Happy Birthday Michael

It was Michael's birthday today - the big 44. We'd invited the parents over for dinner - but that was cancelled first thing this morning as neither of us are very well at the moment. I can't shake this cough and now I'm aching all over. Michael's been couch potatoing most of the week.

I got the girls to help me bake a cake. Mim had already decided earlier this week that we would make a chocolate mud cake "cos that's Daddy's favourite" (bit of projection going on). They did very well - Caitlin did some measuring, cracking eggs, sifting and stirring the melted chocolate. Mim also tried with the sifting and stirring - and then quite happily cut a piece of baking paper into minuscule pieces with a small pair of scissors whilst Caitlin and I finished the cake off.


It was successful. A two tier chocolate mudcake with blackberry/blueberry jam and organic cream in between, with a chocolate ganache icing. It's very rich!!! Mim couldn't finish her piece (despite taking a break/dump to 'make some room') and Caitlin didn't ask for seconds.

So, happy birthday Michael - hope you enjoy your salt n pepper shakers. (I 'got' the kitchen reno for my birthday, so Michael 'got' his large order of Peter, Paul and Mary CDs a few weeks ago).

2nd Dreamworld Visit

On the recommendation of Meegan and Carla, I bought a Max Action Pass for Dreamworld (12 month access) and took Mim yesterday. It was a beautiful day; sunny and warm with only small crowds.

Mim loves "the Map". She continually wanted to "check the map" and point out the chair swing at Nick Central - "I want to go on this". First we went to Wiggles World and played in the FunSpot, then saw Dorothy the Dinosaur (but Mim was too scared of her to have her photo taken). Then the Big Red Car ride again, the Tea Cup ride (don't like those spinning rides!) and then to have a quick peek at Tiger Island. Only one tiger was wandering around, the show wasn't for a while so we went back to the eatery at Wiggles World and shared a burger and chips and 'toke'. What a rip off! $9.95 for a small burger, chips and drink. Luckily I got my 15% off and chose to upgrade to a large chips/drink - not that much larger though! And here's a hint. Even though we chose to eat at 11.20 and there was nobody else in the place, the food is all predone, so I especially requested the burger without tomato - they had to make it fresh!

Whilst eating lunch, a wizard came whizzing by on his dragon - with the music "give it to me baby, ah huh, ah huh" blaring. Mim was fascinated. He stopped and talked to some people then came racing back, stopped in front of us and asked if this place had a drive through before racing off. "I like that man" was the verdict.

After lunch, we headed off for the Farmyard and to catch the 12.15 cow milking. The guy doing which was made into ..... (butter, cream, yoghurt, cheese -no none of these options).....Chocolate! This immediately grabbed the attention of Mim - to think that Daisy was the reason that Freddo froggies existed! Everyone got the chance to have a milk. Mim was too scared but was happy to stand by me so I milked a bit (no Carla, I won't give you a demonstration!) Poor Daisy hadn't been milked that morning, so her udder was very full. She the milking explained to the 5 people (and 15 children) watching that Daisy the cow gave milk apparently gives up to 8litres per day. I want one for the backyard!

After playing with Daisy's tits (or 'nudder' as Mim calls it), we fed the baby goats and lambs and pigs.


Mim learnt the hard way that goats will eat anything .... she bent down to pick up some feed off the ground and .....


After feeding, we went to see the kangaroos and koalas, how's this for an attitude shot (note the fingers!).


Then back to the station for a trip on the train. Mim wanted to go on the log ride, but it was closed, so we went all the way around to Central station and then walked to Nick Central. We went on Dora the Explorer Sea Plane ride (twice), the Zinger chair swing, Blue's Clue's Skidoo's and the MerryGoRound. It was great as there was never any line up, you could get off one and get on the next straight away!

After 4 hours at DreamWorld, I decided that we'd had enough (also needed to pick C up from school). Mim fell asleep very quickly in the car. Can't wait until the next time, hopefully Owen and Charlotte can join us again!

