What's happened between Boxing Day and NYE?
We went for a drive up the mountains on the 27th. It was a very slow and pleasant day. The kids took an eternity to go to sleep on the way up, and Hayzey didn't sleep at all on the way back. While up their we all went for a small bushwalk around the Leura Cascades. Both kids were fascinated by the rive and waterfalls. Neither wanted to walk back up the hills or steps ...
The days of the 28th and 29th were days of not much at all. We did a pretty good cleanup on the 28th and had some nice games on the 29th. We've even managed to get out the pools a couple of times.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Boxing Day
We woke up tired on Boxing Day - and knowing that it was virtually Christmas Day part 2. The only difference was slightly less gifts.
We had a fairly slow paced brekky and shortly after Grandma went back to Katoomba. Nanna stayed around to help with some food prep and the kids were highly aggravated by excitement and fatigue. We'd had enough of this by 09:30 so I took them out for a drive which, as hoped, turned into a sleep. I made sure it was a good long drive because it was far too easy to see them waking when we got home. As it turns out LGR did wake but Hayzey had a very good snooze.
Our guest started arriving a little later today. I think most of them felt the same as we did ... We'd lost Grandma but gained a Grandpa and Jan. Other than this it was all the same people.
We'd decided to BBQ today. This was a good decision - even though the BBQ ran out of gas about 3 minutes before I was finished :-) No matter. Lunch was taken in a more ad hoc fashion today with a number of folks choosing to eat outside. It made everything a touch disjointed but there was plenty of space as a result.
After lunch we opened some more presents. By this stage our garage was filling up very quickly with discarded boxes and wrapping paper - one of the hidden downfalls of having Christmas at your place.
The afternoon slowly wound down. Soon enough everyone had left except for Grandpa and Jan - meaing the kids slowed down a bit. They were in bed by 19:30. And without an argument!! After this it was very, very nice to sit back and relax for a bit.
We had a fairly slow paced brekky and shortly after Grandma went back to Katoomba. Nanna stayed around to help with some food prep and the kids were highly aggravated by excitement and fatigue. We'd had enough of this by 09:30 so I took them out for a drive which, as hoped, turned into a sleep. I made sure it was a good long drive because it was far too easy to see them waking when we got home. As it turns out LGR did wake but Hayzey had a very good snooze.
Our guest started arriving a little later today. I think most of them felt the same as we did ... We'd lost Grandma but gained a Grandpa and Jan. Other than this it was all the same people.
We'd decided to BBQ today. This was a good decision - even though the BBQ ran out of gas about 3 minutes before I was finished :-) No matter. Lunch was taken in a more ad hoc fashion today with a number of folks choosing to eat outside. It made everything a touch disjointed but there was plenty of space as a result.
After lunch we opened some more presents. By this stage our garage was filling up very quickly with discarded boxes and wrapping paper - one of the hidden downfalls of having Christmas at your place.
The afternoon slowly wound down. Soon enough everyone had left except for Grandpa and Jan - meaing the kids slowed down a bit. They were in bed by 19:30. And without an argument!! After this it was very, very nice to sit back and relax for a bit.
Christmas
Christmas has been and gone. Seemed to go on for a while too. It's New Years Eve and we still haven't disbursed all of our gifts. I'm sure we will soon enough.
We had a good Christmas. Very tiring but a lot of fun. Not really sure where to start. Maybe Christmas morning? Good enough ...
Somehow Mrs G and I woke before the kids. This meant that when they finally woke we were able to respond in a coherent fashion rather than sleepily stumbling around. Soon enough they did wake - and then Nanna and Grandma were also woken. Downstairs for presents and then some breakfast.
Soon after brekky we started food prep (again) and our guests started rocking in about 10:30. By 11:30 we were opening more presents with LGR's cousins, and Aunt LJ and UA. For some reason Nanna seemed to get a lot of gifts this year ...
Due to reduced numbers we were able to have a sit down lunch. It was quite nice - and much more sociable than having everyone wander around aimlessly. The food was reasonably good (I thought) and everyone got along swimmingly.
In mid afternoon the cousins and Aunt LJ/UA all left for their next destination. This gave us a grace period to have a bit of a cleanup and a bit of a rest. It was over all too quickly and soon after Uncle G was down and more present opening followed. Dinner ended up being a bit of a nothing event - as usual we had eaten far too much food.
