Dreamworld

Mim and I were invited to join some friends at Dreamworld today, because the Wiggles were coming! Unfortunately, we didn't actually see the Wiggles because of all number of reasons ... least of all was how to keep 2 young children amused in one spot for half an hour before the parade started. So Carla and I did the next best thing, went to Wiggles World while it was relatively deserted.

The girls got to ride on Dorothy's teacup ride, the Big Red Car ride, play on the SS Feathersword, and then score some tables under umbrellas to have some lunch.


After Meegan and Owen joined us, we checked out Nick Central and went on some more rides. At one stage, Mim and Owen were holding hands so nicely (ahhh) instead of trying to knock each other over. (Check out the evil face on the Carousel!)

After this, it was on to the Ice cream Parlour for a Kenny Koala sundae ... shock, horror, they don't do KK Sundaes anymore!! So we had to settle for a "Guilty Secrets Sundae" - three scoops of icecream, topping, nuts or sprinkles, cherries and Kit Kat sticks. Wish I'd gotten a photo of the kids post icecream!

Meegan and Carla called it a day shortly after but I decided to stay on with Mim and make the most of our day. We rode the train over to the Farmyard Friends and fed the animals. Then we walked around the Wildlife Experience and patted some kangaroos, saw a Tassie Devil, some nocturnal creatures like owls and sugargliders, and some koalas. We then walked around to the River Rapids and went on the ride. Mim was very good on this ride, although she was holding my hand very tightly going through the tunnels. We only got a little bit wet. We would have gone on the log ride as well, but the line up was too long.

So we meandered over to Tiger Island and caught the last of a show. The handlers had the tigers jumping into the air for bits of meat. Aparently they can jump up to 6m! It was an impressive sight, as was the sight of a tiger climbing a "tree" to get to the meat. Moral of this story - if a tiger is chasing you, don't bother climbing a tree!

Afterwards, we caught the tiger cubs being taken back to their nursery, so Mim got to stroke one briefly. Then we headed for the car. Mim was asleep within 5 minutes - it was a very big day for her!

Toilet Training ... gone too far

As you know, dear readers, young Mim has been toilet trained and now wears undies all the time (except for nights and naps (yeah right!)). It seems that she wants to pass on the good word of the use of the toilet.

Last night she was placed on the toilet before bed as per usual, and Gomez came to check out what was going on. So we had "Momez, Momez, come here and do wee wee. Mummy, can you put Momez on the toilet"!!!

I can just visualise what's going to happen next. When my back is turned, Gomez is going to be picked up and carried to do his wee wee in the toilet. And knowing Gomez, he will object to his strangulation and struggle, and will be dropped into the toilet bowl!

I think it was less hassle when she just wanted to be a dog!

The Birthday Party / Deck Warming

Party day has come and gone and I think everybody enjoyed themselves. (Sorry, Geoff, I didn't get time to take photos of all the yummy food - I was too busy heating it and playing Pass the Parcel).

Owen, Jake and Henry couldn't make it, so it was only Mim and Charlotte and they had a great time. Firstly they got to decorate their home made loot bags with glitter glue.

Next, they got to smash the pinata. I thought I'd be smart this year and only do one layer of paper mache (the first year I tried this, I did about 15 layers. The kids couldn't break it open, an adult had to sit on it to get to the goodies). Despite repeated bashing with the Wiggles golf clubs, the darn thing still wouldn't break. So it was used as a football! Wasn't until the older girls (Caitlin and Hope) ripped the wrapping paper off the outside that the younger ones could get to the loot. I've never known Christmas wrapping paper to be so indestructible!

Next we hurried through a game of pass the parcel. I'd done the parcel up the week before, so had catered for about 5-6 kids (6 layers). So everybody got a couple of glowstick bracelets, to hang up in their room and glow throughout the night. Charlotte won the prize of Craft Dough. (enjoy Carla!)

Then it was upstairs and cut the birthday cake. I was pretty impressed with my attempt at a teddy bear cake (oh, bugger, I forgot to put a bowtie on it!). I'd baked a "rich chocolate cake" and a "vanilla butter cake" from scratch (thank you Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices cookbook) - and they actually worked!!! Poor Mim tried her hardest to blow out the candles but didn't have enough wind in her (that's unusual!)

