Alicia has become a clutz

On Saturday I told her to get off the bike trailer. She did, but not without falling face first into the gravel and getting her foot caught in the trailer. From my angle I was sure that she had broken her leg. Luckily for us, it looked worse than it was. And yesterday, she got her finger caught in the back door. The back door which is really hard to push open, so obviously she couldn't pull it open to relieve her trapped finger. I'm not sure how much more I can take of this. I was sure that it would be Ewan that breaks his arm first but I'm not so sure now. Personally I don't want to experience breakage as a parent.

Almost Ewans 5th Birthday

Its almost Ewans birthday and he has requested his party be at McDonalds. This is okay by me and I thought, that way, I would have less to do but I can already sense this is not the case. I booked the party a few weeks ago, so I can't actually remember the date that I picked and I think the time is 11am but I will need to confirm this. They asked if I needed invites and I said "NO", so now I am making them. They aren't turning out exactly how I would like but we will get there. Also this will mean that I have to have two parties. One for the kids and then one for the family/adults, so in the end it probably won't be easier. I do know one thing, Ewan will appreciate the party at McDonalds, especially since this is his favourite take out, mainly because it combines chicken nuggets, chips, toys and playgrounds. What more could you want as an almost 5 year old. I did make one mistake and that was telling Ewan that it was almost his birthday. Because everyday I get the question, "Is it my birthday today" and everyday I respond with "no", then he responds with, "How many more sleeps then"? You've gotta love him because he can drive you nuts.

The Gym Questionnaire

I went to the gym yesterday for my initial personal trainer experience. There I had to answer questions with regard to my goals etc. Goals whilst going to the gym, what is that?????
Question 1: What do you want to achieve? Getting away from the kids for an hour would be nice.
Question 2: What challenges could you face? Getting to the gym on time or at all.
Question 3: How do you plan on overcoming the challenges? Just telling Brad, "Hey, I'm going now"
Question 4: Have you had any resistance training? I pick Alicia up a lot
Question 5: Why don't you like to run? Because my boobs bounce and its embarrassing.

I have to say that I really didn't get anything out of it, except that I am unfit but hey I already knew that, I didn't need to answer a questionnaire and do a 12min run, where I pointed out my boobs bouncing. I think he thought, "Here we go, we have another neurotic mother to train". The next test is gonna tell me how old I am in fitness terms. Again, I know that I am old, how do I know this? Because I feel old.

Grandpa turns 90

Grandpa turns 90 tomorrow but the family celebrated on Saturday at lunch time. It was a really good meal with good company. So much so we were they till about 3.30pm. We met cousins we hadn't seen in ages, and second cousins that we hadn't seen at all. Aunty Mary got her photo with the Nicholson boys (all except Billy) Grandpa looked to have a good time, but looked tired afterwards. I think he was surprised to see everyone, especially Aunty Mary and Uncle Derek who came from Singapore and Heath from Brisbane.

Grandpa was looking well and we hope he has a lovely day tomorrow. Happy Birthday Grandpa.

Big beds are cool

We've had a big month with Miss Alicia. Her latest conquest is moving from the cot to the bed. She seemed to have taken to it no worries. We still need a tall boy but her room is looking lovely. Once we get the cupboard, we will move the bookcase and all will be well. She is definitely growing up. Her room looks like a little girls now and not a baby. Lets hope she doesn't learn to get out in the middle of the night and wander.

I'm going to the gym

I have become a gym junkie. Well sort of. I decided that I needed something outside of the house and kids and this is it. I have joined, already done about 4 sessions and think its great fun. I mainly do bodyjam and I have done some intro fit sessions. I would like to try out the bike routines but may leave that for a little bit. Carla, my gym buddy is also having fun but wasn't too happy when she found out her fitness age is 47. I find out my fitness age next Monday so stay tuned for the ranting and raving. Personally I'm not too fussed, its just interesting to see that we aren't that fit but can still manage to run around looking after kids and husbands. Good on us.

Talk about no knickers

I had just been saying that Alicia likes to run around without any pants on. Well she proved this last night, when she came into the kitchen with no pants on, but with sand on her butt. You can imagine my reaction but it did get worse. Brad spotted her, sliding down the slippery dip with no pants on but unfortunately the kids had been playing outside and had put sand on the slide. Yes, you would think OUCH but I don't think she was that fussed. Hence, she had to have a quick bath before tea. She is neverending.

