Trip to Adelaide

Trevor had a conference in Adelaide last weekend so we (Amy, Audrey and Eli) decided to tag along. At first, Trevor was a bit terrified that we would want to stay in the hotel room with him but I assured him that we would find lodgings with one of my friends. Jo agreed to put the three of us up at her new pad in Henley Beach - lovely! (thanks Jojo!)

We had a really nice time catching up with Nana, Grandma and friends but, as usual, there wasn't enough time to have a 'proper' chat with anyone. Especially with two little ones in tow. Unfortunately, I was a bit slack so there are only a few photos of the trip (you can tell that Trev is normally the one in charge of the camera!).

By the end of the 4 days the three of us were exhausted but Trevor was refreshed (amazing what a couple of nights of undisturbed sleep can do!).

Eli takes his first flight

Audrey, Amy and Eli with Auntie Marg, Great Nana and Auntie Bev

Eli with his Great Grandma

Play it again Audrey

on the jetty at Henley Beach
"smile!"

Jo with Eli

Audrey in Adelaide Botanic Gardens

Missing vehicle

Eli caught white handed

I heard Eli squeaking in Audrey's bedroom this afternoon (he'd been left unattended for about 1 minute) and rushed to see what was going on.

I found him with his hands covered up to the wrists in sudocreme, with a fair amount smeared round his mouth. He'd managed to get the lid off the pot and was busy tucking in. He must have been shocked to discover that it wasn't yoghurt.

Rain Rain Rain

Australians have a strange attitude to rain - whenever there's even the slightest shower or downpour everyone from news reporters to shop keepers declare how 'beautiful' it is. Having grown up with grey rainy skies even in the height of summer, I don't delight in getting wet in quite the same way as the locals. I've lost count of the number of barbecues in the UK that I've attended where I've stood by the grill with an umbrella in hand.

After a long hot summer Canberra experienced 48 hours of non-stop rain this weekend. the town received over 100mm in 3 days. Looking at the rain teem down 'beautiful' probably wasn't one of the adjectives that sprung immediately to mind. The temperatures kept up though and it was around 20 degrees throughout. Canberra isn't meant to be tropical...

The deluge finally dried up on Sunday afternoon, just before we were due to send the dove out, and we ventured outside. The air was fresh, the dust of summer washed away and the grass that had browned throughout the last few hot months looking happy to have received a soaking. Here's some pics

Scrivener Dam, opens the floodgates (for the first time in 8 years) to release some of the water downstream

I realise this doesn't look like much, but this drainage channel is usually empty

The memorial of the Woden floods which occurred in 1971 killing 7 young people (the land and road around has been significantly changed since that time). The memorial was unveiled a couple of weeks ago to learn more, click here

Out of the mouth of Audrey No.5

(double bill this time)

We've been encouraging Audrey to 'teach' Eli how to walk. As a result we are often catching her walking around him while he sits on the floor, saying, "Like this you walk!" (echoes of Yoda)

Out of the mouth of Audrey No.4

Audrey was playing in the living room yesterday and in response to her mums question 'What are you doing' replied 'I'm up to mischief!'

Amy's Birthday

It was Amy's birthday today and after Audrey's weekly swimming lesson the four of us enjoyed a lunch at nearby Bite to Eat cafe. It was a pretty low key affair but we had a nice meal and the kids were both really good.

We really like the cafe and we booked an early table at 11.30am for the children. We found the place packed with the fashionyful enjoying brunch whilst pouring over the weekend papers. We'd eaten breakfast around 7.20am.

Audrey was very excited at the prospect of the impending scrambled eggs, bacon and milkshake but when she discovered she'd have to wait 45 minutes for it, she let out an ear-piercing scream which silenced the chattering crowd. Luckily there's a park just outside where we went to kill-time/calm down.

In the afternoon it was back to cake and the sandpit then I took Audrey out for a bike ride and she fell fast asleep after about 5 minutes and nodded around in her child seat till I peddled us home.

Eli using his 3 teeth to eat a chip

Bully ism

Wolves goal keeping legend Bert 'the Cat' Williams turned 90 last week. They threw a big bash in his honour which you can read about on this link.


Robin forwarded me this which made me laugh..


Sky interview with Steve Bull, talking about 90-year-old Bert Williams. Bull: 'If I get to half that age I'll be happy.' Bull is 45 in March."

Fun in the Sandpit

Here's some shots of Audrey and Eli enjoying the morning sun in their sandpit.