455 + 351 Weeks

We have been keeping pretty busy despite the restrictions of the Coronavirus.  Jeffrey has been laid off from his job until August at the earliest.  We were expecting it once all restaurants and clubs were mandatorily closed.  It will be strange to have him home every day, but the kids are happy about it!  It will give us time to get our house in order, as well as provide me with a resident cook every night :)

On Friday we had the last of our really hot days, so we went to Mollymook Beach.  Zach was still down here then, so we took him with us.  The kids and I went boogie boarding, and it was so much fun.  It was a taste of how our summer should have been, and we are determined to have four boogie boards next year so we can do it together.

On Saturday night we had our second and what might be our last beach dinner for the season.  It was so beautiful out, and the kids had a blast.  They got 'stranded' on a rock in the ocean, and they did running race after running race on the sand.  When they get competitive, they just keep going, and they are as fast as each other, so the competition goes on and on until they are exhausted.

Another day we went to the lighthouse oval and played Finska followed by cricket practice.  It was really fun.  The kids then continued to do even more running races!  We are trying to get the kids out every day for exercise, as we are fairly housebound.  But I have to say, as far as social isolation goes, we are in the perfect place for it!  We have long stretches of beaches to explore, beautiful hikes to go on, massive unpopulated ovals to play on...it's perfect.  And the kids are still continuing their horse riding and tennis lessons, as neither has closed and we feel there is no danger there.  And thank goodness for those activities, as they really help the kids.

We have been having a little trouble with Arley again.  He has become a little ornery - I am sure it is because of all of the changes in his life, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.  I lost my patience with him today at the park, and my guilt is pretty awful.  It was yet another 15 minute session of pushing my buttons, after a day of pushing buttons, and I snapped.  When he gets in a mood, it is really hard to snap him out of it, and it affects all of us.  Arley can't just be grumpy, he has to make sure we all are!

He is brilliant with the rats though.  We started using Jackie today to calm him down when upset, and it did work.  Arley likes to make them rat toys and tunnels and houses to play in.  That always puts a smile on his face.

The library closed yesterday, so Carmie and I raced there before closing and borrowed piles of books.  She is one happy camper now.

Beautiful Mollymook beach

Duct Tape Woman and Sticky Tape Man strike again.

Saturday night beach dinner

Games on the oval

454 + 350 Weeks

It seems like the world has gone crazy this week.  We haven't been affected too badly, because hey, the kids are already at home with me.  But we have stopped the kids going to Peak after school care, swimming is cancelled, and they won't be seeing their carer Wes for a while... We aren't in lockdown or anything, so life is going on as normal, for the moment.

We met some friends at Narrawallee Inlet on Friday, and it was an absolutely beautiful day.  We will really miss the warm weather, as we barely had a summer this year.  Today was really hot, so the kids and I picked up my nephew Zach, who is staying with Lolo and Dida for a bit, and we went to the water park at King's Point.  We had the whole place to ourselves, not another soul was in sight.  The kids loved it, and had so much fun playing with their cousin.  Arley was a pain in the butt for a part of it, but thankfully he got over it and the day ended well.  Afterwards the kids went back to Lolo's to watch a movie with Zach, and I got a little bit of work done.

The highlight of our week was an overnight trip to Canberra that Jeffrey and I did.  We drove there on Tuesday afternoon, and stayed at the Deco Hotel, which is a brand new hotel, and it was amazing!  We had drinks in the bar, dinner in the restaurant, and had no reason to leave at all until the next day.  We only saw two other people in the hotel.  The next morning we made our way to the National Gallery of Australia to see the Matisse and Picasso exhibition that is being shown, and I LOVED it.  It was an incredible show, and it was really interesting to see how the two artists' careers were interconnected.  It was awesome.  After that we drove to Bungendore to visit our friend  Xanthe.  We brought her a surprise gift of a roll of toilet paper from the hotel, and in return she gave us two face masks :)  We then continued on to Braidwood for lunch, and made it home by 5.  It was one of the best little getaways we've had.

We've had lots of rat play this week.  The kids and I made a big rat play pen in the lounge room.  Jeff's not loving it, but the kids are having so much fun!  Nacho tries to escape every chance he gets, and we have discovered that he is very clever at leaping long distances off of shoulders!

We've made cookies, and the kids have still been to horse riding and their tennis lesson.  Tomorrow we are picking up Zach again and heading to the beach.  I think it's going to be the last hot day of the season, so we are going to make the most of it.

This is how Carmie's hair looks when she wakes up.  This was her early morning lap swimming.

