It's a Good Thing I Like Her...

Anyone would think that Nanna is on her way. Oh, that's right, she is.

Lyndon's mother is arriving tomorrow, alone (ie. without Poppy) for 8 days. We're all looking forward to her impending visit. In fact, we look forward to most people visiting, which is a good thing because two weeks after Marianne (Nanna) leaves my folks arrive for a 2-week stay. Christmas is a busy time isn't it? Around here it is anyway...

The spare bed is made, the balconies swept, the flywire cleaned (at long last!), the bathrooms are sparkling, the kitchen is spotless (I even cleaned out the cupboards! - *I know*), Nanna's favourite cereal is in the pantry and a bottle of her favourite wine is chilling in the fridge. We've booked the lovely Italian Restaurant down the road for tomorrow night and looked into visiting one of the large hotels up at Palm Cove on Saturday morning for Buffet Breakfast. (Yes, it is all about the food!)

Monet even decorated the Christmas Tree.

Not that you could tell, could you? It was decorated with a lot of love, let me tell you. (How long do Monet's legs look in this photo and how old does she look? No wonder people assume she is a school-age child!)

Monet's been wanting to do some baking for a few days now, so we did this afternoon. We made cupcakes and decorated them, especially for Nanna.


We've got a busy agenda over the next week. There will be shopping involved, a bit of touring, time in the pool, time in the playgrounds and plenty of time for food and drink with Monet's Nanna.

It's a good thing I like her.

(Sorry about the quality of the piccies, they were taken with my mobile phone...)

'Ah-Har, A'hoy Me Mate-ies!'

We've been living happily in Cairns for 20 months now and Monet and I have only just discovered the most awesome playground in the north of the Esplanade. We've driven past dozens and dozens of times along the Esplanade and spied the playground but never ever 'stopped' there. Until last week. I'm kicking myself that I have never stopped earlier.

Known as the 'Pirate Ship' it is absolutely awesome, especially for a little girl who has not long turned 3. I love it because she I can relax as she plays as it seems very safe and there are no real things to fall off and there is no swings! *yay*

We stopped after our weekly library visit last Wednesday. We weren't there for long as I had some things in the car which I didn't want to melt away into nothingness so I promised Monet that we'd return another time with a picnic lunch.

That 'another time' turned out to be 2 days later. With a cooler bag full of goodies (ham, cheese, baguette, watermelon, peach, potato crisps, Red Bull (for me), Dora juice (for Mon) and water bottles) we headed off in the car with our picnic blanket.

We were at the Pirate Ship for three hours. Three Hours folks!! And not once did 'I' say "let's go!" *heehee* (Lyndon didn't believe me!) I was not bored and saw many kids come and go, as I sat under the shade of a tree with Pickles (her teddy) watching like a hawk over my Monet.

She's not a great fan of a zillion children all at once, so she stood steering the ship for ages as the kids around her, milled around and went up and down the slide.

Once most children left she found herself one or two little friends and had a great time, coming over every so often to check on me and to have a little snack and a big drink of water. It's thirsty work playing. And 'walking-the-plank'...

The playground is just south of Cairns Airport and when the weather is 'perfect' the planes fly in over the city and land, rather than loop around over the Northern Beach suburbs and land. Last Friday was obviously 'perfect' weather... (A huge Jetstar plane I was able to capture.)

When we got home, someone was 'exhausted' and prompty fell asleep in her lounge of chair. It's a pity that, that then meant she stayed awake till 11pm on Friday evening!! *urgh* Yeah, I'm a HUGE fan of afternoon naps, obviously...

We'll be going back to this playground in the not-too-distant-future. Probably, I would say, with Nanna in hand. (Lyndon's mother arrives on Friday for an 8-day stay.) I hope Nanna is prepared to spend a good three hours at the 'Pirate Playground' on one of her days...*heehee*

You Are Amazing

As parents we know how our children really do amaze us at times, especially when they are little. It is amazing just how they do things, maybe being shown something once and it is never forgotten. Sometimes you wonder how they know things when they haven't even been taught. They just pick things up.

Being a 24/7 mum, I basically know what she has learnt from other children, other adults, books, television etc., so when Monet comes out with a particular word, for example, I struggle at times to wonder where she picked it up from.

