Goodbye Monty... xoxo

Our dear little Monty had to be put down last night after being run over by another farmer on the farm... We've had Mont for 4 1/2 years, almost the whole time we've known each other.

We'll miss you little "monster, monty-zuma, monty-doo-da, mont-eray"

Our little Bumble Bee!

James had his first day of childcare today! He absolutely loved it! He sat on my knee when we first arrived and had a look around, but within 2 minutes he was down on the floor and off!!!! He didn't even look around when I gave him a kiss goodbye and left...

He thought his 'school' bag was pretty special this morning...

And, "Hey, that's my drink in there"

"I'm a little bit thirsty but Mum's got this drink bottle in a funny spot."


"Got it. A hard earned thirst needs a big cold drink... Ahhhhh that's better!!"

After 3 hours (spent vacuuming/shopping and having coffee!) I rushed back to BumbleBees to pick James up, with various scenarios running through my mind involving James screaming and missing me terribly all day... Nup, didn't skip a beat. The only time he cried was when another child screamed just near him and it scared him. He slept, ate and played right according to their schedule. I even had to go and pick him up for a much-needed Mumma cuddle!!!!!


Here he is when I arrived, having a play in the outdoor area...

Here's hoping tomorrow is just as smooth....

Back to Nature...

We did it! We went camping... And, more importantly, we survived!!!!!

Matt and I love camping. We used to camp several times a year over summer/autumn along the Murray River with friends, family, and also on our own. There's nothing quite like getting out there into the quiet of nature and away from the buzz and monotony of everyday life at home.

That said, due to a hot and uncomfortable summer (with a pregnant Jane who wasn't going to sleep on the ground!), we didn't go camping at all last year.

Australia Day 2 years ago was our last camping trip away (and that ended up being in gale force winds that broke a tent pole and kept blowing the tent pegs out so that Matt was up and down all night re-pegging the tent! he he he)

So, the idea was mooted late in 2008 and we decided, along with Jacinta, Dave & Ayla, and Kel, Nath & Lyla (who we've met through Mum's group) to give it a go. We picked an ideal location (Matt's boss has a client who owns acreage with river frontage about 15 minutes from Albury), and packed up and set off to the bush for the weekend...

Here it is, our home away from home... From left to right... Jacinta and Dave's camper trailer, James in the blue kids play tent, the 'Taj Mahal' Tinkler tent in the middle, the food tent in the foreground and Kel & Nath's tent obscured in the background on the right...

It was ideal weather for a camping weekend with warm, clear days (31/33 degrees) perfect for swimming in the cool river water, and fresh, cool nights for sleeping (14/15 degrees). The cool nights also meant we could sit around the campfire in the evening, a quintessential camping experience.

James wasn't so sure about the river to start with... (nor the life jacket!!)

But soon figured it out and loved splashing and playing (as long as Matt didn't get too far away from him)

He also had a spin on Lyla's bike! And loved every second of it!

The kids had a ball playing in the tent together as long as the door wasn't zipped up! The tears came thick and fast if we zipped them in!!!!

"This is what you do... You just put this bit in here and... there you go!"

The campfire in the early hours of the morning, looking out over the beautiful Murray River...

Fishing, fishing, fishing...

Kel's brother brought his fishing boat out on Saturday afternoon and the boys set off (without a care in the world!) for an afternoon/evening of fishing...

The boys caught 3 Murray River Cod and 1 Yellowbelly. Here's Matt with his precious Murray Cod but unfortunately, this was a kiss and throw back job...They have to be over 60cms to keep.

Nath, however, caught a keeper and we ate that for lunch on Sunday, cooked to perfection by chef Dave!

All in all, the weekend was an absolute ripper and we're already making plans for the next weekend away...

We'll even set the tents up Thursday night so we can just arrive and play as soon as the workers finish on Friday...

Let us know if you're keen!!!

Pharmacy Photos - 10 months

We don't seem to like the photographer so much at the moment...

We'll see how we go next month...

The Zoo, the Queue and the 'Blue'!!!

THE ZOO...

We flew to Sydney on Friday morning to join the Walsh family and celebrate Mum's birthday.

A few weeks ago Mum decided how she wanted to spend her birthday and spent a lump sum of money on tickets to the "Beatlemania" show at the Taronga Zoo Twilight Concert Series (which runs twice a week for all of February and March each year). As part of the ticket, you had access to the Taronga Zoo from 2pm that same day.
'Mother' Walsh had it all sorted, however, Mother Nature had other ideas... It was forecast to rain all night... Normally you'd expect that to deter people from attending outdoor events like the zoo and a concert under the stars... Not us! Mum spent the whole morning and the early afternoon telling us she was happy to go home, but, with James in his fully waterproof and toasty warm stroller, and the rest of us in raincoats and ponchos ($2.50 ponchos too!!!) we weren't going to let a little rain ruin our plans!

