I wish I could do that

There are two things that impress Lara: being able to surf and play drums.
Lara loves watching the surfers at the beach. She repeatedly told me "I wish I could do that Mummy" while she held out her hands and pretended she was balancing on a surf board. She wanted to take her floaty board every time we went to a beach. She stood on it and pretened to be surfing.

Looking for a better surf elsewhere.


She also seemed very interested with drums. We had lunch at 'Lagoons' a few weeks ago for Parents-in-law's 50th wedding anniversay. Lara spent a long time at the lounge area at the front watching the band performing. She was particularly impressed with the drummer. She told me again and again "Mummy I wish I could play drums like that". Now she frequently uses two pens and whatever is lying around as her drum kit and practises her 'drumming'.

Umm...surfing and drums... I wonder what Lara will be when she grows up!


'Surfing' at Collaroy

Dee Why beach

We drove to Narrabeen and Collaroy beach on Easter Friday. The weather forcast was rain and it felt cold when we left so we didnt' take any change of clothes with us. When we arrived however, it was warm and sunny, not a cloud in sight. All we could do was a walk on the beach due to lack of spare clothes. The only consolation was the nice fish, chips and burger we had at the beach. Last weekend, we thought we would check out Dee Why beach, a little futher along. Somehow, we made the same mistake and didn't have the full set of gear we needed or a towel. Simon and Lara managed a small play (about an hour) at the shallow end of the sea.



We haven't been to Dee Why for ages and didn't realise the beach was lined up with cafes along one side. A late breakfast would be nice, but it felt too nice to leave the beach so we had burgers, chips and sushi sitting on the sand. Simon also had a little nap after lunch. We promised each other to always have change of clothes and towels in the car so we don't make the same mistake of not being able to fully enjoy the beach again! And we should also come back and try breakfast here.

Lost rings found

I lost my engagement+wedding rings some time ago. The thought that I threw them away accidently while packing to move made me feel sick in my stomach. We half-expected them to turn up when we were unpacking and thought they were lost forever when they didn't show up.

I got a unexpected phone call from Carrie on Easter Friday saying that she found my rings in their holiday home in Lake Macquarie. I must have left them there last time we were there 2 years ago!!

Carrie & family came over on the weekend to return the rings and have a look at our house and we had a very lovely afternoon together. I was Carrie's bridesmaid but somehow we seemed to lose in touch with each other after the last Lake Macquarie weekend. Her son Michael and Lara spent a long time jumping on the trampoline while we chatted sitting on the grass. I feel like I have found more than the lost rings!!

Gold Coast holiday

We didn't get to go to the beach much this summer so we decided to make this holiday a pure "beach" holiday. Gold Coast was our destination and Splendido apartment our home for 5 days. Weather-wise it was just right with maximum temperature at around 27-30C. We spent every day at a different beach - Monday: Mermaid beach. Tuesday: Broadbeach. Wednesday:Burleigh Heads. Thursday: Surfer's Paradise. We didn't rent a car but it was very convenient travelling around by bus (two section off-peak unlimited travel ticket $5.90 per person).



Mermaid beach was two blocks away from where we stayed but we had the worst experience, probably because it was a very windy day. We felt very cold, rushed back after less an hour there and ended up at the swimming pool/spa. Both Burleigh Heads and Broadbeach have park facilities and very family friendly. We particularly like Broadbeach, it was not as commercialised as Surfer's Paradise but with many choices of cafes and eateries around.



This was Lara's first airplane trip, she was absolutely amazed when the plane took off! The taxi rides and bus rides were also exciting for her. The food on offer was quite disappointing(especially dinners at Nobby Beach) but we all enjoyed the beach very much. Every afternoon when we went back to the apartment, we were all exhausted, but when we were at the beach we felt like time had stopped and we could be there forever. Watching the waves crashing into the shore was very soothing and great at emptying our minds.



