Melbourne part 2

It was another glorious Melbourne day (ie lots of rain) as we headed into the city on the train for a girls day out with Miss M.

We did some touristy things, took photos, shopped at Body Shop and Lush, and had an ammmmmazing burger lunch at Grill'd. You seriously need to try these burgers.

Then we caught the tram to Bourke Street where we saw this statue of Santa........ well actually no it was a man dressed up as a statue santa and he was amazing. He just sat there for ages while kids walked up and touched his hand and people checked out his costume. Miss M really wasn't sure what to make of him!

Then we joined the queue to check out the window displays at Myer in Bourke Street. This year they did the Nutcracker and each window had a different part of the story. The detail and little bits in these displays was just gorgeous.

We stood in line for ages at Myer so Miss M could go on the kids train to be told she was too tall when we got to the front of the line so we sent Santa an email and then ooohed and ahhhed over all the Christmas decorations in the christmas section at Myer.

Then another tram down to Flinders street and we walked over the Yarra river. Hmmmm not sure I would like to go swimming in there in a hurry.

The christmas light show at Crown Casino was amazing. We walked through just about every part of the casino with SJ stopping to ask directions every time we saw a man in a suit and we finally found the lights just at the beginning of the display. Could not have timed it better. The show was really cool with lots of lights and sounds.

Then another tram trip up to Lygon Street for Gelato. YUM YUM YUM.

Then it was time to drag our wet bodies and sore feet home.

MONDAY

It was time to head home and after a quiet morning with the Allan's we headed to the airport with my suitcase laden with shopping and christmas present. I was a bit worried about excess baggage - I had travelled down with just over 11kg in my bags and with a limit of 20kg for my bags I placed my suitcase at the check in counter and............... 19.8kg!!!!!! I think I did that last time I headed home from Melbourne too! After a short delay (surprise, surprise - I don't think I have EVER flown out of Avalon on time) I headed back to NSW and was met at the baggage claim by what sounded like a herd of elephants but was infact three children running full pelt towards me (Kyle, Tasha and Tegan - yes the Baldwins are back in Nowra! Surprise as Tasha wasn't expecting them until the 18th of Dec)

Once again I have to say thankyou to the Allan's for letting me become an extended family member again and especially to Matt for all the running around he did this weekend. MWAH love you all.

Melbourne Weekend pt 1

After couting down for so long suddenly it was time to head to Melbourne. After mega amounts of last minute text messages everything was organised. We didn't get to go to Spicks and Specks which I was MEGA disappointed about but when I got the final email from them they had moved the filming forward and it started about the same time my flight landed at Avalon so it was not possible. Oh well hopefully I can make a special trip down there for Spicks and Specks next year!

So thurs morning we got the kids off to school and then Tony and I headed up to Sydney Airport. A short flight later and I was in Melbourne and then with the amazing Allan family. What a blast we had. Thursday night we went to see Keira get an award at the school end of year night. Wow.... I love her school!
Friday Sandra drove us into Docklands and we hit the DFO's. I found my new favourite shop, TYPO.

Then we hopped onto a tram and headed around to Swanson Street to a wonderful thai restaurant that SJ had told me about. YUM, YUM, YUM. This is their lunch special!

Oh and Miss Jane I bought a bag! I know, big shock hey!

And true to Melbourne after starting in a nice sunny morning just after lunch as we headed back to Docklands the skies opened and we got drenched. Of course 1/2 an hour later the sun was out again!

............ more to come...............................

Melbourne

Wow what a weekend! I am home....... tired........ exhausted......... looking forward to some sleep.
Will update tomorrow night

Another "C" week

Wow what a busy weekend. On saturday I picked Miss Jane up and we headed up to Shellharbour to do "CRAFT WITH CASS"...... Okay, okay - we did coffee, then went out to lunch then went back to Cass' and did some craft (which I can't show here because it's a surprise for someone who may read this blog) and then we had yummy dinner with the King family.
Isn't she just the CUTEST! Oh and some CHOCOLATE CAKE for dessert

with special DALE COFFEE. What an amazing barista Cass has at her house!

