Lockdown 2.0, Days 96 and 97

 I feel the last couple of days have been quite productive, which is not really that usual at the moment. I am exhausted though, I think tomorrow will be a rest day. 

Getting some work done in my room on Sunday seems to have freed me up to do other things around the house, it had really been hanging over me. I did bits and pieces of tidying and cleaning and helping the kids with things in the morning, and knocked over a few more jobs that I'd been wanting to get done. Caitlin and I did yoga and I talked to a couple of friends on the phone (separately). Caitlin baked some banana bread - 1 loaf for us (which didn't last long, it was delicious!) and 1 loaf for our neighbour across the road (we met him a few weeks ago when he came to see if we had any idea where the dogs who were killing his sheep were coming from). I took Luna for a long walk so that she didn't want to go with the girls, who walked over to deliver the banana bread. He was thrilled with the gift and the thought, and the girls were thrilled when he let them go in to the a pen and help feed a week old lamb! He's promised Caitlin some wool when he shears in the summer, and said that we are welcome to walk on his land which backs on to our place - running along the creek. I'm pretty excited about that as it's always looked so enticing! I took the car to meet the girls on their way back and Caitlin had another driving lesson.

We spent a lot of time watching the Peregrine Falcon webcam, the kids played lots of video games and talked to some friends. I had a great phone call with one of my oldest friends (in NSW, whose birthday was last week - always so good to catch up). I went to bed early to do some work and the girls came in to chat after a while, a nice debrief for the end of the day.

Today involved more Falcon watching, some online shopping (new chargers and adapters for my new laptop), and a bit of tidying up and outdoor work. We all headed to Healesville in the afternoon, the kids met with their friend and went for a walk, bought some chais, did a bit of shopping. I had an enjoyable afternoon of shopping, I went to the bakery, the bulk food shop (so happy that we have that in Healesville now!), the greengrocer, Aldi, the library (just to pick up my books from the click and collect table), Coles and the chemist, then picked up my milk. I ran into the kids a few times as we were wandering around which was pretty cool. I also ran into one of the other mums from Guides and we had a quick catch up - very exciting to see anyone I know!

Back home Liam went back online to play games and chat to his friends, Amelie played some SIMS, and Caitlin and I went for our walk. We went down the back and crossed the fence to explore along the creek of our neighbour's land. It was so beautiful, lots of access to the creek, a range of foliage, lots of cool trees to look at (also lots of blackberry bushes to navigate around, Caitlin got scratched a few times). I'm looking forward to exploring there a lot more. I was so exhausted by the time we got home though. I cooked some soup (nice and easy) and watched The Block with Tony, and I'm heading to bed as soon as I can.

It's now mathematically impossible for us to hit our targets for Step 3 before Sunday. It's likely however that some restrictions will be eased - I think this week is going to feel more and more stressful as we wait to find out what will change next week. I just want to be able to see people more easily, and I think that's the direction the changes will take. I hope.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 95

 A quiet day at home for me today - although most days are exactly that, so it's no surprise. Tony and the kids went to work to chop wood, the girls and Luna went for a walk and Liam helped with with wood (and Caitlin was stung by a bee). I spent the time trying to reorganise things in my bedroom - I wanted to clear the built in bedhead behind our bed so I could get into the storage inside it, move the stuff that was in there and fill it with paperwork and memorabilia - stuff that I want to keep but don't need to have regular access to. I made myself a cup of tea, moved the boxes that were on top of the storage area onto my bed, attempted to move some more things so that I had access to behind the bed, and knocked the cup of tea over - it seemed to fall in slow motion, and poured itself over all my library books, into drawers, onto some of my photos - I just wanted to cry and/or give up - but I needed to mop up all the dampness (there was so much of it, it took ages) and once that was done I didn't want to leave all the things all over my bed, so I kept going and managed to get things put away or at least put out of the way, and was pretty happy with what I got done. In the process I also stepped on some glass so it was a less relaxing afternoon than I'd hoped for, but it turned out ok. When the others came home Caitlin and I went through all of my tops, she took some for herself, I moved some on to the giveaway pile, and I reorganised the rest of them into boxes that will act like drawers in my cupboard - it was a very satisfying result.

I went for a walk by myself, down around the back of the property near the island we explored yesterday - I even crossed the little creek just beyond the dam, I felt much more confident today than I did yesterday. I found a balloon on a string caught up in a tree - I really wonder how it got there. I brought it home and put it in the bin, along with some burst balloons that I found on the ground - I don't want them out there for birds to try to eat.

Tony cooked mashed potato and rissoles for tea, very tasty, we ate while watching The Block then I went to my room to do a bit more work on my course. I also spent a fair bit of time playing with my photos throughout the day.

 I've skipped doing yoga the past 2 days, I feel like I'm stiffening up a bit already, I will make it a priority to do some tomorrow.

Lockdown 2.0, Days 87 - 94

 I missed a couple of days writing the blog due to busy evenings, and the longer it went on the harder it was to come back and catch up. I'll give it a go now. I've been feeling good this week, so perhaps feeling positive has meant that I don't feel the need to document quite so much - although the good days are much more interesting to write about than the low days.

Saturday last week was a very relaxing day. Earlier in the week I'd let everyone know I wanted most of the day to myself, I had a book that I wanted to read in one day, because I knew I'd get so involved in it and not want to put it down. I spent most of the day on the couch in the carport, reading my book and it was fabulous (the book was Ironheart, the 2nd book in the Valentine series, a teen paranormal mystery/romance). Our Narbethong friends called in in the afternoon to pick up some food that had been delivered to our place (because they don't deliver over the Spur) - it was so wonderful to see them and have a chat for a while. After they left I went back to my book and finished mid-afternoon, I felt relaxed and happy and grateful that I'd had the opportunity to nurture myself like that.

Sunday I pottered around the house and did some serious research on MacBooks. I talked to a friend and he helped me sort out exactly what I wanted, and on Sunday night I ordered one, finally, after months of research and thinking.

Monday we went to Healesville to do the shopping, Caitlin and Liam met up with their friend and went for a walk, Amelie and I went to Coles, the bulk food shop and Aldi. It was pretty cold and wet but the kids still found interesting places to walk. In the afternoon my friend picked up my new MacBook from JB Hifi and delivered it to my place - SO exciting!!!!! I spent the rest of the day setting it up and playing with it, it's so great and I am so so so happy with it. And so happy that I finally made the decision just to buy it. Having a working keyboard and a laptop that doesn't freeze up every 10 minutes has made everything I've done on it this week so much more efficient and enjoyable.

Tuesday I played on my computer a bunch more, had my Yarra Glen Zoom meeting in the afternoon, popped down to Healesville to get my milk and chatted to my friend when he came to pick up some more food that had been delivered here.In the evening I watched Shaun of the Dead on my new computer - a great screen for watching TV on. And I loved the movie too.

Wednesday I woke up in the best mood I've been in for a good while. I felt excited about the possibilities that the day could bring - vastly different from feeling like the day was just one more day to get through. Caitlin and I went to Yarra Glen to the Post Office and picked up 7 packages! We called in to the Chocolate Factory on the way home to get some beetroot relish (she had it on her Smashed Avo on her birthday and loved it) and drove home the long way. I had a couple of beers and a FaceTime call with a friend in the evening. 

I'd had an iced coffee from the IGA on Wednesday, and I could not get to sleep on Wednesday night. I eventually slept for 2 hours, woke up for a while, slept for another 2 hours then was awake for the day before 6am. I'd wanted to spend a whole day this week working on my photos, so I figured Thursday was a good time to do that seeing as I felt exhausted and lethargic. It was a lot of fun, sitting on the couch and doing a heap of photo organising and posting. 

