Friday, October 13, 2006
Busy Week
We've barely stopped all week and we have a full calendar for the weekend as well. Boy...
DH finished his last contract at the end of September, and we had a slightly nervous wait to find out where he was going next. After there being a bit of a job drought for months, suddenly he had three interviews in his last week of work. Interesting timing :-) Fortunately, he was offered a job by the company he really wanted to work for, starting on the 16th. Slightly blah timing, in that the two weeks he had free coincided with the school holidays, so one of the benefits of homeschooling (being able to take holidays when everything is nice and quiet!) was lost, but we have still had a nice time.
After spending the first week at home catching up on all the jobs which needed doing around the house and garden, we went to the coast for three nights and had a bit of a whirlwind vacation. I think we struck a good balance, without trying to cram too much into each day and getting crabby with each other. On the first day, we went on a walk around a mangrove habitat, which had an awesome boardwalk going right over the mudflats. We went at bang on high tide, so the water was lapping over the boardwalk in some places. Ms 9 has been very intrigued by mangroves recently so this was a good fit for her interests (altho she was disappointed that there were no fish or sting rays visible, other than one toadfish, since the description of the walk suggested that you could usually see such creatures at high tide). After Miss 18months fell asleep instantly in the car on our way to do some shopping, we parked just outside the ice creamery and took it in turns to go in and order our ice cream cones, then drove off to the information centre to get some more ideas on Things To Do. As Miss 18months stayed asleep, we decided to go for a scenic drive and stop at a beach when she woke up. This we duly did, although it was a bit of a bust for Miss 18months since she fell over face first in the water, got sand in her nappy, and was generally cold, wet and miserable and had to eventually go back to the car with Mama to nurse and get into dry warm clothes. But Ms 9 got to swim and build sandcastles while DH supervised, so she was pleased. We then went into town to do a quick bit of frivolous shoppage, and get gloriously fresh fish and chips for dinner.
The next day we walked up the road to visit an animal park, where we wandered about the big enclosures, fed some of the animals, and watched demonstrations with koalas, wombats and snakes. Ms 9 got to pat the koalas and wombats, and hold a python. We went on the miniature railway, which Miss 18months wasn't sure about at first, but once we started moving she loved so much that she got very upset when we had to get out at the end! She fell asleep in the pram on the walk back to our cottage, and snoozed on the back patio in the shade while we made our BBQ lunch. She has developed an amusing habit of spurning our carefully cut-up bits of steak and grabbing the nearest large chunk of meat (usually that belonging to Dada) to gnaw on. In the afternoon we backtracked to the beach we visited the day before, since Miss 18months had managed to lose her favourite teddy bear, Purple Ted, and that was the last place we definitely remembered seeing him. No teddy was found, so Dh took the elder daughter to investigate the beach at the end of our street (which unfortunately turned out to be unsuitable for swimming), while I retraced our steps around the previous day's shopping trail with the younger daughter. Thankfully, Purple Ted was recovered, having spent the night in the book shop, and there was much rejoicing.
On our final morning, we packed and were out of the cottage by 10am, then went into town to book tickets for DH and Ms 9 to go on the sightseeing cruise up the river. There was more ice cream, and a little bit of shopping, then we split up. Miss 18months and I went upriver a little bit to a park, where she pootled about until we saw the boat heading up past us. I doubt she understood me talking about how Dada and Big Sister were on the boat, but they at least did see us waving microscopically from the shore. After they had gone past, we got back in the car and drove upriver to the rendezvous point. Miss 18months fell asleep almost instantly in the car, so I had an hour to sit in the shade and read a book, which was a nice break! The weather was perfect for a picnic lunch once DH and Ms 9 disembarked, then we set off for home.
Yesterday we had another school holiday activity at the War Memorial, which we had already decided to go to before our last minute holiday booking (hence our weird timing of Sunday to Wednesday): a free screening of a movie about messenger pigeons in WWII, followed by the release of live homing pigeons. DH and Ms 9 went to the movie, while Miss 18months napped in the car, then DH took the elder daughter away while I took Ms 9 back inside. We had morning tea then managed to be in just the right spot to catch one of the very dramatic multimedia shows, G for George, which is about the bombing of Berlin, and made me cry (as the War Memorial always does make me cry at some point or another).
This morning we dragged ourselves out of the house super-early (8:20am! gasp!) to watch the huge flag on top of Parliament House being hauled down and replaced with a fresh one. Very, very cool to watch the process, with two guys going up the flagpole in a little cable car, then fastening themselves to the platform at the top and wrestling with this enormous length of fabric - given my dreadful vertigo, not a career option I would ever contemplate! Apparently it was just about as windy as is safe for them to be up there, and fortuitously the wind was coming from exactly the right angle so that the flag didn't tangle on the legs as it was lowered, or they couldn't have done it at all. Then we all got to help roll it up - it's absolutely humungous! - and stow it away. After that was finished we went to have breakfast at our favourite cafe, then I spoilt Ms 9 by taking her on a shopping trip for hair doodads and new clothes. She is off now playing with her friend across the road, while the younger daughter naps.
