Totoro

If I have to pick the kids' favorite movie, it would have to be Totoro.
It was the movie they chose when we had special in-front-of-tv dinners (when Daddy was not home). It was the movie they chose when they couldn't agree on a movie to watch.

I found out 'Totoro' was playing at Chatswood concourse's outdoor screen and decided to take the kids to see it, even though it was on a school day (Tuesday).
I prepared way too much food and took Lara's school friend Jake, who also love this movie, with us.

It was a great afternoon!
(on 11/03/14)

Recently

This is a recent photo of Lara. She is 7 years old and has lost 2 teeth just before Christmas. She goes to Grandma's after school one day a week. She is learning to knit when she is at Grandma's. What you can see in the photo is the beginning of a bear's scarf she said. Grandma is right-handed but tried and couldn't work out how to teach Lara to knit with her left hand (Lara is left-handed). Lara said to Grandma, teach me to knit with your right hand. I don't know how to knit with any hand and I will learn to do it with my right hand!



This is 3 year old Sam. On this particular day, he already did 2 gymnastics trial classes in the morning (2 hours!). He came home and wanted to try the roller skates! He walked around with the roller skates but couldn't really skate (partly becasue our front garden was very uneven). I promised to take him to a park soon so he could try again.

This is why nothing is being updated in my blog!

Australian Reptile Park

We spent one sunny Wednesday during the school holiday at the Australian Reptile Park. The reptile park is only 30 minutes away. It's quite compact so you can get from one section to the next without a lot of walking. That was perfect for Lara, who was still recovering from the temperature she had a couple of days earlier. There are several enclosures that houseed various snakes, spiders, frogs and lizards, but there are some cuddly animals as well. There are shows on every 30 minutes or so (maybe more frquent during school holiday?) and these shows were excellent.

We watched Elvis the Alligator being fed - half a raw chicken at a time on a long stick! Saw several venomous snakes upclose and being taught what to do if you get bitten. At the reptile show, we saw a turtle, some lizards, a brown snake and a big python. These reptiles were left to wonder by themselves during the show. At one stage, the brown snake got very close to Lara's feet! When Elvis and the other lizards, turtles and crocs were resting in the sun, they look just like statues. The kids kept asking "Is it real?" "Are they real?" Then they saw the movements and shrieked "They are real!!"

It is a very hands on zoo. The kids fed kangaroos, patted lizards, a wombat as well as a dingo. I always considered dingo and wombat wild and never patted one in my life until now!

A very enjoyable family outing!

Holiday swimming lessons

I am so proud of Sam. The 40 minute lessons were a little long for him but he didn't cry at all and seemed to enjoy himself. He didn't put his head in water yet but I'm sure he will soon learn if we continue the lessons.



Lara learned breast stroke during the holiday swimming lessons and seemed to be more comfortable diving from the deep end.


I got Lara and Sam swimming at the same time. They were in lanes next to each other. (Lara'se swimming in the left lane and Sam's on his back in the right lane in the picture). They often waved and said hello to each other mid-lesson. I'm sure Lara provided the extra comfort that Sam needed to be at the pool without me.

Roast dinner

Mother-in-law's pre-new year roast pork with nice crunchy potatoes.


We don't get invited to in-law's for dinner as much as before because of Sam. Sam is not a lover of roast dinners. He refused to eat it most times and looked like he would throw up if we forced him. This has caused some frustrations and unhappiness. The solution- give him vegemite sandwitch or sushi and we get on with our roast dinners. All happy!

Wiggles concert

One of the fun activities we did just before Christmas was the Wiggles concert (we watched their second last show with the original wiggles). It was surprisingly fun! The highlight of the day was that Lara and Sam high-fived Jeff (purple wiggle) when he came around to collect roses and bones for Dorothy and Wags (oh we forgot to do roses and bones!). Sam couldn't stop talking about Jeff afterwards and Lara couldn't get over how long Jeff's hair was. Keeping Sam on his seat was a little challenging, he wanted to get closer to the stage. Lara danced to most songs and talked about going back next year even before we left the concert. But the wiggles are not the same without the original members!!

Sculpture park

I have not posted anything here for some time. I even forgot my password and took some time to try to get back in. September was a busy month for work, and somehow I am still catching up on cleaning, cooking and playdates and generally don't feel like doing much.