Lately Monet has been enjoying colouring-in. Attempting to anyway. She's got a small container of crayons that get a good workout on some days (and lay idle on others.) We have about a zillion scrapbooks with pictures, shapes and photos she has glued down and pages where she's gone berserk with a found pen. (Oh, how much do little children love pens??)

The other night Monet was sitting on the couch with her 'etch-a-sketch' doing drawings of mum and dad.

(The animal shapes are not lost from this 'etch-a-sketch' - we still have them after 18 months!)

The concentration was something else...

That was last week.

Last night was something that amazed us. She sat at her 'picnic' table with light-green crayon in hand and blank scrapbook and did these...

In case you can't quite figure it out (sorry about that, she could have at least done them in black!), that's me on the left hand side with Monet below followed by Lyndon on the other page. We've got two eyes, a nose and mouth each, two arms and two legs. I have not shown her how to draw 'people' as such, animals, yeah, but humans, no. So we sat there amazed that within a week she has gone from doing kind of blobs to pictures of mum and dad that even I can remember doing when I was a kid.

I'm amazed anyway, even if you're not.

Fill In...

Monet adores her dad. It's scary how much she behaves like him.



(Sorry about the poor picture quality there, I'm not a fan of the flash on my mobile phone.) Notice the hand under head watching telly pose? Hmm.

Did I tell you that I got my hair cut last weekend?



Yeah, that's Monet and I, striking a pose, not a couple of 'fill in' models.

I like it. The girl who cuts my hair does a great job and always cuts it the way I ask. Love that.

Last Saturday also saw Monet and I invited to a 4 year old's birthday. In typical Cairns weather, it rained practically the whole time, so thank goodness for big undercover patios.

Monet had an absolute ball. She wasn't too keen on playing 'pass-the-parcel', but loved the 'Stick-The-Pirate-On-The-Treasure-Chest' (rather like 'Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey'), mainly for the fact that my blindfolded girl won!! She won a Dora Scrapbook which made her day.

Being typical Tropical Queensland, what else do kids do at parties, but go swimming in the pool, even if it was raining! (This would never happen in Melbourne!) Monet had a fabulous time in the pool, she did so well splashing around with her floaties on. All the kids were under strict supervision by the mothers who were leaning around the pool fence and the dads who came, were in the water with them. I don't know who had the best fun in fact. Sometimes I think grown men enjoy being in the pool with the kids rather than the opposite way around.

Can you spot Monet in this chaos?

The parting party pack included a couple of el-cheapo Little Ponies, which Monet has been playing with all week! ALL WEEK. Thank God for $2 Coles Clip-strips.

We've got Lyndon's Work Christmas party tomorrow night. No one is happy about it. You might remember that last year we were fortunate to spend two nights here, but tomorrow night we get to do this again. No one is happy. I am though, it is a night out!

It Was 10 Years Ago Today...

It is 10 years ago since Michael Hutchence was found dead in his Sydney Hotel Room. I remember the day well, if anything, a little too well.

I grew up with INXS and I (un)officially called them my band. I saw them too many times to mention but in the last couple of years before Michael's death I had kind of gone off them. (I instead became obsessed by Britpop - especially Blur and I do still *swoon* for Damon Albarn...sigh...)

My mother initially rang me to tell me she had heard about Michael on the radio. I remember bursting out crying and to say that I enjoyed my work Christmas function that night is a big joke. On the day of his funeral I organised for my lunch hour to be taken when the service began so I could video tape it and mourn him in my own time. Gee, what a fun girl I can be sometimes!

I could not believe it and sometimes I still can't. There was something about the charismatic man who was a real 'rock star' (in my humble opinion) He charmed his way into women's hearts around the world and sang with soul.

INXS were never the same after his death and never will be. As much as I don't mind JD Fortune, he ain't no Michael Hutchence.

So on this 10th anniversary of Michael's death, I will raise my glass to him this evening and remember my INXS youth, where my bedroom walls were covered, ceiling to floor in INXS pictures and my favourite piece of clothing was an INXS t-shirt.

*sigh*

REMINDER...

Does anyone else have a washing machine that 'talks' to them?

Mine does.

I got a bit of a shock when I went to load the washing machine and I read on its LCD screen that it was after a wash!

This washing machine also tells me to 'have a nice day' after each load too.