Then Sunday Tony the kids and I headed out to the new CORRECTIONAL CENTRE at south Nowra. They are due to take their first lot of inmates early December and had a series of open days. We all found it very interesting although Tasha felt it was quite a nice place to be! Lets see,

* your own room

* Hairdresser

* Beauty salon

* Dental Clinic

* Medical centre with x-ray

* tennis courts/ gym/ ping pong/ running track

hmmmmm one major downpoint - total loss of freedom! Oh and the fact that you can still go to school/uni there.

I am now getting ready to head to Melbourne. soooooo can't wait to see the Allan's. We last saw each other in sept last year which is waaaayyyyyy too long to go between visits. Long day with lots of travelling tomorrow, we need an airport much closer than Sydney!

Now just got to find a bride, a bag and some ice cream to complete Miss Jane's challenge....... (long story)

Letter of the Week

This week was sooooo big it had to be brought to by two letters! So this week is brought to you by the letters "B" and "S". And yes there was plenty of that floating around as well! :)

Lets get all the "S's" over with in one day! On Wednesday I drove up to SHELLHARBOUR and did some SHOPPING for christmas before heading to the King's for SPECIAL LUNCH (thank you Dale for letting me crash your day off and have lunch with you and Cass). Then I headed up to Wollongong to the SPECIALIST with Mum where it was decided that due to the trouble she has been having and the little benefit it was doing we would SUSPEND her treatment until she returns from holiday and then we will see him again early December to work out where to go from here. She has been seen by the Palliative Care team and hopefully we can keep her pain free.
So that just about wraps it up for the S's. Lets move onto the B's

BON VOYAGE
We said goodbye to Mum and John as they head over to New Zealand - John has a son in NZ they have talked about going to see for ages and this is something Mum really wanted to do so whilst she is feeling slightly okay she decided to listen to Nike and "Just do it". I am concerned about how she will cope but I spoke to her on the weekend and she seems to be doing okay so far.

BUDGIE SITTING
Whilst Mum and John are away we have their budgie Harry. He has been providing us with much entertainment listening to him chatter away. He has quite a few fluent phrases and sometimes gets them confused. My fav is his confusion over Christmas and you hear "Merry kiss me quick"
BAGS
Okay, okay I have a "small" thing for bags. I have checked out this pattern with Jane on numerous occasions and was surprised by Mum when she presented me with the completed project! Love it sooooooo much. The framing job was shocking so it has to go back to the framers this week but it will soon be hanging in my room for reference for Tony when a new bag appears! Hehe

BOILING

What a weekend! 30 degree temperatures . Yuck!

BOLOGNAISE

Part 1 of Kyle's dinner. Kyle cooked dinner for us on Sunday night. He picked the recipes and ingredients and cooked everything from scratch. We had spaghetti bolognaise that was a little over cheezed but tasted quite yummy

BERRIES

Part 2 of Kyle's dinner. Fresh berries with chocolate mousse. Yummmmmmyyyyyyy.

Our "C" week

Well it seems like this week was brought to us by the letter
C
Let's see..... To start with we had Cathy's career consuming too much time. It was another week of working lots of extra hours. I am sooooo looking forward to next week when I am only working 2 days.
.
This week we had
Cooking
With Tasha in her Coles apron and chef's hat. Tash was a great help to me when I came home exhausted from work and helped cook dinner. She is getting to be quite skilled in the kitchen.
On Saturday Jane and I headed up to Cass' house for a Christmas Card making class with Brigette. I had a great time. Lou came down and it was great to catch up with her as well. After the class Jane, Cass and I headed into Shellharbour village for a
Cafe lunch and Coffee

Then Sunday we had a knock on the door with a face that we were very excited to see - which brings us to the next C

Cousins

Paul is my sister Jo's son and we haven't seen him except to briefly say hi to in the street for quite some time. He felt like catching up with his cousins and walked out to our place!!

It was so good to see him and he and Kyle spent hours together - it was just like old times.

Cards and Craft

I actually spent some time this week working on cards. They are all variations on the same basic card but I am actually quite happy with them.

Oh and lets see I am sure there was another "C" in there somewhere......... oh yeah..... that would be COUNTDOWN! It is now 2 1/2 weeks before I am zoom zooming to Melbourne. Can't wait.

Now I wonder what letter this coming week will be sponsored by? We have oncologist appointments, Mum heads away for a couple of weeks and I hope to get some scrapping done so we will have to wait and see!