Friday I planned to do a heap of tidying but it didn't really happen. I'd had another terrible night's sleep - late to fall asleep and awake before 5 this time! I spent a lot of time talking to Caitlin while she crocheted, and doing bits and pieces around the house in between more work on the computer. We went for a walk in the afternoon and I was feeling a bit flat but then we played fun music on my phone, using the lyrics of each song to inspire our choice of the next song, and that really picked me up. Our yoga practice was the last day in a 30 day session, and it was kind of a freestyle session - there was no verbal direction, we could copy what she was doing or do what poses felt right for us. It was a little challenging mentally but a lot of fun and it was cool to see how much we'd learnt in the 30 days. In the evening I watched a couple of episodes of The Long Way Round - Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman's motorcycle trip around the world. 

Today I did get a lot more tidying done, as well as more photo work. I did half of the mending - a whole tub's worth of clothes either mended or put in the rag pile (some were just not worth mending). Some of that has been sitting there for many many years, it was so exciting to get it done! Caitlin and I walked to the back of the property and over a creek to a little peninsula of land bordered by Paul's Creek, the tributary that runs across the back fence of our place, and the fence which borders the farm behind us. It is so beautiful over there, and it feels so deserted and far from civilisation. We had to jump across the creek to get there - I thought I'd end up in the water but I made it (with a bit of help from Caitlin). On the way back we crossed another creek, and then went for a swim in the dam - it was cold, but so beautiful to be in the water looking at the clouds and the mountains. This evening Tony is watching the Collingwood v Geelong semi-final and it's not going well for Collingwood.

All week we've been watching the swallows who have a nest above our back door. They have 3 chicks in there and it's been fascinating to watch the parents come and go feeding the chicks - 3 huge beaks appear from the nest and gobble down the food. Yesterday they emerged from the nest and learned to fly - that was even more amazing to watch. They are tiny, and still fluffy underneath, and still have massive yellow, wide beaks. Otherwise they look like their parents. They sit on the ledge above the window and flatten themselves down so they just look like a couple of feathers. Then they jump off and fly away. They aren't great at landing but they got better at it as the day went on.

We've also been watching a live webcam of the peregrine falcons on top of a building in Melbourne https://www.367collinsfalcons.com.au. That has provided hours of entertainment for us this week.

We've gone for walks every day and Caitlin and I have done yoga every day. Amelie jumps on the trampoline and talks to her friends on the phone or Skype, plays the SIMS and Among Us and makes YouTube videos. Liam has been playing a lot of Terraria and talking to his friends on Discord. 

The numbers are low but maybe not low enough. Sitting around the 10 mark and we need them to be below 5. Another week until the next restriction announcement but it's unlikely we'll be fully able to go to Step 3. Maybe some new things will be allowed though.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 86, aka Caitlin's 16th birthday

 Although her 16th birthday wasn't what any of us had imagined when we thought of how she would celebrate turning 16, it was a really lovely day and she enjoyed it.

She woke up around 9 and we hung out with Amelie in the lounge room (Tony was at work) and Liam joined us not long afterwards. I rang the Chocolate Factory and ordered our brunch - there was a tense moment when the lady on the phone said she didn't know if there was a chef there today so they might not be able to do the smashed avo - that was the main thing Caitlin wanted to eat on her birthday so it was a big relief when they said it was all good and they could make it. Liam and I went to Yarra Glen to see if any more parcels had arrived at the post office (they hadn't), then went and picked up the brunch. Caitlin had smashed avocado and poached eggs, I had a ham and cheese croissant, Liam some carrot cake, and Amelie a strawberry tart (with fresh strawberries that we saw them put on just before they gave it to us). The food was all delicious and it was fun hanging out together in the kitchen and eating it.

Caitlin and I played Monopoly Deal for a while, then the others joined us for a round. We checked out the garden and enjoyed the sunshine, Caitlin had several phone calls from friends and family. Tony came home around 2 so we did presents - she got money from Liam to buy earrings with, face masks (the type you put on your skin and peel off) from Amelie, Checkerboard Vans from my sister and mum, and a big stash of yarn from Tony and I. She also received money from some family friends. After presents we had cake - the raspberry chocolate fudge cake she'd made - it was delicious! It was a bit soft and crumbly so rather than cutting slices of it we all got a spoon and ate it from the tin it was in.

Afterwards, Caitlin started to feel restless and wished there was somewhere she could go on her birthday. We had a look at our 5km radius and realised that the Yarra Glen Showground was within our radius, so Liam and Caitlin and I went in there and walked Luna along the river and around the Showground. It was exciting to find a new walking place within our range and to explore somewhere we hadn't been before - I'd walked bits of that path but not all of it and it was quite beautiful (although lots of mozzies. And a big black dog ran straight at me, barking, and scared the crap out of me - he was wanting to play with Luna but I had a moment of real fright). On the way home we drove around the long way and up Long Gully Rd for a bit - it was a gorgeous afternoon, sunny and clear and still, and the views were amazing. It was cool to look at Pauls Range from a few different angles and remember our walk to Toolangi.

Back home and we'd had a deliver of Daniels Donuts which I'd organised the day before. We got 2 packs of 6 and it was a surprise to everyone else, they were all very happy. Caitlin got first pick and we all found something we enjoyed. Tony took the older 2 kids for a ride around the property in the Kabota. I ordered Indian for dinner from Healesville (a family pack plus a paneer masala for Caitlin (and a garlic naan). Tony and Caitlin went and picked it up and it was good food as always. 

After dinner Caitlin had a Zoom call with her friends booked in for 8pm. They had organised to play a drawing game, I sat with her and watched for a while, it looked like a lot of fun. The rest of us went to bed and she stayed up most of the night talking to her friends, she said it felt like a real party, she was very happy with how her day panned out.

Lockdown 2.0, Days 83, 84 and 85

 It's funny how quickly the days pass when I'm feeling content and happy. Last week seems like a distant memory, but this week has flown by and we're almost at the end of it. Caitlin's birthday tomorrow - I'm quite excited. Some of her presents have arrived and we've got lots of yummy food organised so it's going to be a fun day even though she's not able to see any of her friends.

I've kept fairly busy over the past few days (and been too tired to blog in the evenings). Tuesday was my usual shopping day, and this week the kids came with me. Caitlin and Liam went for a walk with Luna and met up with a friend, Amelie shopped with me. It was fun having some company. We ran into the big kids a few times, it was weird to see them out of the context of home, I haven't randomly run into them anywhere for many months now, we're always together! Wednesday I did a fair amount of work in our bedroom, clearing out everything on Tony's side of the room so that he can use the shelves and bookcases there for his stuff, and I can use more of the walk in wardrobe for my photography supplies. It looks good all cleared out, there have been boxes there for a very long time, it was exciting to finally take some action on them. Today Caitlin and I went to Yarra Glen to the post office, picking up a couple of her birthday presents and sending off some more parcels and letters. We browsed the lolly shop and popped into the IGA. 

In between those 'big' activities we've done yoga every day, been for a long walk every day, chatted about all sorts of things, spent a lot of time watching the birds around our house - there are 3 baby Welcome Swallows in the nest above our back door, sitting and watching the parents flit back and forth feeding them is really fun. The kids have played Among Us, Liam has spent a fair amount of time playing Terraria with friends, Caitlin and I have been cooking. This afternoon we watched Enola Holmes which was really really good. 

