Starting Kindergarten

 Our boy has been so excited to start kindergarten, and kept asking me when he was going to start. The day finally came on the 2nd day of school of term 3. We were lucky that he got a spot in the Kindergarten at Maddi's school.  He goes every Tuesday and Thursday and is in the Poteroo group.

 I can never get a photo of all three of them looking so end up taking two or more shots.

 

 We have half an hour to fill in before he can start in the morning as they start a little later than school. We were very fortunate that a brand new park opened across the road from the school. Every kinder morning, Linc and Alex have a play there, and we almost always have the whole park to ourselves.

On his first day he was very excited, but also anxious as we were at the park, and he was worried that we were going to be late. He surprised me how confidentally he walked into kinder and settled in. Linc and I stayed for half an hour, just to make sure he was alright, and during mat time he said, "why are you and Linky still here?!" We figured he was right without us, and that was our cue to leave. The hardest thing was getting Linc to leave. He has made some friends. Everyone seems to know him, and he often gets greeted by name by kids when we pick Maddi up from school. He tells me "that's my friend." But he never remembers their names! It has been really good for him, and he goes to the school assembly every Tuesday to prepare them for when they go to school. Maddi often looks out for him in her lunch break, and visits him through the fence. He gets ready quick smart on school days, and is very dissapointed when he doesn't have school. He seems to really enjoy playing outside in the sandpit the most, and cooking, which he loves to do at home as well.

Here he is as a fireman for the Book Week parade.

On his first day of school Moppy and Poppy arrived in the afternoon from visiting Gina in Sydney, and stayed with us while Alex was away in China. It was a good thing that they were here, as it would of been hard to manage on my own, as Linc was sick. One day we went to Ikea, and the boys had heaps of fun in the kids section. On the Thursday after school, Moppy and Poppy took Alex out into the city for the night. Moppy and Poppy started a tradition to do something special with their grandchild when they started school. Maddi went to Sydney with them, when they started the tradition, and it was Alex's turn to visit the city with them.

 

 
They went out for dinner, and he almost ate a whole pizza. He sure knows how to eat, and is always hungry. They also had dessert as well.

He stayed at the Sofitel with Moppy and Poppy. Moppy said he was so excited, and checked the whole room out. I didn't think he would be that excited about staying in a hotel as we lived in one for two and a half weeks, but I think he enjoyed it a lot, perhaps because he had special time on his own with Moppy and Poppy.

 
The next morning they went out for breakfast and to the Aquarium. He really enjoyed looking at the penguins. By late afternoon, he was back home, and looked very tired. The kids seemed to miss him while he was away, we certainly noticed how quiet it was without him, as he is definitely the noise maker in the house. Maddi told him how much she had missed him, and he seemed to miss her as well. Thanks so much to Moppy and Poppy for taking him out and keeping the tradition alive.
 

The School Holidays

 
 During the beginning of July it was school holidays. The first week we had Grandma come and visit for four nights. We went to our local shops and shopped, took Grandma to our local park and one day went to our local Max Brenner. One evening Grandma and I went out to the city to watch the production of Moonshadow. Grandma is a big fan of Cat Stevens, so she knew all the songs, whereas I only recognised the hit songs. I enjoyed just spending time with her, and having a girl's night out. Grandma is always kept busy when she comes to our house. She catches us up on all the ironing, repairs clothes and toys for us, cleans the house and does the washing. Our house looked like a hotel whilst she visited. I was very grateful for her help and company, as Alex was away for a couple of nights whilst she was away. The time went very quick while she was here.


On the Friday of the first week of school holidays, the ward had a temple day. Coincidentally, it was the morning that Moppy and Poppy arrived off The Spirit of Tasmania. It was our first trip to the temple since we have moved. I asked Maddi if she remembered the temple, and she said she did. It was Linc's first time, and Alex's 2nd time, as he was just a baby when we went to Becc and Brise's wedding. Moppy and Poppy took the kids to Puffing Billy for the morning whilst we were in the temple, and they had such a fantastic time.

