Sally & Rick's Family Snaps

GOODBYE.......... FOR NOW

2009-10-11T07:19:00.003+10:00

On Friday 9th October 2009, at 8am, my brother and I lost our beloved Dad to Cancer.

He had fought a long battle over 2 1/2 years with this horrific disease and did extremely well with it all. It was only in the last 2 weeks that it finally caught up with him when he began to deteriorate rapidly.

I contacted Scott in FNQ at lunch time on Wednesday and suggested that he should come to spend some time with Dad. Scott arrived early on Thursday morning and spent the day with him. By mid-afternoon, when I arrived after school, he was in a large amount of pain and the Dr had prescribed a Syringe Driver of morphine to be administered. The Dr had just advised Shirley, my brother and my uncle that his life expectancy was only "a matter of days".

The Blue Nurse had just arrived to administer and attach the Morphine Syringe Driver. This was a nurse who I work with and he told me that "he'd look after my Dad for me". To that, I replied: "You'd bloody better". Shirley told Scott and I to go and have some time together and she told us that shortly after we left, he was asleep and snoring.

He slept right through the night, and passed away peacefully at 8am on Friday morning.

I was at work when Shirley rang me and I arrived at the house at about 9am, where I stayed with Scott, Shirley, Uncle Dick, Sallyann and David for the rest of the day.

As heart-wrenching as it is to see him go, it is a blessing that he is not suffering anymore.

We woke up to rain this morning, so we can only hope that he has organised that so that is citrus trees can have some water.

Rest In Peace Dad, and we'll see you on Thursday morning.

RIVERFIRE 2009 FEATURING F111 DUMP & BURN

2009-09-12T21:26:00.004+10:00

Tonight marks the start of Brisbane's Annual River Festival with "RiverFire". It's a monster fireworks display all the way up and down the reaches of the Brisbane River from the western end of the city to the mouth of the river. It has always been highlighted by and "Dump & Burn" display of 2 F111's as they fly at low level down the river. This was all simulcast on one of our local FM radio stations too.

The planes are based here in Brisbane at the Amberly AirForce Base. Unfortunately, because of the age of these planes, this is marked the final Dump & Burn by these planes, so it was a very special night here.

Because of this, we decided to take the kids half way into town to see it IRL instead of just on TV, like we've done every other year. Being nearly 10, DS was very keen to see the planes perform IRL anyway.

We didn't go all the way into the city or river bank because all roads leading into the city were blocked off anyway, and all the public parks close to the city and river were packed with 1000's of people. Best to stay away from those numbers of people, with young kids, after dark anyway, we thought.

The city also put on a FREE Chris Isaak Concert in the Botanical Gardens in town tonight as well. It is right in the centre of where all the entertainment etc was. Would've been a great gig, if you could get there early enough this afternoon. Great music, great light show, great overhead entertainment - and all at an even greater price : FREE.

Oh well, tomorrow it's back to normal again - washing, cleaning and relaxing a bit. Talk to you again soon.

"NARNIA" FILMING HAS STARTED

2009-09-11T23:18:00.005+10:00

Earlier this week, I read in the local paper that the filming of the latest "Narnia" film has begun here at Cleveland. On Tuesday, I picked the kids up from school and took them up to the site to have a look.

All of the filming was taking place in the deck of the ship so we couldn't really see very much, but the Director was connected to a PA system so that all visitors to the parkland could listen to all the directions of the movie. What we couldn't see, we could get a mental picture of by listening to these directions.

I was able to take some random photos with my little camera which surprised me somewhat when I uploaded them to the computer. One of the stars of the movie appeared in nearly all of my photos. It was rumoured in the local paper that Aussie TV star Garry Sweet was starring as the ship's captain. Anyway, the proof is in these photos. There, on the Quarter Deck, overlooking the 'sword fight' scene is Garry Sweet himself. Clearly given away by his bald head in the photos. Sorry the quality of the photos isn't brilliant, but that is the best I could do with my little camera.

FATHER'S DAY 2009

2009-09-11T23:00:00.003+10:00

Father's Day was a beautiful sunny and hot day here.

We had my Dad & Shirley and Aat come over for a special morning tea because Rick had to go to work after lunch. That ruled out any plans for going out to lunch.

Of course, swimming was the order of the day for the kids and they were in and out of the pool several times during the day.

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY

2009-08-21T17:40:00.005+10:00

WOW! Is it THAT long since I posted anything here?

Last week was Tyler's birthday which happened to fall on a Monday, so we had her birthday party on the following Saturday.

On her actual birthday, we drove down to the Gold Coast to pick up Opa from the plane, because he was flying home from a weekend in Melbourne. We deliberately got there a bit early and we had a walk on the beach at Tugun for about an hour. The weather was just perfect. Not too cold and windy, but not too hot either. The clothes that Tyler is wearing in the photo was just the right beach attire that day. Of course, the kids just HAD to run down to the water's edge and get their feet wet, and the water was REALLY COLD!!!! which was the reason for lots of screams and squeals when the waves got to them. The water was soooooo clean and blue and the new sand on the beach was so white and clean.

I love the early morning sun on the ocean.

The birthday girl dressed for the beach on a Winter day.

Testing the water................

What a glorious day.

Here are some photos from the birthday party. She had a lovely group of little girls come around and we had home-made marshmallows, coconut ice, sausage rolls and 'little cups of coffee' ( made from biscuits, marshmallows, lifesavers and freckles). The cake was a Princess' tiara made from lots of cupcakes.

We did some craft, played musical statues, limbo and had a treasure hunt.

She got some beautiful presents - and all 'crafty' ones. I wonder where that comes from??????

Tyler with 2 of her friends

All the girls and,

with 1 of the cupcakes that made up the cake

DARLING DOWNS ZOO

2009-07-22T13:42:00.005+10:00

During the recent school holidays, Rick was fortunate enough to be having the weekends off, so we decided to make the most of those weekends to go out for lots of drives in the country. We felt that we owed it to the kids because we were both working during the week and they had to stay at home for most of the time with whichever parent wasn't working.

On the first weekend, we decided to take them out to see the Darling Downs Zoo which is slightly south of Toowoomba.

It is only a small zoo, and due to the miserable and unpredictable weather, we had been right around it in less than an hour. It was a really cold day, so it was nice to get back inside the car to have some lunch (breadrolls I had made before leaving home) and a nice warm cup of coffee.

After that, we kept on driving, and just another 40km up the road, we found ourselves in Warwick, so we stopped there for about an hour or so and had a wander through the local shopping centre (the only place still open after midday on a Saturday) and Rick and I even bought ourselves a new pair of shoes each at the local Williams shoe shop.

We stopped at the Big Orange in Gatton on the way home and stocked up on fresh fruit and veges for the week. It was still mid-afternoon so we stopped in Laidley for a look at some new housing estates that we had heard about. What a beautiful little country town. We also saw some friends (Tyler's school friend from last year) who moved out there late last year, so we stopped and had a cup of coffee with them and the kids could catch up and play too.

WHAT A GREAT DAY OUT!!!!

A TRIBUTE TO MY GRANDPARENTS

2009-06-28T16:02:00.008+10:00

It's taken me the best part of the last week, but I finally finished this today for a Linda's Shabby Chic Challenge over at Scrap Pile.

The challenge was to just make a card, but Linda had sent this beautiful Basic Grey Kit for a Matchbook Album, so I thought I'd use that - just a tad more than a card.

I am really happy with the finished result. I showed it to my Dad when he came over this afternoon and he was very impressed with the way I had preserved some of these memories.

I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF

2009-06-15T15:53:00.004+10:00

I'm so glad that I got that nightie made for Tyler last weekend. After the cold snap that we've had this past week, it came in very handy. She loves to wrap her legs and feet up in it while she's watching TV and even when she goes to bed.
On Saturday, Rick suggested that I go and buy some more flannelette and make another one so that I'm not having to wash and dry this one in time for bed again that night. Anyway, I didn't much encouragement to jump in the car on Saturday morning and go shopping.
I finished the 2nd one last night. It is lime green checks with a fine pink line through it and has little pink and white daisy ribbon/lace around the hem and sleeves. The buttons are really cute pink ones with white spots on it.
Here they are:
Here is a close-up of the material I used for each one.