Numbers have stayed fairly low this week, the average is going down, it's feeling encouraging that restrictions might continue to ease.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 13

Numbers in the high 300s again today. So that’s stable-ish but not going down really, yet. I really really hope things start to drop off soon, we’re nearly 2 weeks into lockdown so if we don’t see results in the next few days I guess more changes will be needed. Lots more people were wearing masks this morning at Coles - at least one on 3 people I’d say, maybe more. It was cool seeing all the different designs and styles.

I had a good night’s sleep last night and my headache today was only a dull ache. I felt so much better, in a good mood and with lots of energy. Hung out with Liam for a bit in the morning then went to get the milk, stopped at Coles and the bakery on the way home. (And discovered that the bread from the bakery near Coles is not as soft and delicious as the one near the traffic lights). The kids and I played a bunch of games in the afternoon, we all had a turn at Get Over It (I’m getting better), and Cards Against Humanity Family Edition hilarious as always. Our dishwasher stopped working yesterday (happens occasionally) so I had all the dishes from my rest day yesterday plus what was in the dishwasher - I made a fair dint in them. We watched more Gilmore Girls and Caitlin and I went for a late afternoon/early evening walk. We had stroganoff for tea - using kangaroo meat, it was delicious.

Homeschool Group and Adventure Park

Thursday morning was a quiet one at home. Our new fruit and veg box arrived and the kids helped m fruit, and I made coleslaw with some of the left overs from the last box - I've never made it before, but Caitlin discovered she liked it at our friend's place last weekend, so I gave it a go. I made my own dressing as well which she didn't like as much, but she still ate it.

The kids watched a bit of TV and Amelie watched some more Pokemon, then after chicken sandwiches for lunch we got ready for Yarra Glen homeschool group. As I was putting the boxes in the car a Hunstman spider ran across one of the boxes - I quite like these spiders, I just don't enjoy being startled by them, so I screamed and dropped the box. It ran down between the driver's seat and the handbrake - Amelie was trying to figure out if she was safer staying right in the back in her seat, or scrambling past a bit closer to the spider and getting out of the car. I grabbed a big wad of paper towel to protect my fingers and attempted to grab one of his long, hairy legs - but he ran away from me and we haven't seen him since! I spent several minutes trying to find him before we all got in the car - and with my face right down looking under the seats LiAM kept saying 'You're going to get a Huntsman right in your face!!!' which he thought would be pretty funny. We named the spider Fred so that he'd be less scary - if he appears we can say 'Oh, there's Fred' - but so far he hasn't appeared. A couple of warm days with the car heating up a lot he is quite probably not alive anymore.

So spider drama over we made our way to homeschool group. There was no one there when we arrived (a little late) but we ended up with 10 or so families - some regulars, some who hadn't been for a while, some newer families, some long term homeschoolers who have never come but whose kids are older and are still interested in the group... Lots of good conversations, and the kids played with the toy library toys and did some craft and played on their iPads and played in the playground. Great to catch up with everyone after the break and to help everyone get back into the social aspect of homeschooling.

We headed home around 5pm and had a quiet evening, watched some tv and got ready for going to the Geelong Adventure Park the next day for Not Back to School Party. We had rice paper rolls with mashed potato and ham and veggies for tea - everyone ate quite a lot, it's handy being able to choose exactly which bits they want (Millie ate all the fillings without the rice paper, the others liked the rice paper and selected just some of the fillings). We got everyone off to bed reasonable early (around 10, which is early for us) and I had all the bags packed and everything organised before I went to bed as well.

So Friday were up very early. Tony is starting work at 6 at the moment so I got out of bed when he did, around 5.15. I woke Caitlin and she had a shower to wake herself up. LiAM got out of bed quite easel, Amelie took a little more convincing. Once she woke up though she was pretty alert, and spent a lot of the morning playing with numbers. For example I said 'We're leaving in 30 minutes' and she said 'Oh, you mean 3 tens of minutes? Or 20 plus 10 minutes' - little comments like that all morning. Everyone ate something and I packed the cold food, and we were in the car and on our way by 6.30am!!! We picked up Liam's friend K and his mum (my friend J) in Kilsyth on the way through, then off to the Adventure Park for the Not Back To School Party - an annual gathering of homeschooler to celebrate the start of the new year. This is the first time we have been though.

We arrived at 9.20, in plenty of time to get our names ticked off and line up for opening time at 10. We found some other friends, some from Yarra Glen group and some of J's friends, as well as other people we know from various places, and lined up with them. Once inside we put our stuff near the water play area, then Caitlin went to find her friends from Yarra Glen group, LiAM headed off with K, and Millie and I got in the water and ran through the water cannon and fountains and showers. LiAM's friends soon went off to float in the tubes in the 'Lazy River' and we saw Caitlin and her friends float by. LiAM, Millie and I went and waited til his friends came back around, and then joined them. Millie and I tried a double tube but couldn't get it to work, and she was happy just bobbing along without a tube for a while, then she discovered she could stand with the tube around her shoulders and bounce along while the water propelled her - I could look ahead and just see a little head bobbing up out of the tube every few seconds, it was pretty cute. I managed to get myself into a tube and float, and we went around 4 times, with Amelie climbing in and out of my tube and her own and swimming a bit, it was a lot of fun. Meanwhile L went on the Aqua Racer - a speed water slide, which he said was pretty scary, but he went on it 4 times in a row (and many more times throughout the day). Amelie and I had a bit more water play then went for a walk, and went on the Carousel (we sat in the swan) and then the little kids cars - Amelie drove and got the hang of it pretty quickly. We headed back to see what LiAM was doing and discovered L and C and all their friends on the swing ride. We watched them for a while and then Amelie wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel - I'd hoped to avoid it but figured she shouldn't have to miss out, so I gave it a go. I was nervous but not terrified - and it was pretty high and got quite windy up the top. I was apparently gripping the centre pole very hard - I thought I was acting pretty calm but she did ask me why I was so scared. She was comfortable with me being a bit scared of heights and it didn't worry her at all (neither the height nor my fear). We went around twice and as long as she didn't move around too much I was ok, and it was quite fun to be able to see so far.

We went back to our bags to have some lunch and reapply sunscreen. LiAM joined us, then he came with us to do some other activities. We did a few more laps on the Lazy River, then went to Mini Golf - lots of fun and LiAM did really well. We didn't have shoes on and the ground was pretty hot by this stage - a bit challenging to find somewhere to stand between holes that didn't burn our feet (well the kids were fine, I found it hard). We went down to the paddle boats but it was too windy for LiAM to go out on his own. I took Amelie out and LiAM went back to get K, the boys came back and had a go as well. It was hard work, although quite enjoyable to be out on the lake.

Back to our seats, more water play, and another couple of laps around the lazy river. Amelie liked to lie on top of me in the one tube, it was quite relaxing. I'd seen Caitlin on and off through the day and she said she'd had some lunch and she was getting to do all the things she wanted to do. LiAM had had several more goes on the Aqua Racer and the big water slides and the Ferris Wheel and Swing Ride. Amelie found an area with water spurting from huge mushrooms, with lots of pictures of dolphins, fish, and star fish on the ground, and a seal as well. She was pretty excited about the seal and we went back there a few times. L, A and I went over to the Archery and L and I had a go - I hit the target with all 3 arrows (one didn't stick) and it reminded me of how much I love archery - will definitely try to get back and do some with the kids soon. L hit the target with one of his arrows and we would have stayed for more except it was getting late and he wanted to go on the go carts. We met Caitlin on the way and she joined him in the go cart line - then we realised he wasn't tall enough and probably wouldn't be let on - seeing as time was tight (the rides were closing at 4.45 and it was now 4.30) it wasn't worth waiting to see if he would be able to ride. Caitlin wanted to race him on the Aqua Racer so they ran back there, and Amelie wanted one more Ferris Wheel ride so she and I headed there. This time were were stopped right at the top while others got on or off - a bit scary, then I noticed C and L at the top of the Aqua Racer and I was able to watch them race down from my high vantage point - pretty cool. We went around twice again, and could see that all the water rides had been turned off by the time we finished. Back to our bags, L went and got changed, the girls and I took our outer swimwear off and put t-shirts and pants/skirts on, and we packed up all our stuff and headed out.