We did do a few fun things as a family on the weekends, including rides in Galston model railway, the zoo and Hunter Valley.

We also spent one Sunday morning strolling around the sculpture park in Macquarie University during an art trail weekend. It was a beautiful sunny day and lovely to watch the kids enjoying themselves - they played 'spot the next sculpture', 'watch me climb in and out' and 'run around like crazy'. Here are some pics:

Apple picking at Bilpin

This trip was supposed to be steam train rides, apple picking was a do-if-we-have-time event. Apple-picking became the main event when we arrived at the zig-zag railway and found it closed due to unexpected maintenance. What a disappointment! Thank goodness for apples to cheer us up. The day was beautifully sunny. Driving up the Bell Line of road was lovely. We heard the distinctive high-pitch ringing sound the Bell birds made when we wound our windows down. Being Easter Saturday, there was a small traffic jam at Richmond. We managed to stop at Fruti Tutti for lunch and ice-cream but due to time constrain, drove right past Mt Tomah national park. The Fuji and Pink lady apples we picked were nice, Sam had 3 and didnt have much for dinner afterwards. There are also plums/apricots to pick if we go at the right time.

Visit the zoo

We finally managed to visit the zoo at the beginning of Feb thanks to free zoo passes from work. We hadn't been to the zoo for over 10 years. The cloest we got to the zoo was when I pre-bought tickets last year, but Lara and I had food-poisoning the day before we planned to go. The tickets expired before we had time to use them!



The day started out raining but it turned sunny and quite warm by mid-morning. The giraffs were much taller than we thought. The chimps and gorillas didn't seem too happy to see us, but put on a bit of a show for us. The tiger/lion roared near the window, you could feel the thick glass trembled. One of the elephants did a huge wee right in front of us, Lara and I were glad we were not near his feet. The seals were cute as usual, but Sam couldn't sit still for the seal show. Lara enjoyed feeding goats, chickens and pigs at the kindy farm too. I was not too impressed with the lunch set-up, maybe we should pack our lunch next time.



Sam didn't have his midday sleep therefore was a little cranky at times. Walking up and down pushing a pram and running after a 18-month-old was tiring too. I can't say that it was a nice and relaxing trip but we all enjoyed it very much thanks to the good companions we had. We did a lot of walking around that we wer all exhausted at the end of the day. This trip inspired us to go and vist the Dubbo Western Plains zoo in the near future. Maybe when Sam is a little older?

Two dinners

Two of the dinners we shared with family and friends this month at our house...



Earlier in the month, ex-work-colleagues-turned-friends G and N came over for a simple lunch. This year was very difficult for N being a empty-nester (youngest leaving home for uni) and going through a separation/divorce. We hoped a small lunch would get N out of the house and made her feel a little better.

Menu: Shallow fried mixed seafood (fish, prawns and calamari- N is a vegetarian but eats seafood), mango salad, cabbage salad, homemade Hungarian salami (made by G, yummy!),home-grown tomatoes (hand-picked by G that moring), curry puffs (curtesy of N), olives, bread and crackers.

We all had too much to eat. The stroll to the nearby park after lunch(it was around 5pm by then)was a nice and relaxing way to end the day.



Chinese New Year's Eve dinner with in-laws.
Menu: Fried rice with carrots and eggs, veges (brocolli and cauliflower), pork spare ribs (american ribs marinated in bbq sauce), beans with bacons, coconut prawns.

I didn't cook a whole fish as is the tradition (whole 'fish' symbolise having more than enough for the new year) because I didn't have fish in the fridge. The inclusion of spare ribs wasn't very chinese either, but the ribs were very popular with in-laws, husband and kids, so who cares!

Gruffalo

We watched "The Gruffalo" in the Opera House last Wednesday. I originally planned for Lara to go with her grandparents as Sam's specialist appointment fell on the same day. Then I managed to reschedule the appointment after Granddad offered to mind Sam so I could watch it too. Daycare introduced the book earlier this year and Lara absolutely loved it (I've noticed Lara likes stories that rhyme). Lara knew the words of the book very well, she even read the book to kids in dayare! The hardest part of the day was probably the train journey. Sam would not sit on the train so I was tired from having to watch him and 'intervene' constantly. Also we had to change trains and went up and down the platforms, not so easy with baby, pram, and the school holiday crowd.