A Very Creative Weekend

2009-06-08T23:39:00.003+10:00

This weekend has been a the Queen's Birthday long weekend and I started it of in the best way. I was given some money to go to the Scrapbooking and Papercraft Expo with some spending money for my birthday from Dad & Shirley.
Rick offered to take the kids to work with him in the afternoon and I could just pick them up on my way home from the Expo.
I parked at ANZ Stadium and took the bus into town and then the same bus back again. It all worked out really well.
I had the best day there, being on my own. I could do what I liked in my own time and didn't have to worry about anything or anybody else getting bored, hungry etc. I arrived 1/2 hour after it started and left 1/2 hour before closing.
IT WAS THE BEST DAY
Amongst some of the things I bought were some lovely Kaisercraft OTP Projects. One of them was a 'Babushka Doll' album. I already had the Babushka Doll range of papers, so I started putting it together on Saturday night. I have it hidden because I'm going to put photos of Tyler in it and give it to her for her birthday. I think it is going to be really cute when it's finished.
I can't wait to post a photo of the finished product here when it is finished.

Look What I Created This Long Weekend

2009-06-08T23:33:00.002+10:00

I've been trying to get a long flannelette nightie for Tyler this year, and do you know, you just get them. So................
on Friday afternoon, I went to my local fabric shop and bought a pattern and some lovely blue & white checked flannelette. I started to cut it out yesterday afternoon and did the bodice and then today I put the sleeves in, did the skirt and put it all together. Of course, she just HAD to wear it to bed tonight. She had an early shower this afternoon and put it straight on and told me how cosy and warm it was.
Next weekend, it will be back to the scrap table again.

2009-05-17T11:11:00.004+10:00

Dad, Robyn and Dick
This weekend, Kirsty flew Dick and Robyn up from Sydney to visit Dad. We don't know if they'll be able to do this again while Dad is still with us, but we certainly hope so. They flew up on Friday afternoon and stayed with Kirsty and Cheryl. Kirsty drove them down to Dad's yesterday morning where they spent the majority of the day.

Dad and Robyn
Dad really wanted this to happen, because Dick is his next sibling and he felt like he really needed this quality time with him to talk, reminisce and resolve some life-long problems. We were asked not to come down until mid-afternoon, which we did and then had a cup of coffee with them. When we arrived, Dad and Uncle Dick were going through a bag full of old B&W photos that were grandpa's, trying to remember the people in them and the reason for the photo. (This is exactly the reason why I am now an avid scrapbooker - so that my children and following generations will have records of my photographs.)

Dad and Dick looking through some of Grandpa's old B&W photos
Kirsty, Dick and Robyn left at about 4.30pm and we followed soon after. I rang Kirsty to find out what their plans were for the night and she told me that Dawn (Dad & Dick's younger sister) and Dave were down from Coolum and were staying at a motel around the corner from Kirsty & Cheryl's. They would be having dinner with them there. We went home, changed into some warmer clothes and then went up there to meet them all again. We had a quick Hungry Jack's dinner on the way. We had a lovely couple of hours with them all, laughing and catching up and "philosiphying"(?sp).

Robyn, Kirsty, Tyler and Bryce at the Colmslie. Tyler was doing Kirsty's hair with some of her new hairclips, and Kirsty was loving evry minute.
We had to leave at about 9 because Rick had to get home and get ready to go to work. It was lovely to have us all together. It's been years since so many members of our family have been together in the one place.

First Sleep Over

2009-05-08T22:25:00.003+10:00

It's nearly a week since my last post, so I'd better do something about that.
Tonight Tyler is having her first friend over for a sleep-over. We have had Mikaela and Shantelle over a couple of times after school this week until Julie finished work. Anyway, yesterday afternoon, they asked if Mikayla could come for a sleep-over, so we decided to do it tonight.
It is the first time for both of the girls and they have been so excited all afternoon. I let them stay up until 8.30 and then they talked quietly for about half an hour before they fell asleep.
Who knows what time they'll wake up in the morning!
Rick has promised that he will make pancakes for them in the morning for breakfast.
Note to self: I must take a photo of the sleeping arrangements early in the morning - this is definitely a scrappable occasion.

RAK GIVEAWAY

2009-05-03T13:30:00.000+10:00

Have a look at this RAK that Ceci from Scrap Pile is offering:
http://ceci-bell.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-blog-rak.html

LEST WE FORGET

2009-04-25T06:53:00.005+10:00

This morning I made the effort to get up early and attend the Dawn Service at my local Cenotaph.
I've never done this before, and last year I promised myself that I would finally do it in respect to my great grandfather who served in Gallipoli and to all the Returned Servicemen and Women who I care for on a daily basis at work.
The air was filled with a sense of excitement and reflection.
At exactly 5am, the service started with just the slightest hint of daylight peeping over the horizon of the ocean. It was a lovely service but, at the same time, very moving. It was lovely to see so many young families there (with young children) to lay flowers at the base of the cenotaph.
There was only one unfortunate event when an elderly gentleman (Returned Veteran) appeared to suffer chest pain and Paramedics had to attend to him until an Ambulance arrived to transport him to hospital.
It really must be an extremely emotional experience for these people. Now they can go away and enjoy a lovely breakfast put on for them at the RSL and enjoy the rest of the day with their mates raising a glass or 2 and maybe enjoying the odd game of 2Up. They deserve it.

LEST WE FORGET

Healesville Sanctuary

2009-04-22T23:35:00.002+10:00

After feeding the parrots we kept on driving up through the Yarra Valley and past some vineyards until we came to the Healesville Sanctuary. This is a beautiful little zoo set in amongst the native bush full of Australian animals. As you can see, Flat Stanley just keeps poking his head up in all the photos!!
This was a lovely day out for all of us and especially for the kids because it was so lovely and relaxed and away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Anything more unique to Australia that a platypus?
Ever seen an emu with a 'comb-over"?
A wedge-tailed eagle.
A rather friendly wallaby.

A VERY large goanna.

Oops! There he is again!

Feeding the Birds

2009-04-22T23:24:00.001+10:00

Des took the day off work today to spend it with us. He decided to take us out to a zoo north of the city but on the way we stopped here to feed the wild birds. Apparently it is a popular spot for the tourists. The birds were there waiting for us. We took our own seed with us, and one of the birds was cheeky enough to actually get onto Rick's hand and eat the seed straight out of our container. These are all King Parots. The different coloured ones in the first 2 photos differentiate males and females. Aren't they just beautiful birds?

Queen Victoria Markets

2009-04-22T22:48:00.002+10:00

Today, we have planned to go to see the Queen Victoria Markets and then meet up with Jenny & Paul there and go back to their place for dinner.
First of all, the "little guy" that Tyler is holding, and keeps popping up in the photos from now on is called "Flat Stanley" and comes from the USA. The son of a friend of Chris & Des's sent it to them with a letter asking if we could dress (colour) Flat Stanley in clothes that are typical of Australia and then take him out with us and take photos of him around Melbourne at various different icons etc. He then has to be posted back to the little boy in the US with all the photos and explanations of what and where they are. What a great idea to learn geography of another country!!! We dressed Stanley up as a Surf Lifesaver.
We took the train into the city and got off and walked the couple of blocks down to the markets. I've never seen markets like these. They were fantastic.

Flat Stanley on the train. Tyler & Stanley with the Welcome Sign.

Trying on some funny hats......................

This was a stall we found where these guys were making home-made boiled lollies. They

had some there to sample which were still warm. They were really YUMMY!

This is just one of the fantastic Delis here at the markets.

The range of ready-prepared food was just amazing!

Shopping Centre Fun

2009-04-22T22:35:00.000+10:00

This morning we woke to very gray skies and a very heavy shower of rain around breakfast time.
With that, the temperature had dropped quite dramatically and the wind had picked up, so we decided that it wouldn't be very pleasant to go out sight-seeing today.
Des told us of this shopping centre about 10 minutes from home where we could go with lots to see and to stay out of the weather.
It was called Knox Shopping Centre and was awesome!
I even got a tiny bit of 'retail therapy' in too.

