Birthday Party Week

We've been home from Tasmania just over a week now and its been a rather busy week - although on the whole we're all still quite relaxed from our holiday.

We arrived home early on the Friday morning before Liam's birthday, which was on the Sunday. Friday we spent relaxing, unpacking a bit, and some friends came over for the afternoon and brought Stripey back. Saturday I spent fixing the washing machine and dishwasher which had both decided to have their own holiday, and then getting organised for Liam's party.

Sunday we woke up and did Liam's present giving in the lounge room. Caitlin gave him a wooden cat (to match Millie's) and a ceramic dragon. Tony and I gave him a Tasmanian Devil puzzle, a toy lemur (not Schleich, but a similar brand) and an iPod Touch - exactly what he wanted. I'd loaded his favourite games on it so he was entertained for the morning while we finished party preparations.

Liam and his Lemur

Liam and his iPod

At midday we met his friends at Healesville Sanctuary, as well as Fi and James and Mum and Dad. Everyone had a picnic lunch, then I put out party food and the kids played in a large grassed area near the dingo enclosure. We played Pass the Parcel (Tony and I played the drums for music) and Liam (without us looking) won the main prize so he was pretty happy. Liam's presents included lego, a craft kit, a magician figurine, animal books, a vial of gold, and a Schleich dinosaur (velociraptor).

Liam's birthday cake

Eventually we packed up and went for a walk around part of the Sanctuary - we had 13 adults and 13 children there so we were quite a group. We did the wetland walk, the lyrebirds (a couple of us saw the male lyrebird singing), the reptiles and the parrots. We'd invited everyone back to our house because Liam had a piñata waiting - most of his friends came back (actually all our homeschooling friends). The kids played outside for a while then the piñata called - it was shaped like a crocodile and very cool. The tail soon came off and everyone was able to whack it and get a few lollies - and the rest of the body survived so Liam was able to keep it! Everyone stayed and played for a few hours and one the guests provided some dinner so it was a very relaxing afternoon and evening.

Liam's turn

Liam and the piñata

We were back into our usual routine through the week, with ABA, gymnastics, joey scouts, homeschool gymnastics and guides to go along to. In between Liam did a lot of the craft from his birthday kit, we watched tv and read a lot of books, played games, played with the animals (real and toy and imaginary), went to the library a couple of times and went to friends' houses.

On Friday we had Millie's birthday party. It was almost exactly the same group of people as we'd had here on Sunday - Fi and James couldn't make it and we had one other local family come along - otherwise it was Mum and Dad and 4 other homeschooling families. It was a very casual party, the kids (aged from 2 to 10 and an even mix of boys and girls) played inside and outside, with lego, craft, toys animals, on the trampoline and swings, listening to music, looking for our real animals in the yard etc. We had a beautiful cake and Millie's presents included art and craft supplies, a game, books and a felt board with a pet shop scene. Tony had finished work early, it being a Friday, so he was able to be here for most of it. A few of the families stayed for dinner and by this stage some of the kids were playing Minecraft on the computer and they kept us up to date with their new discoveries - playing as a social group they can explore and discover much more quickly than on their own, they really work well together.

In the midst of the evening part of the party Tony took Liam to Chirnside Park for him to go to the movies with his Joey Scout group - they saw Monsters University and Liam was very excited to go without any other family members, and to be able to buy his own snack to eat and drink there. There were still people here when he got back so he also didn't feel like he'd missed out on the party.

The other mothers (and one dad for a while) and I had a great chat sitting in the kitchen, it was a very easy party to get ready for and a very relaxing one while it was taking place.

Yesterday we had a visit from Pete and Cynthia who are staying at Mum and Dad's for the weekend - great to see them and Liam was thrilled because he'd wanted his uncle Pete to come to his birthday party but we'd left it too late to organise. They'd just visited the chocolate factory and came with gifts - giant chocolate freckles for the kids and a chocolate making kit and fondue set for the family. The kids enjoyed showing Pete all their lego (he was the first one to buy us any lego so he kind of has a vested interest) and the animals and their tree climbing skills, and I loved having a casual chat - we haven't had many opportunities to just visit each other over the last 20 years or so - hopefully we can do it more often.

Today Caitlin is going to an archery day with guides, and we have some friends coming over this afternoon while their mother has something else on.  So another social day coming up and looks like this coming week will be quite busy as well - although its the last week of term so then there will be a change in our rhythm for a couple of weeks after that.