Then the kids just ran wild and played while the adults mingled, ate, drank and laughed!

We managed to consume:
approximately 80 mini arancini balls, 54 mini spring rolls, 2 kg of chicken garlic balls, 2 packets of chips, a tray of toblerone cheesecake slice, about 50 mini dim sims and 4 kinds of cheeses with biscuits and dips.

I think everyone had a good time.

The Little Limpet

I took a well earned break yesterday in my clean up of the house prior to our party. Whilst I was speaking with Carla on the phone - I heard a little voice calling "Mummy, Mummy!" Upon searching for her, I discovered a chair pushed up against the cupboard, and the little turkey had literally started to climb the shelving... "I can't get the lollies!" She was stuck, clinging for dear life, knees on the first shelf and hands just below the shelf with the marshmallows (courtesy of Mumma's weekly shop).

I rescued her from her dire situation, but do you think she learnt her lesson?

Of course, not. As I was hanging out washing half an hour later, I heard her calling me, her voice becoming more and more frantic. She was stuck in the same situation ... but this time I left her there until she couldn't hold on any longer and fell backwards. I caught her before she did any damage to herself, but hopefully gave herself a big scare. Nothing is safe anymore!!!

Happy Birthday Mim! (for Thursday 10 May)

You've made it to the big 3! How quickly time has flown. Doesn't seem that long ago that you were only a babe in arms, totally dependent on me for all your needs. Now, you assert your independence so fiercely - the only thing you "rely" on me for is the ability to access the lollies kept on the top shelf of the cupboard, and you still ascertain that you can't sleep alone. I measured you - you are now 1 metre tall!

The Squatter

As you know, we've had success in toilet training Mim - apart from convincing her that she can't poo on the grass like the dog. I've also taught her how to squat as when she was running around the yard in just her undies, she'd forget to go upstairs to the toilet in time and wet herself.

Anyway - got home yesterday after riding Caitlin back from school and Mim went straight into the back yard to play with her bits of wood. I managed to ascend the stairs to get myself a drink and then went back down to check on Mim. I discovered her playing nicely ... but her jeans buttons were undone.
"Mim, do you need to go to the toilet?"
"No Mummy, I wee-weed here" (points to the grass)
I feel her jeans, but they are dry! "No Mummy, I dry!"
So I work out that she has managed to unbutton the jeans, pull them down, squat and pee, then pull them back up again. On closer inspection I noticed that she didn't aim straight - she managed to wet her left heel.

Couldn't stop laughing! Her older sister won't squat for anyone (a lovely story about a road trip to Victoria and having to hold a bucket underneath) and Mim's a squataholic. Hope she doesn't decide to do this at her party next weekend!!

The Kitchen is Finished!

The kitchen is finished at long last. We have new cupboards, new splashback, new appliances, new window/door, new floor and even some new saucepans.

The last few months haven't been without drama - firstly the Stegbar window didn't arrive on time from Sydney. It took a number of angry phonecalls from me to the Gold Coast branch to have it delivered on the Tuesday night, so Rhett could install it on Wednesday, when the new kitchen cupboards were being installed on Thursday. Then we had to wait 8 weeks to get the new fridge. The new tap was leaking and had to be fixed ... but the only plumber used by Ramtaps was on holidays for a week. Luckily that has now been fixed.

So, here's the transformation. From this:

To this:

Notice the difference when the rangehood lights are put on!

A big thank you to the following people for helping us acheive this look: Rhett Carter and Ned (and Brush - who supervised the whole affair, as well as bailed Gomez up); Ron Biles and his fantastic paintbrush; Michael the gasfitter from Dayboro; John Cunningham and Frank Zappala and the team at House of Kitchens, and me! Yes, me! The one who did the organising and waiting for tradespeople to arrive, stripping and painting the floor, painting the walls and architraves and a million and one other things (see previous blog). Michael - you get to do all the organisation when we finally get the bathroom redone!