Finn stays & plays!

"My cousin Finn came and stayed with us last week. It was great fun to play with him all day. I shared my toys with him too."

"He's pretty funny, that Finn.!"

"We went out for lunch with Nan and Mummy"

"And we played and played and played the next day after both of us had a good nights sleep (I actually forgot to wake up for a drink that night - but it's ok - I've remembered every night since then!)"

"I just loved having my cousin Finn come to stay and play. I think I'll have him back another day"

Melbourne, & Mornington - Why not?

Well, in true Tinkler style, we clocked up a lazy 790km this weekend visiting Nathan & Kate in Melbourne and Tarn, Craig and little Jake in Mornington!

Geography lesson... Check!

The forecast had Melbourne receiving it's months average of rain in one day but fortunately for us in turned out a little drier than that. But it was a true Melbourne day, we can say we saw the 4 seasons alright with Sun, Hail, Wind and Rain! But that didn't stop us doing the Myer window thing...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This year's theme is "How Santa Really Works" and it was the first time James and I had been to the window which is an annual highlight for Melbournians.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The first window was the Christmas College for Elves...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . With a Job Expo to show the diversity of careers available to Elves...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Next window... Letters Department

They had a letter displayed saying...

Dear Santa,

May please can I have a robot that cleans my room?

I'm wondering if this is one of my letters that never made it to Santa? In that case I think I might forge one in James' hand so that robot arrives in about 10 years!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Production... They were working hard!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And what a chaotic way to manage the Storage...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How great would one of these be???



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Then on to Dispatch...


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Look at all of these very FULL sacks!!!! Which one is coming our way????


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And finally... Transport

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Where Santa was training up for the long flight...

After the Myer window, we played Tenpin Bowls on the 3rd floor of Melbourne Central Shopping Centre.

James with Kate - he loved cuddling up to Kate - Wally wasn't worried though!!!

Here's James with Wally!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And having his first ever bowl (it was a gutter ball hehehe!!!)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matt wanted me to put this up for everyone to see. If you look hard you'll see I was winning after the first 4 bowls (my first bowl was a strike and my next 2 were spares). I had the others worried at that stage but don't worry - I lost well and truly from that point on!!!

We went back to Wally and Kate's and had a quiet night watching the movie 'Deception'. Not a bad movie with Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams... Had a good couple of twists without being too scary!

Sunday morning we headed down to Mornington to see our good friends Tarn & Craig and to meet their new little boy Jake (8 weeks old!!!)

James is at a stage where he is fascinated with other babies and children and just wants to touch (scratch and grab!) them. Jake's a happy little boy who is in a very good paddock so he'll give James a run for his money in a year or so's time!!!

Here I am - not behind the camera for a change! - with baby Jake!

After lunch and an icecream with Tarn & Craig (who somehow managed to avoid the camera???) we jumped in the car and headed home.

Another weekend done!

Swan Hill...

For those who don't know (I should do this for all of our trips away as a little insight into Victoria!) Swan Hill is on the Murray River - about 390km from Wodonga.

When we first moved to Wodonga I travelled over to Swan Hill to work and stayed with Danny & Sylvia just north of Wycheproof (you can see good old Wyche on the map just south of Swan Hill). Incidentally, Danny and Sylvia welcomed their 2nd additions to the family this week - 2 little brothers for Alicia... James Daniel and Hugh Aleksander. From the few pics we've seen they're extremely good looking little boys (which is surprising seeings Sylvs tells us they look just like Danny!!! he he he )

Swanning over to Swan Hill

James and I took a quick trip to Swan Hill on Monday to visit my old work and workmates...

James thought Swan Hill was pretty close to Wodonga as he slept the whole way!

We stayed with Beck (who was my boss but I also went to uni with her!!! what a good boss hey!!!)We were looking forward to seeing Beck & Jase and meeting their new little girl Poppy! Poppy is exactly 3 months younger than James.

Here's Beck with little Poppy and big James!

And Beck was doing something funny here to get both babies looking at her!!!

James was pretty impressed with Poppy...

He had to make sure she was real...