An excellent day - the kids had been looking forward to it since November when we'd first discussed going, and it lived up to all expectations. I saw several homeschoolers who I hadn't seen for a while, and met a few new ones (some who I had met online or read articles by in magazines) - it was a great atmosphere and environment all day.

Everyone except Caitlin (and I) had a nap on the way home, so it was a quiet trip back. The traffic wasn't too bad, a couple of heavy patches on the Ring Road, but moving smoothly most of the way. I dropped K and J off at their place in Healesville around 7.30 - it was great to see them again after J being in England for 3 weeks, and we had a great chat in the car. LiAM was very happy to spend time with K again too. After we'd dropped them off we got fish and chips and burgers for tea and went home to Tony who had also just had a nap. We ate tea and told Tony all about our day, I had a shower and the kids watched tv. We watched Heartland (I was going to go to bed but it was a good episode...) then everyone got ready for bed, we were all exhausted. Tony and I were actually both still awake at the same time and had time to talk about our week before the kids came in and wanted him to rub their backs - we don't get a lot of time to chat during vintage so it was really lovely.

Detectives and vets

Yesterday Tony played golf in the afternoon and the kids and I stayed home for the day. We did more quizzes - geography, music, movies, word plays and definitions, and Caitlin wrote and submitted 2 quizzes herself - one on horses and one a speed test of typing the alphabet. She then found some onlinechoose-your-own-adventure stories and we spent a while taking it in turns to read and choose our way through the stories. LiAM and Millie played for ages with a magnetic story kit - a background of a vet's surgery and a barn, and lots of magnetic animals and veterinarian equipment which stick on to the background. We also played lots of 80s arcade games (online) through the day - packman, frogger, space invaders, tetris (yay!), snake, and hexagon, which I'd never played before but reminded me of Lord of the Shades. We tried to find somewhere we could download Lord of the Shades or play it online, but could only find PC versions, nothing for Mac. We tried to get our old Toshiba up and running again but didn't have any luck there either. So it was back to packman which is always fun...

Tony had made pancakes for breakfast which the kids snacked on through the day - they discovered their new favourite way of eating them is with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar. (LiAM has been eating waffles at a friend's house, with that topping, and given that we don't have a waffle maker he was happy to try it out on the pancakes and was pleased it worked).

Caitlin played with her detective kit, taking everyone's finger prints, then setting up a mystery to solve and collecting evidence - which ended up with me handcuffed as apparently I stole the precious jewels. Millie played on the trampoline and pretended to be a seal - Caitlin the detective did some DNA testing on her to see if she was related to any famous seals.

The kids sorted some of their old animal cards which they collected from Woolworths last year. I started sorting through the pantry in an effort to get rid of the pantry moths that are living there. I was going to pull absolutely everything out and not put it back til everything was clean, but that seemed too big a job so I'm working on one shelf at a time, much more manageable.

In the evening we watched Dolphin Tale - I love it because it really shows how easy it is to learn when you are inspired about something. Afterwards we watched an old episode of Heartland, and the kids played some more computer games before everyone went to bed.

Quizzes, McDonalds and house organisation

I've discovered a quiz website that I love - www.jetpunk.com - and over the last couple of days we've all done many many quizzes on it. Lots of geography - I now know all of the Asian countries, including all the -stans and how to spell them, and am getting better at South America and Eastern Europe and Africa - as well as general knowledge, movies, words, sporting teams, and The Avengers and Harry Potter. LiAM and I did an Avengers quiz on Friday - name as many of the 100 people who have ever been on the Avengers list... At first we got about 16, then we looked through the answers at the end, then browsed his Avengers Character Guide book, looked up a few on wikepedia that were listed in the answers but he felt could never have been Avengers (and discovered, for example, that Sandman did try to work for good for a while, and did join the Avengers, then became corrupted again). We tried the quiz again and got closer to 40 - we'll come back to it again probably today and see how many we get. We did a lot of Harry Potter quizzes yesterday, with everyone joining in, and knew most of the answers (all the horcruxes, lots of spells, characters, locations, how characters died). The hardest (and most fun) was to name the 100 characters who are most mentioned in the books. We got around 60 the first time, then Caitlin had a go on her own (she wasn't there when we did the first attempt) and got close to that, then together we all did it and thought of 87. It's been so much fun - and one of the things I like about the site is reading some of the comments at the end of the quizzes - most of the people doing them are really keen to learn and keep trying the quizzes over and over until they have learnt all the answers. Especially the geography ones, I am finding it exciting to see people truly eager to remember all of the countries of the world. None of it is knowledge that is  necessary for getting on in the world, but it's interesting and fun and I love to see people learning because they are enjoying it, and I am enjoying it all so much!

On Friday we met up with another unschooling family, we had planned to go to a park but it was raining pretty hard so we met at McDonalds in Ringwood instead. I tried to use the self-ordering system (partly because our order is always a little bit complicated, and it seemed easier to take on the complications myself rather than explain them to the server) - it was so confusing and I ended up ordering 2 meals for myself and the wrong burger for Millie... The staff were lovely and gave me a voucher as a refund for my extra meal, and I went back and bought the right burger for Millie (although forgot to take off the onions and pickles, so she nearly didn't eat it anyway (I scraped them off and ate them myself, they are actually my favourite part of a McDonalds burger). The kids played with their friends in the very cool playground, and I chatted with the other mum, and once our food was all sorted out it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon. We were going to finish the visit with mega choc waffle cones - but their ice cream machine wasn't working! So both of us promised our kids we'd get them at a McDonalds on the way home. I was able to use my vouchers which was pretty cool - the kids had a quick play in the new playground at Croydon Maccas, I don't think it was as fun as it looked, Caitlin had been so keen but was a bit disappointed. They ate their ice creams on the way home and that was a lovely end to our outing.

I had a bath when we got home, while Tony cooked spag bol, then he went out to a darts practice night, and the kids played outside on the trampoline and swing, and looked through their binoculars at things, while I ate my tea outside with them and then read my book until it was too dark to read outside. I also took lots of photos of them, including some of them jumping all at the same time on the trampoline, it was very cool. After we came in we watched the christmas bonus episode of Heartland Series 4, then turned the tv off and headed for bed.

Yesterday we had a whole day at home with no plans (my favourite kind of day). Millie and I played Neopets, we all played with the fish/animal puzzle at various times, the girls did their nails, we watched some TV and the movie Rango, LiAM and Millie played with the dinosaur pattern board, Millie and Tony did jigsaw puzzles, LiAM and I had sword fights outside using pool noodles (it was hilarious - at one point L had chopped off my leg so I could only hop, and I had knocked his sword out of his hand, so he was running around trying to get it back while I hopped around it and waved my sword at him - exhausting and really really fun), and we did heaps of work on tidying up, sorting things out, more rearranging of the dining room so that I can start putting things away in there. I felt like I made heaps of progress in lots of areas yesterday, it was a great day. Caitlin has also set up some cool new lights in her room - a long strip of lights that can change colour, and she can operate by remote control! They look very cool and inviting, and she's loving having light again in her room (I broke the one powerpoint in her room a couple of weeks ago, so she's only been able to use battery powered light, it's great that she now has another option, and we've got ideas for how to get her more).

