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.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
It's all about Hayzey
Our little universe of Jones seems to have revolved around Hayzey in the last couple of days.
On Saturday we had a birthday party for her - a week early but there are some very compelling reasons for why this is so. It was a nice day. Very hot with bugger all breeze but the crowd who turned up were a very pleasant bunch. The time of the year meant some folks couldn't make it and this was a bit sad but there were also some people there we hadn't seen for at least 5 years.
Not much happened. I cooked up a bit of a bbq (which seemed to go down well) and there were plenty of salads and nibblies. The kids more or less took care of themselves and the adults were left to be adults.
Aunt LJ and UA made the bold decision to stay at our place. I'm glad they did this. Poor little Hayzey developed a good fever and then started vomitting up whatever we gave her - including water and some Panadol to try to keep the fever down. Mrs G and Aunt LJ whipped her off to hospital at about 20:00 and by the time they got there her fever was up to 41 degrees!!
They checked her out for pneumonia (including chest X-rays) and tried to get a urine sample from her. Rumour has it Hayzey went from extreme lethargy to burst of intense energy at the click of the proverbial fingers and was asking where LGR was ....
In the end she was allowed to come home at about 01:00 after keeping down some water and Panadol.
LGR and I got out of bed just a few hours later (he slept through it all) and everyone else was up by about 07:30. We'd planned to go to Taronga Zoo for Mrs G's work thingy but I was hoping LGR had forgotten about it. No such luck; so by about 09:30 we were on our way. I expected Hayzey to sleep very soundly but it was LGR who crashed. It took about 30 minutes for Hayz to snooze.
What did we do at the zoo? We saw some crocodiles, and monkeys and gorillas. The seals were showing off a bit and the elephants were fairly lazy. The wombat was asleep (I've never seen a wombat sleeping before this) and the echidna's were moving around. We also saw Santa and the kids had a bounce on a jumping castle. Lunch was non-descript.
It was a short visit. Everyone got tired very quickly and we decided to cut our losses and head home. We'll be back - LGR's enthusiasm has been jumpstarted and he can't wait.
The rest of the day was fairly quiet - but not the night time. Hayzey had a shocking night - waking up several times and refusing any attempts to give her some medication which might control her fever. At least she wasn't vomitting. LGR woke up too - after a massive coughing fit which caused him to have a small vomit. We didn't get much sleep.
When we emerged into daylight on Monday morning Hayzey had a temperature and was very lethargic. I was the designated stay at home person. So I spent a day with her. We saw the doctor who told us she had, not surprisingly, an infection in her chest and another ear infection ...
Her fever came and went and her bursts of energy got longer as the day wore on. There were some very sweet moments - like when we read books for an hour, when we took turns eating slices of apple and telling each other how yummy it was and even when Hayzey helped me build her little tricycle. There were also some sad moments. Hayzey fell asleep on the lounge clutching a drink in one tiny hand and her Dora doll in the other.
I'm not sure how she is now. I started work at 04:00 (again) but she'd pretty much slept through up to the time I left home. I'll find out pretty soon.
And just so you know - LGR is fine. He has also had a fever but nowhere near as bad.
On Saturday we had a birthday party for her - a week early but there are some very compelling reasons for why this is so. It was a nice day. Very hot with bugger all breeze but the crowd who turned up were a very pleasant bunch. The time of the year meant some folks couldn't make it and this was a bit sad but there were also some people there we hadn't seen for at least 5 years.
Not much happened. I cooked up a bit of a bbq (which seemed to go down well) and there were plenty of salads and nibblies. The kids more or less took care of themselves and the adults were left to be adults.
Aunt LJ and UA made the bold decision to stay at our place. I'm glad they did this. Poor little Hayzey developed a good fever and then started vomitting up whatever we gave her - including water and some Panadol to try to keep the fever down. Mrs G and Aunt LJ whipped her off to hospital at about 20:00 and by the time they got there her fever was up to 41 degrees!!
They checked her out for pneumonia (including chest X-rays) and tried to get a urine sample from her. Rumour has it Hayzey went from extreme lethargy to burst of intense energy at the click of the proverbial fingers and was asking where LGR was ....
In the end she was allowed to come home at about 01:00 after keeping down some water and Panadol.