We had a good Christmas. Very tiring but a lot of fun. Not really sure where to start. Maybe Christmas morning? Good enough ...
Somehow Mrs G and I woke before the kids. This meant that when they finally woke we were able to respond in a coherent fashion rather than sleepily stumbling around. Soon enough they did wake - and then Nanna and Grandma were also woken. Downstairs for presents and then some breakfast.
Soon after brekky we started food prep (again) and our guests started rocking in about 10:30. By 11:30 we were opening more presents with LGR's cousins, and Aunt LJ and UA. For some reason Nanna seemed to get a lot of gifts this year ...
Due to reduced numbers we were able to have a sit down lunch. It was quite nice - and much more sociable than having everyone wander around aimlessly. The food was reasonably good (I thought) and everyone got along swimmingly.
In mid afternoon the cousins and Aunt LJ/UA all left for their next destination. This gave us a grace period to have a bit of a cleanup and a bit of a rest. It was over all too quickly and soon after Uncle G was down and more present opening followed. Dinner ended up being a bit of a nothing event - as usual we had eaten far too much food.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas Eve
We're all ready for Christmas. And in a surprisingly good state - apart from the constant fatigue.
The weekend has been quite busy but it won't sound that way when I write about it. We did the final swimming lessons for the year yesterday and then headed off to get some drinks with Aunt BJ. While at the shops we picked up our ham and turkey and got some medication for Hayzey. She had picked up a nasty bit of conjunctivitis overnight and a bit of a fever too.
From here it was home for some easy time and a bit of lunch. Aunt BJ shot through to pick up her Nanna from the airport and we went to do some grocery shopping for Christmas. Ended up getting a bit more than we needed but at least we'll have enough ....
The afternoon was spent cleaning up and getting ready to go out to Clan McK's place for dinner. It was a nice night. I got to drink some beer out of a can (not all that good) and we had a BBQ and let the kids run around. Hayzey passed out at about 19:30 but couldn't quite get comfortable.
Once home we finished wrapping presents and even had a surprise visit - we'd left Tommy the Teddy behind and Mrs McK kindly brought it around for Lochie's pleasure.
Sunday ...
Hayzey woke up at 05:30 and by 06:00 we were out running. In the rain as it turned out. I felt a bit because she was getting wet but by the time it started raining we were about 15 minutes from home and there wasn't a lot I could do about it.
In spite of this Hayzey was in a great mood when we got back - but still crook so the medication continued. I showered and dressed and then went out to get the fruit and veg for Christmas along with some bread and bargain priced meat. Back home and into the cooking - turkey and potato salad for me and Mrs G finished off some things she started on Friday.
Nanna and Grandma both arrived just before lunch and the kids were quite happy to see them. After lunch I had a quick snooze and was woken up by the sound of Aunt LJ unloading a heap of presents from her car. For the next couple of hours we all did nothing much but kept generally busy. I carved (and then hacked) up the turkey while others did .... other things. Eventually we all settled down to a nice antipasto platter and some chatting.
Eventually Aunt LJ and UA had to leave so dinner was cooked while the kids bathed. We ate, then played and then watched some Christmas TV. As I type the kids have just gone to bed and Nanna, Grandma and Mrs G are all sitting down watching some Christmas Carols.
It's almost Christmas day :-)
The weekend has been quite busy but it won't sound that way when I write about it. We did the final swimming lessons for the year yesterday and then headed off to get some drinks with Aunt BJ. While at the shops we picked up our ham and turkey and got some medication for Hayzey. She had picked up a nasty bit of conjunctivitis overnight and a bit of a fever too.
From here it was home for some easy time and a bit of lunch. Aunt BJ shot through to pick up her Nanna from the airport and we went to do some grocery shopping for Christmas. Ended up getting a bit more than we needed but at least we'll have enough ....
The afternoon was spent cleaning up and getting ready to go out to Clan McK's place for dinner. It was a nice night. I got to drink some beer out of a can (not all that good) and we had a BBQ and let the kids run around. Hayzey passed out at about 19:30 but couldn't quite get comfortable.
Once home we finished wrapping presents and even had a surprise visit - we'd left Tommy the Teddy behind and Mrs McK kindly brought it around for Lochie's pleasure.
Sunday ...
