Hello strangers!
It has been a while, bet you thought we had forgotten to update this. In actual fact it has been overtaken in usage by Toni's sewing blog: here are the stats
- sewing blog updates since Sep 15: 7
- this blog updates since Sep 15: 0
Hmm. Maybe that's a hint that I should be more proactive in updating this blog
(By the way DO NOT look at the sewing blog as it contains Christmas spoilers for some people. You were warned!)
Since the last update in mid-September, I have spent 2 weeks in Germany (I may even have seen some readers of this blog in person in my 40-hour trip to London in the weekend in between). Then a couple of short weeks in Sydney where I caught up with Dom Cookson again for a beer or two, but since then I am happy to report I have only been away 3 nights in the last 6 weeks.
It is great to be back at home so much - and with so much to look forward to! Only 2wks +1 day until our son's due date: we are now at the point where we are hoping he will come sooner as Toni is pretty much over being pregnant. She is doing brilliantly though and looking very well, good reports from the midwife so I hope this one will be as good as Maddie's birth was. (Although less back pain would be good. For Toni that is. I didn't have any back pain.)
We have been trying to sell our house but unfortunately we put it on the market at just the wrong time. In the 4wks from the start of marketing it to the auction the global financial crisis (TM) struck and not much property is moving now. It's now been on for 12wks (feels like longer) and I don't think we're going to get an offer. We will still move though, just by renting ours out and renting somewhere else (more on that later).
As a result of having to spend a lot of time at the weekends out of the house (due to house inspections for non-existent buyers), we've been spending some more time exploring Victoria. We found a great dairy up in the Yarra Valley where Maddie can feed the cows, and we've also spent a lot of time on the Mornington Peninsula. Like the Yarra Valley there are a lot of wineries (Aussie for vineyards) but lots of rolling green hills and interesting boutique & foodie places; our faves being the chocolate factory/shop, cheesery (er, Aussie for dairy?) and Red Hill Brewery.
It is a great place to spend the weekends which is why we have decided to give it a go living down there. The only downside is it is quite a long way to work for me - over an hour each way, so we'll have to see how it works out. We're excited about the move though, which will probably happen in Feb. New baby, new house....we just can't seem to keep still.
That said, we are feeling very settled in Australia and it really feels like home. It's such an easy place to settle and a great lifestyle. I think we now know 3 separate lots of people who have come out here since we did and all are enjoying it too. And the 4th lot are on the way in January...looking forward to seeing you in Brissy guys (you know who you are!).
No pics this time as we blew our internet quota (12Gb! Whoops) downloading Spooks Series 6 so we are now limited to dial-up speeds which is too painfully slow to contemplate uploading photos.
Will put some photos up later in the week - our internet quota is renewed on Weds.
Dom
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sledging! (or in Aussie - Tobogganing)
On Saturday we finally, after 20 months of living in Melbourne made it up to the high mountains for some snow.
Although Spring has now arrived (it was the 2nd Saturday of Spring and was 25°C in Melbourne, at last!), the ski season has been “a ripper” and is expected to make it out into October this year.
So, buoyed up by reports from friends from their trip the weekend before, we got in the car for the 2 hour drive to Lake Mountain. This is a smallish ‘resort’ where you can do a little bit of skiing but primarily it’s for families to play around in the snow and slide down the slopes on sledges. We all had a fantastic time.
Check me out - I'll surf down!
Me and Mummy
Maddie was feeling quite independent at times (no surprise there) and went down the slope on her own a few times…but she also liked going down with Mummy (faster than Daddy as it turned out, clearly better sledging technique).
She is also a mean shot with snowballs..!
And of course, we made a snowman. However the snow was thinning by then (even up on the mountain it was almost 10°C), but the slight lack of snow didn’t faze Maddie…
Evolution of a snowman
Not enough snow to build a snowman? No problem...pile this up here...
Eyes, nose and mouth...
Whoops, forgot eyebrows! Silly me!
All done - me and my snowman!
We'll definitely be back next year!
Although Spring has now arrived (it was the 2nd Saturday of Spring and was 25°C in Melbourne, at last!), the ski season has been “a ripper” and is expected to make it out into October this year.