The view out my window this morning as I wrote this blog post on a chilly morning of -5 C

Tasmania!!!!

I've been very busy this week getting ready for our trip to Tasmania, so I haven't had a lot of time for blogging. We leave in just over an hour and there's still a bit to do - having a quick breather now then I'll get back into it. 

You can follow our travelling adventures at travellingandexploringourworld.blogspot.com.au, I'm hoping the kids will contribute their impressions of our days as well

Climbing Trees

There has been a lot of tree climbing happening for us lately. Well, not for me so much, I prefer to stay on the ground, but the kids have been climbing and I've been watching, helping, discussing, taking photos and generally been involved in the activity while not actually taking part in the bit that involves heights.

There's been wonderful fig trees to climb at the Botanic Gardens and at Collingwood Childrens Farm. 

We watched Stripey go up an oak tree and then walk across a beautiful horizontal branch to end up on top of the chicken shed, so Liam tried it and has found a wonderful place to hang out and be alone. There were trees to explore in the bush near our tent at the Eco Festival in Yarra Junction.

 Yesterday while I was pushing each of the kids in turn on our big swing, the others climbed the tree that the swing is hung from. Stripey went up as well, then Buckley came to the bottom and barked incessantly at him (he was so intent on barking at the cat that he wasn't interested in chasing his ball -  those of you who know Buckley know how hard it is to distract him from ball chasing, so this cat-up-a-tree business was obviously extremely engaging). Anyway, Caitlin was worried that Stripey wouldn't be able to get down, so decided to go up after him. She tried to follow him the way he went, but the branches were a bit steep. So she came down and went up one of the smaller trees underneath the big one, and was nearly able to pull herself up onto a big branch. Liam tried it as well but found the distances between small tree and big branch a bit much. Caitlin ended up with a lot of scratches but seemed to have a lot of fun.

In the Botanic Gardens last week Caitlin pushed herself quite hard and climbed out on some very long branches with challenging forks in them. She said she was stuck a few times, and it can seem that she's scared - but I think really she's just not sure which way to go next/where to put her hands and feet in order to keep moving. She stops and asks for help, and can seem to resist suggestions for a little while, but she processes it all, listens and thinks and looks, and then she's able to move on. When she really gets scared she stops and comes back down.

Its been interesting to watch my reactions to each of the three of them climbing, and also the different ways that they react to tricky bits or when they reach their limit. They are all quite adept at recognising their limits, and while Caitlin's limits are WAY beyond where I would be comfortable myself, I know that she will stop and calm down before trying to come back down, and also that she can be talked through it if she does get stuck or too scared. Liam's limits are more within my own comfort range, and he likes to have help to navigate back if he's become scared. Often just putting my hand on his body somewhere, or even standing right underneath him, is enough to calm him down and he'll be able to get back. Millie's limits are, I think, way beyond Caitlin's. She's normally stopped by physical limitations way before she gets scared. I'm a bit more nervous watching her, simply because I don't know if I'd be able to talk her down, she often wants physical help when she gets stuck/scared - and often that happens at a point where I'd be too scared to go myself. 

A couple of weeks ago the kids were climbing up an irresistable wall that looked a lot like a ladder. We were with some friends and all the children were climbing as high as they felt comfortable. Millie went right to the top, then headed out across the roof part, which was constructed in the same way. As soon as she started to go across, my anxiety levels sky-rocketed - not because I was worried that she would fall (I was confident she wouldn't) but because if she got scared or stuck, I didn't know if I would be be able to talk her down, and I knew for sure I wouldn't be able to go up there and get her down... Luckily one of my friends who was there is quite a good climber and quite comfortable with heights, so I asked her to look after Millie and I wandered away a little bit and watched from a distance. L was able to talk her through climbing most of the way across the roof and then turning around and coming back, and she had a wonderful time. L said that Millie was fine as long as they maintained eye-contact, so maybe that's something I can use next time.

In the past I used to not want to help them get up tricky bits in the tree - I would say something like 'If you can't get up yourself then you won't be able to get down' - which is something I heard myself as a child and have heard other adults say. Now I think about it very differently - often the first bit of the tree is quite high, with wonderful, more easily accessible branches once you get past that first bit. Its not fair to stop the smaller children climbing in that part, just because they can't get up the first step. And if I'm there to help them up, then I can be there to help them down as well. So I've given lots of legs up and lifted people down from branches and trunks and I'm looking forward to exploring many many more trees in our adventures together.