Hayzey woke up at 05:30 and by 06:00 we were out running. In the rain as it turned out. I felt a bit because she was getting wet but by the time it started raining we were about 15 minutes from home and there wasn't a lot I could do about it.
In spite of this Hayzey was in a great mood when we got back - but still crook so the medication continued. I showered and dressed and then went out to get the fruit and veg for Christmas along with some bread and bargain priced meat. Back home and into the cooking - turkey and potato salad for me and Mrs G finished off some things she started on Friday.
Nanna and Grandma both arrived just before lunch and the kids were quite happy to see them. After lunch I had a quick snooze and was woken up by the sound of Aunt LJ unloading a heap of presents from her car. For the next couple of hours we all did nothing much but kept generally busy. I carved (and then hacked) up the turkey while others did .... other things. Eventually we all settled down to a nice antipasto platter and some chatting.
Eventually Aunt LJ and UA had to leave so dinner was cooked while the kids bathed. We ate, then played and then watched some Christmas TV. As I type the kids have just gone to bed and Nanna, Grandma and Mrs G are all sitting down watching some Christmas Carols.
It's almost Christmas day :-)
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Holidays
I'm now on holidays. I suppose technically my Annual Leave doesn't start until next Wednesday but in my brain I am already on holidays.
Somewhat predictably we all finished up a wee bit early at work today. I came home to discover LGR had slept for 3.5 hours and then asked for 3 sandwiches for lunch. Once he had eaten, and Hayzey woken up from her own little sleep, we went outside to do some work in the garden. We started by putting some pebble mulch in some plants and doing a spot of watering, and then moved on to watering each other. Initially this went down like a lead balloon but before too long it was all fun ...
Next was some work in the front yard - planting a bunch of succulents generously donated by Aunt LJ and UA. While we were out there Santa rode up on an Australia Post and gave us some mail!! The kids were keen to help out and brought their little shovels and rakes to help dig holes. They even chose the location of the plants.
And that was about it.
---
There was a very eloquent letter in the SMH today - written by a chap called Les McDonald. I'm not sure that I agree with the whole thing but the way it is put together is fantastic. Here 'tis:
Somewhat predictably we all finished up a wee bit early at work today. I came home to discover LGR had slept for 3.5 hours and then asked for 3 sandwiches for lunch. Once he had eaten, and Hayzey woken up from her own little sleep, we went outside to do some work in the garden. We started by putting some pebble mulch in some plants and doing a spot of watering, and then moved on to watering each other. Initially this went down like a lead balloon but before too long it was all fun ...
Next was some work in the front yard - planting a bunch of succulents generously donated by Aunt LJ and UA. While we were out there Santa rode up on an Australia Post and gave us some mail!! The kids were keen to help out and brought their little shovels and rakes to help dig holes. They even chose the location of the plants.
And that was about it.
---
There was a very eloquent letter in the SMH today - written by a chap called Les McDonald. I'm not sure that I agree with the whole thing but the way it is put together is fantastic. Here 'tis:
Detachment, ethics and consistency are not notable features of the Australian character, despite the comforting myths to the contrary. It would be difficult to get a better instance of that than the juxtaposition of three seemingly unrelated articles on the front page of the Herald (December 21).
Steven Chaytor is the subject of the first ("Premier dumps MP over assault"). He, like Milton Orkopoulos before him, has had criminal charges levelled against him. Also like Orkopoulos, he has not been accorded the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. It is hard to blame Morris Iemma for this as the media, contrary to their constant bleating about just being the messenger, have shaped and driven the law-and-order hysteria in NSW ever since the triumph of the Rupert Murdoch school of yellow journalism.
The second was a fawning set of items on the retirement of Shane Warne ("Warne calls stumps, McGrath to follow"). One of these even sought to identify Warne, an admitted serial harasser of women, as "this county's second-greatest sportsman" after Don Bradman. Exactly where this leaves Ian Thorpe, who has beaten the best in the world in his chosen sport and established multiple world records, is not entirely clear, but you get the point. Warne's adoring media fans do not condemn him for his actions towards women but dismiss his multiple offences with an affectionate reference to being a "wayward larrikin". The forgiveness, and indeed approbation, given willingly to Warne, almost because of his many instances of offensive behaviour, is withheld from Chaytor, with the singular difference being that Chaytor isn't an Australian sporting hero.
