Eliza's dance concert

Another COVID interrupted year meant that Eliza didn't have her dance concert again this year. They were so excited about it too! They were apparently dancing to a song called Lasagne, but that plan changed after having Term 3 in lockdown.

Instead they did a monsters dance and it was pretty cute. 

My cheeky monster

She has loved dancing with Clara this year!

Here is their dance. She was so excited to do a cartwheel in at the start.

Making Memories in the Renault

A dream of having James' Dad's Renault is to be able to go for long drives in it and fun adventures. Today we headed out to Newport for a family lunch and James wanted to take the Renault to show Aunty Julie and Aunty Megan. The kids were excited to go for a long drive in the car and so was James. I was a bit nervous and wondered if we should take 2 cars just incase something happened. The car hadn't really been driving such a long way and we were on church that night so needed to be back in time. But James insisted that all would be fine and we wouldn't need to have 2 cars. 

The drive there was a great. The kids loved the bouncy seats (they don't make them that way anymore) and it was just a cute drive. The aunty's loved looking at the car and the uncles too. 

It came to 1pm and we said bye the headed back home. A few minutes down the road, the car started coughing. Not too sure about what it was we pushed on. James fiddled with a few things but was very unsure of why it was doing that. I asked if it needed petrol but the fuel gauge said that it had enough so nope, not sure why. He stopped and started it again and it ran ok for a shot time but then we came to a hill and it struggled again. Heading downhill it wasn't sounding good. We pulled over on the side of the road and got out. Oh dear. The car wasn't very happy, James was very stressed and the kids were upset and asking many questions about what are we going to do? Why did this happen? James and I also needed to work out how to get back for church. 

We came up with a plan. We managed to get the car down a side street and parked it on the side of the road. James called an Uber to get him back so he could open church and start band practice (he was leading this week). The kids and I sat on the side of the road while we waited for Poppy to get our red car and come to pick us up. Fortunately I had some games in the bag that I took to lunch so I pulled them out and we played totally gross on the side of the road. The kids then wanted to pick flowers from along the side of the road so we picked some flowers to give to Nana to say thank you to her and Poppy for picking us up.

A huge thanks to Poppy for coming to get us! We made it back home, quickly got some things and arrived at church so that I could help sing with the band. After church James and Dad headed back out to get some petrol and fill up the Renault tank. Turns out that you can't trust old fuel gauges like you can new ones. It had run out of petrol. It helped to get the car back home but it wasn't very happy sounding apparently so back to the car shop it goes to get looked at again and hopefully fix it up.

Anyway, making memories on the side of the road. That spot will forever be mentioned 'remember when the Renault stopped working here?'

Elvis The Crocodile's Tooth

This moment would have to be one of my favourite from lockdown for a few reasons.

1. Alexander wrote his first letter - sounding out words, forming letters correctly.

2. Alexander got a letter back from Ranger Dan for the Reptile Park.

3. Alexander got a tooth from Elvis the crocodile.

4. The Reptile Park went above and beyond to get Alexander his tooth. They were so patient and understanding of the situation.

I have touched on this in previous posts but I did feel that it was so important and special to have it's own post.

During lockdown home learning Alexander learnt about animals at the Reptile Park, including Elvis the crocodile. At the end of that week I asked Alexander if he wanted to send a letter to Ranger Dan. To my surprise he said yes. So we sat down, he sounded out his words and he wrote a beautiful letter to Ranger Dan.

We sent it off to Ranger Dan with some photos of the learning Alexander did, a picture that Alexander drew of Elvis and a letter from me thanking the Reptile Park for the online videos and live steams that they did. I didn't expect that we'd get a letter back but thought there was no harm in trying.

In September Alexander received a letter from the Reptile Park. We were so so excited! Ranger Dan wrote back to him!

We then got even more excited when we saw this hand written note from Dan on the back.

What?? A tooth from Elvis the crocodile. That's so cool! I checked in the envelope and saw that it must have fallen out.

Alexander went from being so excited to being so sad. I gave him a hug and explained that I would email Ranger Dan to see if by any chance he had another Elvis tooth. Who knows? It couldn't hurt to ask. 

After a few weeks I hadn't received a reply so I sent another email to them asking if they had received my initial email. They kindly responded and said they passed the email onto Ranger Dan and he would hopefully get back in touch soon.

A few weeks later Alexander and I headed to the Reptile Park for his Mini Kid2Keeper program. We had a lovely day, said hi to Elvis and wanted to say hi to Ranger Dan but we didn't see him. As we were leaving Alexander asked me again about Elvis' tooth. I decided to be brave and ask at reception. The lady we spoke to was lovely. I explained that Alexander had sent Ranger Dan a letter during lockdown, Ranger Dan kindly replied to him and included a tooth from Elvis but unfortunately it had fallen out. She was beautiful and said that Ranger Dan and her had just been talking about Alexander and the letter and that he hadn't forgotten. She said that Ranger Dan worked Sunday to Thursdays and would love to meet Alexander. We decided that we would come on a Thursday.

On the 25th November we headed to the Reptile Park with Anne and Flynnie. Alexander had been in a crafty mood in the morning and made some glitter stickers and he decided because one was a snake, he'd like to give it to Ranger Dan. He also wrote a note on the paper bag.

We wandered around the park looking at real (and pretend) animals which the boys enjoyed.

A real lizard on a pretend lizard

Must have photo with the koala

It was a real surprise to see in the Komodo dragon exhibition, a giant kangaroo lying on the ground (in the shade). So big!!

We hadn't seen Ranger Dan so as we left we asked at reception if Ranger Dan was in. The lady said she would go and check then came back out with something in her hand. She said to Alexander that Dan was really sorry but he needed to be in an important meeting but that he wanted Alexander to have this, and she gave him one of Elvis' teeth. Alexander was so excited. He then tried to work out where the tooth would go on the pretend crocodile in the reception area.