Sometimes the littlest things brighten my day. Obviously.

Sometimes You Forget.

Sometimes you forget just how lucky you are. Sometimes I forget just how lucky I am. I live in a great apartment in a lovely suburb in the corner of a fantastic country. I have all mod cons, I have fresh running water and I am generally a happy, healthy person.

Above all I have my own little family. A wonderful life partner who provides for us, and a gorgeous, healthy, happy daughter. If I had a dollar for every time I was asked if I was having another child I would be a very wealthy woman. Trust me. I tell people I am blessed to have one child and think it is no one elses business if we are wanting another child or not. That's our business.

I was told today by our bestest friends, that the baby they were expecting next year was lost. I have cried a bucketful of tears for a child that will not witness just what fabulous parents, relatives and friends it was to have. I am lost. I thank my lucky stars for my life and my child.

A Post About Books (& a plug for a cool website)

I love books, especially good Children's books. I have a few books waiting patiently in my wardrobe to be wrapped and put under the Christmas tree for the youngest member of this household. I love it when Monet gets books for Christmas because ultimately it is I who reads them all and I get sick of reading the same ones over and over and over....

At least on Christmas night there will be at least 5 new books for me to read. *Phew*

I was speaking to one of my Melbourne mates this morning (Hi Paula!) and told her about this fabulous website, Huggies Book Club. So for all you Aussie pals, I recommend you join (it's free) and they offer free postage (FREE!) and 10% off RRP on ALL books! You can even lay-by your books. They even offer gift wrapping and gift cards, for an extra $2.50, which makes ideal Children's gifts.

I have been a member for quite some time and have ordered books via this site for my Nephew in country Victoria. Apparently the card was hand written which my S-I-L (to be one day) said it was a really nice touch.

You can bet I am waiting in anticipation for my little parcel of books to arrive in the post in the next few days...

Nothing Like Being Organised

Gee, anyone around here would be thinking we are going on a European Holiday, judging by the books on the dining table...

(Half belong to our to our local library!)

There is nothing like knowing what we want to see, where we want to go and how much it's going to cost.

I'm also stroller researching. Can anyone tell me what the Maclaren Volo one is like?

Will it cater to a 110cm high, 16 kilo, 3 year old? By all my researching on the net it seems it will, but if anyone has any personal experience with one please say... (By the sounds of it, it folds well, is easy to carry over your shoulder, is comfortable, easy to push) We're not going to buy it here, because the thought of 3 suitcases, 3 carry-on bags, a 3 year old AND a stroller in the mix, in an international airport does nothing to soothe me! We're going to buy it in London and will mainly be used to roam the streets of that city.

Anyway, you don't want to hear all about that...

If you want to read something that makes you go 'Ewww', read this. It made me cringe.

And to keep us all on our toes up in this corner of Australia, there is a Cyclone brewing in the Coral Sea, still a fair distance from here and moving a very slow 5 kilometers per hour. May I present to you Tropical Cyclone 'Guba' (yes, Guba!)....

It's not a threat to us (at the moment) but is partly to blame for the crappy weather over the last few days (raining on and off and wind). This Cyclone is apparently the first of many this season. As long as there isn't one on or near April 17th, I'll be happy!!

What's Another Few Years?

So, you remember this post from a couple of weeks ago? Now the joke goes something like this...

Did you hear the one about the couple who thought they'd set a wedding date, but ended up scrapping the idea because they didn't want a wedding getting in the way of a fabulous holiday?

You didn't?

You have now...

Hey, we figure we've been engaged for sooooo long, what's another year or two? It seems there is a lot for us to accomplish in the next 5 months before we head overseas (a possible move south included) and planning a wedding in all this was ludicrous. (What was I thinking?) We figure a holiday at this point of time is 'right' for us, before Monet goes and gets an education and while she is still pretty much 'free' when we travel around Europe (I've been researching!)

In fact, I have been researching a lot of things on the internet lately. Do you know how good the internet is when trying to research reviews on possible Christmas presents for a 3 year old? Bloody brilliant I tell you. There will be no wasted money in this household this Christmas.