2 months in one quick summary

Its been a while since I posted - we've had very slow internet combined with a very slow, about to die laptop and internet time was very limited. Now however we have a Macbook, the internet is back to - well, not fast, but less slow - so blog posts and other non-essential internet use can happen again.

So a bit of a summary of what we've been up to over the last couple of months
- a day at Collingwood Childrens Farm - the kids got to milk a cow, we saw some gorgeous week old piglets (I could have watched them all day), Liam took to the microphone and led a group in singing Baa Baa Black Sheep at the book launch of Alanah Campbell's 'Under the Persimmon Tree', there was a tractor ride and lots of tree climbing, and Fi and James joined us for a while

- an afternoon at Healesville Sanctuary with some friends
- lots of mornings, afternoons, days and even sleepovers at friends' houses
- activities at homeschool group in Yarra Glen and Yarra Junction
- exploring Op Shops
- a train ride to the city and hanging out in the Botanic Gardens with friends (and more tree climbing)
- watching the vineyard slowly turn yellow and then the leaves all falling off - they are nearly completely gone now

- playing with Stripey (the cat) and Buckley (the dog)
- Guides, Scouts and Gymnastics
- returning to ABA meetings
- having Tony around a lot again after the end of Vintage
- playing the piano, recorder and violin - oh, and buying a violin for Caitlin at the Healesville Markets
- busking in Healesville and Yarra Glen - Caitlin playing the recorder, and Liam occasionally whistling or playing the drums in accompaniment
- playing Minecraft lots - individually and connected on the ipad, and now on the new computer as well
- playing lots of other ipad games
- lots of lego
- horse riding
- trip to Maroondah Dam
- reading books of all descriptions
- drawing and writing and inventing
- a day at an Eco-festival in Yarra Junction - I was helping at an ABA Feed and Change Tent, and the kids helped there as well as going on donkey rides, doing wet felting, playing hopscotch, hanging out in the women's Red Tent, tree climbing, exploring the forest, trying to buy a guinea pig, eating ice cream etc
- trips to the library
- watching movies
- birthday parties - including a wonderful day at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie for my birthday - we were there from 11-5 and lots of friends and family joined us at different points through the day, we sat in the sun and ate chocolate and ice creams and other food and drank milkshakes and the kids played in the grounds and it was a beautiful day all round

- -conversations about all of the above
- puzzles, board games, card games
- magic tricks
- and LOTS more

If you want to know more about any of our activities, let me know in the comments and I will expand

Piano

We have a piano!!!!!!!!!!!

On a very busy Wednesday a week and a half ago, we went to a piano showroom not too far from where the kids do homeschool gymnastics, to 'start to have a look'. I initially wanted a smallish piano because we don't have a lot of spare room in our house, but Caitlin was drawn to one that was somewhat bigger than I had in mind. It was beautiful - and when I had a good look I realised that while it was taller than the others, it was the same length and depth, so would take up the same amount of floor space as any of the others. The woman showing us the pianos also pointed out that a taller piano has longer strings - so a better sound. And it did feel and sound so much better than the others when we played it - it reminded me of my Grandma's piano, so was certainly my nostalgic choice, and Caitlin wasn't interested in any of the others once she'd tried this one. I tentatively asked the price - she had to go and check - and it was in our price range!!!! (The piano is a gift from one of my wonderful uncles). It felt a bit weird to buy such an expensive item on our first outing to look at them - but this piano really felt perfect and we've been talking about it for over a year, I'd looked at this showroom online several times - and I have played a bit of piano over the years so know what I like and don't like. So we said we'd take it, and then had 5 very excited days to wait until delivery.

Last Monday the truck pulled up in our driveway to the sound of 5 very excited kids squealing (we had friends over). The delivery guys moved Buckley's balls out of the way before they got their trolley out, and happily chatted to the kids and us about pianos in general and ours in particular. The piano was wheeled into place (I still haven't reallocated all the stuff I moved out of the way to make room for it - that's a job for this week!) and after a bit more discussion (in which the guys told us that they guess it was made around 1925 - and it was definitely manufactured in Melbourne which is exciting (Its a Wertheim)) they left us to it. 

The kids all had a bit of play straight away (with only slight drama about who was going to go first) and the highlight for Liam and Millie in particular was being able to open up the top and watch the hammers and strings move as it was played. This led to lots of dicussion about how a piano works, what type of instrument it is (percussion apparently), how you can make it louder and softer, how the pedals work etc. (The delivery guy had also talked to us about how the strings were set out, and I'd learnt lots of new information).

