First Day

My little mate starts school today. we were all up and eager to start the day early this morning. Dressed in his uniform and waiting in the car he called out " come on its time to go"
so off we went. one of his closest friends from mothers group, Miss B pulled up at the same time and off the two of them went together in front of us skipping all the way to the prep room. we of course were early so they went to the play ground for a play.
when the bell rang and we walked into the classroom he was met by his closest friends including Miss B that was by his side: Miss C, Miss R and Master A all holding tight to their dolls, so they sat down and started to engage in the drawing and threading that was placed out and that was that a quick wave to us and we were left standing there knowing that it was time to go but not wanting this moment to end and not wanting to leave. but we did and we walked away feeling a little loss.
i went home and sat in silence and then i cried and cried. cried because my little mate was gone, cried because it was the start of such a wonderful learning journey that i wasn't part of anymore, cried for all the lost moments that i tried not to have but as all of us have ( as mums and parents because we do need those 5 minutes to ourselves sometimes) cried because i was lost and didn't know what to do, cried because 5 years has gone so quickly and i never wanted it to end.
it was the longest of days , even though he finished at 12 30 today. after the tears i just had an empty sick anxious feeling. it was an awful day for me emotionally, but the person that it was all about had fun and came home happy and eager to do it all again tomorrow and i couldn't ask for anything more than that.

school

Hugo starts school tomorrow. we haven't focused on it too much, but today i finished off some special starting school presents for some of his close friends. when i was teaching i used to make these dolls for my children. they kept them at school and it was a way they could role play out positive and negative experiences. i was thinking about something to make Hugo for when he started school and remembered about these dolls. i thought it might be a good way for him to be able to express things that are happening at school and ease with the transition. i forgot to take a photo of them all finished ( 6 in all) but i quickly took this photo when i had two left to deliver.

note : its been a week now since i dropped all their dolls off and i see them every day tucked in under the arms of Hugo and his friends as they come to school. Miss B hasn't let hers go and it sleeps with her and goes everything. Hugo holds on tight as he starts his school day. i am glad they have received such a warm welcome into their families

Zoo

this afternoon we went to the zoo, it was still hot but once we were looking at the animals it was OK.
each year i give mum and dad tickets to the zoo twilight concerts and we go as well. its great a few hours looking at the animals and then we have a picnic dinner and listen to the music. lots of fun for all.

Pirate Mermaid party

Birthday Party

After the success of Peter Pan our birthday party became a pirate and mermaid party. Nic had set the challenge.

when the children arrived off they went on a treasure hunt to find a treasure box with either a pirate costume or mermaid costume in it.

the day was hot so most of the time was spent in the pool.

preparations

45 degrees outside and it is the same in my house as i am bundling up costumes for tomorrows party. thank goodness i printed the pirate t shirts on Tuesday night when it wasn't so hot.
hopefully it will be cooler tomorrow

eggs

over the last week i have noticed a change in Penny (the mother hen) she has left the babies alone and fend for themselves, i guess they are ready to go off into the bi wide world of grown up chooks. this morning as Hugo was letting the chooks out he found 3 eggs. penny is laying.

First hair Cut

well my baby boy had his first hair cut today, some would say long overdue but i loved it ( maybe because it might be the only time my boys will have long hair and maybe because it was the closest to a girl i might ever get!) anyway off we went today to the hairdressers. arch sat as still as still and was very proud of his results :: it does look much better ( but don't tell anyone i said that)

step back in time

in October i made hugos best friend a liberty patchwork skirt.
i forgot to take a photo of it.
Ruby and her family came over for an impromptured dinner on Sunday night and she was wearing the skirt, so i quickly snapped some photos

Happy 80th Birthday

today my Uncle John had a surprise 80th birthday. Uncle John is dads eldest brother. here the three boys are dad, uncle john and uncle Neil.
i haven't spent all that much time with dads family over the years but they are great there are so many of them, uncle john has 5 children and all are married with kids, these kids are my age so i get alone with all. uncle Neil lives in New Zealand, and he and his family are fantastic. uncle Neil and co would come over every year and stay so i have grown up with his part of the family.
it was a great day full of laughter, tears of joy, fun, love and of course in my family a few ales and wine.
what a great day i had a great time. its nice to catch up with family like this.

Peter Pan

this afternoon we set off for Ripponlea Estate in Elsternwick. it was a beautiful summers evening to watch the production of Peter Pan.
i have never got round to reading the story but on the way explained the basic story and hoped that what we were about to see wouldn't be too scary.
i needn't have worried. it was fantastic. with light humor thrown in and some classic pantomime lines it was a wonder to watch. my little boy sat up the front by himself with little red squirrels eldest and the two were fully absorbed in the magic and wonder of peter pan. with a picnic dinner and good friends it was a wonderful night. something that we should do more often.
at the end of the show Hugo wanted Peter Pan and Captain Hook to sign his book.

Victor Harbour

we left the wineries and drove to Victor Harbopur a great family destination. the caravan park was full of kids and i saw Hugo looking the same way i did :: why do we have to go home tomorrow, one night isn't enough. it was great though we just walked over the dunes to the beach where the boys played, we then went inot town took a ferris wheel ride ( thats another story when we had been round once and then for the next 10 minutes all we could hear was " i want to get off !") we then walked out to Granite island. Granite Island is home to little pengins. we managed to spot a little penguin in its burrow. we then caught the horse drawn tram back to the mainland. we then had dinner over looking the water in a great local seafood restaurant.
with sand in our hair and the sting of the sun we all went to bed happy and not ready to come home tomorrow.

Barossa

2 nights in the Barossa.
:: wineries
:: a game of Croquet
:: swims in the pool
:: HOT