LGR and I got out of bed just a few hours later (he slept through it all) and everyone else was up by about 07:30. We'd planned to go to Taronga Zoo for Mrs G's work thingy but I was hoping LGR had forgotten about it. No such luck; so by about 09:30 we were on our way. I expected Hayzey to sleep very soundly but it was LGR who crashed. It took about 30 minutes for Hayz to snooze.
What did we do at the zoo? We saw some crocodiles, and monkeys and gorillas. The seals were showing off a bit and the elephants were fairly lazy. The wombat was asleep (I've never seen a wombat sleeping before this) and the echidna's were moving around. We also saw Santa and the kids had a bounce on a jumping castle. Lunch was non-descript.
It was a short visit. Everyone got tired very quickly and we decided to cut our losses and head home. We'll be back - LGR's enthusiasm has been jumpstarted and he can't wait.
The rest of the day was fairly quiet - but not the night time. Hayzey had a shocking night - waking up several times and refusing any attempts to give her some medication which might control her fever. At least she wasn't vomitting. LGR woke up too - after a massive coughing fit which caused him to have a small vomit. We didn't get much sleep.
When we emerged into daylight on Monday morning Hayzey had a temperature and was very lethargic. I was the designated stay at home person. So I spent a day with her. We saw the doctor who told us she had, not surprisingly, an infection in her chest and another ear infection ...
Her fever came and went and her bursts of energy got longer as the day wore on. There were some very sweet moments - like when we read books for an hour, when we took turns eating slices of apple and telling each other how yummy it was and even when Hayzey helped me build her little tricycle. There were also some sad moments. Hayzey fell asleep on the lounge clutching a drink in one tiny hand and her Dora doll in the other.
I'm not sure how she is now. I started work at 04:00 (again) but she'd pretty much slept through up to the time I left home. I'll find out pretty soon.
And just so you know - LGR is fine. He has also had a fever but nowhere near as bad.
Friday, November 24, 2006
A Day Off
Mrs G and I had a day off yesterday. It was supposed to happen a few weeks ago but for various (work) reasons it didn't eventuate.
What did we do?
We took my car in for a service after dropping the kids at kindy. While in the caryard we took a chance to look at a few vehicles but this lasted for all of 5 minutes. From here we meandered on over to some shops and did a spot of Christmas Shopping and had some lunch. After lunch it was some more shopping and then back to kindy to pick up the kids nice and early.
Next stop was a visit to a farm to pick out our new puppy. There were 7 of them to choose from and, in a nice twist, the one I was interested in (because he was laying on his back looking for a tummy rub!!) was the same one Mrs G liked from our pictures. So the choice was easy. Hayzey was pretty good with the puppies and LGR was ok (sort of) but the Mum pup scared them both ...
There's a still a way to go.
What did we do?
We took my car in for a service after dropping the kids at kindy. While in the caryard we took a chance to look at a few vehicles but this lasted for all of 5 minutes. From here we meandered on over to some shops and did a spot of Christmas Shopping and had some lunch. After lunch it was some more shopping and then back to kindy to pick up the kids nice and early.
Next stop was a visit to a farm to pick out our new puppy. There were 7 of them to choose from and, in a nice twist, the one I was interested in (because he was laying on his back looking for a tummy rub!!) was the same one Mrs G liked from our pictures. So the choice was easy. Hayzey was pretty good with the puppies and LGR was ok (sort of) but the Mum pup scared them both ...
There's a still a way to go.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Hayzey on Holidays
A classy little pic of Hayz getting stuck into some afternoon tea on the first afternoon of our very quick trip to Mollymook. We'd just come back from the beach - hence the reason she looks so clean and pristine. Within a few minutes we would be joined by a couple of food seeking feathered friends.
LGR Sleeping
This photo was taken the morning after Aunt LJ and UA's engagement party (Part 1). I 'camped' with LGR downstairs because the bedrooms were taken up by guests - including LGR's bed. He woke me up at about 05:00 but then went back to sleep a while later. I didn't have the same luxury.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Dog
We're getting a dog. A little Jack Russell. It's all arranged. The puppy is currently only 3 weeks old and we'll probably get him or her just before Christmas. The 4 of us are going for a little adventure on Thursday afternoon to pick out our little chap. From there on in it's a matter of getting all the stuff we need at our place, having some vet type things done and then taking delivery.
LGR is very excited about it. So excited he's pulled his little brown toy puppy out of storage and started dragging it around the house with him. LGR's puppy is called 'Energy' - because he has lots of it :-) LGR has also found a toy elephant somewhere and named him Peter.