The third article demonstrates an incapacity by officials to recognise that ethics play any part in public life ("Kickbacks tax-deductible"). The law was incompetent in finding the huge bribes paid to Saddam Hussein's regime were not criminal offences on the technicality that the money was paid to a regime instead of an individual. From an ethical point of view, that is somewhat beside the point. That the bulk of Australians, who obligingly pay their taxes and do not claim the costs of their participation in criminal activity as tax deductions, should now be required to subsidise the criminal activity of others says more about our capacity for ethical insights than all the pious pronouncements in the world by our leaders.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Really ...
This morning we had reason to move on to a new container of shower wash/gel type stuff. The new one is 'creme brulee' essence. What does that mean? I'm sure it made me smell pretty.
Time is currently in slow motion - at least as far as work goes. Every day drags on and on and on and on ... I can't actually implement anything because of the pending Christmas holidays. Why? Everyone goes on leave and there's so many public holidays nobody is allowed to actually do anything more detailed than work planning for fear of breaking something or introducing some weird bug or anomaly into 'the network'. It's understandable but also quite frustrating.
---
You may have noticed a bit of press recently about what to do about the allegedly high number of P-plate drivers crashing and dying on the roads. There's been a number of silly ideas out there which, if the information I am seeing is correct, won't do all that much to make a difference.
Where is this leading? I've been paying attention to the way I drive in the last couple of weeks and the way in which others drive and I can say that I am a touch distressed at the level of aggression and risk taking prevalent in a large number of drivers - young and old, male and female. I've been tailgated on a freeway by a grandma who was so close I couldn't see her headlights. I've seen plenty of lunatics shoot along the breakdown lanes of freeways even when the freeway is moving at a good speed. I've seen countless people move into a turning lane at a set of lights and then race the folks who are in the 'straight ahead' lane to gain a few car places. Everyone will cut you off. Virtually nobody drives at the speed limit. Left and right hand turns from non-adjacent lanes are plentiful.
Why do P-platers do stupid things? Because they spend their lives watching others drive do the same stupid things and it becomes ingrained that this is the way you drive.
FWIW - I've slowed down plenty since observing and leave more space in front of me. Some cars may use this to their apparent advantage but I can't say my travel times are obviously longer - and I'm much more relaxed about getting to places. Mostly.
Time is currently in slow motion - at least as far as work goes. Every day drags on and on and on and on ... I can't actually implement anything because of the pending Christmas holidays. Why? Everyone goes on leave and there's so many public holidays nobody is allowed to actually do anything more detailed than work planning for fear of breaking something or introducing some weird bug or anomaly into 'the network'. It's understandable but also quite frustrating.
---
You may have noticed a bit of press recently about what to do about the allegedly high number of P-plate drivers crashing and dying on the roads. There's been a number of silly ideas out there which, if the information I am seeing is correct, won't do all that much to make a difference.
Where is this leading? I've been paying attention to the way I drive in the last couple of weeks and the way in which others drive and I can say that I am a touch distressed at the level of aggression and risk taking prevalent in a large number of drivers - young and old, male and female. I've been tailgated on a freeway by a grandma who was so close I couldn't see her headlights. I've seen plenty of lunatics shoot along the breakdown lanes of freeways even when the freeway is moving at a good speed. I've seen countless people move into a turning lane at a set of lights and then race the folks who are in the 'straight ahead' lane to gain a few car places. Everyone will cut you off. Virtually nobody drives at the speed limit. Left and right hand turns from non-adjacent lanes are plentiful.
Why do P-platers do stupid things? Because they spend their lives watching others drive do the same stupid things and it becomes ingrained that this is the way you drive.
FWIW - I've slowed down plenty since observing and leave more space in front of me. Some cars may use this to their apparent advantage but I can't say my travel times are obviously longer - and I'm much more relaxed about getting to places. Mostly.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
New Blog??
I've migrated this blog from the 'old' format to the 'new' format and hopefully it will all be transparent to whoever decides to read this. I'm sure I'll get caught out with a few things ...
What's been happening? Not a great deal. Mrs G has been in Newcastle for a bit so I got to spend some time with the kids. This does have a downside however - a combination of having to drop the kids off at kindy (meaning a drive to work thru 'peak hour') combined with some good overnight rain meant the approx 35km trip to work took almost two hours this morning.
