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.

Lily's Second Ever Haircut...

After months, (yes months!) of talking about it, Lily finally got her wish.  

Her haircut.  And a fringe!  

It changed her look instantly and makes her look older.  But still, just as adorable.

Junior Masterchef Wannabe

I remember a long time ago (coming up to about two years ago!) I thought I would teach Monet to cook.  Or at least be capable of putting together a couple of eatable things.  But that idea lapsed (typically) after teaching her to make pancakes.  

Recently I had been encouraging Monet to come and give me a helping hand at dinner time once in a while.  So when I spied a particular cookbook teaching kids how to cook which was heavily reduced I bought it and presented it to her.  

Of course she got mega excited and wanted to make every second thing but we ended up deciding on her making canapes for lunch one day.  With shopping list in hand we sought out hummus, cream cheese, ham and carrots, but no mini-toasts.  It was bite sized plain crackers instead.  I'm all for experimentation, so when she presented the platter with crackers and strawberries mixed in with ham and hummus I thought "why not?"  

The attention to detail was fabulous.

And they were pretty darn tasty too, I must say.

Next in her line of fire was Coconut Ice.  I hadn't made that for years and she did very well on her first attempt.

I do posses a sweet tooth but heck! this was sweeeeeet!!

I did emphasize that a good cook 'always' cleans up after themselves.  She got a tick in that box on both occasions.

I just look forward to the day when my two little chefs serve me up a roast meal.  One day....one day.

Shorts

Gee, where has the time gone?  So much for me trying to blog more regularly.  What.  A.  Joke.  Anyway....

I had a market stall back in April.  It was my first in Australia and I came home more excited abut sewing and making and creating than I have ever been.  I sold a few ladies sized skirts and girl skirts but with my ears to the ground I heard customers asking for 'things for boys'.  Hmm.  Just by chance a girlfriend gave me an awesome sewing book for my 40th which included a pattern for shorts for little kids.  

*light bulb moment*

So I made a pair and tested them on Lily, who loved them.  She still does.  And she's generally not a pants/shorts kind of gal but she asks to wear her 'Chocolate Shorts' all the time.  

I got my hands on some rather funky fabric.  I love making shorts for 'Little Fellas' as its nice to be sourcing fabric of a more male kind than female.

I had another market stall a couple of weeks ago and got great feedback and sold a few too.  Considering I didn't have a great number of shorts (available in 3 different sizes) I was very happy with the sales I gained.

Roll on my next market.  =)

A Glimpse of Ellen

I don't know how it happened, but our Melbourne itinerary somehow collided with Ellen DeGeneres when she was in Australia.  The girls and I had a whole day to spare in the city and it just happened to be the day Ellen was making an appearance for her show!  

We had planned a visit to the National Gallery of Victoria but alas, the gallery is closed on a Tuesday (I swear it used to always be closed on a Monday!) so we thought we might head on down to Birrarung Marr, behind Federation Square, to see (if we could) perhaps catch a glimpse, or at least hear the Talk Show Legend.  But when we approached the corner of Federation Square and the Yarra River our hearts slumped.  

The que was unbelievable....  I sent this pic to MrL who was on the other side of Australia, probably with the caption "look at this line!!!"

Thousands of people.

I suggested to the girls we take a seat outside near an outside stage and screen as it was pretty obvious that there was no way we would make it inside the the formal stage where things were going to happen.

The crowd kept building up with a lot of people having the same idea and the formal line being told that the stage area was now closed.

It wasn't too long before the Queen arrived.  There was a big buzz in the air.  And she acknowledged the people who couldn't/didn't get into the main arena.

Can you see her there waving?  And that's her mum across from her and wife Portia climbing the stairs ahead in a pretty red dress.  (She too did turn around and wave - she is a Melbourne girl after all!)

Monet and I were particularly thrilled.  Lily?  Nah.  She had no idea.

After watching a bit of the recording on the big screen ahead of us I was faced with two hungry and restless daughters.

But I soon put a stop to that.

My Ploughman's lunch went down a certain treat and the girls enjoyed their meals too.

A fantastic day.

Melbourne

MrL started a new job, which is interstate.  Since he was going to be absent over the Easter Break, we decided that the girls and I should spend some time in Melbourne City and then go to country Victoria to stay and visit with family.

I pulled Monet out of school for a few days so she began her Easter School Holidays a good four days before the rest of her classmates.  (Lucky her!)  The girls were very excited to be getting back into a plane again and heading to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights, let alone to be seeing their Grandparents and Cousins.  

Melbourne greeted us with beautiful Autumn weather.  

Flinders Street Station

We had a lovely time, strolling around.

And I had two, well, one especially, child/ren get very excited to see outside the art gallery an upcoming exhibition...  But unfortunately for us, the Gallery is closed on a Tuesday.

The girls had great fun touching the huge pane of water glass.  I remember doing this when I was a young girl.

We did a little shopping and I forgot where we were when we hit Myer.  It has changed a lot over the years.

We ate out for the two nights we were there and we all sat and watched the world go by.

The sun setting behind The Rialto

Puppy-arazzi at Federation Square

Tea Rooms in The Block Arcade

We loved our two days, two nights in Melbourne town ; it's been too long since I enjoyed the great city.  And as a bonus we saw Ellen!  But that's another post.