picnic in the park

today the alpine resort management board of mount buller held their annual picnic in the park at the base of mount buller. there is the most beautiful park on the banks of the delatite river, in the township of merrimba.
there was local wineries, food, bands and good friends. we found a spot under the trees and stayed all day. it was great.
we ended up back at a friends house for a bbq dinner. by 8pm i had 3 very tired but happy boys ( and i big tired (intoxicated) boy !!!)

long weekend

this weekend is a long weekend in Melbourne, we have Monday as a holiday. as of Friday afternoon we weren't doing anything, but then we spoke to some friends that were going to Mansfield. we have got some great friends that live in Mansfield and merrijig so its always nice to go up. we also have a block of land that one day we will do something with.
we ended up staying at this great place. it was advertised as a farm stay, not that there were any animals but it was great for the kids to run around.
Saturday night we went to the merrijig rodeo which was fun.

dress ups

tonight when i went to pick Hugo up from his friends house, the family invited us to stay for a roast.
during the course of the afternoon/evening by boys dressed up. this is Arch.
he is loving babies at the moment.

mulch

2 meters of mulch :: 2 big helpers

while the cat's away.....

we still have wednesdays off at the moment and Hugo and archie go to my mum and dads. most of the day is spent with hugo creating lego...
with hugo at school today archie took full advantage of having a turn at the prized lego construction

packed and ready to go....

well this is my / our life, packed up in a few boxes and bags :: all ready to be put in the car tomorrow
all the schools in the area have closed tomorrow
so now it feels real
real and surreal at the same time
as i walked around the house trying to work out what to pack i kept thinking
how do i determine what is important
what can i replace
what can't i replace

:: will we be under threat tomorrow?
its scary to think that there may be a fire, but we can't kid ourselves, everywhere around us has been hit, so why are we spared ???

seeds

today at gardening club we planted seeds in around the seedlings that we planted last week.
we watered the plants and then Hugo documented what he had done.

peas

monday night is roast night in our house.ey loved eating them.
tonight the boys shelled peas for me. not only did they love doing it th

tractors

my little man LOVES tractors....
we saw one on the road today, and i nearly had an accident when Arch squealed( YELLED )with delight.

Garden Club

every Tuesday afternoon the school has a garden club for interested students. one of the parents who is a landscape designer runs it. Hugo and Miss R went along today and had a great time. we weeded the garden beds, watered them, added fertiliser and then planted some vegetable seedlings :: broccoli, lettuce and basil. Pea straw was then added.
the hour went quickly and there was a happy sigh from both Hugo and Archie when we piled in the car after.

beach fun

we spent the day at the beach today.
:: Good fun
:: Good Friends
:: Good day

Grandma

At the moment Hugo has Wednesdays off school, a chance for them to have a day at home, unwind a little and not be sooooo tired. i work on a Wednesday, so the boys go to my mum and dads.
the fun and joy they have is immeasurable.
today when they went for a walk Hugo collected, seed pods, leaves and acorns. on their return home grandma and him created this wonderful house, with a garden. inside are the seed pods which are food, and acorns with faces drawn on them ( acorn people).

devastation

i was even more deeply saddened when i was looking at this great blog and saw this photo. i hope you don't mind that i have placed it on here. this made me cry. like Cathy i too am only a hop step and a jump away from this devastation. we are lost and looking for answers and all i want to do is help, i feel so useless.
thanks for sharing these images.

After school fun

Due to work comittments every monday night miss B will come home after school with Hugo and then Hugo will go home with Miss B on a Wed. this afternoon they were both so very excited at school and when we got to the car it was non stop chatter about the day. we got home and i had made a fresh batch of playdough which they loved and then we had afternoon tea and as a special treat i had made gingerbread boys and girls which they decorated and ate.
lots of fun. all to soon it was 5pm and that was that till next week.
the routines and patterns have started and i love it.

panic or cautious

i don't know what to think. we are in part of Melbourne that is relatively close to the recent fires i am a little worried about all the what ifs and the possibility of fire. as i dropped Hugo at school this morning one of my friends told me her parents had lost their house at king lake. scary when its someone you know.
what do we do ?
on Saturday night i packed the car but do we continue to worry
these aren't great photos but the moon was an earry colour tonight when it was in the sky.
the joys of living where we do 364 days of the year have made it hard the last 2 days.

Fire

on Saturday it was hot hot hot. the hottest day on record. 47 degrees ( 115 Fahrenheit) we were suppose to go away to a friends property for the night in gippsland. as we turned onto the road near their house this is what greeted us. we stayed for and hour and then returned back to our house to spend the afternoon in the pool listening to the radio
the media are calling it Black Saturday.
with the temps so hot and a ferocious North wind the fire was out of control. so many fires started and very quickly wiped out towns and communities. countless lives and houses have been lost and they are saying that its the worst fires ever.
it was quite a surreal day, frightening that mother nature was in control and there was absolutely nothing we could do. my thoughts and prayers go out to all the people that have lost loved ones or friends or their house

early days

today was a longer day for Hugo he finishes at 2.30.
as we were leaving school yesterday Hugo said to me " mummy i helped a little boy today. he couldn't reach his locker so i helped him put his bag up for him. he is smaller than me. Miss R knows him too. they went to childcare together."
Me: " that's great Hugo do you remember his name?"
Hugo "No"
so this morning as we were leaving for school i read through the class list and read out the boys names i got to 'Oscar' yes mummy that's him. Oscar. Oscar is my friend.
when we arrived in the classroom and lunch boxes were put where they go, reading folders put in the tub ( there is no mucking round and we are straight into it, and what pleased me so much is that Hugo new what to do, how to do it and when to do it) Hugo spotted Oscar. there he is mummy. so we went up and i introduced myself to the mum and as i was doing that Hugo sat down beside Oscar and they greeted each other with smiles. i was so prod and and happy, because ultimately that's all i want Hugo to have enough confidence to make Friends, explore the environment and develop his learning . i walked away feeling good.