In the last week the piano has been played by everyone, multiple times a day. Caitlin has worked through both of her beginner piano books and is going back and improving her skills and starting to try music from other books. Liam and Millie are playing improvised music - Millie loves to play a 'cat song' which really does sound like a cat walking gently on the keys. She also still loves to watch in the top of the piano as other people play. I find it hard to walk past the door of the playroom without popping in to play (and I rarely resist) - I'm loving being able to sit down and play (or try) a piece, then get up and go on with what I was doing, knowing I can come back and play again any time. Tony hasn't played music before but has started to learn about reading music and playing a few simple tunes. Caitlin and I also tried a duet with me on the recorder and her on the piano - something I'd love to be able to do more of!

I love that our lifestyle has allowed us to really focus on music as much as we liked since the piano arrived, and that we can use it as much or as little as we like now that it is here - there's no pressure on anyone to play, and everyone is welcome to play how and when they want to.

Dioramas and library

Well I did get a lot done on Wednesday when I was here alone, cleaned out a lot of those corners that get filled with stuff, and cleared out the hallway so now its full of nothing but space! It was tiring and it also felt good to really get stuck into one task for several hours.

The kids were disappointed that they missed the nets going on the vines. However they also had a lot of fun at Grandma's, watching the renovations happening, playing games and reading books with Grandma and Grandad, and Caitlin learned how to read music and play the piano! Mum had bought a book at the 2nd hand bookstore where she volunteers, and it set the whole process out very simply so that Caitlin was able to follow the steps and learn each of the notes and then play some simple tunes. She was very excited and its spurred me on to start researching (and then get on with purchasing) our piano.

We tried to have a quiet day at home on Thursday as a bit of a chance to rest - its been a busy week with more busy days coming up over the weekend and the next few weeks. Caitlin got out the glue gun and began making a diorama to represent Millie and her friend getting married, and she started planning the 'wedding' and invitations. She's put a lot of work into it and its very pretty and clever. I love the way she plans things and can picture a whole event and everything that needs to be organised.

Yesterday we went to visit a friend who is shortly moving to New Zealand (quite sad for us) and then went to the Homeschool Library Activity in Yarra Junction. We had 4 families there and we all know each other well, it was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon hanging out in the children's section of the library, doing the craft activity, reading lots of books, some of the kids played Monopoly, some played on the ipad, the big girls (Caitlin and S) and Millie went out and used the internet for a while on the library computers, the parents chatted in between reading stories. Caitlin borrowed a HUGE pile of books about animals - she went through the shelves and picked all the covers she liked - it was funny, it pushed my buttons about how many books it was 'OK' to borrow, but I did get them all for her, especially because I realised *I* didn't care how many she got, I was simply worried (quite worried) about what everyone else would think.... I'm still feeling the desire to justify it here, but really, I was happy to be able to say yes to her borrowing wishes.  

All quiet

Its very quiet here today. The kids are at Mum's - Tony and I both had commitments last night (he had Masters Baseball, transferred from Monday night as that was a Public Holiday) and I had a Regional Meeting for ABA (Australian Breastfeeding Association). So Mum came and picked up the kids yesterday afternoon and Tony and I will go up after he finishes work this afternoon and have tea up there tonight and come home hopefully late enough for some of them to fall asleep on the way home.

I am appreciating the time here by myself to get a lot of cleaning/tidying/organising done before Tony's 40th Birthday Party in 2 1/2 weeks. I figure if I can get most of the background cleaning and tidying done today while there are few interruptions, then I can easily do a surface clean in the days before the party and it won't be too stressful. We've got lots on over both the next 2 weekends so there's little weekend time to get organised - great that I can get a good chunk done today.

I'm missing the kids though - the vineyard guys are putting nets on the vines to protect them from the birds now that the grapes are ripe, and I keep wanting to call the kids out to look at where they are up to. Lots of little things have happened this morning that I would normally have commented on and it reminded me of how much interaction we all have, even when they are playing on their own and I'm doing something else. I like sharing my thoughts and experiences with them and having them share theirs with me. 

I know they'll be having a great time at Grandma's, and I am grateful for some time to myself (and being able to listen to music of my own choice), and I'll also be very glad to see them again and have a noisy, busy house again tomorrow.