We found these "Bungy Trampolines" in a courtyard there and the kids just had to have a go. How could we deny them an opportunity of burning off some energy. Tyler, in particular is very good on the trampoline at home, so she was very game her. The young guy strapping her in shortened up her harness and when she bounced, she went about 20 feet up into the air. She thought it was "THE BEST FUN".
The wind blowing was quite strong and cold, so by the time they had finished jumping, they felt like big blocks of ice, but they didn't really feel it.
It was here at Knox, that we bought a Movie Pass for Chris & Des as a Thankyou for having us.

ST KILDA

2009-04-19T08:28:00.000+10:00

Here are a few sights of St Kilda. The cake shops were amazing! Of course, we had to stop and have a coffee and cake while we were there. I'm not quite sure what eht shop is with the rocket through the roof, but it sure did look impressive from the other side of the street. How impressive is that stack of cupcakes????

We wanted to go to Luna Park and down to the beach while we were there but time was against us. I tried to take a photo of Luna Park from the tram but it didn't turn out very well. Oh well, we'll just have to come back again and put it on our list of "Things to Do".
Tyler lost her lovely pink jumper on the way to St Kilda. I think she left it on the tram from the city.

Another Candy Giveaway

2009-04-17T17:54:00.001+10:00

Bev from Bevscrafts.blogspot.com is giving away all this wonderful candy

Puffing Billy

2009-04-14T21:35:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was our first full day in Melbourne and we decided to take the kids on a ride on Puffing Billy up to Emerald Lake. Puffing Billy is a lovely old steam train with open air carriages. As you can see from the photos, the kids, along with just about every other child and adult on the train can sit on the window ledges with their legs outside the window and hang onto the railings. I was a bit nervous about this on the way up the ranges but was a little more relaxed about it on the way back down.
The bushland up in the Dandenong Ranges is just beautiful and extremely steep. The Lake area at the top is lovely too with a beautiful picnic area up there.
This is definitely something I would do again on other trips to Melbourne with the kids.

Late yesterday afternoon, when we got home from the train, we drove down to the southern side of Phillip Island to see the Fairy Penguins come ashore to their burrows. It was about a 2 hour drive down there and back, so it was a very long trip for the sake of about an hour of seeing the penguins, but it was worth it when a little penguin actually walked right under the boardwalk at our feet. The kids thought that was pretty cool. Unfortunately I don't have any photos to record this because cameras are prohibited down there. Because the penguins are still wild, the effect of camera flashes frightens them.
The crowd of people down there was incredibly large and very difficult to walk back to the top of the dunes with the kids and not lose them in the crowd in the dark. Even Desmond, who goes there quite often has never seen a crowd there quite like that.
That's it for me tonight, but I'll be back again in a day or so.

CANDY GIVE AWAY

2009-04-11T07:51:00.002+10:00

Jump on over and have a look at this great Candy Giveaway offer. It is awesome!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZNpk3J9zVX0/SdXbbGVMTDI/AAAAAAAAEFI/LIaqFiSeDIM/s1600-h/20000-HITS-header.jpg

7 Rub-on Sheets
1 Basic Grey Euphoria Acrylic Stamp Set
1 Basic Grey Ganola Set of Brads
1 Packet Paper Clipz
3 ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink Pads
1 American Traditional Designs Decorative Large Round Brads
1 Packet 7Gypsies Jumbo Photo Turns
1 Packet Chiswick Mini Round Brads
1 Packet with 12 Bazzil Flowers
1 Packet Imagine That Fabric Bows
1 Packet Imagine That Fabric Flowers

Wednesday 8th April

2009-04-09T10:40:00.006+10:00

Today I had a lovely "Girls Day Out" with my Aunty. She kept introducing me to all the shopkeepers as her little sister. I managed to buy mayself a pr of long pants and 2 new tops. I really want a new pair of shoes too but think I might wait until we get to Melbourne for that. It was really hard not to buy stuff for the kids all day, but DH told me that it was a day just for me. We had coffee bfore and after we shopped and had lunch as well. Oh, what a life!!!!

Anyway, while I was doing that, the kids swam at the resort, then DH took them to McDonalds for lunch and then for a walk on the beach.

When I got home, we went to the Mooloolaba Surf Club for dinner. That was lovely. It is built out over the beach and they have spotlights on the beach lighting up the surf. It was a really nice atmosphere. There was a lot of people out walking on the beach under the lights.

Bubbles, Bubbles and more Bubbles........

2009-04-08T07:16:00.006+10:00

Here are the kids enjoying the spa yesterday after swimming in the rain.

I am going shopping today. I am meeting up with my aunty (who is more like my sister) and we are going to have a 'girls day out". Really looking forward to that. I wonder if I can find anything scrappy here?

2009-04-07T08:02:00.008+10:00

We left home on Sunday morning and arrived safely on the Sunshine Coast at about 10.30am. We went straight to the Caravan Park where we were to spend the first night and check straight and found our cabin.

It was a lovely little 2 bedroom cabin with a bathroom and kitchen facilities. Perfect!! Despite the weather being overcast and a tiny bit drizzly, of course, the kids wanted to try out the pool, so off they went. They said it was lovely because it is a heated pool.

We had to check out the following morning and then had a couple of hours to fill in before we could check in at the resort where we were booked for the rest of the week, so we went up to Buderim to visit some old friends who we haven't seen for quite a while, then we went and had fish & ships for lunch at the Mooloolaba Wharf.

Finally it was time to check in and the room we have is lovely. Overlooking the lagoon pool, it has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, laundry and a spa in the ensuite. (I think I might try this out later on today).

I went out late yesterday afternoon to do some grocery shopping for the week and the kids stayed at home with Rick for another swim. They were so excited, they couldn't stop giggling and sit still.

Rick cooked a lovely spaghetti bol. for dinner and then we all went for a walk around the complex.

We were all in bed nice and early - even me.

I was up at 4.30 this morning (because I went to bed so early) and Rick and the kids all woke up at about 5.30, we've had a nice early breakfast and start to the day.

Uh Oh!!!!! Rick just discovered that he can't find his new phone. We searched everywhere and suddenly he thought to check his shorts that I had just washed. Yep! It was in the pocket! Of course, it is my fault that it went through the wash! I did point out that he always leaves it on the bench top, and he told me before breakfast that his clothes needed to be washed. So, therefore, we are both at fault. Still doesn't make him any happier though - for a while. We'll just have to go to the Optus Shop and explain that we only just bought it a few days ago and if there is any chance of getting it replaced.

Oh Dear! I think that we'll both be a lot more careful with the washing in the future.

Stamp Giveaway

2009-04-03T23:26:00.002+10:00

April Release - Four Stamp Give Away!

Pink Gem Designs are giving away these four delicious stamps, all you have to do is go look here to find out what you have to do to be in the running to win.Gotta be in to win I always say.

2009-03-29T15:38:00.003+10:00

ONLY 8 DAYS UNTIL WE GO ON HOLIDAYS - and counting.........................
We are really in need iof this holiday. There seems to have been an extraordinary amount of stress building from all corners at the moment. Oh well, it won't be long and we can get away from it all and relax.
I haven't done anything creative this week - not through not wanting to but simply being too tired to, but Tyler actually did a really nice LO this morning with my help - in between getting the housework done.
Today marks exactly 1 year since we visited Taronga Zoo in Sydney on our holidays last year, and purely by coincidence, she chose this photo to scrap.
She did a great job, I thought.

Not much else to add so I'l go now and try to catch up on everything I've missed out on over the past couple of days.
See you all next week.

2009-03-22T11:01:00.005+10:00

Here it is Sunday again and time to update my blog. I've decided to try to make Sunday morning my update time each week. That way I won't fall behind like I did last year.
This week has been a really busy week for all of us and we are counting down the days until our holidays. Rick has been on nights again this week, so that in itself makes it a hard week for everybody, and I've had a few changes to my regular roster so it has been busy for me too.
On Friday, Bryce told us that he has been chosen for the final tryouts for the school indoor cricket team. We are so proud of him because he's never done anything quite like that before, and it'll be the first time representing the school if he is chosen this week. We all have our fingers crossed for him.
I haven't really done much creatively this week. Only completed last weeks card challenge which came from a sketch.

