Lockdown 2.0, Day 40

 I felt much better today, more positive about the future and felt happy with where I am right now. Yesterday was the anniversary of my miscarriage so that could well have influenced my mood.

Amelie and I made some designs with a compass and pencil and then played Mr Squiggle for a while. I did some work outside and on the computer and around the kitchen. I had an RACV guy come to look at my car battery because it's been playing up a lot, he thinks it might be fine if I just make sure I start the car every few days... I'm not convinced but if I keep having problems I'll get him to come back and put in a new one. I played the piano, Caitlin crocheted some gorgeous little dinosaurs, Amelie talked to friends and played Roblox, and hung out on the trampoline, Liam talked to friends and played on his computer. Amelie and I had an intense game of Mastermind (well, she guessed correctly in 3 turns, I took a lot longer and it stretched my logical thinking quite a bit), Mum and I played Boggle remotely, then Caitlin and I went for a walk around sunset, coming home pretty much in the dark. Luna is getting really good at staying near us even when we're not holding the lead - as long as we leave the lead attached to her collar. We all watched the Grand Final of Ninja State of Origin - we were so hoping for a Victorian win, but the WA team have several of our favourite ninjas so we weren't too disappointed when they won (and at least Vic was in the final race).

Looks like the weather is going to be a bit unpleasant for the rest of the week - it's already getting really windy outside and I think there's going to be a lot of rain.

Trip to Yea

I woke early yesterday after a restless night of moving between beds (we ended up with too many people in our bed) so I had a bit of time to myself in the morning on the computer. When Amelie woke up she joined me on the couch and we played Hungry Babies for a while, I love playing and she loves watching so it is fun, and we spend a lot of time looking at the pictures of the baby animals too and discussing their names, whether their pictures are accurate, what those type of animals really do in the wild and so on.

I woke LiAM and Caitlin at 10 as we were leaving at 11 to go to my Mum's to see my godmother. We have been in contact on an off, but hadn't seen each other since Caitlin's baptism at the end of 2004, so it's 11 years since we'd properly caught up. And she hadn't met any of my kids, apart from a 3 month old Caitlin (Caitlin is somewhat different now compared to then!).

While we were getting ready LiAM and Amelie played Lego Marvel Superheroes. Caitlin was out of the yoghurt she's been enjoying so I made her some homemade ice cream - frozen bananas, frozen raspberries and cream - a very tasty fruity breakfast. We left just after 11 and stopped for petrol and at the library and were in Yea by 12.10, I'd been aiming for 12 so was pretty happy with that.

Amelie went upstairs to play with the plastic zoo animals, LiAM and Grandad looked at a book of international coins and tried to identify the coins Dad had given LiAM (they found a few of them), Caitlin practiced her Manga drawing and I played the piano. My Godmother, A, and her husband, S, arrived in time for BBQ lunch and it was so great to see them. They chatted lots to the kids and everyone got along well. Caitlin and LiAM helped Mum and I get the table ready for lunch and we ate out on the back deck, with the 'million dollar views' as S kept saying (they hadn't visited Mum and Dad's place in Yea before).

After lunch Caitlin did manga drawings by request, and her style is developing quickly. She drew a girl with her hair in 2 buns then decided to do her hair that way herself, then Mum remembered she had hair chopsticks, and a kimono so Caitlin dressed up and looked fantastic.

We all looked at A's photo book of the Camino she did in Spain last year, and discussed the walk and some spanish words and the idea of pilgrimage etc.

After the guests left Dad and I (and the kids on and off) looked at maps and photos of Tasmania - discussing our previous trips and planning for Mum and Dad's upcoming trip (Dad's 70th birthday present). We also found some photos of seals and penguins in a book of Ken Duncans photos, which thrilled Amelie, and Dad brought up the photos of when we were in Venice, as we'd been talking about when LiAM took his first steps. He's pretty thrilled that he started to walk when he was in Italy. The kids had a swim in the spa and Mum and I sat and watched them and did some Pride and Prejudice quizzes on jetpunk. After her swim Amelie played some music on the keyboard upstairs, and LiAM watched some minecraft videos. Mum and I looked at the clothes she bought to take to Tasmania.

We left around 6 and listened to an audio book on the way home - The Dare Game by Jacqueline Wilson. I love the depth and flaws in her characters and the raw emotion that these kids express. We stopped at the IGA to get milk and a frozen pizza for dinner, then home to watch Australia's Got Talent. Tony came home before it was finished, it was nice to be able to sit and watch a bit of TV with him while we ate, and to catch up on our days before he showered and went to bed. Caitlin watched Farmer Wants a Wife and Amelie went into the bedroom to watch Pokemon, LiAM flitted between the 2. Caitlin then wanted to watch a movie and LiAM wanted to play Lego Marvel Superheroes, then decided he was too tired so went to bed and C stayed up and watched her movie, while the rest of us went to bed.