I told Lara about Opera House beforehand, but when she saw it she couldn't believe how big it is, "I thought it was just a house" she said. Lara coloured a paper Gruffalo on a stick before the show (pictured above).

The show was 50-minute long - any longer the kids would lose their concentration. It was packed with songs and jokes for the young and the old. The playhouse is not huge and we had great seats (I booked 3 months ago!) so we could see everything well. Sam stayed outside with Granddad and had a short sleep in the pram. Several kids cried when the Graffalo growled, but it seemed everyone enjoyed it. It was a cloudy day and it started to rain after the show so we didn't stay around for long. I'm keeping my eyes open for more 'Kids at the House' shows next year.



ps All the photos came out foggy (I thought because it was foggy day) then I noticed it was only foggy on one side of the photos. The 'fog' disappeared after I cleaned the camera lense (Lara was playing with my camera the day before).

Happiest outdoors

We spent more and more time in the garden now that it is warmer. The retaining wall is done but not finished. The last bit of work (pipe behind the wall has no where to go) always takes the longest. Work is progressing but quite slowly. We will be planting a few more bushes and plants in the garden in particularly near the retaining wall. Looking forward to plant-hunting next weekend!

Pelicans

Our first encounter with a pelican in The Entrance was when we were having lunch at a cafe. A pelican wandered around the strip of shops in front of the marina, stopping at the cafe. I imagine the shop owner feed the pelican from time to time, otherwise he wouldn't be so insistent in going in. Lara had never seen a pelican this close before therefore was very excited. Even though the food was very average, the pelican and the surrendings made this a nice experience.



We checked into our apartment then walked back to watch the pelican feeding at 3.30pm. It was quite busy considering it was a weekday. Most of the pelicans were waiting in the water and only came up to the feeding platform when their food (raw fish) was there. The same cheeky pelican we saw ealier (I think) was the only one who followed the man with the box of fish around. The feeding lasted maybe 20 minutes. Sam fell asleep in the pram and missed the whole thing. Lara grew a little bored towards the end. The pelicans were not as fascinating to us after three days of looking at them. The marina was full of pelicans and sea gulls at dusk, the noises they made were deafening.

Letter to Zebadee

Dear Zeb,

Did you have a good time out by yourself today? I was worried after I found you missing this morning. I couldn't drive around looking for you like I did last time because Sam was asleep, and Granddad couldn't find you. And I was still disappointed at your behaviour when you ran off two months ago - I was very lucky to have spotted you and got off the car very quickly to get your attention. You saw me but ran the other way and disappearred out of sight again. I know you thought I was angry at you so you ran away from me. You did run straight home, but I would like you to come to me when I called you. You were out for so long I thought we lost you for good this time. Daddy was at work but told me not to go and look for you. He said if you want to run away, don't come back, but I know he was worried too because he sounded relieved when I told him you came back.

We still couldn't work out how you got out. We increased the height of a side fence, but you found another way. You obviously came back the same way you left. I kept looking out for you and kept checking the garden for the sight of you. I was in Sam's room putting him to bed when you came back, and you barked at Sam's window to let me know you were home.

I know we have been neglecting you a little because we are busy with Lara and Sam. But you have a big garden to run around so it is very naughty to go out by yourself like that without letting us know. We will be checking all the fences again and make sure you dont' go wander off for your own good. If you have to go wander, please stay on the footpath and don't go too far!

Love Mummy

New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's Eve at the beach. It was a lovely warm day, we arrived at the beach just after 4pm. We had planned to leave home ealier but it just took so long to get ready these days, with all the kids stuff we had to have with us. Simon set up the new beach tent then took Lara to play while I looked after Sam. We swapped an hour later, I played with Lara at the beach while Simon had a rest in the tent. The sea breeze was quite strong, the afternoon sun warm but not unbearable like the mid-day sun. Sam had a little sleep. We had fish'n' chips and burger, another little play before we headed home at around 7pm. People started to arrive while we were packing up to leave. There were various activities and performaces on at the beach to celebrate the new year. Lara and I danced to the beat of drums feeling very festive. Having two young kids, we couldn't stay. The aim is to not spend a long time at the beach each time but go frquently.

