Wiggles Concert

Around this time of year the Wiggles always hold a concert at Hornsby RSL. This year was no different. It was on a Thursday so unfortunately Daniel couldn't make it because he was going to be at school, so I got tickets for Alexander, Eliza and I. As it turned out, with Daniel in his uniform we all dressed up in the Wiggles colours.

The little 2 were quite excited and were keen to dress up as Emma and Lachy.

The kids also made their notes for the Wiggles.

Daniel drew a picture for each of the Wiggles

Fortunately the weather held off for us to walk up to the concert.

When we got in the kids were ready with their notes.

When they came out, Alexander was pretty excited about them being on stage. He really surprised me with how much he got involved. Basically every song he was standing up and dancing or singing along. I love his smile for this song.

They waved enthusiastically to the Wiggles as they said hello and introduced themselves.

Alexander's dance moves were on point today.

I loved watching them both dance to this song.

Rock a bye your bear is always a favourite in our house.

When it came to the Wiggles collecting the letters I was a bit sad that the helpers came out instead to collect and the Wiggles stayed on stage for the song. I have loved in the past concerts when the Wiggles have come out and Simon has spoken with the kids as he collects the sign. Oh well. One of the dancers (who dresses up as Captain Feather Sword) came and collected the notes.

The kids were then right back into dancing.

This song was apparently Eliza's favourite song.

I love how into this song Alexander is - do the propellar.

What a fun concert! The kids absolutely loved it.

On our way home the kids wanted to see if Auntie Jenny was home so we stopped and knocked...

but she wasn't there. Oh well. Maybe next time. It was a fun morning!

Cucumbers

Daniel has increasingly shown an interest in growing plants. He loved growing things at preschool and then his continued last year in Kindy when they planted and grew corn and cucumbers. He loves watering them and watching them grow. James and I decided to get him a plant box so he could start to grow his own plants. Before we headed to Hervey Bay we chose some seeds - cucumbers and beans - and Daniel decided to plant cucumbers.

Thanks to Mel for watering the cucumbers while we were away, Daniel, and I, were very excited to see they had started to grow. I loved his reaction when she saw them.

Each night we watered the cucumbers until it would drip out the base of the box. Daniel remembered most days but on the ones when he forgot I'd head out and water it for them. Every couple of weeks we also used the liquid fertilizer on the cucumbers too. I had no knowledge of how cucumbers grew but definitely wasn't expecting big vines. We added stakes and cooking twine to hold up the vines so that they wouldn't end up on the ground. 

After a couple of months we noticed small cucumbers starting to grow. So cool!

And within a couple of weeks the cucumbers had grown fully. There were only 3 cucumbers but still, it was very exciting. And Daniel was very excited to see his cucumbers!

We decided to harvest the cucumbers. Daniel did the honours.

He wanted to be the first to taste his cucumber.

He liked it a lot. He then gave the rest of us permission to try some too.

It was very tasty. Because we have lebanese cucumbers most of the time we noticed that the outer skin was quite tough, but it was still very sweet and flavourful.

I'm looking forward to his next crop.

Puppet Show

Preschool pick up and drop off is always a struggle to get the kids out. This is because they are having too much fun! One morning Alexander saw a puppet theater at preschool and was keen to play with it. He did not want to leave. The way I could get him out was by saying we had puppets at home and might be able to make a puppet theatre for him. He held onto this. 

As soon as we got home Alexander said 'Mummy. Make me a puppet show.' So managed to find a nappy box, a piece of rod and some material that I could sew to make a curtain. The result was a happy boy.

 

Preschool Welcome BBQ

This year is our 4th year at preschool and the welcome bbqs are still a great place for the kids to have fun and for us to meet different people. As James was away in America for this one Mum and Dad were more than happy to come and join the kids and I. 
When we arrived the kids were keen to get their faces painted so Eliza and Daniel patiently lined up. Alexander chose not to get his face painted. Pretty awesome paintings!

The kids participated in the smoking ceremony to start the year at preschool afresh. It is great how they do this.

We enjoyed our sausages and picnic food and then the kids lined up patiently to get a balloon. The creative people they get to the bbq are amazing! Alexander and Daniel were especially keen and happy to get their own Olaf balloons.

A great start to the preschool year.

 

Boompa's 60th Birthday

This year Boompa turned 60 and to celebrate Nana J organised for all of the family to head to the Sunshine Coast for the weekend. What a great idea! She found a holiday house that could fit all of us so we could stay together. 

All was going to plan until a few days before Eliza got gastro and vomited. Not ideal. Fortunately it was just once but it did make me very worried and anxious about someone else getting sick. All was good until the Thursday night when Alexander woke multiple times with a sore tummy. I was hoping that it was nothing and it seemed to not eventuate into anything until we were driving to the airport and he was sick. Dear! This stressed me out to no end! As James drove I cleaned up Alexander as much as I could with wipes. I was tossing up the idea that he and I couldn't go because I couldn't have him be sick and make everyone else sick. I also didn't like the idea of going on the plane when he would be sick. I was really worried about others getting sick. We decided to call Julie and see what she thought. She was still keen for us to come, as she didn't want us to miss out on being there. I compromised and decided that if Alexander and I went we would find another place to stay for the night and if 24hrs later he hadn't shown any other symptoms or sickness then we'd join the rest of the family. We decided to go with that plan. 

We caught the aeroplane and it went pretty well.

Alexander a couple of times said that his tummy was hurting but he wasn't actually sick. Phew! But that didn't help my anxiety about it all. During the flight, James was able to look at Air BnBs and book a place for Alexander and I to stay. A little one bedroom complex downstairs of a house. Not too bad having internet access on the plane! Anyway, we survived with no vomit, I cleaned the seat that Alexander sat in before we got off and we headed to our rental car.