So, buoyed up by reports from friends from their trip the weekend before, we got in the car for the 2 hour drive to Lake Mountain. This is a smallish ‘resort’ where you can do a little bit of skiing but primarily it’s for families to play around in the snow and slide down the slopes on sledges. We all had a fantastic time.
Check me out - I'll surf down!
Me and Mummy
Maddie was feeling quite independent at times (no surprise there) and went down the slope on her own a few times…but she also liked going down with Mummy (faster than Daddy as it turned out, clearly better sledging technique).
She is also a mean shot with snowballs..!
And of course, we made a snowman. However the snow was thinning by then (even up on the mountain it was almost 10°C), but the slight lack of snow didn’t faze Maddie…
Evolution of a snowman
Not enough snow to build a snowman? No problem...pile this up here...
Eyes, nose and mouth...
Whoops, forgot eyebrows! Silly me!
All done - me and my snowman!
We'll definitely be back next year!
What we've been up to
Well as usual it’s been a long time since the last update. Partly I blame the hard winter we’ve had which has meant we’ve not been up to quite as much – but also we’ve had very little spare time.
I have been away every week since the start of August - for at least 3 days a week and normally all week - which has been pretty hard for all of us. Toni’s days go pretty quickly (as they would do looking after a hectic toddler!) but it is pretty boring for her in the evenings. From my point of view I miss them both hugely when I’m away so much.
On top of all of this, we have put our house on the market! Some of you may be thinking that this is a bit quick, well it is and in retrospect we bought too quickly. However we have learnt from the experience and on the positive side, we know that we chose the right area of Melbourne to live in & we definitely want to stay where we are.
In fact we have found a nice new house only 1 mile away from ours…although the house is not actually built yet, but should be ready in April. More on that as it gets nearer and once we sell ours (fingers crossed).
Selling a house is very different here, you basically have set times when your house is “Open for Inspection” and people have to get themselves there (rather than being taken by the agent) at those times. Typically it will be for 30 minutes on a Sat and the same on a Sunday. The sellers leave the house for the agents to open up and market.
What this means in practice is that for those 30 minutes your house needs to look like a show home - and preferably the less evidence of anyone actually living there the better! It is a big effort and Toni did brilliantly to get it all shipshape on her own over a few weeks when I was pretty much always in Sydney.
The house now looks very good but when it comes down to it we need a 3rd bedroom and it's going to be easier to do that by moving than by extending - plus we can move to a quieter road (ours is on a dual carriageway which didn't seem that big a deal when we bought - it's only a 35mph speed limit - but has come to bother us).
Watch this space for the next post about last weekend. We went tobogganing!
Dom
I have been away every week since the start of August - for at least 3 days a week and normally all week - which has been pretty hard for all of us. Toni’s days go pretty quickly (as they would do looking after a hectic toddler!) but it is pretty boring for her in the evenings. From my point of view I miss them both hugely when I’m away so much.
On top of all of this, we have put our house on the market! Some of you may be thinking that this is a bit quick, well it is and in retrospect we bought too quickly. However we have learnt from the experience and on the positive side, we know that we chose the right area of Melbourne to live in & we definitely want to stay where we are.
In fact we have found a nice new house only 1 mile away from ours…although the house is not actually built yet, but should be ready in April. More on that as it gets nearer and once we sell ours (fingers crossed).
Selling a house is very different here, you basically have set times when your house is “Open for Inspection” and people have to get themselves there (rather than being taken by the agent) at those times. Typically it will be for 30 minutes on a Sat and the same on a Sunday. The sellers leave the house for the agents to open up and market.
What this means in practice is that for those 30 minutes your house needs to look like a show home - and preferably the less evidence of anyone actually living there the better! It is a big effort and Toni did brilliantly to get it all shipshape on her own over a few weeks when I was pretty much always in Sydney.
The house now looks very good but when it comes down to it we need a 3rd bedroom and it's going to be easier to do that by moving than by extending - plus we can move to a quieter road (ours is on a dual carriageway which didn't seem that big a deal when we bought - it's only a 35mph speed limit - but has come to bother us).
Watch this space for the next post about last weekend. We went tobogganing!
Dom
Thursday, July 24, 2008
No like rain, I like sunshine!