Fresh produce, movies, games and Alexander Technique

Having spent a few days with friends everyone was happy to have a quieter day at home. In the morning the kids watched some TV and played on the iPad and we chatted about what we were watching. Caitlin and I watched 'You've Got Mail' in the bedroom and Millie watched Barbie and the Pink Shoes on the computer.

Our fruit and veg box arrived (the first one since a few weeks before christmas) so we had a lot of fun going through that, discovering what we'd been given this fortnight, and cleaning out the old stuff from the fridge and fruit bowl to put the beautifully coloured and fresh new produce in. The chickens were happy with lots of old veggies to eat, and I stewed the peaches and apples that had been in the fruit bowl - I'd planned to make crumble but didn't quite get there, maybe I'll do that today. We all enjoyed having fresh produce to snack on through the rest of the day.

In the afternoon my friend H came over to play with the kids. I had an Alexander Lesson - I hadn't seen my teacher for ages and it was wonderful to reconnect with her, and then to be reminded of all the things I can do to help my body function more effectively. After a couple of hours with her I had no more pain in my back or my knee, they both feel wonderfully free and loose and I am walking without holding everything tightly in place. We also had a good chat about the uses of vinegar and I am feeling inspired to do some pickling, make my own vinegar, drink apple cider vinegar and honey.

On the way home I went to the library and the supermarket, and came back to find everyone happily playing. Millie and H were playing our Neopets board game, then everyone connected in Minecraft for a while. I did a bit of housework then felt extremely tired so sat down and did a bit of work on my photos. The girls all played with Millie's StarLily unicorn for a while. We watched what turned out to be Lleyton Hewitt's last game in the Australian Open. After tea I took H home (she drove) and I had a chat to another friend when I dropped her off, then home to help everyone get organised for bed (including the chicken and her chicks). We looked to see if we could see the 5 planets aligned in the sky but it was too cloudy. Caitlin was in my room watching Heartland outtakes and special features which were funny and interesting - we all watched for a while then turned it off and headed to our various beds.

Sorting, party, and rodeo

On Thursday a anFriday I spent most of the day sorting through all our sewing and craft supplies. They were piled up on and under the sewing desk, which is set to become Caitlin's dressing table, and in tubs in the hallway. I got through most of it, and while I didn't get rid of a huge amount, it is now all organised into tubs and boxes, I know what we've got, and Caitlin's room is nearly free of extra stuff, so she can really make it her own.

We'd just borrowed Season 4 of Heartland from the library, so while I sorted we watched that - it's such a compelling show, and a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of days (planning to finish the series today), and it made sorting the sewing seem easy as I was happily entertained while I was doing it. And we were all hanging out together which was really lovely as well.

LiAM's friend V came over on Friday evening for a sleepover. We had pizza for dinner and the boys played Lego Harry Potter, Plants v Zombies Garden Warfare and Minecraft on the Playstation and Xbox, with the occasional trip outside to jump on the trampoline, play on the swing, run down into the paddock to see if they could get closer to the kangaroos (they couldn't - the kangaroos ran as soon as they saw the kids coming). They stayed up pretty late playing and talking, and were up again early in the morning and kept going. They really had a lovely time together.

On Saturday morning I'd heard about a garage sale in Yarra Glen, and Millie had been asking lately to go to a yard sale, so it seemed like a perfect chance to go. LiAM was interested too but decided to stay and play with his friend, and I said I'd buy anything that I thought he'd be interested in. Caitlin came along as well and the 3 of us had fun browsing through all the goods on offer, and came up with a selection of DVDs, bowls, a cool plate and cup for Millie with a strawberry pattern on it, a few stuffed toys (I found a very cool monkey for LiAM, and a penguin for Millie - she'd also been saying recently that everyone else in the family has a toy penguin and she wanted one too), a washing basket and a few other bits and pieces.

The girls put some blankets out on the back lawn and had a tea party with most of their stuffed toys. Millie had also bought a 3 part serving dish, which was perfect to house some tea party food. After the tea party Caitlin and I headed off to a friend's house for a Norwex cleaning products party. I hadn't seen my friend since before christmas and hadn't been to her new house at all (Tony and Caitlin helped them move in, but I hadn't been), so it was great to catch up with her and her husband, see the new place, and catch up with some of her other friends that I know as well. I could have bought a lot of stuff as well - I just grabbed a few things that I'm pretty sure I will use because I don't have anything like them and have been wishing I did.

From there we raced back home to pick up LiAM, and Caitlin's friend S, and the 4 of us went to the 1st Annual Yarra Valley Rodeo. I could not believe the number of people who were there - the biggest crowd I've ever seen in Healesville! We parked a little way up Chum Creek Rd and walked back to the racecourse, and joined the long (but fast moving) ticket line. Because I'd had a rushed afternoon I'd forgotten to get our hats out of the car, and the water bottle, and I didn't have any food with us - which wouldn't have been a problem if the crowd hadn't been so big and all the lines so long! Luckily I had sunscreen so waiting in the sun wasn't as bad as it could have been. Once we got in we found the water station and all had a good drink.

Caitlin confidently led us through the crowd up to the front near the arena and we found a spot where people were sitting on the ground and we squeezed in there (there were no grandstands, it was people sitting in their own chairs around the arena, and people standing behind them, so I had been worried we wouldn't be able to see at all). It was a good view, and Caitlin was pretty excited to be so close to the horses. Once we were settled I left the kids there and went to line up for food and drink. It was one of the densest throngs of people I've been in for a very long time - I'm glad I was able to leave the kids and just get through it myself. Eventually I got to the front of the line and discovered there was a very long wait for hot chips (which the kids wanted) - so I got roast beef sandwiches instead, I didn't want to be away for even longer. I made it back and they were happy and still settled - happier once they had something to eat and drink.

It was very dusty and LiAM was a bit worried about his asthma, but we managed to keep it under control with some telfast and rescue remedy. I'd seen a friend of the girls when I was heading out for food, so she sat with us as well. After we'd eaten the kids needed the toilet, so we made our way out and did that, then wandered over to the dodgem cars and all 4 kids had a go - they loved it. We also ran into some other friends of the girls and it was a fun place to be. We made our way back to our spot and squeezed in to a slightly smaller space to watch the rest of the rodeo. So cool seeing all these events for real, especially after watching them in Heartland quite a lot this week. I loved the team roping and the bareback. Caitlin was hanging out for the Barrel Racing, which was the 2nd last event, and was very exciting when it finally happened. Those girls are fast, and so in control of their horses. I was surprised how much I loved the bull riding - and I'd planned to leave before the open bull riding so we could beat the crowd - but the 2nd division bull riding was so great, we decided to stay and watch at least a few of the top level guys, and I'm glad we did, it was spectacular. We left after 3 bulls, and saw another one on our way out of the crowd. Another toilet stop, then the last bull ride happened as we were heading for the gate, so we weren't completely ahead of the crowd but were in front of most of it. Getting out wasn't too hard, the kids were pretty pumped so the walk to the car not difficult (although they were disappointed that I went back a different way which meant we didn't have to jump/climb across a big ditch in the dark (we'd come through the ditch on the way in and they all enjoyed it)). We took S home then back to our place where we watched the end of the cricket and crashed pretty quickly into bed.

LiAM on dodgem cars

Caitlin in front of the ring at the rodeo

Bull riding

Catching Up

I had decided I wasn't going to blog until I was caught up with my emails - which doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon, and I've been missing blogging. So now I'll try to write as often as I can, and sort out my emails afterwards, without the pressure of feeling like I 'have to' get them done so that I can write.

