Short trip to the coast

Some friends of ours (Kirsty and Rob) had booked a place down by the beach in Dalmeny and we joined them and their children for a night (and also got to celebrate my birthday on Monday!)

It was a lovely place and just a short walk to a pretty inlet where we spotted stingrays, mullet and grayling (we think!). I had a small rod and reel with me, but none of them were particularly interested in eating the chicken on the end of my line!

On Monday (my birthday) we had lunch at the Quarterdeck in Narooma - a really nice spot, made all the better by the fact that the people there sang me a rendition of 'Happy Birthday'. The kids agreed to be nice to me for the day!

We rode our bikes along from Narooma to Dalmeny - a nice ride along a long wooden promenade - some of it was a bit hilly which didn't go down terribly well with the kids.

A nice couple of days break though!

Birthday lunch at the Quarterdeck

The beautiful coastline

the ride from Narooma to Dalmeny wasn't universally popular

pink lamingtons on our drive home

Green Machine

We've become quite the Raiders fans - not least this season as our local rugby league team has started with two wins out of two. Today's game against the Sydney Roosters (why would you have a name with a chicken in it?) ended in a fabulous 21-20 win with Raiders, who trailed for a lot of he game winning in the last couple of minutes.

The atmosphere after a win is quite good (though admittedly poor compared to a half full Molineux) but it's a lot more convenient than WV1. This is our second season with a season ticket and both the kids enjoy going.

Manuka Pool

We've been enjoying spectacularly warm weather for the time of year. The last couple of weeks have been in the 30s which is unusual as it's now Autumn in Canberra.

On Sunday the three of us headed off to Manuka Pool. It's a 'heritage' pool in a nice part of town built in 1931 and so the architecture is all very art deco. It also kind of runs in it's own time warp and extends its heritage theme to only allowing you to pay for your entrance in cash (even though it's not very cheap to get in) and the pool closes throughout the winter months (even closing just before the Easter/school holidays). I'm not sure, but some of the snacks on sale at the kiosk may also have been there since 1931.

Still I guess running an outdoor pool must be fairly precarious. There must be some days when they get hardly anyone along.

It IS a lovely spot though. When the kids were smaller we spent a couple of summers parked out on the lovely lawns under shady trees that surround the toddler pool. The 'bigger' pool was a bit out of bounds then, but now is obviously the main focus for Audrey and Eli.

Being at the end of the summer the water temperature was lovely - perfect for cooling you down on a hot day, but not too freezing that you look like a sissy trying to get the water over your bellybutton.

We spent a lovely afternoon there and ran into a few school friends too which was great. Again, I'm sure we could have spent the whole evening there, but of course it closes at 5pm. sharp.

Canberra Show

We spent a fun day at the Canberra Show. It's an annual event and is full of animals, craft, art and of course fairground rides and stalls. We got there at 8.30am hoping to avoid the crowds and ended up staying until 4pm (a long hot day!)

Highlights were probably the lego, the kittens (for Audrey) and the ferris wheel ride!

Brilliant?

A lovely post on Facebook described my parenting as, 'brilliant' the other day.

It kind of made my day. I wasn't fishing for compliments and it was nice to receive one.

To be honest I think the actual truth is more that my parenting is better described as; 'capable' or maybe 'haphazard'; I muddle through somehow.

Somehow the kids get meals on the table (I confess that I did burn boiled eggs the other day, but that's another story). Somehow their school uniform is always laid out on their beds in the morning (the way that Amy used to do). Somehow they get packed lunches, and somehow I get to spend a few quiet moments to myself when the hubbub of a day (usually spent chasing round making sure that my two beautiful children are happy and feeling loved) comes to an end. We're getting by, but it doesn't mean that it's easy.

My little boy cried himself to sleep tonight. He told me over and over that he wanted his Mum back. I couldn't really help him other than rub his back and cuddle him. All three of us feel that way and after Eli went to sleep I cried too. The sadness and hopelessness I feel about missing Amy ebbs and flows with me - so why should it be any different with Audrey or Eli?

I put nail polish on Audrey's nails this afternoon (a high fashion electric blue if you're interested) and afterwards played cricket in the garden with Eli.

Audrey no longer has a female role model in our family which troubles me at times; Eli only has me to watch him play soccer or shout supportive words on the rugby field. (Perhaps sometimes I do shout loud enough for two though I guess).

I am 100% sure though that their Mum would be proud of the children they have become since she died.

Both my kids are so kind. We watched a subtitled cartoon this afternoon and without prompting Audrey read the words aloud to Eli as she instinctively knew that (although he can now read) he would have struggled to keep up with the speed of the text. Eli let his friend jump the queue at their facepainting session earlier today as he knew his friend had to leave soon and might miss out. Empathy.

I try my best to keep the memory of their Mum alive, but at the same time always making sure that the enormity of the terrible situation doesn't crush them or define their life entirely.

They are such beautiful and kind children, but equally both hard as nails - they've been able to shoulder the death of their Mum and carry on and done so, in lots of ways, so much more capably and much more 'brilliantly' than me.

I am so proud to call myself their Dad.

Apple picking in Piallago

I'd never been apple picking before, but as Sunday was lovely and warm the three of us headed out to Tanbella Orchard to PYO.

It was a great afternoon - you got to eat as much as you wanted (I guess unlike strawberries you can only eat so many apples!) and the large orchard had three or four different apple trees as well as pears and plums. I had worried about the kids reaching the fruit, but actually many of the branches were weighed down with fruit and picking fruit was easy and fun.

We filled a bucket full and then paid. A couple of friendly dogs came to say hello to us as we left. I always find it amazing that Piallago is next to Canberra airport and yet has the feeling of being in the middle of the country. One of the advantages of the bush-capital I guess.

I read the kids John Keat's Ode to Autumn when I got home. Just because I could(!) and just because I know the first verse off by heart!

Canberra Capitals

I think it's fair to say that Canberra Capitals (Canberra's female basket ball team) has had a miserable season. Beset by the retirement of their most famous player (Lauren Jackson) and a string of other injuries they had the unenviable record of losing 22 games in a row.

As a result we hadn't been particular regulars at the AIS where they play their home games, but Friday was their last game of the season. It was also the final game of one of their stalwart players (Jess Bibby) as well as their coach Carrie Graf after 15 seasons in the job. I thought we should go along (you can get a ticket for 1 adult and 2 kids for $26 which I think to watch top-level sport is a pretty great deal.

In the end (after struggling in the first quarter) the Caps won 78-71 against a Bendigo Spirit team. The AIS is being renovated next season and so some of the games move to the (smaller) theatre venue in town. I'm sure we'll be there to watch them though.

on the court at the end

Jess Bibby gets a send off