 

Alex and I had a lovely morning in the temple, and it was nice to know that the kids were happy doing their activities. Alex and I then had a leisurely lunch at a dumpling place, and met up with the kids and Moppy and Poppy to do some shopping. There were lots of bargains around as the stocktake sales were on, and the kids all came home wearing new shoes. That evening Moppy took Maddi to see the production of Annie. Maddi had such a lovely time, and has been telling us all about it at different times. She really is such a socialite, and Moppy told me that she chatted to the people sitting next to them. It was a late night for them, and Maddi went straight to bed when they got home. She was very proud of her Annie Cup and program that she brought home, and showed us which actress played Annie in her show.

The next Monday, Alex had an annual leave day, and we had grand plans to do something, but we ended up just taking it easy, which is what Alex has needed as it was his first day off work in a long time. We did end up going to Max Brenner, to try the famous chocolate Pizza, but were utterly dissapointed, that they had run out of pizza bases and ended up having an expensive fondue, which we could of made at home for less than half the price! But hopefully the kids will remember it. You can't put a price on that. Another day we caught the train into the city. It was the boys first ride on a train (besides Puffing Billy). They really enjoyed it and I was really surpised that we were the only family on the train as it was school holidays. They got lots of smiles and attention from the other passengers, as they could see how much they were enjoying it.

 
 We then caught a tram to the Botanical Gardens and met up with Petal and her gorgeous little boy Lachie. It was a showery day, but it made it all the more fun to pull out the brolly and for the kids to jump in puddles It was great to catch up with Petal and reminice and catch up on the pieces of each others lives that we have missed out on. Lachie is such a good baby and is very smiley. The kids were very interested in him and would rub his head and talk to him. Petal showed us a good Cafe nearby and we had hot chocolates there, before we departed to go back into the city.

 The kids were so happy and good the whole time, and we did so much walking with little complaining. We walked to the mall and had a look around, and stopped at the kid's favourite, handmade lolly shop and the nearby toy shop. We also spent some time at Federation Square, and the kids were very engaged in the games on the big screen. 

A Chinese tourist asked us if he could take a photo of Linc, because he thought he was so cute. Of course he posed for the camera.

 
Another day a friend invited us around to have lunch with them, which was lovely, as Maddi and her daughter who is 9 got on so well.  The rest of the holidays we tried to sleep in and recover from the busy time we had the rest of the holidays. It was nice not to have to be somewhere by a certain time, and linger in our pjs. We were very lucky to have our family visit us and spend some time with the kids. They were such a great help in more ways than one. What would we do without our Mum's and Dad's?

Moving

The week of moving was a very busy one. Alex returned from the USA, and I met him in Melbourne for a couple of days, while we looked for a house to live in, and explored some possible areas to live it. We visited lots of houses, with our relocation consultant and visited several schools in the area. While we were busy doing all this, Grandma was busy looking after the kids. After several days of looking for houses we returned home, without finding a house and a school for Maddi to attend. It was kind of dissapointing, as I wanted to return home to the kids and tell them of their new house that we would move into, and for Maddi's sake find her a school that she would be excited about to move to.

The next couple of days we were busy preparing to move- Doing all the last minute jobs, before the removalists packed for us. Mum and Dad were such a great help in those last couple of days, as they took the boys out to their place for a couple of days, while we packed, cleaned and got Maddi off to school. It took half a day for the removalists to pack us, and then by the end of the day one container was filled and moved. Becky and Auntie Margaret were a great help to us, as they helped us clean the rooms that were empty. The next day was another day of cleaning, and another container was filled. Moppy came up for the day to help us and farewell us. Maddi had a great last day of school, and came home with a giant card signed by each of her class members. I was really sad for her, when she cuddled her two best school friends Zaali and Makenzie goodbye.

    
The evening before we left we met up at McDonalds with most of the family. The cousins had a little play together before we got on the boat, and that was the place where we all said goodbye.