This is Maddie's new catchphrase since we returned from our sunny holiday to find Melbourne to be very wet and cold.
We've just spent a rather lovely week in Palm Cove, Far North Queensland (pretty much right at the top of the right hand side pointy bit of Australia). It was nice to get away from the cold weather in Melbourne as we find that we have truly acclimatised this winter and I (Toni) in particular have been moaning about how cold it is almost constantly. In UK terms it isn't actually that cold, or so I keep telling myself.
Anyway, Palm Cove was lovely and warm and we didn't even need a cardy at night! Primarily we were there for a bit of a rest but we did manage to do a bit of sight seeing with a drive to Port Douglas and Mossman Gorge, a train trip up a rainforested mountain and a cable car back down and a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef for a bit of a snorkel and swim. Maddie was in her element there being plenty of time for swimming and sandcastle-building. She's very democratic in that she builds each of us a sand-castle and then smashes them down, sometimes they are birthday cakes and get decorated with shells and sticks for candles.
Anyway, rather than write more I'll just add some pics so you can see for yourselves what we got up to.
Making friends with Romeo the koala:
The view down from our cable car:
Oh we're on the train again, speeding down the rails again (song from one of Maddie's favourite books):
Little Miss Swimsuit 2008:
Sand-cake anyone?
P.S. We also saw our first two 'in the wild' snakes a red belly black which could easily have been mistaken for a big stick and a unidentified dead snake, which I very nearly trod on. We've also have our first indoor huntsman at home, which Dom bravely caught in a glass and released outside...and no, it isn't poisonous!
We've just spent a rather lovely week in Palm Cove, Far North Queensland (pretty much right at the top of the right hand side pointy bit of Australia). It was nice to get away from the cold weather in Melbourne as we find that we have truly acclimatised this winter and I (Toni) in particular have been moaning about how cold it is almost constantly. In UK terms it isn't actually that cold, or so I keep telling myself.
Anyway, Palm Cove was lovely and warm and we didn't even need a cardy at night! Primarily we were there for a bit of a rest but we did manage to do a bit of sight seeing with a drive to Port Douglas and Mossman Gorge, a train trip up a rainforested mountain and a cable car back down and a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef for a bit of a snorkel and swim. Maddie was in her element there being plenty of time for swimming and sandcastle-building. She's very democratic in that she builds each of us a sand-castle and then smashes them down, sometimes they are birthday cakes and get decorated with shells and sticks for candles.
Anyway, rather than write more I'll just add some pics so you can see for yourselves what we got up to.
Making friends with Romeo the koala:
The view down from our cable car:
Oh we're on the train again, speeding down the rails again (song from one of Maddie's favourite books):
Palm Cove namesakes:
Little Miss Swimsuit 2008:
Sand-cake anyone?
P.S. We also saw our first two 'in the wild' snakes a red belly black which could easily have been mistaken for a big stick and a unidentified dead snake, which I very nearly trod on. We've also have our first indoor huntsman at home, which Dom bravely caught in a glass and released outside...and no, it isn't poisonous!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Winter Solstice Bonfire Night!
The winter here is a strange time for recent migrants from Europe, because it's cold enough to feel like winter (in the mornings anyway), and it's dark earlier, but there's no Christmas or Guy Fawkes' to look forward to.
So we were pleased when we found out Collingwood Children's Farm were holding a bonfire with mulled wine and a lantern parade on the Winter Solstice (that's the Summer Solstice for those of you reading in the Northern Hemisphere!). The Children's Farm is a great place so we had no reservations about going along.
Maddie had a great time, as did we all (see below!).
We met our friends Paul & Chloe there who have two older girls and a 1-yr old boy. Maddie loves meeting up with her "big girl friends" and the eldest, Willow (7) likes being 'Mummy' to Maddie.
Here Maddie is being lifted up!
I've just been over to Perth with work for a week, commissioning the world's biggest truck (might blog some photos next week as it does have to be seen to be believed). Not like your Monster Trucks...much much much bigger. The hubcaps were above my head!
Otherwise we are all well and Maddie is a lot of fun at the moment, although also very challenging at times!