I used papers left over from Tyler's mini album to make this with some little pearls added to finish it off.
Yesterday afternoon, we decided to go for a drive to get out of the house. We went down to Coolangatta to find out where the long term parking facility is where we'll be leaving the car on Easter Sunday morning when we fly to Melbourne. From there, we drove back north along the Gold Coast Highway just taking in the sights and reminiscing from our teenage years when we were both at boarding school on the GC. There are so many 'attractions' that just don't exist anymore. One place I have never been to, but driven over a lot, was Tullebudgera Creek, so we stopped there to get out and stretch our legs. The beach there and the water was just magical - still, clean water with the surf about 1km downstream. I went down to put my feet in the water, and, of course, the kids had to do the same. Needless to say, Bryce went in up to his knees, and Tyler just ACCIDENTALLY happened to get wet right up to the hip line. "It was an accident Mummy, I didn't realize I was that far in". No swimmers, no towel and no dry clothes. When we left there to drive up to Southport, we got her to take her long pants off so that we could wring them out by hand and then secure them in the window to dry while we were driving.

Then we drove all the up to the top end of the "Glitter Strip" where we called into a small Fisherman's Co-Op and bought some fish and chips for an early dinner. We took them down to the Southport Seaway and spread the picnic rug on the ground to have our dinner while watching the boats coming along the waterway.
After dinner we went for a walk along the Southport Sand Pumping Jetty. It is a huge jetty and it was extremely windy and very cool out there. The surf was raging under us and the fishermen were in abundance on the jetty trying to catch that elusive large fish. We didn't see any while we were out there. It was a nice way to walk off dinner before coming back home.
What a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Here's a Great Give-Away

2009-03-20T22:39:00.003+10:00

I've only just recently discovered this Blog. I read it every day because Bev is so inspirational. She is a genius when it comes to card making. She is currently giving away 2 awesome new stamps along with numerous other yummy items. Have a look here:
http://bevscrafts.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-candy-time-for-whiff-of-joy.html
Go on....... have a look, you will be very impressed.

Tyler's Creation

2009-03-15T16:47:00.002+10:00

Tyler has been creating too. She loves to want to get in and do her own layouts whenever I sit down to do any scrapping.
This is a layout she did using a few different techniques that she's seen me using. She's even inked right around the edges of the page.

Finally,One For Me

2009-03-15T16:32:00.004+10:00

Late last year I discovered the most beautiful, feminine patterned papers so I bought a few sheets in the complete range, along with some of the matching accessories in the range as well. Because it was all about fairies and princesses, I decided to make a mini album specifically for Tyler. Everyone I know kept telling me how easy and how much fun it was to make a mini album, so I decided that is what I was going to do. Well, because it was my first one, it was a big challenge, but it was an on-going project. I finally finished it last week - and here it is. What do you think?

This is on the back of the Princess Tag.

Off The Page

2009-03-15T16:29:00.001+10:00

I don't do many OTP's, but this is one I did for another forum, online:

It is a wooden Recipe Box.

Scrapping

2009-03-15T16:17:00.004+10:00

As I mentioned last night, I have joined a wonderful new Scrapbooking Forum online with a wonderful group of ladies to talk to and inspire me. They have some great challenges to do each week which I've tried to keep up with. I've even won 2 of them - to my surprise.
Here are the layouts that I have created for each of the challenges that I've tackled so far this year.

and her is a card challenge that I tackled. She doesn't know it yet, but this will be Tyler's birthday card this year.

Crafty Business

2009-03-15T16:07:00.004+10:00

And just for my own enjoyment, I have been trying to do a lot of crafting during "my" time.
I have started going back to quilting again once a fortnight and actually starting creating things again. It took a few visits just to get my mojo back, but I actually finished 2 UFO'S last week.
The first is a sewing machine cover, that I've been wanting to make for a couple of years now, but could never find a pattern that I liked that much.

The second thing is a little bag that hangs on the edge of the sewing table, armchair, desk etc and is somewhere to drop all my scraps of material, paper, threads etc. The top bit actually is filled with sand/shellgrit (or rice in my case) and is a pin cushion. The other girls that used shellgrit or sand have found that the tips of their pins are beginning to rust, so I decided to try rice instead.
I'm actually not that happy with this one, so I will be giving it to Tyler to put all her hair elastics and clips in, and I will make another one to match the sewing machine cover.

A land of Contrasts

2009-03-15T15:43:00.004+10:00

Haven't we had a contrast of weather conditions this year so far?
Rain, rain and more rain up north and to the north west, with not 1 but 2 floods in Ingham in the space of a few weeks, and then the horrific bushfires that savaged country Victoria. My heart goes out to all the victims of these natural disasters at both ends of this wonderful country. Not to mention the latest natural disaster, Cyclone Hamish that menaced almost the complete coastline of Queensland only last week, resultin the the terrible oil spill from a cargo ship that was caught in the storm. I haven't personally seen them, but most of our beautiful pristine surf beaches just to the north of Brisbane are now covered in the most disgusting black, toxic sludge.
What can you say:
Mother Nature can show her really ugly face when she's at work, but in the long run, it really is for the good. The sand on all the beaches will eventually replace itself with lovely new pristine white sand. The bushland will renew itself, and the image of brand new green growth emerging out of the blackness is a sight to behold. The same goes for the flood ravaged areas. The fresh new green growth will emerge soon too, if it hasn't already begun.
It's amazing, that in times like these that we've experienced, I still am amazed at the amount of compassion that the Australian people show and can come together to help out those less fortunate than ourselves. It brings a tear to my eye everytime I think of this.

WE REALLY DO LIVE IN THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD, DON'T WE?

We can't really complain here in Brisbane, because we've missed out on all of these disasters - touch wood. We only had the hot humid weather to complain about.

Summer Time, Summer Time......

2009-03-15T15:23:00.009+10:00

As we all know, summer has been a scorcher for all of us. I particularly felt the heat and humidity this year, especially when I was at work.
On the weekends, over a couple of different weeks, I made the most of the hot weather and took the kids down to the Gold Coast for a swim in the surf. This was usually on days when Rick was on night shift and needed to sleep - so I got the kids out of the house. We would leave home really early, like about 7.30am and we'd be on the beach by 8.30 before it got too hot and not too many people on the beach. I could usually find a parking spot close to a patrolled beach that early too. After a couple of hours swimming and surfing, I get them out, we'd rinse off under the shower and have an early picnic lunch before heading home for the afternoon. The best way to spend a Sunday enjoying the great outdoors.
The kids' confidence in the surf is developing really well, although I still don't let them go too far out and I NEVER take my eye off them for a second.

On other occasions we just went down to the local beach just a block from home, like Australia Day when we launched another christmas present:

Or even to a near-by suburb on the bayside to try out the Council owned Rock Pool:

As Promised................

2009-03-15T14:13:00.009+10:00

last night, I am back to update on what we've been up to since I last put anything in here.
Christmas was the first big event and we spent it here at home. Neither of us took any holidays over the Christmas break, so Rick worked right through (12 hr shifts for 10 days) and I had just the Public Holidays off. David, now 22, was down from Julia Creek and spent about 2 weeks with us which was GREAT. He really hasn't been back since moving out west, so we all really enjoyed his company - especially the kids. They loved getting to know their big brother again and he loved spending time with them as well. He offered to stay at home and mind them every day so that I could go to work and not worry about them. From their point of view, there was certainly lots of BIG advantages in having a brother in his 20's come to stay - like having Pizza delivered for lunch on the first day. (We never have Home Delivery Pizza).

Here they are trying on David's Fireman's helmet.

About a week before christmas our neighbors got together with us and we organised a street christmas party on our shared front lawn. We delivered invitations/flyers to all the houses in the street and 11/14 of those houses came. Everybody brought a plate of savouries and something to BBQ. As the day got later and the sun diseappeared we slowly spread out onto the road in the cul-de-sac. It was a great atmosphere and nice to finally meet everyone in the street.

Santa even made a surprise visit and gave lollies out to all the kids.

