Guess who needed a nap after a (rescheduled) day at the zoo today. (Hint: not Finn!)
Seriously. I believe ‘herding cats’ is an appropriate simile. After a few hours of what shall hereafter be known as the bums-and-poo trip to the Zoo, (because what could possibly be more fascinating to six year olds than the rear ends - and what emerges therefrom - of exotic animals?) I was completely beat. I have renewed respect for the teachers of our preppies, I can tell you that. Oh, and never so pro-uniform as today - it’s far easier to locate one’s group when all are dressed alike.
It was loads of fun, though, and the weather this time was perfect. After lunch, our class had an hour at the ‘Zoo School’ learning about ‘Feathers, Fur, Scales & Skin’. I hear that the parent helpers of other classes weren’t allowed into Zoo School, and instead took a bit of a scones-and-tea detour. Scones and tea is nice and all, but hey - we got to go in and handle snakes. Soooo much cooler! 
I’m having an easier evening. Dermot out gallivanting, kids both off to bed easily (Niamh has recently abandoned her afternoon naps, much to my distress, though it does make bedtime more enjoyable), and I’m parked under a doona enjoying my umpteenth viewing of Love Actually. I swear I don’t love it just for Alan Rickman
July 25 2008 | Family and General Ramblings and The Kids | 4 Comments »
We’re all going to the zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow…
Yep, I’m off to Melbourne zoo tomorrow - I’m helping out with the prep excursion. Keeping a bunch of exuberant 6 year olds in line would be, um, ‘fun’ at the best of times, but check this out:
Forecast for Monday
Rain in the morning, then showers with local hail to follow. Fresh to strong
southwesterly wind developing in the morning.
Precis: Showers. Windy.
City: Min 8 Max 12
Awesome.
Monday edit: Phew! Zoo trip cancelled, to be rescheduled soon. There were a lot of sad little faces, and I wouldn’t like to be the teachers keeping them inside all day!
Edit two: The cancellation, btw, pretty much guarantees that the weather will be okay after all! That Murphy bloke knew what he was on about
July 20 2008 | Family and The Kids | 5 Comments »
I’ve been a bit out of sorts lately. Too busy. Too much being sociable, making smalltalk with people I don’t know very well. (Funny it’s taken me so long to recognize my major trigger. Too much of a good thing, I end up feeling overwhelmed, like I need to hide back in my shell! Hmmm. Is it any wonder Finn’s socially troubled?!)
Sorry, got sidetracked for a moment there! Anyway, so Niamh and I ended up in the reserve yesterday for some time out after playgroup (not the naughty-corner kind of timeout, the good kind)
Not five minutes walk from us, there’s this bush reserve. It’s not big - just big enough that by the time we walk into the middle the sound of suburban traffic has (mostly) disappeared. It’s home to a couple dozen kangaroos (mob, I believe, is the collective noun), favourite hang out of all the native birds in the area, and in the summertime, hundreds of tiny skinks sunbathe along the path. I love it. I grew up in regional Victoria, so in some warm fuzzy way it’s like a little piece of home.
We partly headed there yesterday so I could get a picture of my paper crane:
This is for Eve at foldingtrees.com - she’s collecting 1000 ‘peace cranes’ folded from recycled paper and photographed in peaceful places or on peace monuments. (Read more here). Mine is folded from a 10cm square of paper cut from a security envelope - the patterns inside those envelopes are lovely!
So there we were. Photographing cranes, hanging out, goofing off…
I didn’t expect to come across the roos - they’re usually about in the mornings and evenings, and keep out of sight during the day. But there they all were - just chilling out, like us, not far in from the path. I managed to switch camera lenses, get close enough, and keep the wild child quiet enough to take a bunch of photographs. I counted seventeen - the most I’ve ever seen in there all together. Well… eighteen, if you count the little cutie hanging out in mum’s pouch there 
So nice. Feeling better now. It’s good to have all that just five minutes away.
June 26 2008 | General Ramblings | 6 Comments »
Finn’s school had a dress-up day today to raise money for another local school recently damaged by fire. The theme was SUPERHEROES & CAREERS. I know. Weird combo. Don’t ask me.
Anyway, I spent yesterday on the sewing machine (pants, apron, super big toque) and today our little super hero went dressed as a chef. (Niamh decided to get in on the crazy hat action too - told you she really liked it!)
I have another post lined up for you - almost as cute as this one - but I figure that you’d die of shock if I posted twice in one day… so you’ll just have to wait!
June 25 2008 | Family and Other Craft and Sewing and The Kids | 5 Comments »
Niamh climbed into bed with me this morning, and I’m pretty sure, though I was still fuzzy with sleep, that she said ‘Wuv You’ as she gave me my first cuddle of the day. Cue ‘Awwwww’
I could end my tale there and keep that warm and fuzzy feeling going. But…
As I was getting dressed later, she pointed to my midsection and informed me ‘Mummy yat’. Now I’m not altogether 100% positive, but I’m pretty darn sure that ‘y’ was an ‘f’! I was mortified! It may be true, but hey! does one really want to hear it from one’s 2 year old?
Must they really learn to talk?!
(Oh well. Off to pick up Finn and then go ‘wopping’ at the ‘oopymarket’!)
June 12 2008 | Family and The Kids | 6 Comments »
The big day. It dawned misty and magical, so after packing Daddy off to work and Finn off to school, Niamh and Mummy walked down to the reserve to get some Birthday Girl photos.
But. Hmmm. There was a lot of this:
(She’s about to yell!)
And this:
“No Wotos Mummy”
So Mummy took a photo of Niamh’s beautiful Soulemama-birthday-crown on a magical and mystical log, instead.
(Note - I made this yesterday. So much fun - It took me about an hour (and only that long because I was messing around with elastic casings). Niamh does like to wear it about, honestly. At her convenience, not mine!)
Then Niamh had to try out the very wet playground (of course she did):
(At least we got to show off the new shorter ‘do’)
Then we found out Mummy forgot to pack a playground snack. (Ouch). Whereupon we went home, and Niamh had a nice long kip:
And Mummy got the kitchen ready for this afternoon’s cupcake fest:
Finally… proof that there was both smiling and crown-wearing yesterday:
Happy Birthday beautiful girl!
June 03 2008 | Family and Other Craft and Sewing and The Kids | 9 Comments »
« Prev - Next »