Will post again soon...love to all
Dom
So we were pleased when we found out Collingwood Children's Farm were holding a bonfire with mulled wine and a lantern parade on the Winter Solstice (that's the Summer Solstice for those of you reading in the Northern Hemisphere!). The Children's Farm is a great place so we had no reservations about going along.
Maddie had a great time, as did we all (see below!).
We met our friends Paul & Chloe there who have two older girls and a 1-yr old boy. Maddie loves meeting up with her "big girl friends" and the eldest, Willow (7) likes being 'Mummy' to Maddie.
Here Maddie is being lifted up!
I've just been over to Perth with work for a week, commissioning the world's biggest truck (might blog some photos next week as it does have to be seen to be believed). Not like your Monster Trucks...much much much bigger. The hubcaps were above my head!
Otherwise we are all well and Maddie is a lot of fun at the moment, although also very challenging at times!
Will post again soon...love to all
Dom
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Maddie's first Mountain Bike race!
..no, she wasn't actually competing. In fact, neither was I - just spectating this week.
I took Maddie along to the weekly Thursday night race (which I do sporadically) as I needed to register for this Sunday's 6-hour race.
So she got a taste of MTB racing, and I have to report with no small amount of pleasure that she loved it! It's difficult to convey what the race is like, as they start at 6:30pm so this time of year, it's all in the dark:
(not me)
Maddie was very interested in all the bikes whipping around all over the place, and even got into cheering on the racers: "Go!" at quite a good volume!
All I need to teach her now is how to hold water bottles & energy bars, and count the people in front of me so I know my race position, and she'll be a very useful race assistant!
I took Maddie along to the weekly Thursday night race (which I do sporadically) as I needed to register for this Sunday's 6-hour race.
So she got a taste of MTB racing, and I have to report with no small amount of pleasure that she loved it! It's difficult to convey what the race is like, as they start at 6:30pm so this time of year, it's all in the dark:
(not me)
Maddie was very interested in all the bikes whipping around all over the place, and even got into cheering on the racers: "Go!" at quite a good volume!
All I need to teach her now is how to hold water bottles & energy bars, and count the people in front of me so I know my race position, and she'll be a very useful race assistant!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
"Daddy Work 'morrow?"
Hi,
Well as usual it has been a looong time since the last blog update. And this one isn't going to be that exciting, as I'm not at home and so I don't have any pictures on this computer to post. I will press on though as there's not much else to do at Bankstown Sports Club where I always have to stay in Sydney. No Darling Harbour or Opera House views for me.
The biggest news is that Maddie is Two!! Can't believe how quickly the time goes.
We invited 16 toddlers to her party which went very well except we failed to anticipate that this meant 16 presents and as a result we have a lot less space in the house than we did before!!
She is very chatty now and seems to have gone through a real growth spurt lately. One of the things I really notice is how much she can interact on the phone - I flew over to Syndey for work today, and earlier she was talking to me on the phone about Daddy going on a plane ("Up Sky?").
Usually I get "Daddy work 'morrow?" meaning "Are you going to work tomorrow, Daddy?". If the answer is yes, the next question is usually, "Bike?" as this is how I get to work on the days Toni doesn't work - and so Maddie stays at home and (if she is awake when I leave) waves me off on the bike. Hence, going to work = going on the bike. Makes perfect sense!
Maddie is currently very trendy amongst her peers as they have just started showing the BBC Children's series "In The Night Garden" here. Maddie is somewhat ahead of the game as it is one of her favourite programmes, and she has the magazines, toys, pyjamas, slippers, pants and more! None of which you can get in Australia yet. What a trendsetter!
I'm not sure what we've been up to lately, mainly just relaxing after what seems like a long run of visitors. Not that we didn't enjoy having them each to stay - it was great. We have booked our own holiday - to Palm Cove in North Queensland. A bit of relief from the Melbourne winter for us! We're off on July 13th for a week.
We are heading into Winter here, and in fact the other morning it was only 3 degrees C when I cycled to work!!! I am still in shock. That is a little unusual for May though & it has climbed back up to a minimum of around 7-8 degrees overnight now...but it's getting colder. We're hoping to take Maddie tobogganing in June or July - about a 2hr drive from us up into the hills. No doubt by next year she'll be skiing and leaving her cackhanded parents behind on the slopes! She already calls me "Old Man Daddy" (although I blame Toni for this)!