I was thinking of getting Monet a digital camera for Christmas (to take on her impending European holiday - sorry I keep repeating that but its my blog and I can say what I want!) but it seems the ones on the market for her age group are basically crap, especially when we're used to getting quality (?) photos out of my Sony Cybershot when taken by her. (Example below - she took that last Sunday at Thorton's Beach.)


A 'kiddie' digital camera for her has been crossed off the gift list.

Also reviewing hotels on the internet too. And itineraries. And prices for travel etc., Fabulous. I can't imagine how I travelled to the UK on my own in 1996 without doing all the previous research I am doing now.

(And for those of you who said "Rome, go to Rome", well....)

Planning Stages

We're currently in the midst of organising our 'itinerary' for our European Holiday next year. April, in fact. It's all very exciting of course, but trying to work out exactly what to do and where to go is a totally different scene.

We've been looking at the world globe and our atlas and plotting and planning. We both have certain places we want to visit. We know that we will probably start off with 5 days in London town, hopefully hanging most of the time with Kimbofo (we don't need any ideas on what to do in regards to London, because I've already been there twice and Lyndon once, though if you have any ideas about where to take a 3 1/2 year old, please speak up!).

Then we are keen to go over to mainland Europe.

Paris is a must...

...(even though we've been before, we want to revisit - even for a day) followed closely by a visit to Giverny to Monet's Garden as it has been a regret of mine since our previous visit in 2000. We know that Belgium is a must (hello!!) and the Autobahn in Germany because if I hear Lyndon banging on about that road once more...*heehee* I would also dearly love to meet Ms. Mac in Switzerland, who has already invited us around for lunch. (Ain't she lovely?)

So with a possible 10 days up our sleeves on the mainland, can anyone else offer us any information or 'must do's', keeping in mind we'll have a youngster with us? Lyndon is pretty keep to on visiting Legoland in Copenhagen, but can someone tell me what the one in Windsor (UK) is like? (It probably doesn't compare with the original and the best!) A visit through Amsterdam is also on the cards. (Now, I wonder who wants to go there? Hmmm *Melody scratches her head*)

We then will return to London for another 5/6 days. All in the planning stage so far, so...Ideas people, IDEAS!!!

I'll make sure I have a beer on your behalf in some European establishment next year...

*sigh*

Thorton's Beach

I have lots of places which I rather *heart* up here. And Sunday just gone, we went and visited one of our favourite places up here. A trip up to the Daintree Rainforest.

Monet 'insisted' that her doll-of-the-moment, Strawberry Shortcake came along for the ride, (she had to have a seat-belt on "so she can be safe"). We're hoping Monet's other dolls aren't too jealous.

We arrived at the little village of Cape Tribulation just before noon, where we enjoyed a cool fizzy drink from the Backpacker's Resort and shared a bowl of hot chips.

Monet enjoyed her cool glass of water which helped wash down her hot chips....

...and having a dance with Strawberry...

...before we headed back into the car and down to Thorton's Beach (still belonging to the Daintree National Park).

It is actually pretty much a perfect beach. It's long, its wide, the water was rather 'hot' (not that you'd go swimming in there at this time of year, perfect for Saltwater crocs and box-jellyfish, but we did 'paddle') and even though there were a few people wandering the shoreline it felt like you had the whole beach to yourself. I love that.

Do you have a favourite destination near to where you live?

Passport Shockers

What is it about passport photos that makes everyone look shocking?

I do think though, out of the three of us, I actually look the best. *gloat* Monet's is a shocker! Can't wait to show her, her first passport photo at her 21st! *snigger, sigger*

Oh Man!!

It seems as if I have a million ideas, thoughts in my head at the moment and I don't know where to begin. I think this is part of the reason why we never got married in the first place - we're not the center of attention type people, nor the type of people to 'commit' in regards to organising. (Which explains why we do so much travelling on the 'spare-of-the-moment'...)

Wedding plans. Besides spanner in the works getting thrown in our direction, left, right and center I think we've come up with a plan.

Holiday plans. Just about signed, sealed and delivered. At least our plane tickets are getting finalised as I type. *yay* I need to get our (out-of-date-by-too-long-to-renew) passports sorted then organise accommodation, car rental, itinerary sorted.

So much in my head at the moment. And my heart is beating beyond belief.

Personally, I can't wait for us to do this again, but with Monet Lulu included this time....

This was Lyndon and I in July 2000

*GRIN*