Christmas Dinner was a small family affair. Because of work committments we decided to have it here at home the weekend before Christmas. Apart from ourselves we had Dad & Shirley, Aat, David, Kirsty & Cheryl and Cheryl's mum for dinner. We ate outside on the back patio and Rick cooked the Roast Pork in the new BBQ that I bought him for christmas. It was a really nice night.It really felt like all of the Christmas pressure had been lifted by the time that christmas eve arrived.The kids had a great christmas and Santa even brought a Wii for them which is a lot of fun for all of us.

2009-03-14T23:19:00.003+10:00

On Tuesday 27th January, our baby girly finally started Grade 1. She had an absolute ball last year in Prep, but day 1 of Grade 1 just couldn't come around quickly enough.
Here are Bryce & Tyler together at the front door on on our way to school. It has been a great school holiday, but today finally arrived. I compare this photo to the same one last year and I can really see the changes in them both in the past year.

That's it for now - more tomorrow.

OMG!!!!

2009-03-14T22:25:00.002+10:00

Look how long it has been since I posted anything here! I am so ashamed! So much has happened in our lives since my last post.
I have changed Scrapbooking Forums and Tyler has started "Big School" - just to name 2. It is quite late now, so tomorrow I will endeavour to bring you up to date with what's happening with us and I may even upload a few of my recent layouts that I'm quite proud of.

Rick's New Toy

2008-08-25T22:39:00.004+10:00

Today, after I had gone to work and the kids had been dropped off at school, Rick went up to Capalaba and bought a new "toy" to play with. He hasn't really had any past-time since we have been together, and has recently taken more than a passing interest in model planes. He hasn't flown a plane for well over 10 or 12 years now, so this is the next best thing. I'm glad he's got it now, because he doesn't get to play golf much either.

Here it is:

Of course, he was so excited about it that he couldn't wait for me to get home from work to show me, and then I picked the kids up from school early this afternoon so that he could show them before he had to head off to work.

When we got home from school, he had it out on the driveway of the house and taxi'ed it up and down the street from our driveway to the end of the cul-de-sac and back. I could tell that he was just itching to get it up off the ground. The kids were so excited: Bryce was jumping up and down on the lawn and Tyler was chasing it up and down the street.

Saturday 23rd August

2008-08-25T22:03:00.005+10:00

It has been 6 years since we took the kids to the great Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast, we decided to treat them to a day out and we headed up there for the day.

Well.......................what a change. There has been soooo much expansion and improvement to the zoo in that time, but all for the better. Lots to see, experience and learn, all with an underlying lesson in conservation. We had the opportunity to feed the elephants but the kids shied away at the last minute - even Tyler, and that's not like her.

The South East Asia end of the zoo is just stunning with a day paddock and a night paddock for the elephants and the tigers enclosure was the equivalent to a holiday resort in tiger terms. This is the newest part of the zoo and yet looks like it has been there for years. The trees in this area create a beautiful "old" tropical rainforest.

AND EVERTHING, EVERYWHERE IS SPOTLESSLY CLEAN.

I had a slight brush with fame - I almost, literally, walked right into Andrea Boccelli (now who's the blind one?). He had his first concert of his national tour in Brisbane last night, and he was here at the zoo today with his wife, 2 teenage sons, bodyguards and official photographer.

Yep..............

2008-08-25T21:53:00.004+10:00

I think it's definitely on it's way back. Here's the latest one I did last week and only finished on Friday night.

It is to fulfill the requirements on 2 Challenges on my local scrapbooking website, OSS. These challenges were:

To incorporate a lift-up flap

To use at least 10 buttons.

I love it when I can combine more than one challenge in the one LO.

Rick bought me 2 new sets of clear stamps on Friday so I also put together these 3 cards while I was playing with them and using up some pretty papers that were too pretty to throw away.

I Think...............

2008-08-11T21:23:00.007+10:00

I'm finally starting to find my scrapping mojo again. I haven't really done anything since coming home from Sydney at Easter, but with Tyler's birthday yesterday and my new camera, I decided to sit and scrap at least 1 of her birthday photos today.

Here is what I finished up with...........................

A very simple one, but I'm happy with it. (I think it's coming back.............)

Here's another one I did this afternoon - and I have to thank the lovely Jaki from the OSS Design Team for inspiring this LO with her LO titled "Skater Girl". Thanks Jaki, you're a legend!

I took this photo out at the airport late on Friday afternoon when the sun was hiding behind the post. You can't really see it in this photo but it was shining through Tyler's hair and was creating a halo effect around her head. I couldn't resist playing around with this photo and converting it to B&W and then blurring the background.

Another Celebration!

2008-08-11T20:51:00.010+10:00

I was too tired to blog last night, but yesterday was Tyler's birthday. 6 years old already - where did that time go. Our baby girl is growing up fast.

We decided to make a bit of a fuss for her birthday party this year and allowed her to invite 10 of her best friends (girls and boys). We had a Pink & White Butterfly party and I made her a beautiful pink and white butterfly cake (even if I say so myself)

Here are a few photos of her big day.

THE DECORATIONS

and finally.................

When the party was all over.

Another Celebration!

2008-08-11T20:51:00.001+10:00

Celebration and Illness in the Family

2008-08-02T22:50:00.003+10:00

While this week has been fairly normal for me with work every day, Rick has had a good one with regards to his work. He sat the exam for his Security Licence on Monday night and got 23/25 which was great. He just has to finish the 2 workbooks that were issued at the beginning of the course and pay for the licence. This should open up a few more job opportunities for him. He then had Tuesday allocated for his course so he didn't have to go back to work until Wednesday for 1 shift and then days off again.
Unfortunately, during his days off, he had Bryce at home with very high fevers and Bronchitis. Poor kid was not well at all. He spent 3 nights sleeping on an airbed in our bedroom with the heater on because he was so cold.
He was supposed to be spending the night at a friends' house tonight, but because he still wasn't totally 100% today, we changed the plans slightly, and his friend is having the sleep-over here tonight instead. Tyler has her nose put out of joint slightly thinking that Bryce "gets everything", but she's forgotten that she has a birthday with 10 of her best friends coming to her party next week.
Oh My God!!!!! Our baby girl is going to be 6 in just 6 days. Where did all that time go? And I still don't know what to get her for her birthday. Something nice and girly, but what. The local Pharmacy around the corner has some nice 'girly' giftware, so I might have to go and have a look there in the next day or so. That's where I got the fairy for her birthday last year!!!!

Winter Has Arrived!!!

2008-07-28T17:28:00.002+10:00

Well, today has been freezing all day. Hasn't really been warmer than about 16 degrees, so they say, and it's going to get even colder over the next few days. Brrrrrrr........ Apparently they've had sleet falling up at Toowoomba this afternoon!!!!!!!
Tyler still wasn't very well this morning when she woke up, so she spent the day at home with Rick. No point in sending her to school when she's feeling like this - much to her disagreement.
Had a great idea for Tyler's birthday party today - I'm going to make some pretty pinwheels for each child to take home with them. An old fasioned idea that I haven't seen used before, (not since I was a little girl) and they go well with the butterfly theme of the party. Had a practice go with them when I got home from work and they work well. Just need to buy some dowel from Bunnings for the handles and some pretty papers.
No photo opportunities today with my new camera.

It's My Birthday Today......

2008-07-27T16:23:00.000+10:00

and look what I got from Rick and the kids.

We've had Digital SLR for the last 5 years, which is great, but this is so much more portable and had heaps more features. Also has double the mega pixels too.

It's been a nice day: a sleep in to start with, then FIL and parents arrived for morning tea before we headed off to Sizzlers for lunch. Rick had to go off to work this afternoon, so I've spent the afternoon catching up on blogs and favourite forums on the net.