On the positive side the kids behave much better when it's just one adult around and they were mostly angels last night, and very much angels this morning.
Hayzey and I had a cute little argument - I put a bib on her for breakfast and she ripped it off, walked to the bib draw and started muttering "Christmas bib, Christmas bib" while searching through it. Eventually she found a bib with Santa on it - and this was considered good enough to wear for breakfast!!
LGR is mostly better - still a bit tired but eating again and he's stopped chucking up everywhere. Tuesday morning sounded interesting. It is alleged LGR had a chuck in a bowl and then managed to drop the bowl ... Very glad I wasn't cleaning it up.
We're slowly gearing up for Christmas. Tomorrow is the kids last day of kindy, and Mrs G's last day too. I finish up on Friday and then we all go back on about the 8th/9th January. It should be great.
What's been happening? Not a great deal. Mrs G has been in Newcastle for a bit so I got to spend some time with the kids. This does have a downside however - a combination of having to drop the kids off at kindy (meaning a drive to work thru 'peak hour') combined with some good overnight rain meant the approx 35km trip to work took almost two hours this morning.
On the positive side the kids behave much better when it's just one adult around and they were mostly angels last night, and very much angels this morning.
Hayzey and I had a cute little argument - I put a bib on her for breakfast and she ripped it off, walked to the bib draw and started muttering "Christmas bib, Christmas bib" while searching through it. Eventually she found a bib with Santa on it - and this was considered good enough to wear for breakfast!!
LGR is mostly better - still a bit tired but eating again and he's stopped chucking up everywhere. Tuesday morning sounded interesting. It is alleged LGR had a chuck in a bowl and then managed to drop the bowl ... Very glad I wasn't cleaning it up.
We're slowly gearing up for Christmas. Tomorrow is the kids last day of kindy, and Mrs G's last day too. I finish up on Friday and then we all go back on about the 8th/9th January. It should be great.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
How can it happen again?
For about 6 months LGR has been very keenly anticipating seeing The Wiggles at the Ent Cent. We had great tickets - 2nd row on the floor. We knew our lyrics and dance routines and even had the clothing sorted out.
Guess who got crook, threw up everywhere shortly before the show and spent most of the show barely awake on Mrs G's lap? Yep. You guessed it. Last year it was Hayzey who was crook - and spent most of the show asleep in my arms ...
In spite of this LGR still proclaims to have had a good time. Hayzey definitely had fun. She was dancing everywhere - on my legs, Mrs G's legs, the chairs and wherever else we gave her access to.
We did a few other things this weekend. Aunt LG and UA took the kids out to the farm on Saturday evening - which gave Mrs G and I the chance to finish off some Christmas things and sort out some details about the forthcoming festive season. Then the babysitting continued and Mrs G and I went out for dinner. Nice meal and nice conversation - many fanciful plans were hatched :-) We also had the pleasure of watching Mr Adam Gilchrist score 100 off 57 deliveries ... Not a bad effort.
Sunday was quite mellow. Our dilligent babysitters crashed at our place but I still managed to be awake since 04:00 due to a little girl who had sleep issues. I took the chance to go out for a mellow sort of run and see in the day at my own pace.
The day itself was kind of a nothing sort of day - we did some grocery shopping, had a BBQ for lunch and spent the afternoon cleaning out various aspects of the house. LGR was still intermittenly crook and this added an element of intrigue to the evening.
What's next? Mrs G is off on a business trip for the next couple of days so I have the fun of looking after the kids in a solo fashion. This isn't too bad - they usually behave better for either one of us then they do for both of us. Even if they don't it's only for a couple of days ...
Guess who got crook, threw up everywhere shortly before the show and spent most of the show barely awake on Mrs G's lap? Yep. You guessed it. Last year it was Hayzey who was crook - and spent most of the show asleep in my arms ...
In spite of this LGR still proclaims to have had a good time. Hayzey definitely had fun. She was dancing everywhere - on my legs, Mrs G's legs, the chairs and wherever else we gave her access to.
We did a few other things this weekend. Aunt LG and UA took the kids out to the farm on Saturday evening - which gave Mrs G and I the chance to finish off some Christmas things and sort out some details about the forthcoming festive season. Then the babysitting continued and Mrs G and I went out for dinner. Nice meal and nice conversation - many fanciful plans were hatched :-) We also had the pleasure of watching Mr Adam Gilchrist score 100 off 57 deliveries ... Not a bad effort.