Actually I tend to get much more done in general if I do the things I want to do first, then I'm in a relaxed state and can happily do the less enjoyable things too. If I try the 'work hard first, have the reward at the end' I can feel slightly grumpy through the whole thing, and often don't bother finishing and just skip the 'reward' part. The kids are all the same, to a greater or lesser extent, although they've never had pressure to do things the other way, so they can easily say no if someone is trying to convince them to do something by offering a reward at the end of it, and they automatically do the things they enjoy, and are happy to do the harder things if someone asks them too, when they are ready, they don't need anything at the end to motivate them. I'm hoping I can continue to remember this about myself as well, instead of slipping back into the more culturally expected method of operating.

So a bit of a summary of the past 6 weeks or so
- Caitlin finished her performance season and had another enjoyable night of acting. I saw this performance and was impressed with how her class performed a very powerful and important scene within the play, despite being one of the youngest groups.
- Caitlin has been to sleepovers at a few friend's houses, which also included going to a nail salon, helping feed sheep, going swimming, going shopping, going to the movies
- We all went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens the day after it was released - Caitlin with her friends at a birthday party, and the rest of us at the same time in a different movie theatre (the new one at Eastland which has reclining seats and is SO comfortable). And we all LOVED it!
- Tony and the kids went to see it again, with his sister, just before New Years
- We had 3 nights in Queenscliff with my family, lots of fun at the beach and hanging around the house, you can read more at travellingandexploringourworld.blogspot.com.au
- Christmas was really lovely, we spent the morning here at home, playing with what Santa bought, and opening our presents to each other, then we went up to Mum's for the rest of the day, had a lovely christmas lunch then another round of presents, then relaxed and played with presents, hung out in the spa and so on
- Tony and the girls stayed overnight at Mum's on Christmas night for more of the same. LiAM and I came home, on Boxing Day I did a bit of housework and we both had a quiet morning, then headed back up to Yea in the afternoon for another enjoyable evening of leftover Christmas food and playing with T and all our presents, then we all came home that night
- I had 3 nights in Sydney between christmas and new year, catching up with a couple of friends and with my brother in his new house
- We had my dad's 70th last weekend, a fun and relaxed afternoon party at his house, very well organised by Mum
- We've been to the Healesville Outdoor pool several times on hot days - sometimes we arrange to meet friends there, other times we just go alone, and we always find lots of people we know to play and swim with
- Caitlin and I went to see The Dressmaker (which I loved completely), and LiAM and I went to see The Hunger Games, Mockingjay Part 2
- We've watched lots of movies at home
- We've played lots of board games
- I'm working on cleaning out the last part of Caitlin's new room - she's sleeping in there but her desk is covered in all my sewing stuff so hoping to get that organised over the next few days so the space is all hers
- We've had friends come over and been to visit friends and played lots of games, inside and out
- LiAM and Millie have played a lot of Skylanders - Super Chargers, which they got for christmas
- Everyone has played a lot of Crossy Road (except for me - I played for the 1st time yesterday, so I have at least now played it. Not sure if I will get right into it like the others, I found it quite stressful)
- LiAM has been playing a lot of soccer in the back yard, with anyone who will play with him. The girls have been playing a bit, and Tony and I as well, and whichever friends come over
- We've been swimming in the dam a couple of times
- Caitlin has been horse riding at a friend's house

And lots lots more!

Caitlin's 11th birthday

Yesterday was Caitlin's 11th birthday!

She woke early (the sun is rising before 6 at the moment so it's easy for everyone to wake up by 6.30) and we all had a big birthday cuddle in our bed before getting up to do presents. LiAM and I quickly wrapped everything (we'd gotten home late and very tired the night before, from party food shopping, and had put off the wrapping until the morning). Caitlin was thrilled with her presents - from LiAM, a Minions Mega Blocks hot dog stand, from Millie, a Lego Friends dressing room, and from Tony and I - a horse calendar, a Billie B Brown diary for next year, a note book on a clipboard, and tickets to see Taylor Swift in December!

The kids got stuck into making all the lego and then playing with it. We had bacon for breakfast and a very relaxing morning.

At 11.30 Caitlin and I went into Yarra Glen to get some little prizes for games for her party, then we picked up her friend S and went up to Ponyland for the girls to go on a Trail Ride. They were joined by another friend from Caitlin's acting class. It was a magnificent spring day, perfect for a trail ride. Caitlin rode Charisma, her very favourite horse, and the other girls rode on Charlie and Happy. Caitlin was allowed to do some cantering, and Charisma started then dropped back into a trot - but she loved the ride and the experience and 3 very happy girls came back after an hour on the trail.

We went back to our place and they had lunch, then made friendship bracelets and played on the trampoline. We set up the camper trailer in the backyard, and then 3 other friends arrived for the sleepover. It was an amazing evening. They danced, played on the trampoline and swings, chased each other with the water gun Caitlin got as a present,  told jokes, played lots of games (storytelling and making people laugh etc) and put on a talent show. Those who didn't want to participate were the judges (along with LiAM) - Caitlin and Millie acted out a play created by Caitlin, one girl did gymnastics, one sang and one drew a picture - they were all quite impressive. We had pizza for dinner, and after Caitlin's cake we roasted marshmallows on the fire. It was warm enough for everyone to be outside, even for the meal, which made it all a bit exciting as well. We set up everyone's beds in the trailer - the 6 girls all managed to fit on the floor, and they played more games in there - once I made sure everyone was comfortable and would let me know if they needed anything, I left them to it and obviously they all fell asleep at some stage. It was one of the most fun parties I've been involved in, very relaxed and very enjoyable, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Caitlin at 11 is so much fun to be around. She's funny and generous and talkative and really loves people. She makes friends easily and loves to socialise, although is also becoming more comfortable being by herself or just with her family. She thinks deeply about things and asks a lot of questions, particularly about relationships and social and cultural norms. She loves performing and is doing 2 drama classes a week which lead to a big production each semester. She really really loves horses, and is working on ways to afford her own horse as soon as she can. She is creative and learns very quickly so picks up new skills seemingly effortlessly. She has big dreams and actively works towards making them all come true, I love her enthusiasm and her commitment to what she wants, it is quite inspiring. She's also not swayed by convention or fashion or and very much makes her own decisions about what is important to her. She has a great sense of style and always seems very comfortable in herself. This year she has learnt to crochet and made beanies and flowers and lots of other things, and continued to create loom band products and even had a couple of commissions to make things. She has helped Tony out a few times at baseball functions and is really confident and competent at whatever job she is given.

I am so looking forward to hanging out with her more and more as she grows into a young woman.

Happy Birthday Caitlin!

A double sleepover

Despite going to bed very late the night before the kids were all awake by about 9am (some much earlier). They continued to play Minecraft in S's world. Caitlin was feeling a bit tired and was getting emotional quite easily, so she had a shower and woke up a bit, then went to see if our neighbour was home. She came back to get S and they rode bikes over to visit. I got a call a while later to say Caitlin was feeling really dizzy and couldn't ride home, so I walked over and found her lying on the ground with the neighbours looking after her. I gave her some water and helped her take off the warmer parts of her clothes (it was 5 degrees when we woke up, but the sun warmed the day really quickly and it was getting hot) - she tends to over heat and get very dizzy so once she'd cooled off she felt a bit better and was able to slowly walk home.

She went to bed and had a good rest for a few hours while the others played Minecraft, watched The Lego Movie, and a Pokemon movie, and some Dance Academy, played on the trampoline, and had pokemon battles with their pokemon cards. Caitlin joined the others later in the afternoon and seemed much better. She worked on her loom bands for a while and they all continued to flit between Minecraft and playing outside.

