Chevron

I love colours, I always have.  Sure I might not always pull colours off when I wear them but I know with my skin tone and hair colour that bold colours can work on me, rather than pale.  I am also a girl who likes stripes and chevron patterns.  So when I spied this lovely Chevron fabric my friend was offering from her fabric store in Brisbane, I snapped it up.  

It's a safe, be seen kind of skirt.  I love it.

I had enough fabric remaining to make a girl-sized skirt, which worked out beautifully.  

It is still listed for sale so some lucky little girl (aged 7-8-9) will be the fortunate owner of this skirt some day.

Eight

Look who turned eight the day after Lily's third birthday.

I swear I was in denial, due to the fact that I had bought Monet two birthday cards on two different occasions (one was from MrL & I, the other from Lily) and BOTH had the number seven on them!  Eight.  Such a rounded number.  A grown up number.  A number when I personally have a lot of memories of.

We had decided that Monet would have a birthday party this year.  Her last party was when she turned six.  So on her actual birthday we (being my parents, MrL, Lily, Monet and I) went out for dinner and came home for cake.  As you do.

The following day was 'Party Day'.  I had been preparing 'Thank-you' gifts, food ideas etc., for a few weeks but I still found myself extraordinarily busy early on that Saturday morning.  We live across from a park / playground where we held the party with eight party guests (all girls, of course!)  We sent Grandad across the road a good hour earlier to reserve the one and only table, which is undercover.

I stayed home preparing the final food.  Like Fairy Sushi.... (a big hit)

and choc-dipped waffle cones overflowing with fresh, tasty strawberries....

Earlier in the week I had organised the drink bottles for each of the girls in attendance.

Present opening from friends is always fun, is it not?

Lego was the flavour of the day in terms of presents. A big hit with her dad the party girl.

I swear, I was so very exhausted on Saturday afternoon.  It was all the preparation and then the socialising and making sure everyone was happy which wore me out!  I wouldn't have been able to pull off such a successful party with out the help of MrL, my Mum and my Dad.

Monet, I can't believe is eight!  What a great age it is currently turning out to be.  Growing up a little bit more, being a little more responsible....

And the cake!  I haven't shown you Monet's 8th birthday cake.  It was great as no leftovers!

And The Baby Turned Three...

Can't believe my baby turned three, coming up to three weeks ago.  My parents were still visiting which was nice as they got to spend the day with her, on her birth day, something that had not ever happened before, as we were living in Abu Dhabi.  

One thing Lily wanted to do was visit the local zoo.  So we did.  With Monet at school and MrL at work, the remaining four of us went.  

For some reason or another, Lily has decided that she really likes Dingos.  She was rapt to see them animated at the zoo, giving their howls.  I can only imagine how it must sound across the desert in the outback in the evening.  *scary*

And the birthday girl wanted to feed the kangaroos.  It was a pity they weren't really hungry on our visit.

But all the walking around made our three year old hungry so a bowl of hot fries, washed down with some chocolate milk from the cafe, did the trick.

Later in the afternoon, after school pick up, we popped on our party hats and began celebrating...

There is a few things my girl loves.  Besides Dora The Explorer.  She loves Cheese and Bacon Balls, Chicken nuggets, cocktail frankfurts, teddy bears, balloons, Barbie Dolls and skirts, made by me.  =)

She also is still very partial to sucking on her dummy (urgh!) and sticking her hand down my top! Or up my sleeve!  And if it isn't her hand it is her foot!  (I kid you not.)  And when I am unavailable, she comforts herself by doing the below pose...

A hand down her own top!  Nepolian.  =)  She is still very much a Mummy's girl, who loves to give hugs and kisses and cuddles.  It is very sweet.  She's so funny and has a real little personality of her own.  She was a joyous two year old and I am pretty sure she will continue being a joyous three year old.

And of course, every three year old Dora fan MUST have a Dora Birthday Cake.  *heehee*

Views

*I know*  (Three weeks later I decided to do a post continuing from the previous post!)

I love the below photo I took when we (my parents, Lily and myself) were up at Kuranda.  Pretty sure the framed silk painted hibiscus was placed there on purpose....

The drive down the Kuranda Range towards Cairns never seems as slow going, as it does going up.  

Along the way you get little glimpses of the Coral Sea and then there is a spectacular lookout before the final descent, which overlooks Cairns, or more specifically the flat lands of the International Airport in North Cairns (the serious of white buildings in the middle of this photo) to Trinity Park, just south of where we live....

On a sunny day, the view really is something but always difficult to photograph.

Barron Falls...more like a Trickle

During the week I took my parents up to Kuranda.  It's a good 25 minute drive from our house on the Northern Beaches, through the Kuranda range (a 13 kilometre windy road at 60ks/hr).  I detoured to the Barron Falls.  Lily and I had visited there a while back and knew my parents would like the walk and views.  I was correct in thinking so...

The initial view you get after a 50 metre walk is this...

I am positive that during 'Wet Season' that view would definitely take your breath away.  The Falls are quite famous for how powerful it is and how much water passes down the river.  But during the 'Dry Season' it trickles.

Along the boardwalk through the tree tops, you're never quite sure what you'll come across.  A Rhinoceros Beetle for example...

The trail you follow leads itself across a pedestrian bridge to 'Barron Falls' train station.  The railway is a pretty famous one in the tourist industry, due to it leading through rainforest (only accessible by the train - which there are two only) and past waterfalls and the like.

Well, we could not have timed our venture up to Kuranda and the walk we were on any better.   I said to Lily "Oh, I think I can hear the train coming"....and sure enough, two minutes later what do we see coming along...

I'm not sure who was more excited - Lily, Grandma, Grandad or myself! *heehee*

"Wave to the train Lily!"  She did and the train driver waved a big wave back and tooted the train horn.  Pretty special.

The train is really long, I can't tell you how many carriages (seems like at least two dozen).  The train stopped at the station and the tourists piled out for a photographic opportunity.

We stood at a lookout and took some photos ourselves.

That was before we were bombarded with a handful of the train's travellers on our viewing station...

We knew then, it was time to walk the trail back to the car park.  =)