Here endeth the recitation...
DH finished his last contract at the end of September, and we had a slightly nervous wait to find out where he was going next. After there being a bit of a job drought for months, suddenly he had three interviews in his last week of work. Interesting timing :-) Fortunately, he was offered a job by the company he really wanted to work for, starting on the 16th. Slightly blah timing, in that the two weeks he had free coincided with the school holidays, so one of the benefits of homeschooling (being able to take holidays when everything is nice and quiet!) was lost, but we have still had a nice time.
After spending the first week at home catching up on all the jobs which needed doing around the house and garden, we went to the coast for three nights and had a bit of a whirlwind vacation. I think we struck a good balance, without trying to cram too much into each day and getting crabby with each other. On the first day, we went on a walk around a mangrove habitat, which had an awesome boardwalk going right over the mudflats. We went at bang on high tide, so the water was lapping over the boardwalk in some places. Ms 9 has been very intrigued by mangroves recently so this was a good fit for her interests (altho she was disappointed that there were no fish or sting rays visible, other than one toadfish, since the description of the walk suggested that you could usually see such creatures at high tide). After Miss 18months fell asleep instantly in the car on our way to do some shopping, we parked just outside the ice creamery and took it in turns to go in and order our ice cream cones, then drove off to the information centre to get some more ideas on Things To Do. As Miss 18months stayed asleep, we decided to go for a scenic drive and stop at a beach when she woke up. This we duly did, although it was a bit of a bust for Miss 18months since she fell over face first in the water, got sand in her nappy, and was generally cold, wet and miserable and had to eventually go back to the car with Mama to nurse and get into dry warm clothes. But Ms 9 got to swim and build sandcastles while DH supervised, so she was pleased. We then went into town to do a quick bit of frivolous shoppage, and get gloriously fresh fish and chips for dinner.
The next day we walked up the road to visit an animal park, where we wandered about the big enclosures, fed some of the animals, and watched demonstrations with koalas, wombats and snakes. Ms 9 got to pat the koalas and wombats, and hold a python. We went on the miniature railway, which Miss 18months wasn't sure about at first, but once we started moving she loved so much that she got very upset when we had to get out at the end! She fell asleep in the pram on the walk back to our cottage, and snoozed on the back patio in the shade while we made our BBQ lunch. She has developed an amusing habit of spurning our carefully cut-up bits of steak and grabbing the nearest large chunk of meat (usually that belonging to Dada) to gnaw on. In the afternoon we backtracked to the beach we visited the day before, since Miss 18months had managed to lose her favourite teddy bear, Purple Ted, and that was the last place we definitely remembered seeing him. No teddy was found, so Dh took the elder daughter to investigate the beach at the end of our street (which unfortunately turned out to be unsuitable for swimming), while I retraced our steps around the previous day's shopping trail with the younger daughter. Thankfully, Purple Ted was recovered, having spent the night in the book shop, and there was much rejoicing.
On our final morning, we packed and were out of the cottage by 10am, then went into town to book tickets for DH and Ms 9 to go on the sightseeing cruise up the river. There was more ice cream, and a little bit of shopping, then we split up. Miss 18months and I went upriver a little bit to a park, where she pootled about until we saw the boat heading up past us. I doubt she understood me talking about how Dada and Big Sister were on the boat, but they at least did see us waving microscopically from the shore. After they had gone past, we got back in the car and drove upriver to the rendezvous point. Miss 18months fell asleep almost instantly in the car, so I had an hour to sit in the shade and read a book, which was a nice break! The weather was perfect for a picnic lunch once DH and Ms 9 disembarked, then we set off for home.
Yesterday we had another school holiday activity at the War Memorial, which we had already decided to go to before our last minute holiday booking (hence our weird timing of Sunday to Wednesday): a free screening of a movie about messenger pigeons in WWII, followed by the release of live homing pigeons. DH and Ms 9 went to the movie, while Miss 18months napped in the car, then DH took the elder daughter away while I took Ms 9 back inside. We had morning tea then managed to be in just the right spot to catch one of the very dramatic multimedia shows, G for George, which is about the bombing of Berlin, and made me cry (as the War Memorial always does make me cry at some point or another).
This morning we dragged ourselves out of the house super-early (8:20am! gasp!) to watch the huge flag on top of Parliament House being hauled down and replaced with a fresh one. Very, very cool to watch the process, with two guys going up the flagpole in a little cable car, then fastening themselves to the platform at the top and wrestling with this enormous length of fabric - given my dreadful vertigo, not a career option I would ever contemplate! Apparently it was just about as windy as is safe for them to be up there, and fortuitously the wind was coming from exactly the right angle so that the flag didn't tangle on the legs as it was lowered, or they couldn't have done it at all. Then we all got to help roll it up - it's absolutely humungous! - and stow it away. After that was finished we went to have breakfast at our favourite cafe, then I spoilt Ms 9 by taking her on a shopping trip for hair doodads and new clothes. She is off now playing with her friend across the road, while the younger daughter naps.
Here endeth the recitation...
