Will's in the midst of writing a new post. Always a funny experience to watch. His need to say it 'just right' and his patience with computers are not a great mix.
Check it out: http://www.willmorrissey.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Friday, 18 September 2009
Gerry and Lorraine's trip was a comedy of errors until the last. They arrived Saturday and we had a million things on (including a 'Grandad and Dad story time at the Library for Father's Day). Sunday we subjected them to the in-laws. Gerry likes his steak burnt. And by burnt I mean put it on the barbie the night before you want to eat it. Dad cooks his steak 30 seconds on each side. We made Dad put Gerry's steak on at the same time as the prawns we were to eat for entree, then when it looked inedible we took it off and put it in the oven. He loved it. They wanted to see crocodiles in the wild and 'the Outback'. Hmm. In Melbourne? For the next few days we chatted about travel options in the evening and they checked out Melbourne during the day. You know what hit them about Melbourne? The amount of 'food shops'. I've never thought about it, but in Melbourne cafes are as numerous as pubs in England.
By Wednesday they had seen enough of Melbourne and we sent them off to Ballarat to the races. That was the only day, in the 150 yr history of Australian horse racing, that the jokeys went on strike. The taxi driver took them to the wrong racetrack so they missed the first race, and by the fourth race the jockeys were on strike.
Friday was a good day. Will took the whole day off and took them out on the town for a few Guinnesses. Saturday we took off for the Great Ocean Road. It was a fantastice weekend and nearly put paid to all the calamaty. First stop was the Anglesea Golf Club. A population of wild kangaroos lives there. We have taken all Will's other visiting relatives there to see kangaroos cruising around wild. Now the Golf Club have put up a fence and signs prohibiting access to the course unless playing but 'welcoming all visitors to the club house'. We had a coffee then a walk down the fence line and saw two kangaroos. Typical.
On the up side, we found a guy renting out the tiniest motor boats you've ever seen and took Euey and Aoife for a little ride. Gerry and Lorraine got the best chips and bacon-egg sandys they'd had in a long time. Things were on the up. All was going well, except the car. It started shuddering. It crawled up the hills and Will had to freewheel down hill to get up speed to get up the next. We tentatively crept toward our destination for the night, hoping it would last until we got there so we could get the RACV out. We filled up with petrol which helped a little, and Will got used to managing the shudder and by early evening we had arrived without the car dying.
Then everything was perfect. The house we'd booked to stay in was on 1.5 acres of beautiful garden, a 5 minute drive from the 12 Apostles. There were cows over the back fence. While we were unpacking the car Ger called me over with a quizzical, half fearful look on his face. 'What is making that noise?' he asked me, pointing at the ground. It took me a while to figure out he was talking about the crickets.
The next morning they (everyone except Finn and I) checked out the 12 Apostles then took a helicopter ride over the coastline, which is amazing, and came back raving. We walked to the blowhole over land that looks just like where Will and Gerry grew up. Then we went into town for lunch and a walk on the beach. The weekend erased all previous mishaps. There was one more little mishap, but this was nothing to do with Ger and Lorraine. Will had Euey down on the beach where the tide was coming in. I was up in a cafe with Ger and Lorraine cause the younger two were sleeping. When I came down Will and Euey were running away from waves. They knew how big they got, but I didn't. We were standing on this ledge and Euey was playing in the sand.
By Wednesday they had seen enough of Melbourne and we sent them off to Ballarat to the races. That was the only day, in the 150 yr history of Australian horse racing, that the jokeys went on strike. The taxi driver took them to the wrong racetrack so they missed the first race, and by the fourth race the jockeys were on strike.
Friday was a good day. Will took the whole day off and took them out on the town for a few Guinnesses. Saturday we took off for the Great Ocean Road. It was a fantastice weekend and nearly put paid to all the calamaty. First stop was the Anglesea Golf Club. A population of wild kangaroos lives there. We have taken all Will's other visiting relatives there to see kangaroos cruising around wild. Now the Golf Club have put up a fence and signs prohibiting access to the course unless playing but 'welcoming all visitors to the club house'. We had a coffee then a walk down the fence line and saw two kangaroos. Typical.