Someone mentioned the Anzac biscuits the girls had had at our neighbours in the morning, and the others wanted to go over and get some. I suggested we make our own, which everyone was happy with. The boys and Millie helped. I had talked up the excitement of the bicarb bit, where it fizzes up when we add it to the butter - but it didn't fizz and it was very disappointing! I said we could do some painting with bicarb and vinegar to get our fizz fix once the biscuits were cooking.

I took bicarb, vinegar, water, trays, paper, food colouring, spoons, cups, jugs and straws outside, and started by spreading bicarb in the bottom of a tray, then mixing some food colouring and vinegar in a cup, and dripping a bit into the tray - it fizzed up beautifully, lots of blue coloured bubbles. From there the kids and I all experimented in our own way, the boys tipped large amounts of different coloured vinegar into the tray and got large bubbles and mixed colours, the girls used smaller amounts and created more specific pictures, we tried putting the bicarb on the paper in a pattern then fizzing it up with vinegar, or painting with a bicarb, water and food colouring paint and then fizzing that, or just mixing it all together in small and large containers - it was a lot of fun and everyone did their own thing for as long as they felt like.

Explosion!

A great afternoon to be playing outside

Painting with bicarb paint

R arrived with hot chips to share for tea, so we had a picnic in the back yard - throwing the ball constantly for Buckley so he wouldn't join us on the picnic rug, and the kids played on the trampoline and swings in between eating chips and then Anzac biscuits. As it got colder they moved blankets and pillows and iPads out to the trampoline and played and talked out there for a while. Both kids decided to stay overnight again, so R and I had a cuppa and a chat then she went home alone. The kids watched an episode of Dance Academy then Tony put the football on. We watched the football and talked about it and played Minecraft and I went and had a bath and read my book (The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - like everything else she's written, I find it very hard to put down). After the football the kids put Dance Academy on again. LiAM had taken himself to bed earlier and the others watched a few episodes then fell asleep in their beds in the lounge room.

Les Miserables Exhibition

Yesterday was a rather busier day than the one before! I was scheduled to drop my car off in Ringwood to be repaired, so decided that seeing as I was halfway to the city, Caitlin and I could use the free tickets we won to see the Les Miserables From Page to Stage Exhibition at the State Library.

I met R in Coldstream and dropped LiAM and Amelie off to go home with her to spend the day playing with V, and Caitlin and I continued on to drop the car off. We got a courtesy taxi to Ringwood Station then caught the train into the city. We had a funny moment when I tried to eat the hard boiled eggs I'd bought with us and couldn't crack the shell... I decided to eat something else for then and try the eggs later (and they cracked easily when I tried them later in the afternoon).

Getting off the train at Melbourne Central, Caitlin and I both felt like tourists from the country - there were so many shops and people and things happening - we've been to the city lots in the last few years, but I think we just weren't expecting it to be that crazy right at the railway station, and it was a bit overwhelming.

Neither of us had been to the State Library before, and I would have like to see it without the scaffolding all over it - but it was very impressive inside and now I want to go back and hang around in the book areas.... The Exhibition was great, we both really loved it. It started with a history of Victor Hugo and pictures and descriptions of Paris in the time that he was alive and when Les Mis was set. They had a scanned copy of the original Les Mis manuscript and some pieces of parchment he'd scribbled notes on, and the quills he wrote it with - very exciting. Lots of history then of productions of the story in all forms and many countries, including one of the costumes that Russell Crowe wore in the most recent movie. I really really wanted to touch it (and Caitlin was the same with the costume worn by Helena Bonham Carter - as she'll always associate her with Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter, so it felt like only a couple of degrees of separation from us to Harry...) but we restrained ourselves and took notice of the DO NOT TOUCH sign. It was cool to be standing that close. We laughed at seeing pictures of Hugh Jackman as Valjean, as Hugh is popping up all over the place for us at the moment, and Anne Hathaway as Fantine, since we'd watched Ella Enchanted 3 times the day before... We listened to a French version of 'On My Own' and looked at some of the original lyrics-in-progress of I Dreamed a Dream (in English) and the scene where Marius and Cosette meet (in French). Then we moved into the fun part of the exhibit (as we hadn't already had a lot of fun). This part was about the musical production and had lots of costumes, props, and interactive bits. My favourite was the 25th Anniversary Concert being shown on a massive screen above the stage, and especially Lea Salonga singing 'I Dreamed A Dream'. Caitlin's favourite was being able to dress up in real costumes from previous Australian productions of the musical. She spent about half an hour dressing up and could have stayed longer if we didn't have a train to catch...

Leaving the library the sun had come out (it had been cloudy and cold when we arrived) and there were people all over the lawn in front of the library, having lunch in the sun. Caitlin was quite overwhelmed with the number of people around, it was very very busy, even more so than when we'd arrived. On the way to the station we grabbed some sushi (for me) and Subway (for C), and a natural icy pole (just fruit and water and sugar) from a guy at a pop up store. Back on the train where we ate our lunch then looked at all the photos on Caitlin's camera, including lots of her in costume from the Exhibition (if I remember I'll add some here after she downloads them). It was a wonderful girls day out and I'm so glad we managed to squeeze the Exhibition into our very busy month.

Amelie and R met us at the bus stop in Yarra Glen, we had a snack, then R took us up to Guides. I went back to R's place where LiAM was still very happily playing with V - they were playing the Wii at this point and had had a great day together. They'd all spent time at the park and had a big walk and run into some friends - including Amelie's new best friend who she'd really been hoping to see this week. The girls went for a walk at Guides as well so Amelie was pretty exhausted by the time she got back.

Tony came and picked us up from R's and the girls from Guides, then finally home. We put on the DVD of the 10th Anniversary Les Miserables concert (which I bought at the gift shop) and watched that throughout the evening in between jumping on the trampoline, playing on iPad, cooking a roast for tea, doing some work on the computer. This version was quite remarkable and we all kept coming back into the lounge room to watch particular songs - I'm very happy that I bought it! It has Lea Salonga playing Eponine and doing the best version of 'On My Own' (my favourite) that I've ever heard - just blows me away every time.

Everyone was pretty tired after our big day and settled to bed pretty easily. I had a bath and felt much more relaxed and crashed pretty quickly myself.

ANZAC weekend

After 2 1/2 weeks of break from our regular activities I'm feeling energised and ready to get back into things. It helps that Vintage is largely over and Tony is now home (and awake) in the mornings and evenings and on weekends. He had 3 1/2 days off over the Easter weekend and has had all 3 days of this ANZAC Day long weekend off work. He played and coached baseball yesterday but has been here the rest of the weekend and its lovely for us all to reconnect with him and for me to have a bit more conversation with an adult in my day.

On Thursday Caitlin went to her athletics carnival where she competed in the 100m, 400m, relay and triple jump. She was the only Under 10s girl from her school, so she spent the day with the girls from another school, its great that she can fit in easily with a new group of people and make friends so easily.  While she was there LiAM, Millie and I went to L's for the day, the kids played Terraria and watched Terraria videos, played Minecraft Mutants (a game they've all made up) on the trampoline, and played an imaginative role-playing game on and off all day.

Once we picked Caitlin up we took her straight to the Guides Hall where she was having a sleepover before the ANZAC Day March the next day. She and most of the other girls slept outside in tents - it was our first really cold night of the season - down to 1 degree! - but they all managed all right and I think enjoyed the experience.