Mooning the dog

Yes, you read correctly, moooonnnnning. This would be none other than our beautiful angelic baby girl. Alicia. As we all know she is toilet trained but this also means for half the day she runs around without any pants on literally. Without the nappy nurtured a new found freedom of pantlessness. So it wasn't completely unusual to see her bend over in front of the dog and show poor Peppie her butt, a la mooning.

The Heater broke

I'm not sure if I told you but we got ducted gas heating installed about a month ago. It works really well and we love it. The other day, it broke. Well not exactly broke but didn't work, it came up with an error message. I did comb through the manual and finally worked out the touch pad wasn't recognising the unit. This was my conclusion. I phoned the Vulcan service area and they would send someone out, therefore we didn't have heating for almost 6 days. Why couldn't I just explain my situation over the phone and then they could determine the issue and I could fix it. But NO, this sounds too logical for me.
I waited all day pretty much today for the service repair guy. Who basically turned off the gas heating switch out the back and then turned it back on. Viola, the unit worked. He was here less than 5 min. Boy, was I a little annoyed. I'm glad I didn't take the day off, it would have been a complete waste. Luckily if it happens again, I know what to do about it.

I got an 'A'

I received the results for my first assignment and I got an 'A'. I was really stoked, I did put in the effort and it paid off. Now I need to get back into the swing of things and get focused. 3 assignments left and counting.

Alicia is toilet trained

We are proud, have more money, its easier (sometimes) and Alicia doesn't understand what the fuss is all about. We have had a couple of accidents, like the time Alicia was excited she did a No.2 in the potty, so decided to show me. As I was walking to the bathroom, she came out of the bathroom carrying the potty and tripped, yes, you can imagine the carnage with the poop. But on the whole, it has been relatively painless. She did decide to start training just before we went to Darwin, which meant that we visited the toilet on the plane, many, many times. I thought I would try to be smart and still put a nappy on her, whilst on the plane, but she wouldn't go in the nappy. I did learn to put on a nappy whilst she was standing. Have you ever changed a nappy in the plane toilet. I don't recommend it.

So we are almost on the verge of not having a nappy bag. This will be an unusual event for me. I haven't not had a nappy bag for almost 5 years. So I suppose this means the kids are growing up. Its funny to define their age based on a bag, but Alicia taught me today that she still needs nappy wipes. They work wonders for chocolatie fingers.

Photos Updated on Coulterclan Photos link

Most of the photos of the trip have been updated on Flickr. They aren't all there yet because I ran out of room for the month. Yeah, thats how many photos were taken. Happy viewing.

Susy turned 40!!!

Yes, Susy turned 40 on the 5th August. To celebrate she and the family will be going to Queensland for a week and visiting all the theme parks. Good timing because the kids will love it. Especially daredevil Chelsea. It will be nice weather, great atmosphere and not much cooking and cleaning for the week. My kind of holiday.

Happy Birthday Susy, hoping you had a great day. I know you will hate the photo, but I thought it looked good. Be grateful that I didn't enlarge it.

Monday: Flying home

Monday, time to fly home and get the car back to the airport. We had a quick stop on the way to the airport, Miss Alicia needed to 'Go'. I think she was lucky that we stopped, I did think about hanging her butt out of the car but thought better of it.

The airport was packed, probably because they were delayed and more than just our aeroplane. Others were feeling the affects aswell.

Well we said our goodbyes and as we were standing in the line to get on board, Alicia needed to 'go' again. I was looking forward to the day that she was toilet trained but did it have to be just before we left for Darwin??????? Brad took her and really wasn't that much behind us, getting on board. The flight wasn't too bad, it got better when Alicia finally went to sleep. I actually saw the movie, which only partly occurred on the way to Darwin.

We are back, still wishing we were in Darwin. It was a great break and hopefully Megan is back to her normal routine. We trashed her place for 10 days and I don't think she realised it was going to be that trashed. She may think twice the next time we visit. Thanks Megan for letting us stay and I am glad that we got time to hang out together. It was good to catch up and hang out.