Dancing and swimming

I woke early to the sound of hot air balloons being inflated - there were 7 of them in the paddock next to our house, it was a particularly spectacular sight. They take off from here often enough that I don't bother waking the kids to see anymore - I've never seen 7 at once though, and there were 4 all in a row with their fabric pushing into each other as they inflated, it was a great wall of colour beyond our little pond.

The kids all had a bit of a sleep in, and when Amelie woke up she didn't really want to get out of bed and wasn't talking much. I was feeling tired and so I jumped back into bed with her and we played Hungry Babies and then Township on the iPad. It was really lovely, snuggling in bed and chatting about the games, working out our strategies, me relaxing my desire to 'just get on with the game' so that she could have fun just exploring and looking at things and talking and thinking about them. LiAM came in and watched for a while then the 2 of them went out to the lounge room to play Minecraft and I had a little nap, which set me up nicely for the rest of the day.

When Caitlin woke up she did some more manga drawing, she's now able to create her own characters rather than copy them, and she's really getting the hang of it. She and Amelie looked through a loom band creatures book and talked about which creatures Caitlin might make.

I'd borrowed a Just Dance game from the library so when the kids found that they cleared the lounge room floor and spent 3 hours dancing and singing. They took it in turns to be the main dancer and the rest of the time joined in as backing dancers or encouraged those who were dancing. LiAM was good at picking which moves gave good feedback so could help Caitlin maximise her points. He also figured out the points structure and how many points were needed to be awarded each star. Once they'd had enough dancing LiAM and Amelie played Lego Marvel Superheroes for a while and everyone had something to eat.

It was a surprisingly hot day after a whole string of milder days, and a few hours of dancing left everyone feeling pretty warm. We went down to the dam for a swim, the water level was much lower than last time we'd swum, and there was a lot of pond grass visible below the water which freaked everyone out a bit. The mud was very slimy too, so it took us a while to get comfortable with being in the water - but it was lovely once we were in, a perfect way to cool off. Amelie came out as far as she could stand up, and swam around a bit, that is by far the most confident she's been in the dam.

We didn't stay long as the sun was blaring down and not everyone had been that keen on going, so a quickish dip was all we needed. Well, it was probably 40 minutes or so, which is quick for us when it comes to swimming. LiAM and Caitlin lay in the mud and covered themselves in it a couple of times, then rinsed off and we headed home. On the way we chatted about the grapes, whether they were ready, why we can't eat them, whether 'the wine making company that Daddy works for will pick them one day' (Amelie), when they might be picked, how they pick them, why it's ok for us to walk on the roads around the vineyard but not between the vines, whether Buckley is safe wandering off through the vines and how he could get away if a tractor was coming.

Once home I cooked some dinner and we watched Australia's Got Talent, then Degrassi, then Heartland. Tony finally came home around 9 and it was great to see him briefly before he and Amelie and I went to bed, while LiAM and Caitlin stayed up for a bit longer and played Lego Marvel Superheroes again.

Homeschool Group, swimming, stars

We all slept in a bit yesterday (except Tony who started work at 7). Millie was first awake after me and she curled up on the couch with me and chatted for a while, then played Slugterra on the ABC3 site. When the others got up they watched a little bit of TV then they all kept playing Titan - getting the hang of the battle rules and strategies and I'm amazed at how well they understand the game, it can be quite complicated.

After lunch we went to Yarra Junction library for the homeschool activity there. The girls joined in and made butterflies by scrunching up small pieces of crepe paper and sticking them on butterfly-shaped cardboard. They came up with some gorgeous designs and Amelie took a lot of time to get hers exactly the way she wanted it. LiAM played computer games with his friend, and I chatted to the other 2 mums who were there - so great to catch up with a good friend I haven't seen since before christmas, and the other family as well. Once the activity was over the kids got some books and DVDs together that they wanted to borrow, and then played Minecraft with their friends. LiAM tried to watch some videos after the others had left but the wifi wasn't strong enough and kept dropping out.

The girls really wanted to go for a swim across the road at Yarra Junction Aquatic Centre - Amelie had been asking to there instead of other pools for the last 6 weeks or so. LiAM was tired and didn't want to swim - I try to not insist that anyone does something they really don't want to do, and try to help the others have what they'd like at a different time or something. In this case it felt like a great opportunity to let Amelie have the swim she'd been wanting for so long, and I couldn't tell when we'd be back over this way again. So I did agree to go, and suggested that LiAM play on his iPod or my phone while we were swimming. He wasn't thrilled with this but did agree. Once we got to the pool he decided to go swimming with the girls as long as we didn't stay long, which was fair enough.

Amelie's confidence has increased again, even in the last week (and coming back to a familiar pool possibly helped as well). She walked down a few of the stairs of the middle pool (where she can easily stand, and it's deep enough to swim around in) and then launched herself off into the water. She was swimming a couple of metres at a time, either with her head above or below water, and happily on the ramp in the big pool just at the edge of where she can stand up - she's starting to confidently push her limits - while remaining careful not to go past her limits.

