SOLD

This happened in our lives recently.  

We bought a house.

It was a stressful couple of weeks of not knowing if the loan had been approved or not, but when the call came through saying 'yes', well I'm pretty sure you could have seen the weight being lifted from our shoulders. 

We don't move for another six weeks and the excitement is growing.  It is a beautiful house and ticked all our boxes of what we were looking for.  We didn't think we could achieve what we had on our (invisible) list with a budget set in mind but, well, we did.  

The thing with MrL and I is that we know what we want.  We had only looked in one other house, which was a display home for sale, but it was way out of our budget so it wasn't thought about again.  For some reason or another, this house appeared in our feed from real-estate.com.  We had both been looking for months, perhaps even a year, at what was out there and what area we wanted to live in.  This house was a little out of the area we both thought we would perhaps live, but I am pretty sure it was meant to be.  I went to the Open House with the girls, as MrL was at work.  I knew as soon as I walked in that 'this is it'.  When MrL returned from work the following week, we organised a private viewing which got nods all around.  A day of negotiating, a sleepless night and then it was a phone call from the agent saying, yep and then the true stress arrived.  (Hate dealing with any financial institutes!) 

So now this dream is a reality.  A quiet suburban street, a beautiful five year old house, our own pool, lovely little backyard and four bedrooms.  And a sewing/study nook.  It is not a large house by any means, but very much perfect for us.  As much as I love our apartment, we have most definitely out grown it.  (It was perfect for the three of us, but now as a family of four, not so much).  

(The following photos have been lifted from the Internet)

Roll on October.

The beginning of the Pool season. Already?

All week the girls have been asking if they can go in the pool.  For Lily it has been the past three months of asking most days, but I kept promising that 'this Saturday you can'.  So they did.  

The water was rather cool and they'd be no way I'd be getting in (it has to be hot and humid for me) but with eagerness in their strides, I took them down.  The water was rather coolish and they were both a little hesitant to get in....until Lily decided to push Monet in...

Of course I was sitting up the other end and I actually captured the moment.  Giggling to myself, Monet came out the pool crying and saying she hurt herself and getting cranky at her little sister.  But in the end Monet was thanking Lily as they both had a great time...

When the girls got out a good hour later, Miss Lily caught herself a head cold (seems to have mainly cleared up now) but at least I won't be hassled for a while yet to 'go to the pool'.

It won't be long until these girls gain their own private pool once again and I will probably get in more often than I do in the apartment's complex one.  

One Thousand.

Post 1000.  Sheesh.  After starting this particular blog in October 2006 and joining my Recipe blog back a couple of years ago, I have f i n a l l y reached the 1000th post mark.  

And to mark the occasion, I am blogging about the eldest, whom was the main motivation behind me for first blogging.  And to think she was only a wee little cherub and now a just-about-9-year-old.  

Monet began a program back in March, Netta, which teaches young girls and boys over the age of seven the skills of netball.  It went for a total of eight weeks, which kinda dragged out to about 12 due to rain interruptions.  

Last week the season started up again, but in great confusion, only four of the original eight in her team had re-signed, which left Monet and the other three girls, team-less.  It had been decided on the week leading up to re-starting that a new junior team would start as there were 14 girls in total without a team.  They are now 'Cairns Saints' players and affiliated with the AFL team up here in Cairns.  They have four (yes, FOUR) coaches and I can already see a marked improvement in Monet learning the game, much better than last season where there was basically zero training in the skills department.  

I already have Lily telling me that when she grows up, she wants to be a netball player.  What a great inspiration this new team is having on both my girls.

Blue

MrL was fortunate that during the eight days he had off, the weather was lovely.  Big blue, cloudless skies and not a hint of rain.  (When he returned to work yesterday morning the weather turned - it's been grey and dreary since!)

Cairns always looks inviting on the clear, warm days.  The Lagoon, Cairns pride and joy and centrepiece, is proof of that.  

It had been a while since I had been in town when the tide is in.  Usually that area below is a big area of mud flats...

I'm hoping today's dreary weather improves over the course of the next several days, as my London-dwelling sister is coming to visit for a couple of weeks.  C'mon Cairns, show me what you're made of!!

A Smokin' Sunday...

With it bound to be a beautiful day we took a drive up to Port Douglas, a 40 minute drive up the picturesque Captain Cook Highway from our place.  It was rather busy (which I expected) with loads of tourists, wandering the market and the streets.  

Our girls just love the Frozen Fruit Salad Icy Poles from a stall, which always keep them both quiet for at least 10 minutes....

After lunch and a Lily meltdown, we headed back in the car for the drive home.  I pointed out to MrL the sky in the distance so we knew we were bound to cross the path of smoke on the way home. Unsure where it was exactly coming from, we figured that it was the forest which was smouldering.  (As we drove up we noticed that it looked like quite a bit of back burning had been happening since our last visit, but there was no smoke nor fire then.)

We did pass some small flames which made Monet all scared in the back seat, but it was nothing to worry about.  We couldn't figure out if it had been deliberately lit again (by authorities) or if it had flared up because of the warm weather.

MrL stopped at the (busy) lookout so I could snap a few photos of the view.  It is a gorgeous view on an equally gorgeous day.

Just down from the lookout, is a tiny hamlet of Wangetti.  We've always talked about stopping at the beach there (not that you can see it from the road, there is only a small road sign pointing the way).  MrL drove the car down the road which was surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly, considering the weather) busy.

It was a lovely beach and one where I could see more smoke where we would have to pass...

The girls had a great time.

One of the girls (the one who previously had a meltdown) did not want to leave.  She's very much a beach gal that one!

Back on the way home, we did pass more smoke and more little fires....

...but we did make it home in one piece.

Oh Baby, how you've grown!

I found this photo of Lily on a memory card.  Taken a little over 10 months ago (around late September 2012), she was my dummy-sucking, hand-down-top bay-be.  Even in public!

Now she is nearing four.  Kinda makes me sad that those baby days have gone but we have a lot to look forward to in the future.