On the up side, we found a guy renting out the tiniest motor boats you've ever seen and took Euey and Aoife for a little ride. Gerry and Lorraine got the best chips and bacon-egg sandys they'd had in a long time. Things were on the up. All was going well, except the car. It started shuddering. It crawled up the hills and Will had to freewheel down hill to get up speed to get up the next. We tentatively crept toward our destination for the night, hoping it would last until we got there so we could get the RACV out. We filled up with petrol which helped a little, and Will got used to managing the shudder and by early evening we had arrived without the car dying.
Then everything was perfect. The house we'd booked to stay in was on 1.5 acres of beautiful garden, a 5 minute drive from the 12 Apostles. There were cows over the back fence. While we were unpacking the car Ger called me over with a quizzical, half fearful look on his face. 'What is making that noise?' he asked me, pointing at the ground. It took me a while to figure out he was talking about the crickets.
The next morning they (everyone except Finn and I) checked out the 12 Apostles then took a helicopter ride over the coastline, which is amazing, and came back raving. We walked to the blowhole over land that looks just like where Will and Gerry grew up. Then we went into town for lunch and a walk on the beach. The weekend erased all previous mishaps. There was one more little mishap, but this was nothing to do with Ger and Lorraine. Will had Euey down on the beach where the tide was coming in. I was up in a cafe with Ger and Lorraine cause the younger two were sleeping. When I came down Will and Euey were running away from waves. They knew how big they got, but I didn't. We were standing on this ledge and Euey was playing in the sand.
I gave Finn to Will so I could put Aoife's hair in a pony tail and in came one of those waves. Before I knew what was going on Will had jumped off the ledge, had Finn by one arm (literally, hanging by an arm) and was grabbing Euey to stop him being dragged out. Scary. Apparently I was just saying 'no no no no' and Will didn't know if I meant 'no, don't take my son' or 'no Will you're doing something wrong'. I can't remember doing anything except looking on in horror.
Thanks to Willy's close watch and quick reactions the only lasting horror was the drenching.
Post-it Poems
Do you have random post-its all over your house? I do. It is a memory aid I use. Not sure that it works that well. Reminds me of things, but remembering doesn't seem to be my problem. It's the doing that's hard. For example, picture the following ... 3am, wake up to one of the kids, remember have to ring so-and-so tomorrow, write on post-it and stick on kettle. Sure to see it there. 7am, look at kettle, no time for tea yet, gotta get kids brekkie first. 7:15am, look at kettle, nope, not yet, gotta make kids lunch for childcare, tea will just get cold. 8am, flip kettle on, look at post-it, not 9am yet, can't ring anyone. 9:30am, happen to notice post-it while not making tea. Damn, can't ring now have to finish re-dressing Aoife, feed Finn and hopefully get out the door on time. 8:30pm, kids in bed, flip kettle on. Notice post-it. DAMN, forgot to ring so-and-so.
Anyway, I have a few post-its dotted around at the moment and it struck me the other day that they make for interesting and curious reading sometimes, so I thought I'd start a meme. I think that's what they're called. Where you write something then pass it on to someone (in this case, any one of my few readers please feel free). Post-it poems. Maybe it's been done before, but not by me, so here are a couple I have hanging around right now ...
Red eye
Blue body
Mater's tyre
Blog post
"post-it poems"
Midgies out of compost??
Okay, so some of my post-its actually work.
Anyway, I have a few post-its dotted around at the moment and it struck me the other day that they make for interesting and curious reading sometimes, so I thought I'd start a meme. I think that's what they're called. Where you write something then pass it on to someone (in this case, any one of my few readers please feel free). Post-it poems. Maybe it's been done before, but not by me, so here are a couple I have hanging around right now ...
Red eye
Blue body
Mater's tyre
Blog post
"post-it poems"
Midgies out of compost??
Okay, so some of my post-its actually work.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Gerry and Lorraine came ...
A few pics from Gerry and Lorraine's trip. Garry is Will's uncle (7 yrs older) and it was awesome to meet him and his partner and show them a bit of Aus. Gerry located a few pubs in Melbourne that had Guinness on tap, found a cup of tea to suit his taste (see below) and existed for 10 days on burnt steak, potoato and lots and lots of Bo Peep (jam) sandwiches.