As a result LGR slept with Tommy the bear, Energy the dog and Peter and elephant last night.
----
We had an unexpected visitor last night. The 4 of us were looking at some pics and videos of the puppies when we heard a little rattle at our front door. We looked around and our little 18 month old neighbour was trying to get in. It turns out she had managed to get out the front door of her place and independently made her way to our house to play with Hayzey.
Her parents were very relieved to discover she wasn't actually wandering around the street but was quite happily playing with our kids.
----
LGR went to his first athletics carnival over the weekend. It was an event known as a scamper and it was kind of a region based carnival for the smaller kids in Little Athletics. He had a ball - loved every minute of it. They ran a couple of races and had a few novelty events such as tug of war, an obstacle course and an array of parachute games. Both kids managed to get filthy - the track was very dry and had been top-dressed in the not too distant past. Most of the top dress had turned to loose dust. Our whites pretty quickly became not whites ...
LGR is very excited about it. So excited he's pulled his little brown toy puppy out of storage and started dragging it around the house with him. LGR's puppy is called 'Energy' - because he has lots of it :-) LGR has also found a toy elephant somewhere and named him Peter.
As a result LGR slept with Tommy the bear, Energy the dog and Peter and elephant last night.
----
We had an unexpected visitor last night. The 4 of us were looking at some pics and videos of the puppies when we heard a little rattle at our front door. We looked around and our little 18 month old neighbour was trying to get in. It turns out she had managed to get out the front door of her place and independently made her way to our house to play with Hayzey.
Her parents were very relieved to discover she wasn't actually wandering around the street but was quite happily playing with our kids.
----
LGR went to his first athletics carnival over the weekend. It was an event known as a scamper and it was kind of a region based carnival for the smaller kids in Little Athletics. He had a ball - loved every minute of it. They ran a couple of races and had a few novelty events such as tug of war, an obstacle course and an array of parachute games. Both kids managed to get filthy - the track was very dry and had been top-dressed in the not too distant past. Most of the top dress had turned to loose dust. Our whites pretty quickly became not whites ...
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
So much
There's been a crapload happen since my last post.
To start with - we went down to Mollymook for a couple of days. We stayed at a very nice little place about 200m from Mollymook surf beach and spent a couple of days doing not much.
From the beginning ....
Grandma, Uncle G and his smiling friend (LGR's name - not my name) came down for dinner on Thursday evening. We had some food and some wine and a nice old time. Grandma stayed but unfortunately Uncle G and his fried had to go home. I suspect they wanted to come to Mollymook with us but there were some time constraints.
On Friday morning we all got up, dressed and headed off at about 08:30. The first planned step was at Mt Gibraltar (aka Mittagong) but for some reason I couldn't find the lookout I was after. So we kept going thru to Fitzroy Falls.
This was a nice chance to get out and stretch the legs. LGR and Hayzey were suitably awed, and scared, by the enormous drop from the first lookout we got to. There's a steel grate at the edge of the lookout and nobody really wanted to walk on it. Hayzey got game quite quickly but I had enormous issues with even being on the lookout. For those who've been there might be some appreciation of why this is so.
Next was a quick trip down a very steep and windy road to Kangaroo Valley. We had some morning tea and then did a spot of venturing down the main street. I came across a fantastic little store selling imported things from all throughout Asia. We ended up buying the most magnificent photo albums and a few pressies for some folks. I have a very strong suspicion we'll be back at this place.
From here we went straight to Mollymook - and our little holiday house at Mollymook. The first impressions were very favourable (and time showed us they were also very accurate). We dumped our stuff and did a quick explore before heading out for some lunch and some groceries.
One shopping trip later and we were back 'home' unpacking, and then off to the beach. There was some initial trepidation from the kids but this disappeared quite quickly. We played some nice games of running away from the water and digging tunnels. I went for a run on the beach and we all got generally acquainted with the environment.
When we got back home we were enthralled by a couple of very bold rainbow lorrikeets - which quickly turned out to be pests. In the end we had to rush them off the deck because they were eating the food of Hayzey's hands ...
Not much else happened. We had dinner and went to bed.
Saturday was a sparkling day. After a massive breakfast we set out to find some water and nice sand. After a couple of false starts we found somewhere quite nice - although LGR and I managed to find somewhere even nicer just up the beach. We planned to go there in the afternoon but this never happened ....
