Busy weekends

With an active toddler and very miserable weather, it was time to think outside the box on how to entertain Justin. We looked online for some ideas and one that popped out was the Australian Museum. It didn't seem very toddler-friendly but after checking out the website and seeing a dinosaur exhibition and a Kids Zone, we decided to go. We explained to Justin that we would be seeing some dinosaurs just like his books "The Bigger Digger." We basically had to bypass the entire museum because Justin was so excited about seeing the dinosaurs...until we got there. Whoa!!!!!!! They were massive...and it was dark...and there were sound effects. After a few minutes, Justin got use to it and kept pointing to the huge dinosaurs. After the dinosaur exhibit, we made a beeline for the Kids Zone where Justin did some art and craft and played with the toys. 

Standing with the T-Rex

Showing more interest in the interactive TV screen

Doing some art and craft

Two weekends ago, we drove up to the Central Coast to meet Justin's cousins Catherine, Nicholas and Matthew at the Australian Reptile Park. It's not too big, a nice size  that keeps the kids entertained and not too big that they get bored or tired. The main attraction were the crocodiles; even us adults were fascinated when the man fed those crocs. Nicholas and Matthew fed the kangaroos, Justin also wanted to but he wasn't brave enough to get close enough to feed them. His favourite animal was there too, koalas, lots of them, sleeping in the trees. Another big hit was Hugo, the Galapagos turtle. Hugo was massive and he was only middle aged at 60 years old. 

Sitting on the crocodile bench

Hugo

Feeding Elvis

Justin enjoying the day with Nicholas and Matthew

This past weekend we went to see The Wiggles. In anticipation of this big event, Justin watched The Wiggles DVD and practiced all the songs and his moves. 

We almost didn't make the concert as Justin had come down with a fever, cough and runny nose during the week and didn't even go to school on Wednesday. But on Saturday morning he seemed fine and was really excited about seeing the Wiggles. The whole morning, he kept telling us he, "I go see Wiggles, see Jeff, see Murray, see Anthony, see Sam, see Henry Otopus, see Dorothy Dinesaur, see Wags the Dog and see Cap'n Fesord (Feathersword).  Luckily, he fell asleep on the way to the concert and when he woke up and saw the massive Wiggles balloons, his face lit up and he just wanted to get out the car. Justin was so excited but also overwhelmed. Even Row and I were excited; we sat down, got the camera ready and waited for The Wiggles.....finally, they came out and Justin just froze! He sat on Row's lap or mine the entire concert, didn't want to sing or dance or clap. But after the concert, when we were waiting outside, Justin kept telling us he saw the Wiggles and they sang his favourite song Hot Potato which he then proceeded to sing and dance...ah well! At least we know he was probably enjoying the concert silently.

Waiting for The Wiggles

Watching the concert

Posing with The Wiggles

Sculpture by the sea

Sculpture by the sea is an annual art event held on the coastal walk between Tamarama and Bondi http://www.sculpturebythesea.com/exhibitions/bondi.aspx. We didn't make it last year as each time we wanted to go it was either too late, too hot, too busy, Justin's nap time, etc. This year there was no excuse as Justin wakes up quite early and you have no other choice but to get up as well. Luckily we headed out early as even at 8am, we circled Bronte looking for parking for a good 20 -30 mins, guess other parents had the same idea as us! It was a hot morning and there were many families milling around enjoying the different sculptures. It took us about an hour and a half to see most of the sculptures and by that time it was crowded and very hot. Personally, I'm not a fan of abstract art so I will admit that towards the end I just wanted it to finish. The description or name of each piece is so small and sometimes it wasn't worth jostling the crowds to read so in the end, it was just a piece of wood, or an old TV set, or a big pipe!

Justin's favourite sculptures were the shark, the tortoise, the funny creatures and the tap which he tells us is the tap for George from his book 'The Smartest Giant in Town'. 

But at least we finally made it this Sydney must do - must see event and we can tick it off our list. And who knows, maybe next year we shall go have a look again.

Is it a shrimp? Is it a periwinkle? Or is it a minnow?