The kids spent a bit of time in the play room on the boat, we sat in the lounge and it wasn't long after, little Alex said he was tired and laid down. It was a pleasant surprise! Around 9pm we went to bed and then Linc woke in the early morning, wide awake and was playing. He was never going to go back to sleep in the portacot, without waking everyone else up, and I didn't want Linc to roll off the top bunk with me, so I tailed on the end of Maddi's bed with Linc for the rest of the night. It was quite a rough night, but we were all fine as we took travel sickness tablets before we got on the boat. Around 6am we had arrived in Melbourne, and the kids were excited to look out our porthole and see the city. The trip seemed quite quick really. 

Waiting to get off the boat

For the next two weeks we lived a hotel. It came apparent that you don't need a lot of things for the kids to be happy, but I discovered in our rush of packing that I had perhaps had underpacked, and Maddi was stuck wearing her school shoes for the next couple of weeks! But then, at least she had her school shoes, ready to start school. For the next two weeks we went to house appointments (well lack of them) as they tend to only have open homes on the weekends, and spent a lot of time at parks. The kids were getting sick of looking at houses and of course fell in love with the houses that had cubby houses and pools. The kids loved coming home to the hotel and finding that room service had cleaned their room, and had given them their own little soaps to use. We kept meals quite simple, as it was hard to cook in a small kitchen.

Cold Rock wasn't far from the hotel, and we enjoyed dessert at Cold Rock. Linc calls it "Cold Rocks!"

The kids instantly fell in love with this park and called it their favourite park ever. Coincindentally it is only a short walk from our new house.  Maddi made many friends in her visits at the parks, and although she never complained that she wanted to be at school,  I felt that time was dragging out, and she needed to be enrolled into school sooner rather than later, after having two weeks off school.

Feeding the ducks

One day we met Alex for lunch and afterwards headed to the local DFO, and watched the planes take off at the airport. Linc loves aeroplanes, but the novelty of seeing planes fly over our new house is wearing off I think. We are getting so used to the noise of jets flying over us, that we hardly notice it anymore. One day I was quite excited to point out a big Qantas Jumbo flying over our house, and Maddi said "Mum, it's just an A380." She was catching on quicker than I!

 

 One evening we went on a school tour to a local school that was reasonably new. We were quite impressed with the school, and knew it was the right school for the kids. The next day we had a house to move into, and Maddi had a school. She has swimming once a week, at the school pool. She just loves her bubbly, young, enthusiastic teacher. She transitioned into school very easily and school is a short walk from home. We are missing the town clock in Ulverstone to let us know the time, and find ourselves very busy in the mornings getting ready for school.

One weekend Moppy and Poppy came to visit. It was great to see them, and spend some time with them. We met them in the city one Saturday and the boys had their first ever train ride. It was only to the next stop, but we appreciated the experience as we rested our feet and got out of the rain. We had two lovely meals with Moppy and Poppy. One night to a Greek Restraunt and the next night we went to a Korean bbq with Olan as well. I am regretting that I didn't take any photos! 

On the Queens Birthday holiday, we went and visited, Perry, Loretta and Willow at their new home in Bendigo.We went up the top of this mine shaft and had a good look over the City. It was our first trip to Bendigo and the weather was just beautiful. Bendigo reminds me a lot of Launceston.

Life has been pretty busy since we have moved, and I can't believe how fast time is going. We have enjoyed catching up with old friends and cousins. Alex is enjoying his new job, which he started in March. It has been busy, and has taken him almost all over Australia thus far, and on two overseas trips. Little Alex has been accepted into the local kindergarten that we were hoping he would get into, and gets to start at the beginning of term 3. He is very excited to start, and I think it will be really good for him socially and developmentally. It will be great that he will be doing something that is independant, of his big sister and little brother. This will find just Linc and I at home, two days a week while he is at Kinder. It really will be good for all of us. More on that later!  He has been a good help around the house, and insists on doing the vacuuming for me. He often asks me "What can I do to help?" Every mothers dream, to hear those words!