Lunch consisted of a play in the nearby park and some fish and chips. Quite good too. Then the clouds came. And the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees. So we went for a drive to get some fresh fish for dinner. Wouldn't you know it? The shop we ended up at was owned by the guy who lived next door to the house we were staying at. Interesting ....
The only other thing of note on the Saturday was a nice 90 minute walk along the beach. We didn't take swimmers because we thought it was too cold. This obviously meant the kids both got soaked. In the end LGR had my shirt on (his was too wet) and I was wandering the streets of Mollymook mostly naked hugging Hayzey to stop her getting too cold.
Sunday wasn't much of an improvement. The weather was overcast and sometimes it looked like clearing up but in the end it just rained. We managed a trip to the markets at Ulladulla and picked up some more nice little pressies for people. The venture was cut short by rain ...
So we decided to head home. In the end we only left about an hour earlier than we had originally planned so we didn't miss much. We were thinking about stopping at Berry but in the end decided to skip it and have lunch at Kiama. Not a smart decision (in hindsight). We couldn't find anywhere that appealed to us and could fit us in so we had pies in the park while the kids played.
It was a good little trip. I wish it was longer but there just wasn't enough time. We'll be back though.
To start with - we went down to Mollymook for a couple of days. We stayed at a very nice little place about 200m from Mollymook surf beach and spent a couple of days doing not much.
From the beginning ....
Grandma, Uncle G and his smiling friend (LGR's name - not my name) came down for dinner on Thursday evening. We had some food and some wine and a nice old time. Grandma stayed but unfortunately Uncle G and his fried had to go home. I suspect they wanted to come to Mollymook with us but there were some time constraints.
On Friday morning we all got up, dressed and headed off at about 08:30. The first planned step was at Mt Gibraltar (aka Mittagong) but for some reason I couldn't find the lookout I was after. So we kept going thru to Fitzroy Falls.
This was a nice chance to get out and stretch the legs. LGR and Hayzey were suitably awed, and scared, by the enormous drop from the first lookout we got to. There's a steel grate at the edge of the lookout and nobody really wanted to walk on it. Hayzey got game quite quickly but I had enormous issues with even being on the lookout. For those who've been there might be some appreciation of why this is so.
Next was a quick trip down a very steep and windy road to Kangaroo Valley. We had some morning tea and then did a spot of venturing down the main street. I came across a fantastic little store selling imported things from all throughout Asia. We ended up buying the most magnificent photo albums and a few pressies for some folks. I have a very strong suspicion we'll be back at this place.
From here we went straight to Mollymook - and our little holiday house at Mollymook. The first impressions were very favourable (and time showed us they were also very accurate). We dumped our stuff and did a quick explore before heading out for some lunch and some groceries.
One shopping trip later and we were back 'home' unpacking, and then off to the beach. There was some initial trepidation from the kids but this disappeared quite quickly. We played some nice games of running away from the water and digging tunnels. I went for a run on the beach and we all got generally acquainted with the environment.
When we got back home we were enthralled by a couple of very bold rainbow lorrikeets - which quickly turned out to be pests. In the end we had to rush them off the deck because they were eating the food of Hayzey's hands ...
Not much else happened. We had dinner and went to bed.
Saturday was a sparkling day. After a massive breakfast we set out to find some water and nice sand. After a couple of false starts we found somewhere quite nice - although LGR and I managed to find somewhere even nicer just up the beach. We planned to go there in the afternoon but this never happened ....
Lunch consisted of a play in the nearby park and some fish and chips. Quite good too. Then the clouds came. And the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees. So we went for a drive to get some fresh fish for dinner. Wouldn't you know it? The shop we ended up at was owned by the guy who lived next door to the house we were staying at. Interesting ....
The only other thing of note on the Saturday was a nice 90 minute walk along the beach. We didn't take swimmers because we thought it was too cold. This obviously meant the kids both got soaked. In the end LGR had my shirt on (his was too wet) and I was wandering the streets of Mollymook mostly naked hugging Hayzey to stop her getting too cold.
Sunday wasn't much of an improvement. The weather was overcast and sometimes it looked like clearing up but in the end it just rained. We managed a trip to the markets at Ulladulla and picked up some more nice little pressies for people. The venture was cut short by rain ...
So we decided to head home. In the end we only left about an hour earlier than we had originally planned so we didn't miss much. We were thinking about stopping at Berry but in the end decided to skip it and have lunch at Kiama. Not a smart decision (in hindsight). We couldn't find anywhere that appealed to us and could fit us in so we had pies in the park while the kids played.
