fishing with grandpa

So Brian and Monica arrived a week ago today, we haven't done any touristy things really as they've been to Sydney a few times before so we've just been hanging about, doing normal things and catching up.

 But Sunday was such a glorious day we decided to head up to Palm Beach in the afternoon for a bit of fishing (ok I admit I had to be dragged there, fishing is definitely not my favourite past time). I'm glad I went though, it was wonderful to watch Brian teaching Austin how to cast, something that didn't seem at all possible a year ago when Brian was virtually bedridden 24/7. 

the only thing we caught . . . 1 lonely blue swimmer crab, which completely freaked Lily out - she wouldn't go anywhere near it



Austin was also a bit freaked out by the crab claws but tried to act all big and brave

Queen Mary 2

On a horribly overcast and grey Valentines Day morning we got up early and headed into the city to pick up Steve's parents who were arriving from South Africa on the Queen Mary 2. It docked at Garden Island so we parked at the Opera House and then walked through the Botanical Gardens to see it.

Wow - no matter how many times I see those big cruise ships they still blow me away every time with their sheer size and the thought of the operation required to run them boggles my mind - but as interesting as they are I've still got no desire to EVER go on one . . .

Arriving in Sydney on Valentines Day there had to be proposal on board didn't there??? Hope you feel special Jess, you covered the Queen Mary 2 sign and ruined my pictures - haha.



The small cruise boat next to the Queen Mary 2 is one of the many chartered boats they used to transport the passengers and their luggage to Darling Harbour so they could pass through customs, it takes a few hours for everyone to disembark and is quite a performance - hopefully only a temporary solution while they build the new passenger terminal at Barangaroo.

Walking back through Botanical Gardens on our way to Darling Harbour to pick them up.
Lily being dragged/dropped/told to get down and walk . . . every parent of a toddler knows this feeling I'm sure

for some reason Austin reminds me of Steve in this photo, probably the raised eyebrows . . .

a bit of a weird photo to post I know but I just love this tree

I don't have any photos of Brian and Monica arriving, I put my camera away after the customs guy came over and told me to stop taking pictures of the area as it was a security breach and I could get arrested - Fun Spoiler!!!

When they did eventually walk through it was quite surreal, they've had to postpone this trip a few times and we are just so happy that they have finally made it out here and that Brian is up and about and looking great.

medical emergencies . . .

It's been an interesting week or so in the Hulley household . . .

First up, Lily decided to swallow a $2 coin.

It was pretty late at night and Steve and I were watching TV when we heard a choking cough and then crying coming from our bedroom. We rushed there to find Lily sitting up in bed surrounded by some coins that Steve had left on the bedside table - with 1 missing!! Minor panic set in, but we quickly calmed her down enough to see it had gone down and wasn't stuck in her windpipe or anything. She wasn't struggling to breathe so we decided to just watch her and get an x-ray done in the morning.

The next morning the x-ray confirmed that the coin had passed through and was in her stomach so it was now a waiting game. . . After a few days and few disgusting searches through the potty with gloves and a paddle pop stick - voila! - a $2 coin.

She has been going around saying "Mummy you don't put coins in your mouth, only food alright!!!", so lets hope she has learnt her lesson.

Then a few days after that I was on the bus with Lily when I brushed my fingers through her hair and felt something stuck in there. I spread her hair apart and nearly jumped out of my seat when I saw an ugly little creature stuck to her scalp. I wasn't even sure what it was, whether it was nits or a tick. Lily was saying "get it out Mummy", while I'm trying to distract her from making a scene on a crowded bus. Thankfully we weren't far from home so we got off and I took her straight to the chemist where the pharmacist looked at it and confirmed it was a ugly fat tick (unfortunately I didn't get a photo). I think she could see how horrified I was because she kindly offered to take it out for me, which she did. Lily was fine, she let the lady take it out with no fuss, and wanted to look at it in the tweezers afterwards. As we were leaving the pharmacist said "Welcome to the Northern Beaches, I'm sure it won't be your last tick" - yuck, let's hope it is - just writing this has made me itchy . . .

Then later that night we were in Mona Vale hospital emergency attending to this . . .

Mum and Dad had come over for dinner and Austin was having a tant because when I dished up his food some of the peas were touching the lamb casserole (major catastrophe!). He wanted a new plate but wouldn't go and get one himself - he wanted me to go, which I refused. As it does it quickly turned into a standoff, Austin wouldn't give in, we wouldn't give in so he was given a warning before being 'escorted' kicking and screaming to his room for time-out. But on the way Austin somehow tripped over Steve, fell backwards and hit his head on the door frame of his room. There was blood everywhere . . .

So off we rushed to emergency, where he was quickly seen and had his head glued back together. He was so brave, he hardly cried, even when they pulled his hair to clean the wound and pull the skin together which must have hurt so much. He even went to school the next day, there was no way a little head cut was keeping him away (he is absolutely LOVING school).

