in using as the video shows..

The finished article

2011-06-10T02:50:00.000-07:00

Still not exactly the Savoy, but a step up from Prisoner Cell Block H which was there before...

many hours and swear-words later

Audrey in her dungarees

2011-06-09T04:40:00.002-07:00

Audrey as a clean cut (Wolverhampton born) Kevin Rowland from Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Audrey loves these dungarees. She can put her hands down the side pockets (and keep them warm)

Our bathroom

2011-06-09T04:40:00.001-07:00

This is the reason why blog posts have been in short supply recently
We had an old (mouldy) vanity unit in our (too small) bathroom and so Amy and I stripped out the nasty flooring and dumped the wreck of a unit outside of the back door. It's taken me many hours of cursing, studying DIY books and trips to DIY stores to put it all back together but it looks a lot better now (picture to follow once the grout has fully dried!)

If you think the picture looks worse than it actually was, it doesn't

Elephant Paths

2011-06-09T04:11:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I read a friend from Warsaw's blog about 'Elephant Paths'. I won't repeat/copy all of her blog post, so if you want to read it click here.

Essentially an 'Elephant Path' is a shortcut that people take to get them from a to b whilst ignoring the more conventional route. If you Google it you'll find there's different metaphors for the phenomenon, from 'Easy Way' in Hindi, to 'Donkey Trail' in French. Wikipedia (fountain of all knowledge) refers to them as Desire Paths - here's their definition

"A desire path (also known as a desire line or social trail) is a path developed by erosion caused by footfall"

Since I read Gill's original blog post I've become slightly obsessed with trying to spot them in and around Canberra. The Wikipedia link here gives some instances where planners have actually based the positioning of footpaths on where people WANT to walk rather than where they would like them to walk. It all seems to make a lot of sense to me.

There's a desire path/elephant path/shortcut near where we live which cuts through a large grassy area and the back of someone's hedge. It's a really well worn path and (despite efforts to barricade the hedge with old posts, branches, clippings etc) people have continued undeterred to find the shortest route between where they are and where they want to go.

Last Saturday I also noticed that the grassy area outside of our local swimming pool was full of 'elephant paths' I've grown to love the rebellious nature of them - going against the desire of authority to take us some (less convenient way).

Here's a couple of (my pics) together with a link to a flickr site if you want to get obsessive about it all as well..Long live elephant paths!

Audrey and Eli head to Questacon

2011-05-24T02:04:00.000-07:00

Questacon is a fantastic science and technology centre in Canberra. It's a great resource to have on your doorstep and it has masses of exhibitions and demonstrations for children of all ages - we've been big fans of the place ever since we arrived in Canberra.

As our kids are still tots we spend much of our visit at the excellent Mini Q; an array of water toys, climbing frames and a space rocket simulator(!) The kids love it. Amy took Audrey and Eli to play with their friends Tommy and Chloe while I finished off bits and pieces in the bathroom. Here's some pics of her morning..

water fun

A Magnificent Defeat

2011-05-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

Alarm set 12.45am. Crawled out of bed. Cold house. ‘Survival Sunday’. Should have been easy. Beat Blackburn, stay up. Molineux packed. Half time 3-0 down. Back to bed? Results going against us. Blackpool beating Man U. Last Premiership game for a while. 20 years? Come on Mick do something! Don’t concede a 4th or it’s completely over. Second half. Spurs score. Man United score. Relief. O’Hara scores 1-3. Lovely goal. Blues equalise. Wigan score. Blackpool beating Man United again(!). Disaster. Chasing the game. 5 minutes left. What a waste. Laughing stock. Man U winning. We only need ONE goal. Stephen Hunt curls it into the top corner. CURLS IT INTO THE TOP CORNER. Spurs score another in injury time. No time left. Full-time around the grounds. We are Premier League. WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE! I share the elation with people 10,000 miles away and punch the air. 3am. Back to bed. Tired Monday.

90 minutes to go...

2011-05-19T19:14:00.000-07:00

Wolves season concludes on Sunday with the bottom five teams in the Premiership separated by a point. In theory Wolves are well placed to survive, but knowing that it’s Wolves means that they’ll inevitably be the usual ups and downs and nail biting situations.

It’s been a strange 2^nd season for Wolves in the ‘big time’. We’ve already got 2 points more than last year, but the competition at the bottom of the league has been ferocious and (although I’m biased), far more interesting than the procession at the top of the league.

In Wolves first season back in the top division (2009/10) Mick McCarthy (the Wolves manager) made it his stated ambition to beat clubs who were ‘around us’. It was a tactic which worked (Wolves finished in 15^th place) and he put out an infamous weakened side at Old Trafford (which lost) then beat Burnley the following week. Burnley went down. Wolves survived.

This season though it’s been different Wolves have slipped up to Wigan (lost home and away) and West Ham (lost and drew) but in the meantime have managed to defeat big spending Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Man United.

Now we’re 90 minutes away from elation or desperation. Worryingly Wolves have to beat Blackburn to ensure survival and they were thrashed when the two teams last met at Ewood Park earlier this season.