It was a good little trip. I wish it was longer but there just wasn't enough time. We'll be back though.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Catching Up
I had a pretty big weekend. For some it.
Saturday was fun. It was still raining but I spent Saturday looking after the kidlets. Mrs G and a busload of friends went on a shopping trip. From 07:00 thru to about 18:30 was time for the kids and I.
We started with swimming lessons. Hayzey had her first lesson without me in the pool and coped very well. She was a touch lazy (as she does) and only cried when another kid tried to push her in the pool.
After swimming we spent some time lazing around home - playing games, drawing, eating etc. Lunch was some fish and chips. LGR was excited about this until he found out I was making them ... He did enjoy watching Madagascar but at various times described the movie as being either too sad or too scary to watch. He ended up watching it all.
In the afternoon the kids had a sleep and then we went out to get some stuff for later that night. LGR told me he wanted prawns for dinner - but only after we'd arrived back home from the shops. It was still raining and there was nothing better to do so off we went again.
The rest of the day was more of nothing. And it was mostly fun.
---
Saturday night was also good. It was Aunt LJ's engagement party part 2. To cut a long story short there was plenty of food, plenty of drink and plenty of people. It was still raining. We had fun.
---
Nanna and Grandma both stayed over on Friday and Saturday nights - on Friday so they could go on the shopping trip and on Saturday so that Nanna could come to the party with us and for Grandma to babysit. It was much appreciated.
We woke up on Sunday morning (not much sleep was had) and the kids were very sprightly but Mum and Dad were not so great. Not hung over as such but definitely impacted by the night before. We took our time with everything. Grandma left at some stage of the morning, and Grandpa turned up at some other stage of the morning and the kid's dragged him off to jump on the trampoline and play ambulances. At about midday Nanna, myself and LGR wandered on out to get some groceries.
During the course of the afternoon Aunt LJ and UA showed up looking and feeling pretty much the same way Mrs G and I did. Aunt LJ finally got her birthday present and seemed to like it.
Then everyone left and we had the house to ourselves. We didn't do much. It was nice.
Bed time was interesting. The kids were adamant they weren't tired and Mrs G and I were very adamant they were. The adults finally won - but only after the kids wore themselves by thrashing in their beds for about an hour.
Saturday was fun. It was still raining but I spent Saturday looking after the kidlets. Mrs G and a busload of friends went on a shopping trip. From 07:00 thru to about 18:30 was time for the kids and I.
We started with swimming lessons. Hayzey had her first lesson without me in the pool and coped very well. She was a touch lazy (as she does) and only cried when another kid tried to push her in the pool.
After swimming we spent some time lazing around home - playing games, drawing, eating etc. Lunch was some fish and chips. LGR was excited about this until he found out I was making them ... He did enjoy watching Madagascar but at various times described the movie as being either too sad or too scary to watch. He ended up watching it all.
In the afternoon the kids had a sleep and then we went out to get some stuff for later that night. LGR told me he wanted prawns for dinner - but only after we'd arrived back home from the shops. It was still raining and there was nothing better to do so off we went again.
The rest of the day was more of nothing. And it was mostly fun.
---
Saturday night was also good. It was Aunt LJ's engagement party part 2. To cut a long story short there was plenty of food, plenty of drink and plenty of people. It was still raining. We had fun.
---
Nanna and Grandma both stayed over on Friday and Saturday nights - on Friday so they could go on the shopping trip and on Saturday so that Nanna could come to the party with us and for Grandma to babysit. It was much appreciated.
We woke up on Sunday morning (not much sleep was had) and the kids were very sprightly but Mum and Dad were not so great. Not hung over as such but definitely impacted by the night before. We took our time with everything. Grandma left at some stage of the morning, and Grandpa turned up at some other stage of the morning and the kid's dragged him off to jump on the trampoline and play ambulances. At about midday Nanna, myself and LGR wandered on out to get some groceries.
During the course of the afternoon Aunt LJ and UA showed up looking and feeling pretty much the same way Mrs G and I did. Aunt LJ finally got her birthday present and seemed to like it.
Then everyone left and we had the house to ourselves. We didn't do much. It was nice.
Bed time was interesting. The kids were adamant they weren't tired and Mrs G and I were very adamant they were. The adults finally won - but only after the kids wore themselves by thrashing in their beds for about an hour.
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