LEST WE FORGET

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Puffing Billy

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

Jump on over and have a look at this great Candy Giveaway offer. It is awesome!
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvsc2HsRKKn3Ba3YWiZ1TMi_QNYKCR_HBrvZ1eeAFVWcVk8IwAo1PwNbIRe2zCGojpy3WpDAiy2YfCe60-0oBVsWnymPL9B-5g6r2-2SJN1wjCPwg4P99onhdunARixLqC_GDSt92Z1XE/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

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........

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?

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

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.