I also remember the long trip north to watch them play in Blackburn in 2003 (when Wolves were beaten off the park 5-1 in their first game back in the Premiership). In fact you have to go back to 1999 (something I’m sure the TV pundits will dig up) to the last time that Wolves did beat Blackburn (2-1).

Watching the games in Australia is always entertaining. There’s a local pub/club nearby which is open almost 24 hours, who have a big screen and can usually be persuaded to put on the football (although strangely there’s only ever me watching the game).

The alternative (because I’m too mean to buy Foxtel) is to watch it on a dodgy (usually Indian) website on the computer. Sometimes you get near perfect pictures, sometimes it’s a bit jerky, sometimes there’s no synch at all between the sound and the pictures, which can be variously frustrating/amusing. Either way I’ll be watching in the early hours of Monday morning hoping that 10,000 miles away Wolves can beat Blackburn and ensure the relegation battle continues for another season.

The Royal Wedding (WOTPM)

2011-05-18T03:14:00.000-07:00

Fortunately being in Australia at the time of the recent Royal Wedding (waste of tax payers money) the coverage (although extensive) was I imagine, muted compared to that in the UK. I read that the British press went completely over the top during the build up, surpassed only by the British retailers who used it as an excuse to flog a load of plastic stuff to the public.

Everyone's got an opinion on the wedding, variously loving it, loathing it or loathing it but secretly loving Kate's dress.

One girl who was definitely affected by it all was Audrey. After insisting we watched the "Wedding thing" on TV, she picked up a copy of the Royal Wedding Souvenir Edition of the Women's Weekly (Australia's biggest selling women's magazine) at my work the other day and has barely put it down. Poor Amy has had to leaf through every single page with an excited Audrey, who questions her on every page and every detail. Obviously picking out William, Kate, Harry et al is easy, but who the heck was the boss-eyed flower girl anyway?

Audrey insisted on taking her new magazine to bed and fell asleep with it, dreaming no doubt of Princesses and fairy-tale weddings.

In bed with the Women's Weekly

The Royal Wedding at the White House

2011-05-17T03:43:00.000-07:00

Out of the mouth of Eli

2011-05-14T07:17:00.001-07:00

Eli calls his sister ‘Diddy’ obviously Audrey is too much for him to get the hang of at the moment

Overall though his speaking is coming on really well(especially when discussing certain topics – his age, Bob theBuilder, balls etc) though he’s generally quieter than his sister (who talks non stop from the moment she wakes up until she goes to sleep) but he keeps adding new words to his vocabulary every day.

When realising his sister had wandered off into another room this morning he turned to me and asked “Where’s Diddy, Daddy?” which although unremarkable was a nice way to start the day.

Eli with his slinky

The Night Zoo

2011-05-03T23:38:00.001-07:00

Amy was in Adelaide this weekend so I had the kids for 3 days. They were both really well behaved and after seeing mum off at the airport on Friday evening they were happy to potter around with me until Amy (thankfully!) returned on Monday evening.

On Saturday I took them both to 'The Night Zoo' a theatre production at Canberra's excellent 'Street Theatre'. It's only a smallish venue, but it was packed to the rafters with parents and toddlers similarly enjoying live theatre. It was aimed at children 4-11, so I was a bit worried whether Eli would last the pace, but both him and Audrey sat agog throughout the 45 minute performance.

It was a puppet show, really cleverly 'acted'(?) out by a couple of perfomers. Unsurprisingly for a play entitled 'The Night Zoo' it featured masses of animals from meercats to a giraffe to a very well performed orangutan. At one stage there was even a full size (puppet) elephant - who did a poo on stage - and left the whole audience in fits of giggly laughter. It's funny how poo/wee is so amusing as a toddler, (and let's face it as an adult too).

I think probably the most lovely thing about the play was that Audrey repeated whole sections of it to me the next day, it had clearly struck a chord and yes, both her and Eli vividly remembered the 'poo' scene.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed an extended Easter Break with Easter being rolled into Anzac Day. We took advantage of the extra holidays by spending days at Canberra Zoo and Tidbinbilla, (a lovely nature reserve just outside of Canberra) as well as an Easter egg hunt on Easter day at Lanyon Homestead. Here's a few pics...

Another Easter Egg Hunt - this time at Lanyon Homestead Breakfast by Lake Burley-Griffin One of my favourite things about Australia - the public barbecue - always clean, always free, always un-vandalised Eli at Tidbinbilla

A video of the playground at Tidbinbilla

Eli turns 2!

2011-04-22T03:31:00.000-07:00

Eli turned 2 today. We can't believe our little baby boy has grown up so quickly and the time has flown by.

He's a lovely chap.

Even though he's just discovered the tantrums synonymous with the 'terrible twos' for the majority of the time he's a cuddly and affectionate little boy. While he's sometimes overshadowed by his big sister, we've watched his own personality develop and grow. He can be serious at times, but equally he has a wicked giggle and good sense of humour. Here are some pictures of his birthday. Happy Birthday Eli.

Eli's cake (very happy with how it turned out!)Blowing out the candle On his birthday Eli chose to fight crime