Marathon Chick & Chicklet

I did it! I did the 'marathon' ride today.

Caitlin, Mim and I rode to Caitlin's school and dropped her off. Then Mim and I got onto the bikepath at the end of 10th Avenue and rode all the way to Brookside, collected some morning tea and then went up the hill to Carla's.

The bikepath is a wonderful ride. We saw lots of ducks in the creek, a few bush turkeys, two cows, plenty of mums and strollers, a few riders, a police car patrolling, heard the bats squabbling in the trees...

The playdate at Carla's was fun. Charli was rather full of beans - you know the old saying, on windy days, beware of animals and small children! Zie pulled funny faces and puked on her daddy's side of the bed (good girl) and Charli and Mim tried to play together. After a lovely morning tea and an early lunch, the girls went downstairs and played, first with the football and then in the sandpit. It was freezing in the wind, but they didn't seem to care.

Mim and I left Carla's at 2.00pm and rode back, the return trip seemed shorter - maybe it was because I used a higher gear on the bike for more efficiency? We arrived at the school by 2.45, and that was after walking the bike for 5 mins as Mim had fallen asleep and was in a vary uncomfortable position.

So, all up today, I reckon I've ridden about 15km at least. I hope I'll be able to walk up and down stairs tomorrow!

Frog's Eggs

As some of you know, Mim is addicted to Woggies (Freddo Frogs). Michael bought her a 20pack a few weeks ago, this stash was slowly eroded to leave 2 frogs left. To make room in the fridge, I took the almost empty packet out and put the remaining two in the egg container on the second top shelf in the fridge.

Last week, I was trying to have a rest, so had let Mim watch her Wiggles program on the TV. She kept running around and disturbing me and calling for 'Momez' to play with her, so I gave it up after 45mins. When I entered the kitchen, the first thing I saw was the egg container on the floor!

I marched up to her and demanded "Did you eat a froggie?!"
She grinned back and held up two fingers. "Two woggies!"
"Where are the wrappers?"
She took me down to her bedroom and pulled back the doona to display the empty wrappers. She received another stern lecture about not helping herself to food in the cupboard or fridge, not that the lectures have any effect (see previous posts).

That night I got, "Mummy, mummy, come into my bedroom!" So I traipsed into the bedroom, wondering what magical sight she was going to show me. She pulled open the top drawer of her bedside table to reveal .... three eggs! Luckily unbroken! It seems that when she took the two woggies out of the fridge, she also took the eggs as well, to hide all evidence:)

It can be sooo hard to keep a straight face at times!

Holiday activities

Now that the holidays are upon us again (I'm on 4wks leave, yah), we'll have to go horse riding again. Caitlin loves riding with Michael, she gets to canter and try tricky moves. Last holidays I took Mim on a pony lead whilst Michael and Caitlin rode. Mim loved it! She keeps asking if she can ride Pixie again. Doesn't she look so cute!

Other things that I'm going to try to do these holidays include iceskating and the marathon bike ride to Mitchelton. And at least one picnic. Oh, and visit Wiggles World/Dreamworld again. Any other suggestions or would anybody be interested in riding/skating?

Favourite Colour

I asked Mim today what her favourite colour is. She answered "Reg".

"Red?", a shake of the head.
"Pink?", another shake of the head,
"Green?" and another,
"Yellow?" she starts nodding, "Yes Mummy, Greg."

The Wiggles have invaded every aspect of life! So I guess my favourite colour is Anthony, followed closely by Dorothy.

Success!

Michael and Caitlin are out tenpin bowling and I'm home alone with Mim. She was supposed to be sleeping - but Mim is like Michael, she survives on very little sleep. She joined me downstairs whilst I'm catching up on blogs, but then had to run upstairs to the toilet.

A few minutes later I heard "Mummy, Mummy, I done poopoo in the toilet!"

(Hurrah! At last! Usually she waits until she has a cloth nappy on at bedtime and will then fill it, just so we have to change her nappy again.)