Sunday: Tea without the kids

Megan, Mark, Crissy, Brad and myself went out for tea to The Jetty, which is located at the wharf. It was an all you can eat establishment, where we sat outside and watched the lights sparkle on the water. The food was yummy and we enjoyed the meal without having to watch any children and make sure they were falling into the water. We hadn't done it for a while and it was much appreciated.
The kids had a good time with Nanna and Poppa and Ewan even stayed the night in the caravan, where he proceeded to fall out of bed onto the cushions. You get that. Alicia slept well too, considering we got her out of bed, put her in the car, drove back to Megans and then got her out of the car again. If she's tired, she will sleep anywhere. I thought that we would have trouble the next day, when she realised that Ewan wasn't around, but we didn't. She mentioned his name once, but I ignored that. She was happy to see him again though.

Sunday: Crocodylus Park

You'd think we'd be over the whole crocodile thing, but we weren't Crocodylus park is a park that houses crocodiles, monkeys, tigers, lions, and birds. It is well set out and you can join in the 1 hour tour that takes place. The tour only incorporates the crocodiles but you certainly learn a lot about the crocs. Ewan, Alicia and I even got to hold a baby crocodile which was about 12mths old. Alicia was a little confused I think because she decided to pat it like a dog. mmmmmm. Ewan also fed one of the breeding crocodiles. He was very eager to do this and asked a lot of questions of the tour guide.

More photos will be posted on Coulterclan photos

Saturday: We are finally there; the Wedding

The Wedding wasn't until 5pm so we had at least half a day to kill. I honestly don't remember what we did but we were ready for the wedding at 5pm.

Melissa was fashionably late but not by much. It was worth it, to see her all dressed up with a beaming smile on her face was great. I've never seen her look so lovely and so relaxed all at the same time. The wedding ceremony took place at the Ruins (old town hall) and then across the road at the Theatre. She arrived in a red Mustang (which is Chrissies) and that went well with her flowers and bridesmaids. Everything was thought of. The ceremony wasn't hugely long, just long enough for Alicia to spill the bubble juice all over her shoes and then have to take them off! Luckily I didn't have hold of her, Brad did.

We had a group shot and then family shots were next but by that time, Alicia had spilt more of the bubble juice over herself and Nanna. Hence she wanted to take her top off, which she did before anyone could stop her. Luckily Brad stopped her from taking off her skirt aswell. Unfortunately I didn't put the other outfit in, so I had to convince her (I'm not sure how I did) to put her top back on and have at least one decent photo. For the rest of the night, she proceeded to run a muck and trash her clothes.

The reception, as I said was across the road and we went there for predinner drinks and to continue listening to the quintet. I love listening to live music especially lovely classics and dreamy themes. We moved in for dinner which was Indian and the kids had McDonald's. Again they had thought of everything. It was a leisurely dinner with comical and emotional speeches. The kids had a good time, we had a good time and everyone was spent by the time we left. Melissa and Jo didn't leave until about 1pm, thats a good indication that they were having a good time. Thanks for inviting us, we had a good time.

Friday: Breakfast and Tea

Friday was a very casual day. We started off with breakfast with the relies and finished with Tea at Cullen Bay. Cullen Bay is where the expensive yachts etc hang out, along with their owners. It was a good feed and a great atmosphere.

Thursday: Mindal Beach Markets

Beautiful, cool, busy, great atmosphere, lots to look at, firsts. That is the theme of the markets. The stall owners are very very talented and there were a lot of crafts, paintings, clothes, gadgets, not to mention animals aswell.

We had tea and watched the sunset. Then we went for a wander amongst the stalls. Yes, I bought 2 sarongs and some glow sticks for the kids. By the time I came back to our campsite, Ewan was riding a horse. Which then meant Alicia wanted to have a ride aswell. Well, if its Ewans first horse ride, it might as well be Alicia's too. She kept saying, 'turn' (which meant her turn) and then when it came to actually riding the horse, she was dead against it.

Mum prevailed as usual, and basically threw her onto the bloody horse. She loved it and was even game enough to point out the rabbit in the next cage. What a ratbag she is.

The markets were really busy, there had to be thousands of people there. It happens every Thursday night and I can see why. If I lived in Darwin, I would be there every time.