Thanks to Parents-in-law who stayed here while we were away and looked after Zeb for us. And it was very nice coming home to a lovely home-cooked meal! Lara really missed her toys and spent a long time playing with toys that were uninterested to her previously. It's good to be back!

Tokyo Ramen

Lunch today was at Tokyo Ramen in Hornsby shopping centre. We had take-away sushi from here often but this is the first time we eat in. The shop was tiny with limited sitting and it was very busy when we arrived just after mid-day on Monday.

We had Agedashi Tofu (deep fried tofu with a sweet gingery sauce),Gyo-za, Tempura Udon and Negi Shoyu Ramen. The tofu was hot and silken, with very tasty sauce - extremely good value at $4. The tempuras was piled up high on top of the noodles. Many Japanese places' tempura eggplants were bland and under-done but here it was soft on the inside and very tasty. I didn't try other tempuras but from the number of orders on other tables, it was definitly a very popular dish. The Nigi Shoyu Ramen (with a dark soup) was not what I expecxted, but nice nonetheless (quite hot).



The food though not gourmet, was good quality homestyle food. We are keen to try other dishes there.

Terrigal beach

We decided on Saturday morning over breakfast to go to 'a beach' because the day looked lovely. We took out the map book and somehow settled on 'Forrester beach' because it looked big and long and not too far away. We packed and set-off at 10:30am.



Unfortunately we found Forrester beach to be a little 'wild' when we arrived. There was no shade, greenery or shops close-by. It took us some time to find a small take-away and got some burgers for lunch (by then we were extremely hungry). It took us even longer to find a 'park' (any place with grass and trees) to eat our lunch. We decided to head down to Terrigal after lunch.



We were very lucky to find a car space right in front of the beach. The day was probably too warm to stay outdoor but at the beach with the cool water and breeze, it was beautiful. Lara spent a long time in the water even though she had a chest cold and we didn't plan to stay for that long. The beach was patrolled with lots of cafes and shops nearby, very differnt to Forrester beach. Note to self: buy a beach umbrella so we can leave things at the beach.



We finished the day with icy poles and got home just before 5pm. Hopefully we get a few more fine days like these before winter!

Pet rocks

Lara's daycare craft. She painted the face and glued the eyes and hair herself.
What a clever idea!

Monday night dinner

Mushroom risotto with baby spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes.

Family Funday - Botanical Garden

We took the train into the city on Sunday, our destination the Botanical Garden. To save time, we walked there from Wynyard station, rather than waiting for another train. We admired the size of Queen Mary II docked at Circular Quay on the day before, but didn't stop to check out the arts/crafts stalls outside the Opera House steps (because I had to find a toilet quickly!).

Lara with QM II in the background.


We thought Lara would like to walk around in the Botanical Garden more. However, being such a warm day, she just wanted to be pushed around in the pram or sit on the grass. We saw lots of bats hanging up-side-down on trees trying to get some sleep despite the noises around.



Lara had a little sleep in the pram while we walked to World Square to have lunch (we also checked out some books in Dynmocks on the way there). We had lunch at 'Ding Tai Fung', a Taiwanese dumpling restaurant. My dad had been to one of the original branches in Taiwan and said it was great. It has great reviews and won lots of awards. The service was very attentive and kids friendly (Lara sat on high chair with her own kids plates and cutlery), however the food was not as tasty as we imagined. We had steamed pork dumpling, vegetable dumpling, pork and shrimp shu mai, shrimp and pork wonton soup, sweet and sour soup and fried crispy chicken.

We had coffee and ice chocolate before heading home. We did a lot of walking (I had blisters to show at the end of the day!) but felt great. We are planning to take Lara on the ferry next time.

Toilet training

Grandma decided to toilet train Lara one Sunday before Christmas. I didn't know the exact details(I was in bed), but I heard the score was 6 undies in two hours and crying and pleading at the end - "I don't like undies, I want to wear nappies!" We decided to leave it at that for a little while.