Right, I'm going to sign off and head to bed. Back home to Toni & Maddie tomorrow - can't wait.
Hope you're all well,
Dom
Well as usual it has been a looong time since the last blog update. And this one isn't going to be that exciting, as I'm not at home and so I don't have any pictures on this computer to post. I will press on though as there's not much else to do at Bankstown Sports Club where I always have to stay in Sydney. No Darling Harbour or Opera House views for me.
The biggest news is that Maddie is Two!! Can't believe how quickly the time goes.
We invited 16 toddlers to her party which went very well except we failed to anticipate that this meant 16 presents and as a result we have a lot less space in the house than we did before!!
She is very chatty now and seems to have gone through a real growth spurt lately. One of the things I really notice is how much she can interact on the phone - I flew over to Syndey for work today, and earlier she was talking to me on the phone about Daddy going on a plane ("Up Sky?").
Usually I get "Daddy work 'morrow?" meaning "Are you going to work tomorrow, Daddy?". If the answer is yes, the next question is usually, "Bike?" as this is how I get to work on the days Toni doesn't work - and so Maddie stays at home and (if she is awake when I leave) waves me off on the bike. Hence, going to work = going on the bike. Makes perfect sense!
Maddie is currently very trendy amongst her peers as they have just started showing the BBC Children's series "In The Night Garden" here. Maddie is somewhat ahead of the game as it is one of her favourite programmes, and she has the magazines, toys, pyjamas, slippers, pants and more! None of which you can get in Australia yet. What a trendsetter!
I'm not sure what we've been up to lately, mainly just relaxing after what seems like a long run of visitors. Not that we didn't enjoy having them each to stay - it was great. We have booked our own holiday - to Palm Cove in North Queensland. A bit of relief from the Melbourne winter for us! We're off on July 13th for a week.
We are heading into Winter here, and in fact the other morning it was only 3 degrees C when I cycled to work!!! I am still in shock. That is a little unusual for May though & it has climbed back up to a minimum of around 7-8 degrees overnight now...but it's getting colder. We're hoping to take Maddie tobogganing in June or July - about a 2hr drive from us up into the hills. No doubt by next year she'll be skiing and leaving her cackhanded parents behind on the slopes! She already calls me "Old Man Daddy" (although I blame Toni for this)!
Right, I'm going to sign off and head to bed. Back home to Toni & Maddie tomorrow - can't wait.
Hope you're all well,
Dom
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Visiting Auntie Nadine in WA
We went to Perth for Easter to visit Dom's sister, Nadine. Dom had been for work before but it was the first time Maddie or I had been. It's about a 4 hour flight from Melbourne so not exactly a short trip, which wasn't aided by the fact that Maddie threw a 4 hour tantrum on the way there. It was worth it though as we had a fab time and Perth and the surrounding areas are beautiful.
The tantrum actually turned out to be the start of a sickness and Maddie was a bit poorly for the frst few days. Not so poorly that she couldn't demand to go to the beach every day!
The weather was beautiful, we'd just had a really hot spell in Melly so it was great to go somewhere with a constant 30 degree temp and a nice cool breeze (they call the breeze the 'Fremantle Doctor'). Accordingly we visited the beach every day and generally made the most of being on holiday. We also went to the Zoo which is pretty much a given for going anywhere with Maddie - she is now very brave with animals and was happy to go up and stroke the Kangaroo!
Another highlight was Rottnest Island, about 45 mins by Ferry from Fremantle. This is a car-free island and we had a lovely time cycling between the beaches for a day - as you can see Maddie enjoyed herself!
Nadine and her partner Ash have just bought a lovely new house with palm trees in the garden.They have a cat called Lucy who was terrified of all of us but especially Maddie! She spent most of the week hiding under the spare bed and Maddie spent a lot of time with her head stuck under the bed trying to coax her out. Poor Lucy!
The garden was the scene of Maddie's Easter egg hunt...
Found one!
There's one up here!
You can keep them safe, Mummy...