And then, after less than 24 hours in Swan Hill we drove back home! I tell you what - I was very jealous of him sleeping the trip home while I struggled to stay awake!!!

Playing in the grass...

We've had a quiet last few days as we cope with a lot of changes in little James' life.

1st - his bottom right tooth cut through on Monday, his bottom left tooth is cutting at the moment and his top left is on the verge of cutting too (his little gums are stretched clear over the top of the tooth!!)

2nd - he had his first ear infection last week which has thrown him off his sleep pattern a little bit.

3rd - he has been breaking free from his swaddling overnight and waking himself up so we've gone cold turkey on the wrap and he's learning to go to sleep 'free'...

So, needless to say, we've stayed at home as much as possible to allow him to cope with all of this change (and for Matt & I to cope as well and have as much sleep as possible!!!!). Therefore, we don't have much to blog!!!

This morning, I tried to catch up on some washing. I had to climb over the piles of dirty clothes to get to the washing machine!!! How sad!!!!

While I was hanging the washing out, James had a play on the lawn (well, what's left of it anyway). He'll probably look at these photos in years to come and wonder what the green stuff was.

Echuca...

We headed off on Friday for Carson & Kellie's wedding. Carson is Matt's best mate and he was marrying the lovely Kellie on Saturday afternoon in Echuca. We were all making a weekend of it and the bridal party converged on our accommodation Friday afternoon/evening for a easy dinner together before the big day.

Saturday morning Matt started his best man duties so James and I set off to explore Echuca on foot. James liked the Port of Echuca area (but I think he liked being chauffeured around in his pram just as much!)

The happy couple (and Matt towering over the rest of the bridal party!!!)

James was decked out in his Sunday best with Nan & Pa!
With his Daddy (Mini Me!!!)

With his proud Mummy!
Us with Carla & Charlotte (who is 1 day older than James) and Aunty Emma & cousin Finn (who is 6 days older!)

A dodgy self-portrait!!!

Uncle Pat having a play with James and Charlotte inside.

3 little monkeys!!!

At the end of a long day with Kellie & Carson Thomas!

The next morning everyone met at a local cafe for a brilliant breakfast and more good times together. There were a few sore heads there!!!

Here's the 2 little boys with their Nan & Pa, Em and 'Aunty Heather'!

Em, Pat, Matt and I headed off for a stroll around Echuca while both boys slept in their prams. Emma looks like she was 'legless' in this pic but I can assure you, our hangovers were pure sleep-deprivation and not alcohol-induced!!!

We stopped for yummy ice creams!

And then went and listened to the music boxes playing all around the port area. This one was one of the biggest and most spectacular.

And then we walked down to check out the paddle steamers. Emma Louise thought this one was pretty special for some reason...
But Pat was more worried about the fate of this duck and her 10 ducklings as they swam towards the paddlewheel!
(As the mum of 1 baby - I reckon she was doing a brilliant job to keep 8 in line - those 2 rogue ducklings were probably boys!)

James loved hanging out with his Dad on the river bank

And then Matt's Aunty Marie came down to meet us and we spent a little bit of time with her before heading off on the big drive home.

When we got home James had a little chat with us and asked us very nicely to stay put next weekend. We will be very happy to oblige!!!

Katie & Mia come to stay & play

Well, my sister Kate (affectionately known as Uncle Kate!!!) and her friend Mia came to stay with us on their way back to Sydney after going to the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

James and I thought we'd show them the sights!!!

Milawa Cheese Factory - oh yeah!!!!

(3 yr old cheddar to die for!)

Brown Brothers Winery, Milawa - mmm mmm!!!

(We recommend the new Moscato Rosa as a light summer wine!)

And the Beechworth Lolly Shop

(I think it's as good as Richmond!!!)

(P.S. Jenna, Locke, Zak, Sophie & Fletcher - you would love this place - try and talk your mums and dads into bringing you over to it!!!!)

And then, when we got home, James had lots of snuggles with Uncle Kate as she was heading back to Sydney bright and early this morning.

Thanks for coming to visit Kate and Mia!!!