A First For Us in 11 Years

2008-07-20T23:23:00.000+10:00

MAMA MIA!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, finally after 11 years Rick and I finallly went to a movie together (without the kids), to see an adult movie.
Our wonderful neighbor offered to have the children for a couple of hours so that we could head off to see "Mama Mia" at the movies.
In the short time since its' release, I've heard nothing but wonderful reports about it. I was convinced that I would be going to see it on my own, because Rick is not really a movie-lover, but he wanted to see this one too.
WELL - not only was the caste line-up very impressive, but the movie was just FANTASTIC!!! The story-line, the locations and scenery (just stunning) and, of course, the music. As we were walking out I just wanted to turn around and go back in to see it again. Not a person moved out of their seats until every credit had rolled at the end.
Meryl Streep is just fantastic in every sense, Pearce Brosnan is as smooth as ever, and Colin Firth - well what can I say??
Just full of hilariously funny scenes and dialogue and some teary moments too. All in all, a great "feel-good" movie. Not many of them around nowdays, but this is certainly one.
If you haven't seen it, can I recommend it - ASAP. You'll love it!
That music will live on forever.
MAMA MIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tax Time Again

2008-06-30T16:46:00.001+10:00

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

2008-06-09T16:50:00.000+10:00

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

2008-06-09T16:39:00.002+10:00

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

2008-06-09T16:39:00.001+10:00

2nd April - Sydney By Night

2008-06-09T15:51:00.000+10:00

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

2008-06-09T15:33:00.000+10:00

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".

Tues 1st April - Catching Up & Sickness In The Family

2008-04-13T12:18:00.001+10:00

A slightly quieter day is in order today with catching up with both sides of our family today.
We start out with morning tea at Mary's place with Tante Mary, Om Hans, Lud and Monique.
They have a beautiful Federation Style home which they are renovating themselves. Mary is gradually replacing the windows with Lead-Light windows that she is making herself. Hans has done nearly all of the carpentary work himself and he has some beautiful collections of carpentary tools that he has mounted on the walls around the house. Mary has a beautiful, and extensive collection of little blue & white porcelain Dutch houses displayed on shelves around the house.

Well, morning tea extended into a lovely lunch of salad and cold meat when I realized that it was 12.50, and we had arranged to meet my relatives for a catch-up at the North Ryde RSL, so it was a quick finish to lunch and a phone call to let them know that we were on our way. It was about a 20 minute trip.
On the way, we had to drive down Pittwater Rd, which was where my Great Aunty Glad used to live, so we made a note of where her house is - and it is only a block or 2 down from the main road and probably only about 2km from where we were staying. I feel like I have reached my family roots because my Dad actually grew up here as a little boy and went to the same Primary School that Monique's girls go to. What a co-incidence is that?
The catch-up with Robyn, Dick and Merideth was great - not long enough, but that was partly our fault for arriving late. Unfortunately the kid's playground was closed for the day, so Merideth found them some colouring in to do and bought them a milkshake each. We never heard them once: they were so well behaved. We are so proud of them, because it must be boring for kids when the adults are talking all the time.
After leaving them, we decide to call in on Banjo Patterson Park in Gladesville, but that is my next post.
We have organized with Mary & Hans to go out tonight to the Hunter's Hill Hotel for a Steak Night, but, unfortunately I have to stay home with Tyler and only Rick & Bryce go with Monique and the girls.
As I was getting Tyler ready to go out after her bath, she started vomiting and looked decidedly unwell, so I put her to bed and tell Rick that I will be staying at home with her. I put it down to 4 days of excitement and being generally over-tired. Poor little thing, every time she woke up and moved, she vomited again. We went through about 4 sets of sheets. Monique blew up an air mattress for her and she spent the night in our bedroom with us. She finally stopped vomiting at 3am, but was very tired and lethargic, so we let her sleep as much as possible, whenever she wanted to.

Mon 31st March - Darling Harbour

2008-04-12T16:12:00.000+10:00

After the rest of the family had left for school, work etc, we caught the bus into the city and walked back down to Darling Harbour. The first thing we found at the bottom of the stairs was a HUGE playground with lots of slides, ladders, monkey bars, sand etc, where the kids played for 20 minutes or so

The 'Spiral Fountain' at Darling Harbour. A really interesting piece of architecture with every 2nd tier being a dry one so that it is possible to walk down into the centre - just Tyler & Bryce have done.

before we continued on down towards the main shopping area and the National Maritime Museum.

Coffee & donuts for morning tea and a visit to the toilet in the shopping centre were a "must do" before we ventured into the Museum.

A very impressive anchor at the main entrance to the National Maritime Museum, Sydney.

Like all modern museums these days, the Maritime Museum was extremely interesting, especially with our liking for boating and all things to do with boating.

"HMAS VAMPIRE" & "HMAS ONSLOW" "KATHLEEN GILLETT"

Rick and Bryce went on a tour of the "HMAS Vampire" while Tyler and I found the "Kathleen Gillett" which was a yacht owned by an old family friend in Rabaul in our (Dunbar-Reid) sailing days up there, back in the 1970's. I'm sure she was painted white back then and fitted out to be a very comfortable cruising yacht. She looks a little different now! I didn't know, then, that she had competed in the Inaugural Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race or circumnavigated the world. I feel quite priveleged to have known part of her history - albeit (sp?) the later part.

The hightlight of Rick & Bryce's tour of the warship was that they experienced a simulated "All hands to battle-stations" alarm - just when they were underneath one of the deck-mounted guns. This certainly was alarming and gave Bryce quite a fright. Their pass on board the ship also included a tour of the Navy submarine moored along-side, but Bryce decided that he didn't really want to go onboard the sub. I don't blame him really - no windows.

We spent about 2 hours in and around the museum, and by the time we met up with Rick and Bryce, we were all ready for some lunch. We went on back down to the main Food Court and found a noodle bar called the WOK ON INN. We both ordered noodles with pork and vegetables. Rick had Chinese-style and I had the Thai - style. The chilli flavour was lovely - left the lips tingling for a while afterwards, but extremely yummy!! We knew the kids wouldn't eat the noodles, so they were treated with Macca's - again.

An impressive entrance to the Sydney Acquarium

In order to settle the huge lunch, we walked across the bridge to the other side of Darling Harbour where we found the Sydney Acquarium. Of course, we had to see this, so, while Rick waited outside, I took the kids through. The seals were very cute and the glass floor in the Great Barrier Reef exhibit was very freaky, (walking over the top of a LARGE Shovel Nosed Shark). It had been over an hour by the time we re-emerged at the end of the tunnels through the Acquarium.

Waiting for the ferry at the King St Wharf 3.

From here, we walked around the corner to the King St Wharf and caught the 4.30pm ferry home again. Monique picked us up from the Huntley's Point Wharf in Gladesville.

Gladesville Bridge from underneath.

Huntley's Point Wharf, Gladesville

We have arranged to go and visit Gabriel Williams for coffee after dinner - David will be there too. Surprise, surprise, she lives only 3 minutes from where we are staying - overlooking the water.

The kids are really tired from a full day in the city walking everywhere, so we put them to bed before going, and they drop straight off to sleep. Think tomorrow might be a quieter day for their sake.

Sun 30th March - Taronga Park Zoo

2008-04-10T21:35:00.000+10:00

Another early start with bleary eyes and Tyler and Maxine are in the bath before we even get out of bed. Bryce and Michaela are dressed and ready for the day (in matching camoflage {?sp} pants) before breakfast.

We are supposed to be waiting for some old New Guinea friends to call in, but when they haven't arrived by the time Chris and Desmond arrive, we decide to go to the zoo with them. Hey! We want to see the zoo too. Monique offers to give them the message for us that we have gone out and that we will call them tonight.

We arrived an hour after opening time, (because Daylight Saving has been extended for another week), and we can't get a park at the top entrance. We follow Des and drive right to the bottom of the park at the water's edge, where the ferry comes in, and we park there and go in that entrance. From there, we get the Sky Safari to the top and then wind our way, on foot, back down through the zoo, stopping at all the exhibits on the way.

Two of the famous landmarks of the harbour and, of course, one of the famous Manly Ferries.

Just before lunch, and about half way down, we find ourselves at the Free Flight Show, where Chris and Des had a lot of experience when they were working here. What a stunning setting. It is set up as an ampitheatre facing out over the harbour with breathtaking views of the city and it's famous landmarks. The main 'stage' for the birds and their handlers was at the bottom of the tiers of seating.

It was here that we experienced the highlight of our day - expecially for Bryce - because Chris & Des had pre-arranged for Bryce to participate by catching one of the owls. We are so proud of him.
Travelling back to the bottom in the Sky Safari.