Sunday was quite mellow. Our dilligent babysitters crashed at our place but I still managed to be awake since 04:00 due to a little girl who had sleep issues. I took the chance to go out for a mellow sort of run and see in the day at my own pace.
The day itself was kind of a nothing sort of day - we did some grocery shopping, had a BBQ for lunch and spent the afternoon cleaning out various aspects of the house. LGR was still intermittenly crook and this added an element of intrigue to the evening.
What's next? Mrs G is off on a business trip for the next couple of days so I have the fun of looking after the kids in a solo fashion. This isn't too bad - they usually behave better for either one of us then they do for both of us. Even if they don't it's only for a couple of days ...
Friday, December 15, 2006
Happy Birthday Grandpa
It's my Dad's birthday today - or Grandpa as he is more commonly becoming known in my household. So here's a happy birthday to Grandpa.
LGR bought home his art portfolio from kindy yesterday. It's full of art work and teacher's observations from this year. There was also a CD with some pictures of LGR and a few videos of him at kindy. It was all terrifically sweet. Hayzey has one also but because she was less insistent about it her's has not yet had the same level of scrutiny.
LGR bought home his art portfolio from kindy yesterday. It's full of art work and teacher's observations from this year. There was also a CD with some pictures of LGR and a few videos of him at kindy. It was all terrifically sweet. Hayzey has one also but because she was less insistent about it her's has not yet had the same level of scrutiny.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Happy Birthday Mrs G
It was Mrs G's birthday yesterday. And it was quite a frantic day. We both worked (after only a few hours sleep - Mrs G was out last night for a work thing and I stayed up until she got home) and then after work it was straight to the kindy Christmas party. It was quite a sweet little event which featured a visit from Santa and gifts for all the kids, and then a dancing show by the kiddies.
It was interesting to watch LGR do the dances to music, and then compare it to the way in which he dances at home. He seemed a lot more subdued in public - his movements were more controlled and with much less amplitude. When he dances at home the whole thing seems much more energetic and he sings the songs with a great deal more gusto than is used on the music they danced to last night.
We tried to have a little present giving ceremony when we got home but Hayzey was really tired and it didn't really work out. In the end we gave Mrs G her pressies and then took Hayzey to bed. LGR helped to put the candles in the cake and get out everything we needed - and then LGR and I build Mrs G's favourite dessert (the ingredients were very generously prepared and donated the previous evening by Uncle G).
At the appropriate time LGR decreed the lights should be turned off and we sang 'Happy Birthday'. Cake was eaten and then LGR was off to bed.
And that was about it. Mrs G and I stayed up for a bit longer watching a movie and eating the recently compiled dessert and then called it an evening.
It was interesting to watch LGR do the dances to music, and then compare it to the way in which he dances at home. He seemed a lot more subdued in public - his movements were more controlled and with much less amplitude. When he dances at home the whole thing seems much more energetic and he sings the songs with a great deal more gusto than is used on the music they danced to last night.
We tried to have a little present giving ceremony when we got home but Hayzey was really tired and it didn't really work out. In the end we gave Mrs G her pressies and then took Hayzey to bed. LGR helped to put the candles in the cake and get out everything we needed - and then LGR and I build Mrs G's favourite dessert (the ingredients were very generously prepared and donated the previous evening by Uncle G).
At the appropriate time LGR decreed the lights should be turned off and we sang 'Happy Birthday'. Cake was eaten and then LGR was off to bed.
And that was about it. Mrs G and I stayed up for a bit longer watching a movie and eating the recently compiled dessert and then called it an evening.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
'Smee Again
It's been a while since I last posted - and heaps has happened. A lot of my regular readers know much of it but just in case here's a summarised version.
On the 30th November and 1st December we were in Wagga Wagga. Unfortunately it was for a very unhappy reason and I can safely say that nobody who was there wanted to be there. There was a silver lining to the very dark cloud - the kids got to hang out a bit with Nanna, Aunt LJ and UA and even great Nanna. Both kiddies were very well behaved in the seemingly endless trip there and back and very few tantrums were had.