It was during the Austrlia Day long weekend when we decided to try again. I was still not feeling the best so Simon did most of the monitoring and reminding. There was only 2-3 accidents this time, mostly on the first day. Maybe the constant brain-wash (by telling her how good it is to wear undies) in between helped. Lara even did poo willingly in the toilet. We cheered every time something 'dropped' in the toilet and everything progressed well. Lara showed everyone her undies and had very few accidents in daycare(only a couple of times when she forgot or couldn't make it to the toilet in time).

Everything was well for two weeks, Simon even thought his ass-wiping days are over (at least for a few months). Then Lara started to refuse to poo in the toilet (wee is fine). We persevered/bribed/threatened but nothing worked. I was a little surprised that she could hold the poo(the longest for over 4 days!!) but Lara was determined. Once I sat with her on the toilet for 45 minutes because she looked like she might do one, but no, not coming.

Apparently this is very common. 'Be patient', we are telling ourselves. It will happen when she is ready!

Sunday lunch

After over two months of staying at home and not doing much, my energy level is slowly increasing. The mind is strange - when I was lying in bed feeling sick, my brain was busily thinking about all the things and places we would do and go when I get better. I couldn't eat anything, but I imagined all the food I am 'going to' eat when I get well .... We went out to eat for the first time in 2 months last weekend, and I made the first roast in 2 months yesterday. Today we had lunch at a little cafe in Terry Hills flowers market.

The place has a large enclosed play area so kids are well catered for. The service was quite slow (asked 3 times to get some water) and it was warm sitting outside (it would be better inside with air-con). The food was alright except FIL's lemon sole was over-cooked and MIL's steak sandwitch came with tomatoes and dressing (to their credit, they did re-make the whole dish). Despite these, I still felt that I had a good time. A little fresh air and a different environment do wonders sometimes.

Ballet class

Lara started ballet class three weeks ago. I took her to a 'trial' class before Christmas to see if she woule like to do ballet. Unfortunately, she wouldn't dance because she didn't have ballet shoes on and her ballet dress was different to the other girls'! (I didn't want to buy anything until AFTER the trial class). Anyway, she seems to enjoy it now. It's so nice watching these little girls dance, they are so cute!

Saturday

We like yum char. It's especially nice to have a variey of food when I haven't been cooking. We had the usual dumplings, white baits and sweets. We also managed to have coffee and done some shopping (alcohol for Christmas) all within 3 hours!

Lara's happiest at yum char.


We came back home just after 2pm and had to have all tricks out for Lara not to fall asleep in the car. We wanted her to have a good sleep in her bed as we were going to "Carols in the park' that night. I cooked 'duck confit' that day, and remebered to put the duck legs in duck fat to slow cook in the oven (100C for 7-8 hours) when we got home. I was really glad to leave the house as the fat didn't smell great cooking in the oven.

The park was crowded with people by the time we arrived. The carol singing didn't start until 7.30pm so we had time to see some farm animals and get face-painting done. It soon got dark and the kids enjoyed the cool night air and playing with the 'glow-in-the-dark' bracelets.

We had butterfly, princess and tiger at the park!

Lara test drive ...

the new trampoline - her Christmas and Birthday present.

Birthday party

We went to Andre's birthday party on Saturday. It was a very hot day and perfect to spend in the swimming pool. We got there at around 4pm and spent nearly 2 hours in the water! Lara didn't want to get out even though the water was still a little on the cool side, at least I felt cold. Jenny prepared lots of bbq food and I eventually got Lara out of the pool by luring her with some honey soy chicken wings. We were very full by the time we finished the chocolate birthday cake and headed home.

Lara and Jenny's boys posed and made faces while I took several photos. Here's one.