We decided that we'd drive to each of our places to see if shops and the like were close to us. After driving just a few minutes Alexander was sound asleep so we decided to keep driving so he could have a nap. Of course the other 2 then fell asleep as well. James decided that we'd drive to Noosa and back again, a nice hour drive. 

The share house was open first so we headed there. Alexander and I sat out on the grass in the front yard while James unpacked the car. Nana J and Boompa came and chatted with us too but I just couldn't go in. I couldn't risk Alexander making anyone else sick. After an hour of sitting and chatting James then took us to our place. I was a little and cute place. Perfect for the night, although Alexander wasn't too happy that we had to stay in the room. So hard with it being gastro. He watched a bit of ABC Kids but wasn't heaps keen on all the shows that were on. He also didn't understand that ABC Kids show different shows, not the same ones that he normally sees when he watches Play School and Bananas in PJs.

While we sat and watched tv, the others played games, swam in the pool, chatted and ate.

Once it was bedtime I put Alexander to be and he went down pretty well. I wasn't too sure how he would go with me being in the same room but he asked me 'Is it sleep time?' I said 'Yes'. So he rolled over and went to sleep. Wow!

He had only eaten toast and dried crackers so but he hadn't complained about a sore stomach since the plane which was good. While Alexander and I slept the others celebrated Boompa's birthday with the rest of the family - Jen and the girls, Aunty Julie, Uncle Pete, Kate, MIchael, Aunty Megan and Mark. It was sad that we couldn't be there but I just wouldn't have felt comfortable being there. But it looked like they had a wonderful night with cake, sparklers and all. Daniel is normally so hesitant with holding sparklers. James said that he held it with him at the start but then let go. Daniel was nervous about it but then was happy to hold it by himself.. Yay!

Daniel's first time holding a sparkler. He is normally so hesitant. Proud of him!

Over night for us Alexander and I slept pretty well. No sore tummy moments (phew!). In the morning he even woke and didn't make a noise until his sun came up. Amazing! Even though he knew I was awake because I had gotten up for the toilet. We had some snuggles in bed and sent Daddy this photo saying that we were all clear. It had been 24 hours since he was sick and nothing else so I felt it was ok to join the rest of the family.

While we waited for James to pick us up Alexander had fun listening to the sounds inside the seashell that was there. Kept him entertained for ages. Amazing the things that kids make into toys when there aren't any toys to play with.

James came and picked us up and we headed to the share home. Once we had settled in Boompa opened his presents from last night and the kids were very keen to see what he got, espeically when he opened the gift with the card 'Being 60 doesn't suck that much' and it was 60 mini chuppa chups. 

After presents the kids were busting to go into the pool for a swim. I again was hesitant with Alexander going into the water but everyone else said it was ok so I went with that. I'm glad that I did because we all had such a wonderful time playing in the pool. The kids were so confident in the water and everyone was just laughing and having fun. So special. Even Boompa came and joined us in the water (which he never does! He isn't a big fan of swimming). 

The kids were even confidently jumping into the water which was very cool to see!

Even Alexander was happy playing in the water by himself.

And the inflatable toys were quite popular.

First there were 3

Then there were 4

5 is the limit. Love this photo!

 Alexander was quite happy playing on his pool noodle. So great to see skills he had learnt at swimming last year coming back to him so he could swim with confidence.

 After the swim we got ready for lunch. Julie had organised for friends to come who were from Hervey Bay and different areas from Malcolm's life. It was a great turn up! A cute cafe that had nice food, the kids had space to play next to the tables and there was a colouring in. Alexander had his most expensive bowl of pasta. $14 for plain spaghetti because we were nervous about his tummy still. He loved it though and ate it all up. Daniel had a plate of mini sliders which looked delicious! and Eliza enjoyed some calamari and chips.

Then it was cake time. What a stunning cake it was!

Of course the cake pulled the grandkids

Alexander hung with Boompa for a bit. They had a bit of a play and a giggle. Too cute.

In the afternoon the kids were keen to go swimming again so we obliged. It was a bit cool but fun to play in the water again. The kids were even more adventurous with running and jumping into the pool - led by James. Lots and lots of fun!

I am really proud of Eliza doing the jumps because she was hesitant but still gave it a go. Holding James' hand was a bit more of a comfort for her but she even progressed to jumping in all by herself. And more than once. Well done baby girl!

James was then keen to play with the slow motion part on his camera.

Eliza was keen to keep jumping in at the lower level.

Daniel and Maddie loved doing it so much and enjoyed jumping in more on their own.

Daniel even got into the spin action.

Meanwhile Alexander was going great guns swimming from one side of the pool to the other side with the noodle. He was doing so well!

The kids went down pretty well after all their swimming fun. Tired monkeys! We stayed up playing some games and chatting and then headed to bed. In the morning it was clean up, pack up and head out. We also took some family photos.

Love this guy!

Special weekend for Malcolm

We then headed to the airport, checked in and hopped onto the plane. A much more relaxed flight home than the one up. James had Eliza and Alexander with him and I had Daniel. 

It was pretty fun being on the plane with Daniel. I introduced him to the game of boxes which he enjoyed but needs to grow in his strategy but that will come with time and more games.

The kids were also spoilt by the flight attendants. He asked if the kids were being well behaved for us and we said yes so he then gave them a small packet of pringles each. Daniel was quite excited!

So it ended up being a lovely time away, even though it was quite stressful at the start. I'm glad that we did go in the end. Happy 60th birthday Boompa!