We finished the day by meeting the rest of the family at Balmoral Beach for fish & chips. The 2 younger girls played in the sand and Bryce & Michaela had a short swim before they found a dog to play with up on the grass. A fitting way to end another wonderful day.

The Laaper/Pasop/Wichems extended family.

Sat 29th March - The Wedding Day

2008-04-10T20:48:00.000+10:00

All the kids on the ferry on the way to the wedding. Michaela and Maxine were flower girls/bridesmaids.

A relaxing start to the day at home. We left home at 11.30am to catch the ferry from Gladesville to Darling Harbour. We then changed ferries from Darling Harbour back to Cockatoo Island. While waiting for the ferry at Darling Harbour, we caught our first glimpse of the Maritime Museum with the Young Endeavour moored outside.

The wedding on the island was lovely - very relaxed and friendly with great views up and down this beautiful harbour: and great live music!

Quote: "Mummy, the drums are so loud, they are making my heart go up and down". - Tyler Pasop, 5 yrs

At 4.30, Monique and I took the kids and caught the ferry into Circular Quay where we caught a bus back home. I lost Tyler's jacket on the bus - I must have dropped it.

We dropped the kids with the neighbour across the road at 7pm and then caught the ferry back to join the"after party". Unfortunately, that ferry went "U.S." (broke down) and they dropped us all of at Cockatoo Island (again) to be picked up by the ferry behind us. They took us back to Circular Quay - not Darling Harbour!! No more ferries back to Darling Harbour at this time of a Saturday night, so we caught a taxi back to The Loft at Darling Harbour.

Finally, we arrived at the "After Party", only to find both Rick and Andrew outside on the footpath having a cigar each.

It was an adventure.Thank God we didn't have all the kids with us.

Some of the sights of the city were just stunning!! The Sydney Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, Luna Park - and all when I didn't have a camera to capture them all. BUGGER!!!!!

We had to leave at 10.30pm to get the final ferry home again at 10.45.

What a great day - one that we'll remember for a looooong time.

GOOD NIGHT

2008-04-08T23:06:00.001+10:00

Well, it's getting rather late, so I'll leave you here and carry on with some more tomorrow night.
'Nighty night everyone.

FRIDAY 28TH MARCH - THE FINAL LEG......

2008-04-08T22:43:00.000+10:00

I didn't get to put photos with the last post, so I'll put them here. I didn't give it a proper title either, so I've put the title on this one.

28th March

2008-04-08T17:52:00.000+10:00

We woke up at 6am after a rather uncomfortable night' sleep in the cabin. After a shower, the kids had a yoghurt and drink of milk, and Rick re-pack the car. We drove out of the caravan park and were on our way.
Onward to Sydney..............
Driving conditions were beautiful. The air was cool, and the road was wide and very few cars.
After an hour, we were starting to get hungry and had about an hour of extra time so we detoured off the highway into Forster/Tuncurry.
What a beautiful area situated on both sides of the river/inlet joined by a big bridge. We drove into the Marina/Caravan Park to use the public toilet. This is a beautiful holiday destination!
Note: remember this destination next holiday break.
Still hungry and McDonalds in sight, but Rick diesn't want McDonalds, so we keep driving back towards the highway via "The Lakes". What a pretty drive! Lots of corners and hills with a new lake to see around every bend. About 1/2 way along, we come across a service station with a Takeaway attatched. We stopped here and ordered an Egg & Bacon Roll each and Tyler had a hot dog. We had to go into the Service Station to get a flavoured milk each. YUM!!!! What a nice breakfast.
Petrol price here was 150.9 cents/litre.
Next stop - Sydney. The freeway from Newcastle to Sydney was a spectacular drive. We arrived at Monique's place right on time at 1pm.
Thank God for the GPS!!!!!

Thurs 27th March - Setting Out.........

2008-04-08T16:40:00.000+10:00

Well, the day has finally arrived to set off for our lon-awaited holiday in Sydney.

We woke to the alarm at 3.30am, and after all the last minute packing, we locked the garage door and set off at 4.20am. We only got as far as Coomera before Bryce complained of "feeling sick in the tummy", so we stopped at the BP Roadhouse opposite Dreamworld for a sanwich, flavoured milk and the kids shared a sausage roll.

Our next stop was at Grafton for a 'proper' breakfast at McDonalds. This was at 8.30.

We missed having lunch but stopped in Coffs Harbour for a look at the "marina" and a walk along the North Wall to stretch our legs.

We finally arrived in Port Macquarie at 1.30 (2.30 DST) when the kids promptly had a swim in the pool before it rained.

We went for a drive around the beaches, took some photos and had a walk through town.

We had a beautiful dinner at the Port Macquarie City Bowls Club then home to bed.

The weather was mainly overcast all day and nice rain on and off mixed with periods of sunshine.

We topped up the petrol here. Petrol was 147.9 cents per litre.

It's Been A While.............

2008-04-08T16:34:00.001+10:00

Well, I know it's been a long time between updates, but boy, do I have some updates now........

Last year, Rick's cousin got married in Florida and she has just brought her new husband (and a few other friends) back to Oz to celebrate with her Aussie family and friends with a Wedding Reception on Sydney Harbour.

We decided to make this our family holiday, so Rick & I both took Annual Leave from work and we drove down with the kids. I haven't been to Sydney for about 28 years and it was well worth it all. We all had a great time.

Here is my holiday journal.......................

Kindy Graduation Day, 2007

2007-12-07T16:37:00.001+10:00

Last night was all the excitement of the Christmas Party and today was all the excitement of Graduation Day. This marks a huge milestone in our lives as well as Tyler's life. Our "baby" is graduating from Kindy into "Big School". Just thinking about it like this leaves a big lump in my throat, but then I've always been a big sook when in comes to my kids achieving milestones like this.

There were quite a few surprises in store for us this morning and the kids were fantastic with keeping those secrets.

The morning started with a concert like last nights with the kids really showing that they can "rock". This followed the actual Graduation Ceremony inside when the kids were presented, dressed in "Cap & Gown" with their Graduation Certificates and did a little walk along a catwalk for all parents to applaud them. This brought a few tears, not only to my eyes, but to most parents eyes, to see their kids all dressed up in 'Graduation Gear'. It was so cute! They were then presented as a whole group - the class of 2007.

This was followed by morning tea and Graduation Cake outside and then we were given the option to buy sets of Proffesional Photos of them to comemorate the occasion. Of course, you couldn't knock that opportunity back. The kids then all presented their parents with a tiny xmas pudding they had made in class along with a 2008 calendar and a tree decoration featuring a photo of them. All in all, it was a great morning, and extremely well organized.

For us:

This time in 12 years, it will be ALL OVER!!!! No more school!

Tyler's Kindy Christmas Party

2007-12-07T16:23:00.000+10:00

With Christmas just around the corner, Tyler's Kindy hosted their Christmas Party last night. It was heaps of fun! The entertainment started off with the 3 different levels (Junior Kindy, Senior Kindy and Pre-school) all presenting a concert where each level sang and danced to 3 different songs each. They were great to watch and all did their parent's proud. Of course, the littlies were a little bit shy, but by the time we got to the Pre-school kids, they were right into the spirit of things and loved their dancing.

The excitement shows all over her face.

Tyler loves to dance and here she is; not missing a beat.

LASER SKIRMISH

2007-10-21T15:59:00.000+10:00

This week Bryce was invited to celebrate his best friend's birthday with 2 other boys to play Laser Skirmish. We didn't know it, but there is a Laser Skirmish ground just up at Mt Cotton only about 10 minutes from home. It is in the bush behind the Mt Cotton Scout Camp.

I was a bit uneasy at the thought of these young boys going out into the bush in full army clothing with laser guns with the object of shooting one another, but they had fun, and that's the main thing.

When we arrived up there, there were about 80 - 100 people (adults as well as kids) registered to play and they were all split into 2 groups - Caps and Hats - and the idea was that they were opposing armys. They played 2 x 15 minute rounds (swapping ends in the middle) to start with then they had a 15 minute break, and then they went back out into the bush to play 2 x 20 minutes rounds (swapping ends in between).