Justin started swimming classes mid October and has loved every single class. When I told some of the moms at the play group that Justin was starting, they said be ready for tears and screaming! Even though Justin loved the beach and the pool last summer, he hasn't really been in the water this summer so I was feeling a bit anxious. But no need to worry, Justin is a natural water baby and loved swimming class from the get go. I actually make sure we arrive half an hour before class so that he can play around and then we stay for about 15-30 mins after class. From the third lesson, they start 'swimming' under water and Justin loves it. Funny boy hates it when the teacher pours water over his head but he does love swimming under water.

This class is more for getting children comfortable in the water and what to do should they fall in. They play a lot of games that encourage spacial awareness in the water, grabbing for the wall, floating on their back and sing songs.

Here are some clips of our water baby!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ymDVoAp1hM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S137cgRh2I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhQt8LDtnU

An outing to the aquarium

We have really made use of our annual pass to the aquarium, definitely made our money back about five times over. Yesterday, we caught the bus into the city with Rafael and Mao to catch the monorail from Chinatown. Poor Maya-jan (Rafael's baby sister) stayed home with granny so the boys could go nuts. This was our first time on the monorail and Justin didn't quite enjoy it. Thank goodness it was a short ride and he was much chirpier once we reached the aquarium. 

Every time we've gone there, different things catch Justin's attention. At the beginning of the year, it was the sharks, he loved the sharks! Now he's scared of them and won't go to the shark tank. The last time we went he was quite happy to watch the staff prepare the food for the dugong which was basically them washing lettuce and stuffing it into the wire rack. We stood there for a good 20 mins watching them do this. On most occasions, it's the penguins, dugongs, Nemo and Dory that he really loves. On these last two visits he's shown some interest in the octopus and the jelly fish especially as they 'light up' and are different colours. The aquarium have a special feature at the moment called "Claws" which is basically about crabs and they have two massive spider crabs which Justin loves as he's seen that in his book, "Tiddler, the story telling fish." He's even grown braver by touching the shark eggs, coral and shells in the interactive rock pool. 

As always, Justin and Rafael had a brilliant time together and enjoyed shouting in the tunnel, pointing out the rays, dugongs and various fish. Both boys passed out on the bus which meant it was a successful outing.

Looking at the octopus

The spider crabs

Justin pointing at Nemo and the ray

The dugong - it's so ugly that it's cute

Watching the shark swim overhead

At the interactive pool

It's beach time!

I think summer is here to stay...finally! Today was a whopping 31 degrees compared to last week only being mid twenties. The weather over the weekend was awesome so after stuffing our faces at yum cha we decided to go to the beach with Bg, Louise and her sister, Bernice. The water was a bit chilly but Justin didn't seem put off. At first he was just splashing his hands in this puddle, making a shell pond with aunty B, then it was standing at the edge of the water just getting his feet wet. Before we knew it, Justin had whipped his shorts off, his t-shirt was soaking wet and he was just having a whale of a time splashing around. 

Splashing his hands in his 'shell pond' with Kau-Kau

Really getting into the water

"Come me Kau-Kau!"

Justin trying to splash Kau-Kau but splashing himself more

"Come daddy!"

Swinging Justin

Splashin' around

The weather has been great the last few days (although I won't hold my breath) so my friend and I decided to take advantage by taking the kids to the new playground in Darling Harbour. My friend Mao has a little boy that's Justin's age and a 7 month old girl. Two moms loaded down with snacks, sun block, hats, towels, nappies and changes of clothes, chasing 2 boisterous, energetic boys, pushing 2 prams and carrying a baby in the Baby Bjorn braved the public transport system and bussed it into the city.

Once we arrived in Darling Harbour, Justin knew exactly where we were and kept saying "fish, go see Nemo Dory, go zoo". I had to explain to him that we weren't going to the aquarium today but rather to the playground. We found a nice little spot in the shade next to the fountains and let the boys run wild. This new playground features a water play area, a massive sand pit, 2 climbing frames, a flying fox (zip line), slides and swings. The water play area is made up of canals and paths where the water can be blocked off by closing the gates or allowing the water to run through. The water comes from the old fashioned hand pumps and then it flows down through a maze. Another source of water is spinning the water wheel to stimulate the fountain. Justin and his mate Rafael spent a good hour running through the fountains and playing in the water. The rest of the time they spent on the flying fox and going down this massive slide. Needless to say, the two were so pooped after their play date they were only too happy to sit in their prams and be pushed home. 