It was an accident but Steve still felt so quilty, I've never seen him look so pale and stressed.

All glued up, it was amazing to watch the doctors work, they use the hair kind of like stitches to pull the skin together then pour special glue (which looks exactly like superglue) all over it.

more boys toys . . . arghhhh

Steve's knee has been playing up of late so his favourite exercise of running has been banned by the knee doctor for now (and probably forever if he's sensible). So now he's looking for other ways to keep fit, he loves surfing but it's not something you can rely on as the right winds never seem to blow, so he decided to give kite boarding a go as unlike surfing it's best with the howling NE.

Steve can be quite particular about doing his research before he starts something, he likes to do things properly, so he organised a few lessons down at Brighton with a kite school to try it out before he buys the equipment. We went down with him the one afternoon, it was fun to watch for all of about 5 minutes . . . the problem with kite surfing is that it relies on that howling NE I was talking about earlier . . . it's just not my idea of fun to sit on a windy beach with my hair and sand blowing all over my face. It was cool to watch the planes taking off and landing at the airport, but next time I'll bring a hat and a tent . . .

aaaawwwwww

all the setting up and equipment seems like way too much of a headache to me . . . 

and he's up . . .

the kids swimming in the shark nets

Lily got a bit too confident in the 'little' waves and got DUMPED

my little doggy

We spend a lot of time laughing at things Lily does in our house. She's a real tomboy and loves nothing more than climbing, jumping, getting dirty or getting up to mischief. She will do anything to get a laugh out of you, and when she does do something naughty its so hard to keep a straight face and discipline her, she just looks up at you with those big blue eyes as if to say "What???, what did I do wrong?" 

The other day I was cooking oats and whenever I do she always wants to eat some of the uncooked oats first, so I gave her a little bit (she likes to eat lots of weird stuff too but that's another post), then put the container in the cupboard and walked away. I came back a minute later to find she'd managed to open the jar, spilled it all over the floor and was busy licking it up. I went to get my camera and as I came back she just looked up at me with a cheeky smile and said "woof".

Apologies to anyone reading this who gets grossed out, especially my dear Dad the germ-phobe. We are probably a little too relaxed when it comes to this kind of stuff, but hey my floors probably a lot less germy than the hundreds of other places Lily has touched, eaten or licked over the past 2 years.

the BIG day . . .

So all the planning, preparation, orientations, purchases, anticipation, tears and excitement are over now!!! It happened - Austin started big school. It was such an emotional day, I still can't believe my baby boy is in school, where did the last five years go???

The night before . . .

Proof that I can and do iron!!! 

All his gear

Taking his polishing very seriously . . .

Finally asleep, he was sooo excited I didn't think he was ever going to go to sleep

The morning . . .

Uniform and bag ready to go

A hearty breakfast

Acting the fool after his shower

Getting dressed for the first time

Lunch

Dropping Lily off at Preschool


The drop off . . .

Walking up the road



The bag and the boy . . .

awww look at him . . .

boys will be boys . . .

Outside his classroom

his peg

Waiting for the bell with Mummy

walking in, no looking back

The farewell was quick. The principal said a few words welcoming us to Newport School, and then she asked to the children to say goodbye to mum and dad and line up with their teacher. Then they all filed away quietly to their classrooms, bravely waving goodbye to us. There were no emotional scenes, no big final hugs and kisses, no going into their classroom, no chat to the teacher, the impression given was "ok parents get out of here now, come to the hall for a cup of tea and chat if you want to have a cry but dont hang around here". I know they do it like that because it's easier on the kids to settle in if you dont make it a big performance - and I must say there were hardly any kids crying. But still, its a huge shock to the system when you are used to the warm, homely atmosphere of preschool - where they love nothing better than for you to hang around and chat.

It was a strange feeling watching him go in too, knowing we just had to let him go and trust him to work things out for himself. I was so proud of him and I knew he would be fine, but I also knew he would be feeling nervous and a bit scared, but that was ok too because I knew that was part of him growing up and learning to be strong, confident and independant.

Steve and I went to see a movie afterwards, I think we both needed to just escape a bit and stop thinking about him being at school. When we picked him up he was looking a bit shellshocked but seemed happy enough, and quite proud of himself. He said he'd had a good day, which is about the most you will get out of a 5 year old boy . . .

little speckled frog

. . . this is the first post about our little/big boy starting big school . . . plenty more to come don't worry . . .

He came home from his first day being his usual 'one word answer' self whenever you asked him a question about his day "good, yes, no, yep, I don't know, I'll tell you later" etc etc. But then out of the blue he started talking about a new song his teacher had taught the class so we asked him to sing it and here it is, this is a big achievement for our little musically challenged little boy - he has never remembered words or lyrics so quickly . . . 

ps/ Lily decided to join in and bang along in time (kind of) towards the end