Thanks to Nadine very kindly driving, we also found time to do our first winery tour (of the vineyards in the Swan Valley near Perth). Although there is the Yarra Valley only 45 mins from the centre of Melbourne, we've only been to one winery in 15 months! So we came back with 9 or 10 bottles stuffed into the cases including some very nice Port and Muscat.
All for now, much to write about so back soon (well, sooner than our usual infrequent efforts I hope!).
The tantrum actually turned out to be the start of a sickness and Maddie was a bit poorly for the frst few days. Not so poorly that she couldn't demand to go to the beach every day!
The weather was beautiful, we'd just had a really hot spell in Melly so it was great to go somewhere with a constant 30 degree temp and a nice cool breeze (they call the breeze the 'Fremantle Doctor'). Accordingly we visited the beach every day and generally made the most of being on holiday. We also went to the Zoo which is pretty much a given for going anywhere with Maddie - she is now very brave with animals and was happy to go up and stroke the Kangaroo!
Another highlight was Rottnest Island, about 45 mins by Ferry from Fremantle. This is a car-free island and we had a lovely time cycling between the beaches for a day - as you can see Maddie enjoyed herself!
Nadine and her partner Ash have just bought a lovely new house with palm trees in the garden.They have a cat called Lucy who was terrified of all of us but especially Maddie! She spent most of the week hiding under the spare bed and Maddie spent a lot of time with her head stuck under the bed trying to coax her out. Poor Lucy!
The garden was the scene of Maddie's Easter egg hunt...
Found one!
There's one up here!
You can keep them safe, Mummy...
Thanks to Nadine very kindly driving, we also found time to do our first winery tour (of the vineyards in the Swan Valley near Perth). Although there is the Yarra Valley only 45 mins from the centre of Melbourne, we've only been to one winery in 15 months! So we came back with 9 or 10 bottles stuffed into the cases including some very nice Port and Muscat.
All for now, much to write about so back soon (well, sooner than our usual infrequent efforts I hope!).
Friday, April 4, 2008
When 'the olds' came to stay
We've just had Dom's parents stay. We had thought that Maddie would be a bit shy around them seeing as she hadn't seen them since she was 9 months old. But no, she was exteremely happy to see 'Gandad' and 'Ganny' and spent most of the 10 days they were here chasing them around and jumping on top of them!
We managed to get out and about with them. As well as a return cisit to Healesville where Maddie befriended some 'wabbies'...
...and most excitingly of all we went to see Thomas. We thought Maddie was going to explode! She is just a litle bit into Thomas...
Maddie loved the extra attention that grandparents bring and even now asks where they are when we walk past the street where they were staying.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
What we've been up to
Hi,
I must find a way to update this more often. In the meantime, here's a very abbreviated one-off catch-up on what we've been up to this year!
We've now had 4 bank holidays (Australia Day 26th Jan, Labour Day 10th Mar, and the 2 for Easter) and have been making the most of the weather, getting out and about.
On Australia Day long weekend we went over to Geelong, an hour along the coast to stay over with some friends (also from the UK but newer to Oz than we are). They have two kids (one older than Maddie) and as usual when she has an older kid to play with, she had a great time. She would have made a brilliant little sister!
The adults had a good time too, cracking open a few bottles (er, of wine that is not beer!) outside once the kids were in bed.
Next day we took in some of the waterfront activities going on for Scandia Week (based in Geelong and Australia's biggest regatta I think), generally free music and so on along the waterfront.
Maddie also got quite attached to their trampoline, resulting in Daddy going out to buy one when we got home...
Maddie has also been communing with nature at Collingwood Children's Farm which is a great place really close in to the city. Lots of animals and plenty of chances to get in really close to them, as you can see from the pic with the goat below!
I (Dom) have also been travelling quite a lot less with work (only been away 5 nights this year!) which makes a nice change. I am probably working harder, but I can still get home
for 5:30 on the days when Maddie is at home, and on the 2 days she's in childcare I pick her up around 5:15. Can't complain about that for work-life balance!
What else...Maddie is changing by the day and is now starting to communicate more in sentences. Her favourite things are:
1. Bossing Mummy and Daddy around
2. Bossing other people around
3. Dressing up
4. Baking (particularly mixing things together)
5. Being on the bike
6. Tickling Mummy and Daddy (and being tickled back)
Below she has managed to combine nos. 3 & 4 in one go!