I've uploaded 2 videos and loads of photos because it was so hard to choose just one or two. You'll see from these just how much fun they had and that's what makes it all worthwhile for two tired mums to bus it into the city while lugging half the house out with them.

Feeling a little apprehensive on arrival

Warming up

Getting into it

Pressing down to make the water come out

On the flying fox

Pumping water - so into it he even removed his own shorts

Scooping sand

Pure bliss!

So much fun - the nappy he's wearing proved to be super absorbent!

Fun fun fun

The smile on his face says it all!

Turning the water wheel

Opening the gate to let his boat (twig) float down

Floriade - the tulip festival

This past Saturday we drove down to Canberra to visit our friends Martine and Juergen and also to see Floriade, the tulip festival, apparently the biggest in the southern hemisphere! Justin was actually very well behaved on our 3hr drive but we didn't dare stop because we didn't want a fight on our hands to try put Justin back into his car seat. I made sure we had lots of water and snacks and of course his comforters. Unfortunately, during that entire 3hr drive, he only slept half an hour. 


The weather in Canberra was confusing; the sun was shining and it was warm, then it was overcast with a chill in the air, then it rained, then the sun came back out. We managed to see the tulips, they are my favourite flowers so it was nice to see all the different colours. There were five "exhibits" - a chilli, a cheese platter, a box of chocolates, coffee time and a citrus basket. Unfortunately, the viewing deck was not high enough to get aerial photos of these exhibits so we didn't get any nice photos. Justin was happy to run around and smell the flowers. He also enjoyed watching the firemen juggle fire sticks while balancing on ladders. After looking at the flowers we wandered the indoor stalls because it had started raining and then decided to treat ourselves to coffee and tea and cake. By this time, Justin was running out of patience and bordering on melt down but he recharged on the short drive to the coffee shop. Martine cooked a delicious seafood risotto which Justin wolfed down and then declared he was ready for bed.

The next day we went to an indoor market with lots of food stalls and some craft stalls, our favourite ones being the food, naturally. We started off with breakfast and then wandered around. The weather was miserable, raining and overcast, and Justin was tired so we didn't wander too much. Plus Row wanted to get back to Sydney in time for the Boks vs Wallabies rugby match. 

It's always nice to get away and even nicer to see friends. 

Fun at the beach

This weather is driving us mad, summer has been teasing us by giving us a few really nice hot days and then slips away to make may for winter to taunt  us. A few weeks ago, the weather was warming up really nicely so Justin and I took advantage and went to the beach.

Bondi Beach was having the Festival of Wind which was basically a kite festival. There were loads of colourful kites, big and small, filling up the sky. There were craft stations for the kids to make their own kites and of course, lots of stalls selling kites. The highlight of Justin's day - chips on the beach! He was entertained by the kites for a full 2 minutes before demanding chips at Bondi! The other highlight was catching the bus there which thankfully seems to have tapered off as he hasn't been asking to go on the bus lately! We bought grilled fish and chips and ate it on the grass, Justin thoroughly enjoying his lunch. For a an extra special treat, he had ice cream for dessert. After lunch we went to check out the fire breathing sand dragon which Justin was so in awe of....for another 5 minutes...and then it was time to go home.

Colourful kites filling up the sky

Justin at the Festival of Wind

Enjoying our fish and chips

The fire breathing sand dragon

The awesome weather continued so we took advantage again by going to Coogee beach with his friend Rafael. These two monkeys play so well together and always have fun. That day, we decided to explore the rock pools which was quite tricky watching 2 toddler boys while Rafael's mom had the baby in the Baby Bjorn and making sure no one slipped. The boys had such fun dodging the waves and splashing about. 

Rinsing off after our play date at the beach

Since then, the weather has turned cold and even raining some days. Oh summer, how I wish you would come back for longer than a few days, stop teasing us and just stay already.