.....and that, ladies & gents, was Summer 13/14

Werribee Zoo visit - just last weekend. A great end to Summer.

Notice the zoo map sticking out of my pocket? That was the same zoo map we spent most of the time looking for and found it in my pocket just as we jumped in the car to head home.

Looking through images from the last three months, I can't believe how much little P has changed.

At aged 18 months he's finally started to walk, thank goodness, 

a 14 kg baby makes ones arms & shoulders a little strained.

He's in the 98th percentile for weight & height, coming in at 88cm!

What a little man he is.

The words coming out of his mouth include: Dizzy, moon, baa-baa, Dadda, Mama, cheese, shoes ('sooz'), oh-ohhh, ball, bath, bye-bye, hi, nigh-nigh, car, a version of truck (guk), and of course 'noooooo'. Very impressive!

This climbing thing is over-rated...

First day of Summer.

And his hair has finally grown back after my 'trimming' attempt - never again little P.

February monthly achievement

And for the month of February....

we've finally chosen our architect and given him the go-ahead to design us a new house.  

And with that, I'm done.  Time to move on....

Geelong Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2014

Sometimes, a picnic lunch can take the drama out of a stressful meal time.

However this was one drama-packed picnic lunch with little P showing off his acting skills, modeling useful accessories, dressed by none other than himself.

The orchard is just the perfect spot for a catwalk runway, sans walking.  I

 better call his agent - New York here we come!

Learning how to water

I feel the weather is cooling. Have we had our fun in the sun for 13/14?

This morning I almost considered grabbing my dressing gown for the short run 

between quilt and shower.

Typically, little P has finally learnt how to point the hose at the plants...not at the dog....not at me...and now we'll have to wait a whole eight months to teach him all over again.

Big storms yesterday and another short one today;  I can feel the gentle wasps of Autumn in the air.

Watching from above

So often I've walked through our paddocks wondering what animals may be around hiding, watching and wondering about us as we push the pram or Dizzy runs back and forth.

T spotted this amazing sight - not one, or two, but THREE frogmouths in the one tree;  

a dead eucalyptus we were planning on chopping down.

Exam countdown

Moving closer to NOT having the exam hanging over my head....4 days to go!

Valentines Day was not as special as the above image....a crazily busy week with two of three in this house unwell but still surging forward with all that had been planned for the week so sleep was well needed.

We ordered a Valentines Day delivery of gourmet pizza, but it arrived a half hour earlier than expected - smack bang in the middle of bath/bedtime for Piet.  So I ate mine while P was bathed then T ate his while I put P to bed.  So we didn't even eat together!

As I sit here eating left over pizza for lunch, I've finished a two hour study session so feel much better.  But now the third member of our family is a little under the weather - but still managed to go sailing for the day.

At least the water has come back on after being off for at least 12 hours, because it's time for a cuppa on this warm Saturday afternoon

Serendipity

Werribee Zoo lion & little P cuddle

During the Summer break I talked T into travelling to a discount plant nursery - we have 5 acres to fill, people - it was on a Saturday and I had my little (big) list of plants to check out.  It closed at at 3.30pm.

Took us an hour or so to get there  - about the same amount of time little P will sit in the car without throwing a shoe, water bottle or pack of sultanas at our heads.  The car boot & back seat both covered in plastic sheeting for ALL the plants I intended on purchasing.  But as we arrived it was pretty-well closed up - apparently it closes at 3.30pm on week-days and 2.30pm on Saturdays!!! Aaarrrgghhh...i was in the bad books!

Trying to put P back into his car-seat was almost impossible - that kid is strong - poor little thing wanted to run (crawl around...somewhere anywhere) so another 1.5 hour drive home was definitely out of the ques-ti-on!

We scratched our heads - but it wasn't that hard  - Werribee Zoo is just around the corner.  But to make it more difficult it shut at 4pm - the time was 3.45pm when we arrived and we refused to pay full price for 15 minutes but little P had the time of his life crawling around the fibre-glass animals situated at the zoo entrance - so it was free!

Poor Piet, if only he knew his parents were tight-*&#%@ 

No, not really, we will come back and spend the WHOLE day at zoo.  He'll just love it when he realises the animals in his books can actually move - he loved them just enough when they stayed still - as per the cute pics....

http://www.zoo.org.au/werribee Check it out!

            

And sometimes parents want to have a little bit of fun too! However I was a little stuck and had reverse my way out....

An early start to Sunday

This morning I left home before 7am to drive 110km just to have breakfast with my friend Joc, from Sydney. The fog was strange, especially knowing today will hit near-40 degrees.

I stopped at the first drive-thru coffee shop on the highway - first in and pulled up smack-bang right next to the service window - no waiting for me at this early hour - so I sat at their window for about 2 minutes mumbling under my breath why they were taking so long. Then I noticed there was no one at home and then I noticed the sheer curtain across the window and then I finally realised they weren't actually open at this smug hour - that's how early I was!

Sneaking back into the traffic, hoping passing motorists weren't aware I was coming out of the coffee shop, past the huge 'Closed' sign.....I set the cruise control and headed to Melbourne.

Breakfast was great! My friend was well.  We laughed and exchanged catch-up stories.  And now I'm home studying and miss her already.

Paddock at home

First of Feb!

An early start this morning, alarm set for 6.30am (on a Saturday!?)....some consideration of the snooze button, but no point. What's not studied now will have to be covered at some point!

So here I am - sitting on the couch - grey sky outside - though it's meant to be a warm one. I can hear little P stirring and can see on his monitor that he's kicked his blankets off. Do I risk sneaking in to cover him, though it's 25 degrees in his room? Will think about it....

I love the first day of a new month...SO many possibilities. Last month of Summer, this is the month of fruit preserving, jam and chutney making which means I can use all the jars filling one while cupboard since this time last year.

But, it'll all have to wait until after my exam - 19 days and counting!  The only extracurricular activity I can fit in now is a daily beach walk with Dizzy & Piet.

Now, off to cover up little P and another hour or two of reading about 'New Product Development'.

(PS as this blog is quite 'staid' right now because of study I've an almost complete 'adventure' post from the holidays to post tonight. Not sure who may be reading this but 'hi' to you and stick in there - much more to come - and if you get a chance to say 'hi' back that would be awesome!! :-))