My (Dom's) Mum and Dad have been over for 10 days (8th-18th March) and back-to-back with that Toni Maddie and I have all been over to Perth for a week over Easter to visit Nadine.
We got back a few hours ago, and tomorrow we're off to see Jack Johnson in Melbourne - it's all go! but more on all of that another time, I need to get the photos off the camera first.
Hope everyone's well
Dom
I must find a way to update this more often. In the meantime, here's a very abbreviated one-off catch-up on what we've been up to this year!
We've now had 4 bank holidays (Australia Day 26th Jan, Labour Day 10th Mar, and the 2 for Easter) and have been making the most of the weather, getting out and about.
On Australia Day long weekend we went over to Geelong, an hour along the coast to stay over with some friends (also from the UK but newer to Oz than we are). They have two kids (one older than Maddie) and as usual when she has an older kid to play with, she had a great time. She would have made a brilliant little sister!
The adults had a good time too, cracking open a few bottles (er, of wine that is not beer!) outside once the kids were in bed.
Next day we took in some of the waterfront activities going on for Scandia Week (based in Geelong and Australia's biggest regatta I think), generally free music and so on along the waterfront.
Maddie also got quite attached to their trampoline, resulting in Daddy going out to buy one when we got home...
Maddie has also been communing with nature at Collingwood Children's Farm which is a great place really close in to the city. Lots of animals and plenty of chances to get in really close to them, as you can see from the pic with the goat below!
I (Dom) have also been travelling quite a lot less with work (only been away 5 nights this year!) which makes a nice change. I am probably working harder, but I can still get home
for 5:30 on the days when Maddie is at home, and on the 2 days she's in childcare I pick her up around 5:15. Can't complain about that for work-life balance!
What else...Maddie is changing by the day and is now starting to communicate more in sentences. Her favourite things are:
1. Bossing Mummy and Daddy around
2. Bossing other people around
3. Dressing up
4. Baking (particularly mixing things together)
5. Being on the bike
6. Tickling Mummy and Daddy (and being tickled back)
Below she has managed to combine nos. 3 & 4 in one go!
My (Dom's) Mum and Dad have been over for 10 days (8th-18th March) and back-to-back with that Toni Maddie and I have all been over to Perth for a week over Easter to visit Nadine.
We got back a few hours ago, and tomorrow we're off to see Jack Johnson in Melbourne - it's all go! but more on all of that another time, I need to get the photos off the camera first.
Hope everyone's well
Dom
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Some very late Christmas photos!
Sprinkling reindeer food out for Rudolph
Wake up everyone, it's Christmas and I'm ready for present opening!
Handing out the presents...
Christmas Angel: (i) being angelic; (ii) with presents; (iii) helping with clearing up!
With new friend baby George
You can take the girl out of Australia...
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Home and dry (apart from this weekend)
We've been back home in Oz for just over a week now. We were all glad to get back, although we did have a wonderful time in the UK with all my family and our friends. It was great to catch up with people and Maddie loved being spoilt by everyone. I was a bit of a weakling with the weather and spent a lot of time moaning about the cold so am glad to be back in sunnier climes. Saying that we have finally had some rain this weekend and our garden is very grateful.
Even so, we have had a lovely weekend. To fuel Maddie's current passion for trains and all things railwayish we went to the family open day at the railway museum down the road today. Maddie got to run riot through a Victorian sleeping carriage and was treated to a free sausage sizzle (her favourite food). The highlight had to be when we saw both a proper 'Percy' and 'James'. Maddie has become a diehard Thomas the Tank Engine fan and can spot a branded product from a mile away!
We've been spending quite a lot of time at our local beach as it's been pretty hot recently. We also managed to go out for a lovely dinner with Maddie asleep in her buggy (a rare occurence). Other than that we've just been enjoying hanging out in Willi.
We're both back at work and Dom has already spent a week in Cairns...which makes a peaceful week for me.
Anyway, it's getting late so I'd better sign off. I promise we'll post some pics soon.