Wowee! A real crocodile tooth from Elvis! So very cool and special

He was so excited to show everyone at home what a special gift he has gotten from the Reptile Park!

Meeting Ace

Today the Nooblets met their new cousin, a feathery friend, Ace. Oscar has been wanting a pet for ages but with his allergies it has been tricky to decide what he could have. He apparently did a lot of research and they agreed to buy him a pet bird, Ace. The kids were very excited to say hello, feed him and get to hold him (well, Alexander didn't want to hold him, but was happy to feed him). Oscar was so good at helping the kids know what to do, to stay calm and how to hold him. Welcome to the family Ace. I apologise for my kids' excitement whenever they come around to visit.

1st Renault Drive

After a long wait with COVID and isolation, James was able to pick up his Renault and take it for a little drive. The smile really tells the story. The kids were so excited to go for a drive in it too. We headed around the block and it was great. We got some looks and some thumbs up as we drove past different people in the street. It was nice to go for a drive together in James' special car (that was Malcolm's car).

Excited in the back

Super excited James!

The kids loved the bouncy seats

Bass Playing

Daniel has been going really well with his bass playing and has started to get a bit of a groove happening. I'm really proud of him and can't wait to see him continue to grow in confidence and skill. Trent says that he is doing really well which is great to hear too!

Alexander's Mini Kid2Keeper

For Alexander's birthday before lockdown we gave him a Mini Kid2Keeper experience. We booked it for when we returned from Hervey Bay but because of going straight into lockdown we needed to rebook it. On 6th November I was able to take Alexander to the Reptile Park for our adventure. On the way I told him that I wanted him to be brave and have a go at doing different things because he might never have these opportunities again - like holding a snake, a lizard, etc. He told me that he would try.

We headed into the foyer and waited for the group to start. While waiting Alexander looked at the fake crocodile and tried to work out which tooth from Elvis might be missing (the one that was sent to him).

The group got their little vests and then headed over to the picnic area for the talks and a chance to hold some of the animals. They started with a Tawny Frogmouth. I was so proud of Alexander for having a go at holding it.

Next Alexander learnt about a shingleback lizard and was able to have a hold of one. I do love how it is made to look like it has 2 heads.

He participated in the discussions, putting his hand up to answer questions

He then had a turn of holding a blue tongue lizard.

Next up was a little corn field python. I didn't know if Alexander would have a go holding it, but he was brave and he did. Very proud of him.

They were then shown a funnel web spider and told a bit of information about them. Alexander took away from that that you need to tap your shoes before putting them on to make sure that the spiders aren't hiding in them. He would do this each time he put his shoes on for the next couple of weeks, even if his shoes were inside in his shoe box. Pretty cute.

They then got to pat a monitor (it wasn't one that you got to hold. It's claws were too strong apparently).

After a quick snack of banana bread the kids then went to the Rainbow lorikeets cage to stand inside it. The birds were pretty loud.

Then the kids went over to visit Hugo. They all got to go out and give him a pat (or a rub for luck) on his shell. He's such a beautiful animal.

Then we headed down to the Tasmanian devils. Here the kids got to feed them a little bit. What do you think they would eat? Cheese! The kids got a handful, rolled it into a ball and then threw it into the enclosure. Pretty special to have fed a tassie devil.

Alexander feeding the Tasmanian devils

The kids then went over and got to pat a koala. So nice and fluffy. The koala was Anna, not Flynnie.

We then made our way around to the dingos where the kids got to watch them being fed - again not what you think. It was cheese! 

We then finished off our tour by feeding the kangaroos. Alexander enjoyed this, although a lot of the kangaroos weren't very interested in the food.

He loved feeding this joey

This cheeky kangaroo wanted to try and escape. In all my visits I had never seen one up at the gate.

Alexander wanted to go and visit the Komodo dragons and as we walked over one of the keepers was in the rest area for the kangaroos. He invited some kids in to feed them some sweet potato. Alexander was hesitant but went in and gave one of the kangaroos a piece of sweet potato.

We then explored the park again - visiting the kangaroos, echidnas, Hugo and the alligators and we finished up at Elvis where we enjoyed a sneaky ice cream.

I decided that Alexander could use our last photo voucher because he just loves this place. I asked him which animal he wanted a photo with he smiled and said that he'd like the alligator. He was very brave to hold the alligator on his own.

We continued on the alligator theme and headed up to watch the alligators get fed. This time they were giving whole chickens to the alligators. One caught it and swam all the way over to us where he then chomped it down. Amazing to watch!

We continued around the park looking at birds, cassowaries and back to the kangaroos.

As part of his birthday present, Alexander went and chose a toy from in the gift shop. He looked around and then decided that he would get his own Elvis toy. I loved that idea! 

He took Elvis the toy to show Elvis the crocodile.

We hadn't seen Ranger Dan on this trip so as we were leaving I mentioned to the lady at reception about Alexander receiving the letter about Elvis and actually being sent a tooth but it had fallen out in the mail. She said that she had actually been talking to Dan about Alexander just the other day. So special. She said that Dan was very sad that the tooth didn't make it and he really wanted to give a new tooth to Alexander. She mentioned that Dan would love to have met Alexander. She told us that he works Sunday to Thursday so if we could go and visit him one of those days then Dan would love to see him. Alexander left very excited and we planned to return another Thursday down the track.

We headed home tired but filled with joy after such a fun day. Alexander clipped Elvis into the car so that he was safe for the trip home too. I'm so glad that we were able to do our Mini Kid To Keeper day and that he was brave and made the most of his time having some new experiences. He really loves this place.