She is so proud of herself, we aren't allowed to flush the toilet til Daddy comes home and sees it! (sigh).

Anyway, this is the big girl, who is supposed to be 'sleeping or reading quietly' on the downstairs bed. As you can see, sleep does not seem to be on the agenda.

Thanks for the Tracksuit, Nana

Mim has been having swimming lessons at Caitlin's school pool. Whilst it is supposed to be heated, I'm sure the heating is faulty, and it is an outdoor pool. The teacher was making them sit on the side of the pool halfway through the lesson - you could see the goosepimples a mile off, as well as the shivering.

Luckily, Nana had bought her a tracksuit which she now wears to and from the pool. She looks really cute in it. Just like a professional swimmer.


So thanks Nana for the warm tracksuit - it came in really useful this morning and she wore it all day.

Day of Horrors

Yesterday was my "Friday the 13th" .... without it actually being the 13th! But it was a full moon!

It started with the cat. I'd made an appointment for Morticia to have her annual injection at the vet, so had to keep her in overnight to make sure that she'd be around at 9am. By 3am, she wanted to go outside, but of course I wouldn't let her. So she went through her usual tactics of "let's see how pissed off I can get Sharon before she'll let me out".

First was the walking over the bed and bedside table. When that didn't elicit the desired response, she started with the scratching of the lounge. That just made the dog race down the hallway to 'play' with her. After that, she tried the 'play with the plastic bag under the bed' trick, then she and the dog would race down the (wooden) hallway, through the kitchen and back up the hallway and either fly across the top of the bed or underneath to repeat the process. Ever heard how loud a small dog and cat can be on wood at 3am!! Like a bloody elephant!

We made it through to daybreak with very little sleep. I put the dog's collar and leash on the cat and took her outside to relieve her bladder, but she was too busy growling at the collar to do so.

Then was the difficulty of transporting the cat to the vets, dropping Caitlin at school on the way. I'd borrowed Mum's car so we didn't have to rely on Margaret. Morticia, at this stage, was looking for every opportunity to escape. I left her in the downstairs room, with Caitlin as guard, while I got Mim strapped into the baby seat. When I returned to get Tish, Caitlin said she'd run upstairs. I go upstairs to find that Michael had left the back door open so the dog could let himself out, rather than putting him out and locking the door. The cat was nowhere to be seen. Naturally I had a freak out and Michael and I had a 'cat fight' about it.

So, I rang the vet and let them know Tish had escaped whilst Michael burned rubber on his way up to school. I was running late dropping Caitlin off and then, as I was leaving the school, an idiot in a red Forrester decided that it'd be a good idea to go from zero to sixty backing out of her driveway, without even looking. Mum, you'll be glad to know that the brakes work really well on your car. But of course, it must have been my fault, because she proceeded to tailgate me and flip me the finger. what the ..!!!! (Really stupid move when I know where she lives!!! - any suggestions Geoff? Terrence?)

By a stroke of luck, when I got home I found Tish in the neighbour's yard - so she was quickly taken to the vet and had a thermometer shoved up her derrière as punishment.

Carla rang, so Mim and I went over and had a crafty playdate with Charli. It was funny to see the girls together - Mim trying to order her around and Charli ignoring Mim! Carls, you'll have to blog a video of Charlotte playing touch footie - the "Touchdown" is a hoot!

So with sanity restored, went home and had a reasonably uneventful afternoon. Until I stood on the staple. No, not a small paper staple - no, this is the type of staple that staples masonry to wooden floors. And I managed to push it a fair way into my heel. I think Mim might have learnt a few new words. I'm still limping around with a throbbing heel.

So, hopefully, that's the only run of bad luck I'll have for a little while ....

Anyway, here's a picture of a certain young lady who has a penchant for climbing into cupboards. She managed to push my large gymball up the stairs and into the kitchen, where I caught her sitting on it, bouncing, whilst eating the dried pineapple pieces.