It was stipulated to them all before they started that it was a NON CONTACT game and a safe game to play - just to have heaps of fun - and FUN............THEY HAD. I think Bryce will be sleeping very soundly tonight. Thank goodness, it's a Pupil-Free day tomorrow at school.

While we were up there, on a walk through the bush, we spotted this wallaby grazing under the trees. Good thing I had the camera with me!

Speaking of school, Tyler is having a Prep Transition morning at school tomorrow for an hour and a half. This is just so the kids starting Prep next year, can go along and have a taste of what to expect when they start next year and to meet all the teachers. Unfortunately, I have a really busy day at work, but Rick will be taking her to this, and hopefully, he'll take the camera too, so I'll be making another post tomorrow with pics of that for you all to see.

2007-10-13T06:54:00.000+10:00

Sally's Weightloss Tracker

What A Weekend!!

2007-10-08T23:37:00.000+10:00

We've just had the best weekend here: -

After 8 years of being a 1-car family and spending a lot of time at home with the children while Rick was working 2 jobs, I finally have my own car again......................and here it is............

and this is what it looks like on the inside:

It's got heaps of room and is really zippy. I've had to get used to driving a manual car again, but after just 1 day back at work today, I feel as if I've never driven anything else but a manual car.

We had to go to the Gold Coast to pick it up, so while we were there we decided to take the kids to the beach to have a swim in the surf. We headed on down to Main Beach just north of Surfers Paradise, and the beach was extremely busy but the water was perfect. So clean and cool. I couldn't resist getting in for a swim myself. As you can see from the photo, the ocean had formed a 'gutter' along the beach with a small sandbar on the other side and this was perfect for the kids to swim in. Safe but still with waves and lots of current to contend with. I helped the kids walk across the gutter to get to the sanbar and the water came up to Tyler's chest at it's deepest. The kids loved jumping off the sandbar into the deep water of the gutter with the waves of the surf. We had so much fun. It was worthwhile the trip down to the coast. May have to think about doing this more regularly this summer.

2007-09-25T22:40:00.001+10:00

Family photo at Davids 21st

2007-09-24T15:08:00.000+10:00

DAVIDS 21st AT HOME

2007-09-24T14:54:00.000+10:00

We celebrated Davids 21st Birthday, Don Shirley and Aat came around for a BBQ. Bryce & Tyler were beside themselves to have there big brother back home.

ONE OF THE WEEKLY .....

2007-09-16T17:17:00.000+10:00

things I look forward to each week on the OSS site is a 2 Day Wonder Photography Challenge. Each Friday, a Design Team Member puts up a challenge to complete some time over the weekend using our camera. This has been a great learning experience for me because I've learnt all sorts of ways to photograph different subjects and all the different things to take into account to achieve an interesting photo. It has made me read the Instruction Manual for the camera more and learn more of what my camera is capable of doing.

This weekend's subject was Everyday Moments - the little things in and around the home that make it 'our home'. The little things that are taken for granted.

Here is my collection:

... And no, the Lotto ticket was no good. It was in the $20 Million Jackpot too, and didn't yield a single cent. Oh well, there's always next time!

2007-09-16T17:14:00.000+10:00

Saturday, September 15, 2007

LAST NIGHT WHILE RICK WAS AT WORK......
I got stuck into some scrapbooking again. (I haven't done any for 3 weeks, since I started work). I got really busy and created 15 "Just Because..." cards for this month's swap over at OSS. The hardest part was creating the first one and then every one after that was easy, I just changed each one slightly. I hope all the girls involved in the swap like my creation.Here is a little sneak peek at them.

I can't show you any more detail just in case any of the girls happen to find my blog and see them. (They are supposed to be a surprise).

After breakfast this morning, we decided to spend the morning having a look around the new IKEA store over at Springwood. In the past, I haven't liked the store or product they sell at all, but now - I'm converted! Apart from battling the crowds (the new catalogue came out last week), I just loved the store and we picked up a few little things while we were there. I can't get over how cheap it all it! We finally were able to replace a standing reading light that our Removalists broke for a quarter of the price of any other store We also found a bought a much needed Shower Organizer and Cutlery Drainer and for only a couple of $'s each. Bargain at half the price. I think I may go back next weekend, while Rick is on night shift, to pick up some new bed sheets. Can't wait for that.
Well, better finish off here and get my clean washing in and ironing done for tomorrow.

ARRIVING BACK FROM CAMP

2007-09-13T15:02:00.000+10:00

12th of September Bryce arrives back from his year 3 camp held on the sunshine coast.

Tuesday September 11,2007

2007-09-11T20:05:00.000+10:00

As you can see by the date, it is the anniversary of that horrific terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York. Thankfully, the day has past with no repeats anywhere around the world. , but one cannot help stopping for a moment to think about that terrible day and all the people who were directly affected by it.
Well it has been 2 weeks now since I started my new job with Blue Care, Redlands. Primarily, I am working as a Personal Carer for 2 days a week, but I also work in the Office every Friday as the "Intake Officer".
I am really enjoying working in the community, even though I thought I'd never go back to any type of 'nursing' work at all. Now, I'm hoping that one day I will be able to finish my nursing that I started way back in 1980. I've had heaps of 'hands-on' experience this then that has been documented in the form of certificates etc, which all count towards R.P.L's, (Recognition of Prior Learning), so hopefully finishing the course won't be too daunting. I just have to wait for the opportunity to come up where I can still do it while continuing to work. FINGERS CROSSED!!!!!!

2007-09-10T08:45:00.000+10:00

PIRATE SHIP

2007-09-10T08:36:00.000+10:00

After a week of rain we took the kids down to the park were they could let off some steam.

Thursday 23rd August 2007

2007-08-23T21:40:00.000+10:00

Well, yesterday I finally got the phone call I had been waiting for from Blue Care offering me a job as a personal carer. Of course I accepted the position and I start with them next Tuesday. I now have to contact all of my Ab.Dom. clients to let them know that I am no longer able to clean for them. It is harder to do with some of the clients that I have been cleaning for since starting this job. I had to tell one of those clients in person today when I went to do my final clean for them. They were one of my very first clients and we have established a very trusting relationship and friendship. When I left today, we decided that we would keep in touch in the future.
Last Saturday, while Rick was at work, I decided to get the kids out of the house and on their bikes because they hadn't ridden them for ages, so we went for a bike ride to the park beside the beach about 1km away. We had never riden in that direction before, but we stuck to the back streets and easements and only had to cross 1 main road.
I decided to take the camera with me and take the opportunity to get lots of lovely photos of the kids at play.
I took this one of Tyler while she was lying on a rug with her dolls on the back lawn at home. We love this photo of her!!!!!

This was the two kids playing 'boats' at the park together. Note the figurehead!!
By the time we got home again, we had been out for a couple of hours and they were both well and truly ready for some lunch and a lovely sleep. Nothing like a still onshore sea breeze and a big bike ride to wear them out!!!!!!
We all had fun - even me having to walk fast to keep up with them.

TYLERS 5TH BIRTHDAY

2007-08-22T16:46:00.000+10:00

On the 10th August, Tyler finally turned 5. After years of taking the back seat to Bryce's birthday parties, we decided that it was her turn to be made a big fuss of. We took her down to the shopping centre early on the day and had her ears pearced and then it it was home for morning tea and a birthday cake with Opa.
She received some really beautiful 'little girl' presents this year including the fairy below and a Barbie and Bratz dolls. Grandpa and Shirley's roller skating doll didn't work so we took it back to the shop and exchanged it for a "Littlest Pet Shop" set, which she loves.
She is at a lovely age now where she is really happy to sit and play out scenarios with her dolls and toys. It's lovely to sit back and watch her growing up into a beautiful little girl. Where is our baby girl going?

Queensland Museum

2007-08-22T15:44:00.000+10:00

This was our day trip to the Museum fun was had by all.

We all went to the city on the train and spent the best part of the day at the Science Centre and QLD Museum.

Welcome!

2007-08-22T13:10:00.000+10:00

Welcome all to the first entry into our new blog. We decided to set this up so that we can share our photos of family outings and events with each of you around the world. This has to be easier that emails and CD's in the mail!

Here are some recent photos of each of us, just so you know who you are looking at and talking to.