Toni x
Spider count: too many to actually count
Snakes: mercifully still 0
Even so, we have had a lovely weekend. To fuel Maddie's current passion for trains and all things railwayish we went to the family open day at the railway museum down the road today. Maddie got to run riot through a Victorian sleeping carriage and was treated to a free sausage sizzle (her favourite food). The highlight had to be when we saw both a proper 'Percy' and 'James'. Maddie has become a diehard Thomas the Tank Engine fan and can spot a branded product from a mile away!
We've been spending quite a lot of time at our local beach as it's been pretty hot recently. We also managed to go out for a lovely dinner with Maddie asleep in her buggy (a rare occurence). Other than that we've just been enjoying hanging out in Willi.
We're both back at work and Dom has already spent a week in Cairns...which makes a peaceful week for me.
Anyway, it's getting late so I'd better sign off. I promise we'll post some pics soon.
Toni x
Spider count: too many to actually count
Snakes: mercifully still 0
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year!
It's already 2008 at home, but seeing as we're in the UK this Christmas we're still not getting ready for New Year's Eve.
Maddie thoroughly enjoyed her Christmas and thanks again to everyone for all her presents. So far we've not tried to repack the bags for the journey home but I think they'll be groaning at the seams!
I will have to get around to putting some photos of Christmas up, but no time right now to hunt for the camera lead, etc etc.
It's been a good trip back to the UK, Maddie was good on the 24-hr flight back: slept for 12 hours in three stints, sat still for about 3 hrs and ran around the plane for 9 hrs!! It was only the last 3 hours where we were wishing it was all over, and we all arrived ok which is the main thing. Maddie has adjusted OK to the time difference, she hasn't woken up in the night since we've been here. We have had 3 or 4 early mornings at 5-5:30am though!
Toni and I even managed a couple of nights away at Lancaster, her old University town which was great even it did rain 95% of the time! A good excuse to spend a lot of time revisiting my favourite beers which were in ready supply, so close to Yorkshire. (Theakston's and Black Sheep if anyone is feeling like shipping a container out for my birthday next year!)
I did see one extremely disturbing example of how we have become a nation of shoppers as opposed to shopkeepers though: in Woolworth's, on the 28th DECEMBER, they were putting out Creme Eggs with a display saying "Easter is Coming"!
It's 12 weeks away! It's Next Year for God's sake!
And anyway, everyone knows the 28th December is when the Valentine's Day card displays go up - how they could have made such an elementary mistake is beyond me.
(For anyone considering emigrating and seeking something to tip the balance, you might be interested to know the shops in Melbourne didn't set up the Christmas decs & displays until December 1st. How refreshing.)
Got to go and get ready now, hope you all have a very Happy New Year!!!
Maddie thoroughly enjoyed her Christmas and thanks again to everyone for all her presents. So far we've not tried to repack the bags for the journey home but I think they'll be groaning at the seams!
I will have to get around to putting some photos of Christmas up, but no time right now to hunt for the camera lead, etc etc.
It's been a good trip back to the UK, Maddie was good on the 24-hr flight back: slept for 12 hours in three stints, sat still for about 3 hrs and ran around the plane for 9 hrs!! It was only the last 3 hours where we were wishing it was all over, and we all arrived ok which is the main thing. Maddie has adjusted OK to the time difference, she hasn't woken up in the night since we've been here. We have had 3 or 4 early mornings at 5-5:30am though!
Toni and I even managed a couple of nights away at Lancaster, her old University town which was great even it did rain 95% of the time! A good excuse to spend a lot of time revisiting my favourite beers which were in ready supply, so close to Yorkshire. (Theakston's and Black Sheep if anyone is feeling like shipping a container out for my birthday next year!)
I did see one extremely disturbing example of how we have become a nation of shoppers as opposed to shopkeepers though: in Woolworth's, on the 28th DECEMBER, they were putting out Creme Eggs with a display saying "Easter is Coming"!
It's 12 weeks away! It's Next Year for God's sake!
And anyway, everyone knows the 28th December is when the Valentine's Day card displays go up - how they could have made such an elementary mistake is beyond me.
(For anyone considering emigrating and seeking something to tip the balance, you might be interested to know the shops in Melbourne didn't set up the Christmas decs & displays until December 1st. How refreshing.)
Got to go and get ready now, hope you all have a very Happy New Year!!!
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