Lara was of course unhappy to leave, she loved the beach and could spend the whole day there.

Christmas 2010

We stayed up a little later than usual with Lara, Carolyn and the girls on Christmas Eve. Lara was very excited and showed off her ballet dancing and performed silly acts. I woke up the earliest at 7:30 on Christmas morning to feed Sam but had a fuzzy head and a small headache.

The in-laws arrived at 9am and we all sat down and had a big breakfast of ham, croissant, rock melon and champaign before the presents were opened. Even though Mother-in-law and I tried to do as much as we can beforehand, there were still a lot of preparation food-wise on Christmas Day.



People nibbled on nuts, chips, fruit, cheese and crackers and had prawns before we served Christmas dinner at 3pm. I went outside to watch Lara and her cousins playing with bubbles between cooking.



For dinner we had roasted potatos, carrots, peas, three types of meat (rolled and stuffed turkey breast, ham and pork belly), three salads (roasted vegetable couscous salad, green salad and Chinese cabbage salad) and three deserts (Christmas pudding, mangomisu and lemon tart). We had so much food left that we didn't need to cook much for another set of relatives who where here on Boxing day (thank God). In fact we are still eating left-overs from Christmas day!

ps Grandma and Sam had matching clothes on both days!!

Grandma's Birthday

We celebrated Mother-in-law's 70th birthday this weekend. Lunch at "The cooks garden" was very nice. Most people had either the fish 'n' chips or steak 'n' chips. Food was delicious but it was a warm day and too hot to sit outdoors. Miraclously, Sam slept through most of the meal leaving us free to enjoy our food. Afterwards, we went back to Grandma's place for mudcake. Everyone enjoyed the lovely cake from Pattisons. Happy birthday Grandma!


The steak and chips was not cheap at $34, but I heard it was delicious!


My baby calamari, chorizo, and spinach hot pot.


Lara loved her fish and chips. Fish was very tasty and fresh.

Weekend activities

Sat 18/September - Lunch at a local park. Lara enjoyed the short play, we enjoyed the nice walk and Sam hopefully enjoyed a little sunshine.





Sun 19/September - Bobbin Head national park with Grandparents. Lara liked the huge playground(there are 3 slides with varying lengths), especially the monkey bar. Lunch of burger and chips was nice. Simon and Lara followed a group of ducks, Grandma had a good cuddle with Sam and Grand-dad played games with Lara.



Sat 25/September - Milo's birthday. A very exciting event with petting zoo, pony rides, face painting, animal ballons and yummy food. Lara loved the cute train set birthday cake and very impressed with the pony rides. Sarah and Mitch obviously spent a great deal of efforts on this birthday party. Lara told me that night "I want to go to Milo's 4 year old birthday party tomorrow!" (anything in the future is still 'tomorrow'). Auntie Sarah will faint if she has to organise another party 'tomorrow'!

Catch up ...

11/07 - with niece for lunch at 3one7 in Paramatta. It was a relaxing and enjoyoable afternoon. We ordered way too much food. Lara enjoyed her chocolate mousse.


18/07 - with my old work colleagues N & G at the local cafe, then back home for tea and cakes. We seem to have more rain these days, but this is one of those rare sunny weekends that was made more enjoyable by spending it outdoor.

The great moscow circus

We went to watch the great Moscow circus last Sunday. It was Lara's as well as my first circus visit so we were very excited. Having only seen circus on TV before, this one was smaller than I imagined. We got there half an hour before the show and bought some cold hot dogs, fairy floss and popcorn before the show started.

There were many acts one after another so it was never boring. We sat quite close to the stage and watched in amazement the first half of the show before the 15-minute intermission. I had to close my eyes from time to time in fear of the acrobats falling off at great heights. The kids had a play before the second half started. There was a surreal feeling about the whole thing. Lara was a little tired towards the end of the show and found the motorbikes 'too loud'.

Lara and Jenny's boys stood long enough in the front entrance for me to take some pictures. Don't they look cute!


Lara was especially facinated by the contortionist and found them funny. She put on a show for us that night pretending to be a contortionist. We had to clap vigorously whenever she stopped to hold a pose. It was hilarious.

This was certainly a memorable experience.