Linc now sleeps in a bed and shares a room with Alex. However he gets out of bed over and over- A  repeat of the behaviour of his older brother. These two are developing a beautiful friendship with each other. They of course do the usual fighting that siblings do. Maddi has her own room, for the first time since she was a toddler. However the boys seem to want to spend more time in Maddi's room, than in their own! Even though Maddi tells Alex he is "banded from her room!"  We are looking forward to having more family visitors, and friends over soon. Can't wait to see you! 

Turning 6

On Wednesday it was Maddi's big birthday day. She is lucky enough to get a public holiday on her birthday as it is on ANZAC day. Maddi loves school, so sometimes I wonder if she would really mind if she did have to go school on her birthday. On Tuesday night we stayed at Mum and Dad's the night, and the kids and Grandpa were up bright and early to wish Maddi a happy birthday. She was officially 6 when she woke up, as she was born at 4.10am on ANZAC day. I always think she was ready to join the world in time for the dawn service.

First thing she did, was present opening. Then we watched Tangled, one of her birthday presents. Dad had great timing and rang just as the movie finished, from his hotel in Chicago, to wish his girl a happy day. It sure was a sacrifice for Dad to be missing his Little girl's day. Grandma made some nice fluffy pancakes for breakfast and then we went to the ANZAC march in Deloraine, to pay tribute to all those who have fought and died to defend our country. It is really sad to see that there are not many ANZACS left marching anymore, and the few that do go in the parade have aged so much and are too frail to walk. I still picture Pop marching and being there in spirit.




 

After the parade we went to the Raspberry Farm for lunch with Mum, Dad, the Kings, and Steph and the kids. The kids had a great play outside with their cousins in the cubby. Maddi chose an icecream sundae for lunch. Not very often do you get to have dessert for lunch, but birthdays are an exception! After lunch we headed back to Mum and Dad's, and the kids went for motorbike rides and played with Harri and Kobe. At teatime we had some of Maddi's favourites- scallops, prawns, fried rice and chicken pieces. It was nice to have the Kings there with us. We then sang happy birthday and had chocolate birthday cake and icecream for dessert.  

Maddi has wanted to have a party for so long, and has been coming up with who to invite, so this was the year to do it, before we move.  She was so excited about it, and has been asking during the last month, how many sleeps until it was her birthday, and how many until her party. The day finally came and our social butterfly was so happy, and was in a party mood. She has been inviting people for so long to her party by word of mouth, and I was beginning to wonder if some people would show up unexpected to me! In the end she invited 13 girls to her fairy themed party and 11 beautiful girls came to the party, some dressed in colourful fairy outfits.

 Auntie Ness came up from Hobart and helped out at the party. First of all the girls made some things and got their nails painted by Auntie Ness.

Maddi is so into art/craft and creating, and asked if they could make some things at her party so we made little teacups and fairy wands, which were made out of marshmallows dipped in chocolate and covered in white chocolate and sprinkles.

 Auntie Becky and Auntie Steph and Tamika (Zaali and Makenzie's Mum) were great helpers while the girls were busy creating. Grandma was a great help in the kitchen preparing food for lunch.

 Then it was time for some games. First game was bobs and statues, which they loved as they got their groove on, dancing away.

  The birthday girl with her school friend Zarli.

Then it was time for pass the parcel.

Maddi drew a poster of a fairy and we played pin the star on the fairy wand. Last activity was a pull string pinata. The lollies didn't come out completely by pulling the strings, so I ended up hitting the lollies out with a wooden spoon. We had lots of very excited lolly collecting girls.....and boys.
 

 Then we finished off with party food for lunch.

 Blowing the candles out.

The girls were so cute, and gathered under the table, like they had their own hideaway to eat their lunch.

 Having a play on the trampoline before the guests left.

 Maddi with Chloe

 

The party bags filled with all things girly.  

 Maddi was very lucky to get so many lovely presents. She spent the afternoon creating and playing with her presents. At the end of the day Maddi said, "thanks for the party Mum, cos I really LOVE parties."  She really is growing up fast now. She makes us laugh every day. I hope that this party has left her with lovely memories of her beautiful friends in Tasmania.