Hayzey had her 2nd birthday while we were in Wagga. It was very low key but she didn't care. We all gathered around a muffin at breakfast time; placed 2 candles in it and sang happy birthday. It was a very sad day to remember such a wonderful event and the extremes of emotions seen on this day were massive.
I've been to Melbourne and back in a single day. I suffer from vertigo and am mildly claustrophobic so the flights didn't impress me a lot. Especially when the plane rocked from side to side just before landing in Sydney. Or when we hit turbulence will being (seemingly) about 20m above the ground at Melbourne.
All in all the day seemed to be a bit of a waste of time - although I got to meet some colleagues and see the Melbourne operations. I also had some nice sushi rolls for lunch so it's not all bad ...
The other obviously worthy thing that's happened was a trip down to Canberra to see Pampar and Jan. It was pretty mellow - and I suspect Pampar wasn't too thrilled to be dragged into Civic just so we could try to get thru some Christmas shopping.
For me the trip is noteworthy because of my introduction to Crackenback beer. It's brewed by the folks at Bluetongue and is an entirely drinkable and satisfactory beverage. I shall have more. I was also able to sample some Bluetongue Ginger Beer. This was nice - not the same as the Lager but still good. Both were very pleasant surprises.
Sunday morning was quite nice - the kids both slept in (I had the pleasant of slumbering next to Hayzey in one bed and Mrs G shared the other bed with LGR), I went for a rambling sort of run and we all popped in to a nearby pool for a swim. It's fun to play with the kids in the water. The lessons may have made some difference but neither of them are close to swimming yet. All in good time.
The trip home was kind of funny. As we left Canberra it looked as though a massive fire was erupting in some bushland somewhere but I don't believe it turned into much. Apparently there was another one at Marulen but we didn't see that. What we did see was a pretty good storm between around Exeter. We even had to slow the car down. By the time we got back to balmy old Sydney the sun was out and it was hot ... but not our house. We'd left the air-con running all weekend. Oops.
So that's my summary. From now on I'll try to keep it a touch more regular.
On the 30th November and 1st December we were in Wagga Wagga. Unfortunately it was for a very unhappy reason and I can safely say that nobody who was there wanted to be there. There was a silver lining to the very dark cloud - the kids got to hang out a bit with Nanna, Aunt LJ and UA and even great Nanna. Both kiddies were very well behaved in the seemingly endless trip there and back and very few tantrums were had.
Hayzey had her 2nd birthday while we were in Wagga. It was very low key but she didn't care. We all gathered around a muffin at breakfast time; placed 2 candles in it and sang happy birthday. It was a very sad day to remember such a wonderful event and the extremes of emotions seen on this day were massive.
I've been to Melbourne and back in a single day. I suffer from vertigo and am mildly claustrophobic so the flights didn't impress me a lot. Especially when the plane rocked from side to side just before landing in Sydney. Or when we hit turbulence will being (seemingly) about 20m above the ground at Melbourne.
All in all the day seemed to be a bit of a waste of time - although I got to meet some colleagues and see the Melbourne operations. I also had some nice sushi rolls for lunch so it's not all bad ...
The other obviously worthy thing that's happened was a trip down to Canberra to see Pampar and Jan. It was pretty mellow - and I suspect Pampar wasn't too thrilled to be dragged into Civic just so we could try to get thru some Christmas shopping.
For me the trip is noteworthy because of my introduction to Crackenback beer. It's brewed by the folks at Bluetongue and is an entirely drinkable and satisfactory beverage. I shall have more. I was also able to sample some Bluetongue Ginger Beer. This was nice - not the same as the Lager but still good. Both were very pleasant surprises.
Sunday morning was quite nice - the kids both slept in (I had the pleasant of slumbering next to Hayzey in one bed and Mrs G shared the other bed with LGR), I went for a rambling sort of run and we all popped in to a nearby pool for a swim. It's fun to play with the kids in the water. The lessons may have made some difference but neither of them are close to swimming yet. All in good time.
The trip home was kind of funny. As we left Canberra it looked as though a massive fire was erupting in some bushland somewhere but I don't believe it turned into much. Apparently there was another one at Marulen but we didn't see that. What we did see was a pretty good storm between around Exeter. We even had to slow the car down. By the time we got back to balmy old Sydney the sun was out and it was hot ... but not our house. We'd left the air-con running all weekend. Oops.
So that's my summary. From now on I'll try to keep it a touch more regular.
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