More stories to follow in the next few evenings (now that I've finished my assignment).
More stories to follow in the next few evenings (now that I've finished my assignment).
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Finian
Okay, it's late, way too late to be doing this but I just had a look a few old posts and there are some great records of Euey and Aoife's development, so I think I better jot down what Finn's up to these days.
He is now 6 months old. We didn't celebrate his 1/2 birthday, just noted it and thought 'jesus'! We didn't celebrate the other two at 1/2 birthday either, so he's not missing anything.
He is seriously the cruisiest dude this kid. Nothing phases him. Always smiling, and I mean smiling like his face will crack in half. He giggles like a maniac when you tickle him, he's more ticklish even than Euey (who can hardly stand still if you tell him you're going to tickle him). Aoife has always been a lot more controlled. When I take his clothes off and lift him in the air he cracks up straight away, before I even blow the rasberry on his belly. In fact, all I have to do is look like I'm going to pick him up and say 'do you know you're naked?', and he giggles like mad.
He stopped sleeping from 7am-7pm a couple of months ago, which sucks a bit. I now give him a roll-over feed at around 10 or 11 (tonight maybe 12, damn it's late!) then he usually sleeps through 'til 7ish. Can't really complain huh?
I think he will sit up soon. He has really strong legs and loves bouncing up and down and standing. He sits up if you hold him between your legs, but his balance is still shite. He wants to go all the time though, just go go go, so I think he'll be crawling not long after sitting up.
He does well at childcare, seems to have fun and actively enjoys being with Denise and Tina. Tina is leaving, which really sucks cause she's fantastic, but her replacement, Fatima, seems good too. Tina will stick around as our babysitter. The kids love her and she always cleans the house!
Anyway, I'm going to feed my cruisy dude. He's not allowed to grow up this one. I love my tiny man. Although, I think that at every age, so he can probably just grow up and I'll deal with it. It will be hard this time though, being the last time.
He is now 6 months old. We didn't celebrate his 1/2 birthday, just noted it and thought 'jesus'! We didn't celebrate the other two at 1/2 birthday either, so he's not missing anything.
He is seriously the cruisiest dude this kid. Nothing phases him. Always smiling, and I mean smiling like his face will crack in half. He giggles like a maniac when you tickle him, he's more ticklish even than Euey (who can hardly stand still if you tell him you're going to tickle him). Aoife has always been a lot more controlled. When I take his clothes off and lift him in the air he cracks up straight away, before I even blow the rasberry on his belly. In fact, all I have to do is look like I'm going to pick him up and say 'do you know you're naked?', and he giggles like mad.
He stopped sleeping from 7am-7pm a couple of months ago, which sucks a bit. I now give him a roll-over feed at around 10 or 11 (tonight maybe 12, damn it's late!) then he usually sleeps through 'til 7ish. Can't really complain huh?
I think he will sit up soon. He has really strong legs and loves bouncing up and down and standing. He sits up if you hold him between your legs, but his balance is still shite. He wants to go all the time though, just go go go, so I think he'll be crawling not long after sitting up.
He does well at childcare, seems to have fun and actively enjoys being with Denise and Tina. Tina is leaving, which really sucks cause she's fantastic, but her replacement, Fatima, seems good too. Tina will stick around as our babysitter. The kids love her and she always cleans the house!
Anyway, I'm going to feed my cruisy dude. He's not allowed to grow up this one. I love my tiny man. Although, I think that at every age, so he can probably just grow up and I'll deal with it. It will be hard this time though, being the last time.
Time
Euey is learning about time. They both are actually, Aoife asks me 'What's the time on the dickery dock Mum', but it's Euey who is actually nearing understanding. Today a friend of his who has moved onto kinda was back at childcare for the day. She wasn't there when I went to pick them up though, so I queried when she had left. Euey responded, 'Oh, about twenty-six'.
P.S. Post coming soon about Bo Peep and Guinness on tap.
P.S. Post coming soon about Bo Peep and Guinness on tap.
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