Surprises in the garden

This weekend was very very warm so we stayed indoor mostly. We managed to spend about an hour in the garden late afternoon before the sun set. FIL continued putting up the trampoline while MIL and I watered the garden. Simon went back to the fences around the vege patch, and did some general weeding.
While walking around in the garden, MIL found a few plants we didn't know we had- passionfruit, blueberry, apple, almond and raspberry. The garden is also full of strawberries. Unfortunately, Zebadee eats them before they have a chance to grow big. Nowadays, Zeb spent a lot of time having her nose on the strawberry patches looking for strawberries!

Apple.


Blueberry.

Dinner and swim

We visited Sarah and Mitch at their new house last weekend. They moved in just before we did, and they've done quite a lot renovations already. We helped christened their swiming pool. The water was a little on the cool side, both Milo and Lara were trembling and saying 'cooooooold" but they had lots of fun and didn't want to get out. Simon watched us with Jude on the side and Sarah only had time to take some pictures before rushing back to the kitchen.

We had a beautiful melt-in-your mouth roast pork (belly) and a lovely Skye Gyngell salad for dinner. Simon, not a salad person, found the salad very delicious. Desert was a heavenly lemon cheese cake with thin & crispy pastry, and surprisingly light. Lara finished her dinner without help and started licking her plate! She also finished the biggest piece of cheese cake. Here are some pictures of Lara and Milo.

Christmas tree is in!

Our Christmas tree is now sitting in the corner of the lounge and it's only the 15th of November!

This is our first real tree, not counting the small fibre optic one MIL gave us a couple of years ago. It was very exciting putting it up - took several attempts of re-arranging furniture to get there. The flickering lights are mesmerising to watch! The decorations are mainly blue because blue is Lara's favourite colour. Not all the decorations are in yet, hooks need to be purchased for more silver, white and blue balls.

This year is the first year we will be hosting Christmas lunch for the family, and we have 15 people coming! I don't think we even have enough forks, spoons or glasses for everyone. I have started making lists of things we need to buy and things we should borrow. I can't image feeding people food on paper plates, but deserts are fine to be served on paper plates I think. I hope there will be enough food so nobody gets too hungry on the day!

First thing first, we just had our new oven delivered and installed, that's a good start.

Different attitudes

In our last house, the neighbour on the left side complained to me over the fence about Zeb barking. She said Zeb barked everytime they hung their clothes outside(their clothes line was right near the side fence) or used their toilet near the side fence. Her son couldn't study becaue of Zeb so the son (not her) would complain to the council if Zeb kept barking. She suggested I buy an expensive collar to stop Zeb from barking. Zeb is friendly and not a barky dog by nature but I can't say Zeb never bark(dogs by nature would bark at strangers near the house!) so I said we would keep an eye on things. We found the dog on our right side barked a lot more than Zeb and didn't find the barking excessive at all. Luckily we didn't stay in that house for very long. I bumped into this ex-neighbour a couple of weeks ago and now she complained to me about her 'new' neighbour's birds!

In our new house, the backdoor neighbour told us over the back fence that Zeb sometimes barks when she's near the fence. She asked if she could give Zeb a bone. She thought Zeb barked becaue Zeb didn't know her and she wanted to give Zeb a bone to make friends with her.

How different are the two attitudes under very similar situations? I know which neighbour I want to make friends with and which attitude I would like to possess myself. Granted that the previous neighbour probably doesn't like dogs and this new neighbour does, but this make me think about our attitudes towards things in general. How do we handle situations we want to change? Do we complain and threaten or do we think of ways we can help improving things?

Surprise sashimi

I picked up some seafood after work from the local vegetable man last week. He went to the fish market earlier that day and brought salmon fillets, flathead fillets and some tiger prawns for me. I was told that the salmon was of sashimi quality so I decided to try part of it raw. I added sushi vinegar mix to cooked rice to have with our raw fish. The salmon was beautiful - buttery and melt in our mouths. The raw king fish was of a lesser quality. My (lack of) knife skill and the blunt knife didn't help either. It was a real surprise for Simon to come home to a sashimi meal! A light but satisfying meal with minimum cooking, just how I liked it as a week-day meal.