Thursday: busy day: Fish feeding

Fish feeding, is exactly that. Where you feed fish. It depends on the tide but there are a lot of fish that swim up to you and can take bread right out of your hand. Ewan was so close that he eventually got his shorts wet and undies. Ewan and I even stood with the fish swimming around our feet. The fish are really big and there are even some small sharks that get in on the action. Catfish are available too but they aren't nearly as friendly.

Cameron had a really good time and Alicia was a little wary of everything, she preferred to eat the bread herself.

Fish feeding is a main attraction in Darwin and we can see why. You could stay there for a couple of hours watching and feeding the fish.

Waterpark Again

Okay, so we can't visit Berry Springs and Howard Springs, what shall we do that involves water. I know, visit the Waterpark again.

This time Alicia got a little more game and finally went down the waterslide by herself. Ewan had already mastered all the gadgets and paraphernalia by then. It was a really nice place to hang out. Adults could go on the slides aswell, which meant they were able to interact with the kids. There was a playground close by, so if the kids got cold, they went there to play for a bit. Too bad there is nothing like this in Adelaide but we don't get the weather for it either I suppose. Darwinites are very lucky.

Again too many photos to show, so they will be on Coulterclan photos link

Howard Springs

We tried to visit Berry Springs and we were almost at the springs themselves when we were asked to go back. Someone had cut through the waterpipes and the park had to close. We visited Howard Springs hoping to go for a swim but it was also closed because of algae. It would have been a beautiful place to swim and being natural springs, it would have been cool to swim with the fish.

Wednesday: Jumping Croc

Jumping Crocs at Adelaide River was awesome!!!!!!! The boat was covered in glass which meant that the kids could see and we weren't too stressed about where they were. I think they had a great time, I sure did and some of the photos were great. You get a running commentary whilst you watch the crocs and basically the crew feed the crocs but the crocodiles come out of the water to do so, hence jumping crocs. This apparently isn't something that they have learnt to do, it is a natural instinct ie when birds are sitting on branches over the river, if a croc sees it and is hungry, then wammo, bye bye birdie.

Its about an hour out of town and they have a few tours a day. The crew are very knowledgeable and they seem to really love their job. We saw two crocodiles fighting and one of the oldest crocs on the river, 'Agro'. He was huge, not just huge but huuuuuuuuuuge. You certainly come to appreciate and respect them, and you do hope that the boat doesn't sink.

Some of the crocodiles were very interested in Alicia. They cruised up and down the boat a couple of times, hoping she would fall in, I suspect. I have heaps more photos, so I will put them on coulterclan photos link for eveyone to see.

Tuesday: Shopping and hanging out

Tuesday was a shopping day, mainly for me. I wanted some bathers and I wasn't going home without any. We ventured to Casuarina (which is a big shopping mall). By the end of it, the kids were killing Brad, he had had enough but luckily I had found and bought my bathers (amongst other things). When we went home we had water pistol fights where Ewan and Alicia got saturated by water and laughter.

Monday: The Territory Wildlife Park

The first of many trips. The wildlife park is exactly that. Where you visit all sorts of animals and they have feeding times, train rides and demonstrations. Its child friendly, obviously, but it is interesting for the adults aswell. There is a lot to see and the park itself is huge, hence the train. I think Ewan enjoyed the train ride the most. I didn't appreciate the lack of toilets, especially since Alicia was not wearing a nappy.

Sunday: BBQ at the Waterpark

This was the first opportunity to see Melissa and for Brad to meet Jo. It was a great setting and the waterpark is absolutely brilliant, it even has a playground for added entertainment. Ewan went back there quite a few times and Alicia even went down the waterslide by herself eventually. I was very proud. We all had a great time and got to mingle before the wedding.

Ewans been at it again

God knows how he does it?

Where have we been?

No, we did not go to London to visit the queen. We went to sunny Darwin for a wedding. Melissa and Jo decided to get hitched. The next many postings will see us visit wildlife parks, watch jumping crocs, shop, visit more croc farms, dine and oh yeah, go to a wedding.

We left on Saturday morning and the plane was delayed by 1 1/2 hours. The kids coped quite well, at least there is a playground in the airport. They did run a little muck on the plane. Alicia eventually feel asleep and I was even able to carry her off the plane without her waking. Impressive. We arrived in Darwin to a warm 30 + degrees.

We went to Aunty Margarets first and then ventured to Megans (which is where we stayed) Poor Megan didn't quite know what was in store and neither did the dogs.