Beautiful Narrawallee Inlet

I've included this picture because I love Arley's eyes, but it is rare to see them for long due to his poor eye contact.  It wasn't until he was about 4 years old that I actually discovered what colour his eyes really are.  He has such dark eye lashes, and fleeting eye contact, so I never knew.  But to answer, they are grey.  A true slate grey, and they are beautiful :)

Making chocolate chip cookies

Can you see little Nacho?

 Today at the water park

453 + 349 Weeks

It feels like we packed in about three weeks of activities in one week this week!  We did so much, it's no wonder I am exhausted right now!

On Friday I took the kids to the Milton show, which is basically a country fair where they have horse riding competitions, wood chopping, a display pavilion, a petting zoo...We went in the morning before the school kids showed up, and it was great because there were zero crowds, the kids got to ride on all the rides they wanted and spent SO long with the animals.  The high school kids were in charge of the petting zoo, and I overheard some of them talking about Arley, saying he is the chicken and duck whisperer.  He just did not want to leave the chickens!  I don't know what it is with him and chickens, but he really loves them.  Anyway, I coerced him out of there and we saw a snake show, and petted a brahman cow.  It was a really fun but exhausting morning!

On Saturday we had a chill day. Jeffrey got the kids to the neighbourhood park after much complaining from Arley.  They played soccer and dodge ball, and had a good time, but Arley is really resistant to going places lately, and when I say resistant, I mean he is a complete pain in the butt.  He gets angry and refuses to go anywhere until I tell him he won't be able to have any screens at all, like ever!  But he always has fun once he is out, and often he is the last one who wants to leave a place.

On Sunday we went to the kids' friend Ben's super hero birthday party.  The kids had a blast, and it was really great to see them hanging with a bunch of kids, some of whom they didn't know.  Most were the homeschool crowd, and they all play together so well, and make up awesome imaginary games, it's lovely to see.

The kids still did their horse riding and tennis.  We have also pulled Carmie out of her swimming lessons, and she is going to be swimming laps while Arley has his private lesson every Friday morning.  So much better.  On Tuesday the kids had their usual sleepover at Lolo's, but I had to pick them up early on Wednesday because Lolo had yet another doctors appointment for her elbow which she fractured nine weeks ago (and is now actually broken!!).  I decided to take the kids down to Dolphin Point to explore.  They insisted on bringing their snorkels, a surf board, a boogie board, a giant blow-up killer whale float, and morning tea.  We got there and they were doing construction in our usual spot, so we drove around to the other side where we never swim.  It was SO beautiful out, but little did we know, there were oyster shells everywhere.  Within ten minutes Carmie had fallen and cut open her shin, and Arley then started screaming because he had cut the top of his foot and two toes.  Arley came out of the water and calmed down, but then as soon as he saw the blood, he started melting down.  A lady nearby came to help me, which was lucky.  We sat for 20 minutes while the bleeding and the pain stopped, and then we started playing games in the sand.  The kids were unable to go in the water again, but we ended up staying a few hours, playing all kinds of games and picnicking, so the day was saved.  I had a huge carload of beach gear to pack up though!

Today we headed to Mollymook beach, as we want to make the most of the last of our beach days.  The kids thought their oyster shell injuries would be fine, but it turns out they couldn't stay in the water for very long as it was a little painful.  Carmie and I played wave tag while Arley played in the sand, and it was pretty fun.  We visited Jeffrey at work and then went and bought ice blocks.

And if that's not enough, this afternoon we headed out again for a play with the kids' friends Delphi and Jasper.  They had a fantastic two hour play, and they all got along swimmingly, except for one small incident between Arley and Jasper (which is bound to happen!).  None of the kids wanted to leave in the end, but it was late.  Carmie was thoroughly exhausted at dinner, and I think both will sleep really well tonight.

For the last two days, the kids have been playing really well together.  They have made up a superhero game, where Carmie is Duct Tape Woman, and Arley is Sticky Tape Boy.  They have made costumes for themselves (I heard Arley say to Carmie, "Our costumes are really cool!"), and they go around the house 'fighting' things, so at the moment, all of our cushions are duct taped into bundles, as well as Arley's horse riding helmet.  It is the cutest thing!

Fun at the Milton Show

 That's a brahman!

 Rat scarf :)

Had to post - she is such an angel when she is sleeping!

On their way to a superhero party

Funniest and most unflattering photo ever :)

At Dolphin Point

Duct Tape Woman and Sticky Tape Boy

 Mollymook Beach

Posing like statues