After dropping her off, we went to the library to return books, borrow some more, and watch some more Terraria videos. Tony met us there and took Millie home while LiAM went to Karate for the first time. He really enjoyed it and fitted in with the 2 kids who were about his age. I was really impressed with the dojo. Its a multi-age class - kids and adults in together. Some of the training they do as a whole group, other times they break into smaller groups with older kids helping the younger ones, or those at the same ability level working together. LiAM was assigned to a 13 year old boy to be shown the basics over the next few weeks - and he learnt heaps. (The next day he showed Caitlin how to do one of the kicks he'd learnt. The next morning Millie (from watching them) showed ME how to do it). Caitlin is considered joining the Karate class as well - and so am I. It might be a good way to get fit again and learn something I've vaguely thought about for a long time... There's a few fears standing in my way as well that may stop me, but hopefully I'll be able to overcome them. The dojo encourages parents and kids to train together, so I would be welcome from their point of view...

On Friday morning, L and M elected to stay home with Tony while I went to Yarra Glen to watch the ANZAC Day parade and ceremony. Arriving there and walking down the street and settling in to the crowd I felt so grateful to live in a small community, where I know so many people and we all come out to join in community events. There were several hundred people watching the parade. The Guides were running a bit late and the parade started as soon as they arrived. The crowd moves along the street with the parade (which set a cracking pace this year, I found it hard to keep up) and we all end up at the Memorial Hall and the War Monument. The Guides stand around the Monument each year, and this year Caitlin was one of the four who stood guard on the four corners of the Monument, she was proud to have such a prominent part in the ceremony.

The ceremony was moving and thought provoking. A lot of focus on being grateful for the country we live in and for the fact that we are not living with war on a daily basis. Recognition too for those Australians who are on active service at the moment in other countries.

After the ceremony I caught up with a few friends I hadn't seen for a while, then went and picked Caitlin up from the Guides Hall. Home again for a quiet afternoon - I installed a new Minecraft mod for  the kids, which they played for a while, Tony had a nap then watched the ANZAC Day Collingwood v Essendon game (which fortunately Collingwood won!) and we pottered around, read books, tidied up a bit, oh, and I made Anzac Cookies. Millie and I popped into Yarra Glen later in the day and did a bit of grocery shopping and we came home and made nachos for tea.

Yesterday was also a quiet day at home. Tony left early for baseball, and we played Township and Candy Mania and Episode on the iPad, watched some DVDs (Season 2 of Full House, and the Ugly Duckling and Me), sorted through all our books to see if there are any we could donate to the stall I'm having for ABA next week (no kid's books were allowed to go, but I did find a handful of my books that I'm unlikely to read again) and then read a pile of the books that we'd pulled out, played the piano, made some rainbow loom bracelets, played Minecraft and Poisson Rouge, and the kids played a game where the girls are sisters called Sally and Rosey, and its their birthday today, so they spent hours getting ready for a party - they've made decorations and invitations and Caitlin is going to make a cake and toffee today and then we'll all go to the birthday party. It will be especially fun for Millie I think as she's really starting to hang out for her birthday which is still about 6 weeks away - this might ease the frustration of waiting a little. We also played a fun game of Chinese Whispers at tea time - most of the sentences made it fairly intact around the 5 of us, although a couple got mixed up in a hilarious way.

Tiring day

Yesterday was one of those days where we ended up doing too many different things and we were all exhausted. I was saying to a friend yesterday that I've learned not to do extra things just because we're in the area - and then I did exactly that and wore us all out!

We had a pretty relaxing morning at home. The kids played Minecraft - exploring a couple of adventure maps they have on the computer - and read some books. Caitlin learnt more of 'Harry's Wondrous World' on the piano. Tony and Caitlin and I rearranged our chicken set up which ended up being a bit more complicated than we'd planned. We've had 2 broody chickens, and one of them had 6 chicks hatch over the weekend. On Tuesday we moved both chickens, with their eggs and chicks, into our spare pen - they were in a box with 2 laying areas, one chicken in each side, so that was pretty easy. Then the chicken whose eggs hadn't hatched yet decided that it would be easier to simply look after the chicks that were already born, rather than sit around and wait for her own eggs to hatch - so we kept ending up with 2 cranky mother hens and 6 chicks all in the one box. We tried various combinations with an aim to get her sitting back on her own eggs, but in the end the solution that made every hen and chick happy was to have both mothers and all the chicks in the pen together, with one big box that they could all fit in to. So now we have 2 very happy co-parenting hens and 6 adorable little chicks (5 yellow, 1 black).

Around 11.30 Tony went to work and the kids and I went to Homeschool Gymnastics. Friends of ours were there this week as well so it was a bit more fun for the older kids. Once it was finished I grabbed some of the bread we like from the bakery nearby, and also some spelt chocolate hot cross buns. Next stop was to one of my ABA group's trainee breastfeeding counsellors, to give her the raffle tickets so that she can coordinate this years national raffle for our group. While I talked to her Caitlin read books to her daughter and Millie. She lives right near Chirnside Park shopping centre, so I figured we might as well pop in and get a few things that we needed... I replaced our soda stream canister (finally - its been several weeks without soda water on tap and we've really missed it), we picked up some new Skylanders which were on special, Caitlin found a new dress, I got a new nose ring, we stocked up on cat food and (saved the exciting bit till last) we bought a whole coconut from the fruit and veg shop. We were all pretty knackered after our shopping, there was a lot of walking and browsing and it would have been nice to go home at that point. On the way back to Yarra Glen we stopped at a gluten free bakery I'd been meaning to go to and we all picked something yummy to eat - I was impressed with the quality. (Less impressed with the girl insisting Millie say 'please' before she'd give her the finger bun - Millie had no idea what she was talking about and started to get a bit annoyed - next time I'll try to step in earlier to keep everyone happy) Back to Yarra Glen and dropped Caitlin at Girl Guides, while the rest of us went to the library, read some books, watched minecraft videos, borrowed some new things, then went outside and played on the swings in the smoky air - I was a little worried about LiAM playing outside in the smoke but he coped ok, it mainly seems to affect him at night. Picked Caitlin up and met a new family who has just started Guides in Yarra Glen and then finally back home.

I made a cuppa and disappeared into the bedroom with a book for a while, and the kids played with their new Skylanders. Caitlin cooked frankfurts and cheese for the kids and I made myself something to eat, then we watched Top Cat (the movie) which we enjoyed more than we thought we would. Once I got tired I went to bed and read Anna Karenina, and Millie came in and played the iPad next to me. Eventually the others came in too and played games, chatted, read until we all fell asleep.

Hot hot hot

Its hot again today, althought I think the temperature is dropping now, below 30 degrees, and our area is actually due to have a coolish day tomorrow. A lot of places are staying hot for several more days though and the fire danger is pretty high everywhere. I've been keeping an eye on the fire news which sometimes makes me feel calmer because there's nothing nearby here, and other times causes me to feel quite anxious because it brings back all the memories of how it felt in 2009. 

I know I was very anxious leading up to last Friday when we had Extreme fire danger, and thought I'd calmed down since then. I'm very weary though and today I've been a little less patient with the kids than I'd like - especially getting everyone in the car to take the kitten to get his vaccinations (something about doctors (vet) appointments that make me get cranky rather than fun as I'm trying to coax everyone out the door. Maybe I should make the appointments at times when Millie doesn't have to come). So perhaps the heat and the threat of fire danger is keeping me on edge a bit more than I had realised.

I'm pleased I took Liam with me to the vet though, he got to see what she was doing. Stripes (the kitten) had 4 people holding him down while the vet did his checkup, not sure if that made it more or less stressful for him!

On the way home we stopped at a fruit and veg place that I love and the kids selected a lot of fruit - they've been eating fruit salad all afternoon. I replenished my veggie drawer as well, and Liam bought me some beautiful yellow and orange roses.