We swam for about an hour, the big kids mainly jumping and diving into the deep end, and occasionally coming back to Amelie and I. On the way home we stopped at several of the hard rubbish piles that have been left out the front of people's houses, and picked up some discarded items that are still in very good condition. Some toys, pillow pets, plush toys, buckets and crockery. LiAM has been looking forward to this time of year for months so he was very happy.

Tony had baseball so he wasn't home until late and we had the evening to ourselves. I cooked some omelettes while we watched Australia's Got Talent (and then Farmer Wants a Wife which was surprisingly compelling...). The girls and I went and put the chickens to bed (our wayward Mummy chicken now takes her chicks into the big shed to sleep, although she sleeps on the top shelf with the other chickens and the chicks sleep on the bottom shelf. We usually move them all into a laying box - partly to keep them used to being handled, which we did with the previous lot of chicks, and they are more tolerant of being touched than the older chickens. So we moved the little ones, patted the middle sized ones then locked them in (while I avoided a very large spider that was sitting on the door near the lock....) and then looked at the stars for a while, the sky was so clear and we could see more stars than we usually notice. We looked at Orion's belt and at Mars and looked for other patterns, such a great night be outside.

Tony came home while we were stargazing, then the girls spent time drawing and writing more letters to each other to put in the letter box (Millie drew a 3 headed hydra and a crab, so cool). I went to the bed and the kids played Pacman and headed off to bed shortly after.

Writing, drawing, board games, tv

LiAM woke up feeling much better yesterday which is a huge relief. While I don't like that he is on so much medication, the alternative is constantly struggling to breathe, so I am grateful that the medicine is available and affordable and helps him so effectively.

After our late night the night before and a big week just gone, and lots of things coming up this week, we decided to stay home for a rest day. Millie played Minecraft and experimented with different ways of spelling 'Rudolph' as she has a reindeer skin now and wanted to name it. LiAM watched TV and played his monster game and some Minecraft. Caitlin played dexterity games on her iPad mini and is getting really good. She got frustrated with one level on Pivvot and asked me to try - I couldn't last more than a couple of seconds, my brain doesn't work that quickly in terms of reacting to obstacles and figuring out which way to go. She also found an online Soduko site and between us we did several Sodukos throughout the day. Millie also helped me with my Spanish lesson.

In the afternoon the kids decided to play Titan, and Tony joined them. The 4 of them played on and off all afternoon - LiAM is getting a good understanding of the strategies involved, Caitlin enjoys growing her legions but doesn't really like battling, and Millie is learning the rules and understanding how it works quite well.

While Tony was cooking tea the girls made a letter box out of cardboard boxes and tubes, and went outside to paint it. The tubes got a bit wet and started to break, so Caitlin came up with a few great ideas to strengthen them - she talked about stuffing them full of paper or something heavier, using sticky tape for support on the outside, strengthening them with a stick inside - she kept working at it and ended up with a letter box that opens at each end and is supported by a pole, and has the little flag on top that lets you know if there is mail inside. She has set it up in the lounge room for us to post letters to each other - she and Millie spent a lot of the rest of the evening writing letters to each other and posting them. Millie also did some drawing and writing on the blackboard - doing a fantastic drawing of a fish and a dolphin and labelling them F and D respectively.

She also read the word dolphin when we were looking a photos later on. She and LiAM we were looking at the map of Australia to see where our friends are in their bus after leaving 2 days ago, and where they've been and where they are going. We then looked at some of the places we'll be going on our trip and how far they are from us, and then a more detailed look at some of them, including the photos on Google maps, particularly Shark Bay/Monkey Mia in Western Australia, where there are lots of dolphins and Millie cannot wait to get there. We also looked close up at some reefs of the west coast, they looked like sting rays from the wide view, but are actually areas of shallow water and rocks and look fascinating however close up or far away they are viewed from.

Caitlin and Tony did some gymnastics outside (they started in the kitchen where there wasn't quite enough room...) - mainly Tony flipping C over his shoulder, it was cool to watch how much easier and more graceful it became for both of them as they practised. Caitlin was then able to flip Millie over her shoulder as well which was pretty cool.

In the evening we watched Looney Tunes then Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which is entertaining but a little far fetched sometimes (apart from the premise, there were things that didn't quite make sense. I do like that the kids can notice these things and we can talk about them, while still really enjoying the movie. For example, it was getting hotter and hotter where they were, well over 40 degrees, but they weren't sweating or moving slower or seeming impacted by the heat in any way). Afterwards we watched a bit of cricket and tennis, then an old episode of Heartland, then Rage - they had the top 20 on so the kids were quite excited, and thanks to Caitlin listening to Nova radio these days, I actually knew most of the songs. Interesting to see some of the video clips and to talk to Caitlin about what she thought of them - again, being able to critically analyse them and think about why they make the videos like that means that she's not going to be influenced by the messages without thinking about them herself first.