Tax Time Again

I've been writing it all day, and have only just realised that today is the last day of the Financial Year and we are officially half way through the year.
We really haven't done much this month except work, work and work. What an exciting life!!!
Report Cards came home last Wednesday and Bryce amazed us all with Straight A's for Effort in everything on the Report Card. This is the best one yet. He's obviously working very hard at school and doing his best. We can't ask for anything more than that. Well Done Son, we are very proud of you.
Tyler (being in Prep) didn't get a Report Card, but we know anyway that she is also doing very well at school. She's started bringing Readers home (and breezing through them) and she even had a spelling test last Thursday and got them all right. Mrs Daley has already told us how well she is coping with the whole "school thing".
Well Done Kids.
I've just looked for a photo to include here, but I haven't even taken any photos this month. I am really falling down on the job.

3rd April - Olympic Park and DFO

Tyler woke up feeling very tired and lethargic and went back to bed again this morning after breakfast and slept for 2 hours.

This gave us time to do all the 'house work' for Monique while she was out.

We woke her up and showered her then we went out to Olympic Park for a look around.

A southerly wind had sprung up overnight and was freezing. You could have sworn that it was blowing straight off the ice of the South Pole. Bryce forgot to take is jumper with us, so had to borrow Rick's jumper. Can't you just see the cold in his face?

We visited the poles commemmorating the Volunteers of the Sydney Olympic Games - no Brisbane Volunteers were included here! It was here that we also say the Olympic Torch, a pole celebrating Kylie Minogue's song "On A Night Like This" from the Opening Ceremony.... and the list goes on. It was a fantastic thing to see, especially for anyone who wasn't able to be there for the Olympic Games.

We spoke to a lady in the Stadium Shop and asked if we could PLEASE have a sneak peek at the stadium, even though Rick had forgotten to bring his MSFA ID. We were in luck and one of the guides took us in. WOW! What a sight. It is so BIG and yet feels "so cosy". This place will seat 3 times as many people as the "Gabba" and the ground can be adapted from a regtangular field for Rugby Union and League to a round oval for the AFL. (The Sydney Swans call this "home"), just by sliding huge sections of seating in and out across the edges of the oval.

While we were there, Hasam ElMasri (NRL) was practicing some goal kicking.

This sculpture is suspended over the main entrance to the stadium. Each of the feathers on it represents each of the Australian native birds.

After here, we went back to Mary & Han's place for coffe and lunch.

After lunch, we went back to DFO, beside the Olympic Park, for a look around here. I have never been to DFO before, and I am very impressed. Couldn't do any shopping here, but did get myself a pair of Rivers thongs and Rick got a really nice Rivers shirt for a song. Kids got a new pair of sunglasses each. Am definitely going to DFO for new clothes etc, when we get back to Brisbane and back to work again.

When we got home again, we went out for dinner with Andrew, Monique and Neils at a lovely little Thai restaurant on Victoria Rd - walking distance from home.

Gave Tyler Panadol every 4 hours today and it worked well. She felt well all day.

3rd April - Olympic Park and DFO

Tyler woke up feeling very tired and lethargic and went back to bed again this morning after breakfast and slept for 2 hours.

Again this gave us time to get some 'house work' done for Monique while she was out.

We woke Tyler up and showered her then we went out to Olympic Park for a look around.

A southerly wind had sprung up overnight and it was freezing cold. Could have sworn that it was blowing straight off the ice of the South Pole.

Bryce forgot to take is jumper with us, so he ended up wearing Rick's jumper.

3rd April - Olympic Park and DFO

2nd April - Sydney By Night

Marlies came around for afternoon tea with us before we go home. It was so nice to sit and chat to her without too many interuptions.

Monique took Bryce out with her for the afternoon to pick up the girls from school and then to the park while Michaela was having her tennis lesson. Tyler slept all afternoon after some more panadol. She still is not 100%, but the regular panadol is helping a lot.

Rick cooked rissoles and vegetables for dinner - to give Monique a night off.

After dinner we took the kids for a ferry ride into Circular Quay to see the lights of Sydney - the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Luna Park etc. It was a beautiful night on the water. We travelled from Meadowbank and back again.

The night was just beautiful with a very gentle cool breeze and the water was like glass. The ferry just seemed to skim over it without any other sounds. The sights of all the million dollar mansions on the harbour-side all lit up was like looking at a make-believe fairyland.

The kids really slept well after a few hours of sea air in their faces.

2nd April - An Old Family Friend

Tyler wakes up feeling a little bit better. After attempting some breakfast, I gave her some panadol and she went back to bed for another hour or so.

While she's sleeping there's lots of washing to do - soiled clothes and bed linen and a wet bed. After doing all this and sweeping and cleaning up the house for Monique, Tyler woke up feeling a lot better, so I gave her a shower and we got ready to go out again. Nothing too strenuous today, just a quiet catch-up day for all of us.

We had arranged to have morning tea with Betty Williams. She hasn't changed a bit - only "grayer". She gave me a pair of miniutre clogs from Hengelo that Rita had brought back for Gabriel and Merideth back in the early 1960's. The kids were wonderful and beautifully behaved.

On our way home, we went to the Macquarie Centre where we got some NSW roads maps from NRMA and had lunch at McDonalds while watching over the ice rink. Beauriful! Took the kids into the ABC Shop for a look around and they thought it was a "cool shop".