So off to the zoo at 2... We had our fill of wild African and Asian animals... James was most excited by the tigers as you will see...
Here's some pics...

Checking out the lizards...

Looking at turtles with Nanna

The Giraffes were beautiful (and wise for staying undercover!)
A very testosterone filled young chimp. We watched him ask a lady chimp out, only to be rejected and then chuck an almighty tanty!!!

Kate and James with the TIGER!!!! Is that not a threatening pose?!!!

"Finally, something my size that I can touch!"

Gorillas...

More Gorillas...

The majestic and graceful zebras... (a bit of a favourite)

James in the sky safari gondola ride back to the top of the zoo! Yay!!!

THE QUEUE...

More 'nutters' lining up for the concert

And our location... That's Matt in the middle, and on the decking that's our Collingwood umbrella covering our bags where we were sitting. (You can see Dad in his blue poncho and Mum in her yellow one). We were one of the first in and picked this location as it had the best vantage point. It was a pretty spectacular location with Sydney Harbour Bridge framing the stage on the right...

For one downpour before the concert started, James and I did a runner and stood under the shelter near the canteen. We snapped a photo of the rest of them enduring the rain!

We had a big laugh at this... (Jacqui under the black umbrella, Dad under the blue tarp, Kate peeping over from the back, Mum under the tarp and rainbow umbrella and Matt at the front...)

James laughing at the others in the rain

Before crashing to sleep in Dad's arms

AND THE 'BLUE'

As you've probably noticed by now, it was wet. And umbrellas were the new black... Everyone participated in Umbrella Ballet as the rain started, changed direction and then stopped, with all umbrellas moving in Swan Lake kind of rhythm...

But, a lady sitting behind us (who was comfortably dry and warm with her location under the shelter - which was at the very back of the concert area therefore you'd expect an impaired view of the concert) decided that we shouldn't be allowed to use our umbrellas as they blocked her and her husbands vision.

So she sent her husband down to sort it out... The story goes like this...

Man: "If I stand right here (standing in front of Mum, Matt holding James and Dad) and block your view, would you like it? No, you wouldn't, so put your umbrella down"

Dad/Mum/Matt: No, we'll put it down when it stops raining.

Man: (storms off in a huff).

...30 seconds later...

Woman: (in high pitched, extremely annoying voice) "Put your umbrella down"

Team Walsh: "No"

Woman: "Yes, put it down"

Team Walsh: "No"

And with that the tantrum started... The woman grabbed the umbrella and started to pull, twist and shake the umbrella with the clear intention of breaking it to achieve her wish. Dad, being the calm person, and not wanting to overdo the reaction, reached out and grabbed her hand to try to restrict the amount of damage she could do...

But wait, is that a bird, or a plane? No, it's SuperKate!

Kate leapt up, bear hug tackled the woman and spun her on her axis about 2m from where the incident started. I was right there with her and Kate's spin tackle resulted in me shirt fronting the woman and Kate and I held her there until security came, removed her from our area and warned her with eviction should she approach us again...

Then we sat down to take stock of what had happened. Kate - used to breaking up midnight Sydney blues between her boy mates and other boys, and me - well I wasn't going to let any woman potentially hurt my baby!

Meanwhile poor Mum, celebrating her birthday, sat and watched her 2 youngest daughters smash-tackle a drunk, tanty throwing 70-something woman, and be praised by security...

For the rest of the night, nearby onlookers casually remarked about the incident, telling us they couldn't believe it happened and they hoped it didn't ruin our night... Ironically, on the contrary - it made it all the more memorable!

Happy Birthday Mum!!!

The Last Couple of Weeks in Review...

The last couple of weeks have been flat out with Jacqui visiting, us staying inside to keep out of the smoke, first birthday parties, Denise arriving back from Canada, James and I having a brief farm stay, Rhys (Matt's cousin) staying, and celebrating Denise's birthday... Here's a couple of pics to complete a photo diary...



James with Jacqui the morning she left...


At the water play table at Ruby's first birthday party (That's Ruby in the red dress with her fairy wings on). James dressed up in his swimming nappy!!!


"No Mum, it wasn't me letting all the water out..."



With Daddy blowing bubbles on Sunday afternoon. We were trying to keep James amused when we were cooped up inside because of the smoke. We had turned our air conditioning off as it was sucking smoke into the house, and it was still about 35 degrees outside... Hence the lack of clothes on both boys ;-)


Helping me with the washing (again, couldn't hang clothes outside because of the smoke). James helps me by taking the clothes off as soon as I've put them on...


And over at Nan & Pa's farm with Pa and the dogs (Cedric the lab, and our Monty)

James thought all of the dogs were great, but he especially loved Cedric!


Nan's birthday cake baked by the Braine women... (And those bikkies were divine!)


With Nan & Pa after Nan's birthday dinner in Yarrawonga.


And a quick photo with Rhys on his last morning staying with us... He's moving into a house in Albury this week so we'll see plenty of him in the time to come...