Survival swimming

Tamika and Logan's last swimming lessons for the term is always fun week. This term they took it to a new level and  made it survival week. They both had to wear clothes into the pool for the whole half hour lesson.They even had to do laps in their clothes. Lucky they didn't have to wear shoes as well.

I remember doing this when I was young but not until high school when I completed my bronze medallion. Logan was so scared that he was going to drown when swimming with his clothes on. They both did really well, especially when lap swimming as it isn't easy swimming with tracksuit pants on.

Who said it doesn't get cold in Sydney?

Wow! The temperature has dropped over this week. A couple of mornings this week we awoke to a blanket of white covering everything. Unfortunately, it wasn't snow but the frost was quite thick and very cold.

These were taken in the garden as we raced out all rugged up for our day.

First Semester gone!

Both Tamika and Logan have worked extremely hard this semester. Logan adjusted very well to his first half of the year at school and the adjustments he also had to make having being diagnosed as a coeliac.

Their school reports were fantastic and both received Gold Awards at their schools end of term presentation. Tamika was disappointed as she didn't get as many as she usually does (having a new teacher sometimes does that) but Logan was the only Kindergarten child to receive four. We are very proud of both of them!

Felt Inspired!

This weekend I felt inspired by an amazing web site that I came across a couple of months ago in Sam's blog. They have created some surprising edible goodies with cakes. I found one that was made from cheese cake.

Since we had to go out that evening for Catalina's 7th birthday and Logan needed some kind of cake that he could eat, I decided to get creative and make these cheesecake pops.

I cheated and bought a store bought cheese cake from Cake-It-Away and then started to create. A bit fiddly. It was massacred by the time I finished with it. I decided to stop with a little bit of cheesecake left - I thought that 28 balls would be enough. (Was I ever wrong!)

After balling them I sprinkled Corn Flake crumbs over the top as the recipe used the biscuit base but Logan can't eat that. Once I put them in the freezer I thought that this was going to be a challenge as they looked a bit bigger than the pictures

Challenge number 2, they used lollipop sticks, hence the name Cheesecake Pops. But I had no idea where to get them in Australia or the time, so I just used wooden skewers. (The balls were a little heavy for the skewers.) The fun began with the decorating... melted chocolate everywhere and lots of sprinkles, but the kids had fun. They didn't look the same as the websites photos but they sure tasted good and were a hit with everybody.

http://www.bakerella.com/

Update - Weight Loss

Lately I have hit a plateau. This cold weather has made me less motivated to take the kids out and walk in the dark when we get home from work.

I have shed a total of 25kg and feel better about myself, but as usual for me still self- conscious that people are looking at me and passing judgement. Unfortunately, I still haven't hit what the international weight standards say that I should be for my height. I will get there, eventually.

Now I turn to the other areas that needs some work - flat tummy, inner- happiness and trying to stop the everyday pressures of a busy life style take over my sanity and family happiness.

Orange long weekend- Mitch and Binx's House

Over the June long weekend we invaded Mitch and Belinda's new house and property just outside of Orange, NSW. We were their first visitors other than family. But all in all it was a successful weekend, I got my very first pair of authentic Ugg boots, we helped in the garden ( not very much Bel, sorry!), we had great company, had a picnic without any falls off the flying fox, the kids got to feed the horses and of course we made our place in the history book of the next stage of Mitch and Belinda's life together at GREMWOOD- the luxury cottage.

Their house sits at the top of a hill over looking the valley- great views of the area and very peaceful. Oh, and the sound of children having fun and laughing outside can be heard from the neighbours house. A quaint little house with lots of land to loose inquisitive children. Logan was quite embarrassed when he discovered how deep the water pond was for them. We saw kangaroos and wild foxes (kids weren't sure about that one) and many different types of parrot. They had the Rosella  and the Eastern Rosella visit their trees.

It was quite cold outside, lovely and warm inside. Woke up Sunday morning to a thin layer of white frost covering the ground and all buckets of water frozen over to ice. Logan has decided that we have to go back and visit again in the warmer months so that he can go to pick his own raspberries and strawberries at the Huntley Berry Farm.

We are sure they will be happy there, but will be missed here.

It's finished!!!

After two and a bit months and a lot of hard work for Matt the bathroom is finished. I love it, it is the best looking room in the entire house. I celebrated by soaking in the deep bath by candlelight. It was just a shame that I don't drink to have celebrated the opening of the new bathroom in style. By the way, I won and got HOT PINK  bath towel and yes our initials are on the corner of the towels.

Superheroes and Villian's

Since we were away for Logan's 6th birthday we gave him a belated birthday party. The theme he chose was SUPERHEROES AND VILLIAN'S. Many of the kids came dressed as superheroes. Thankfully the weather held off and was quite pleasant until after the party.

We had a jumping castle, pin the S on Superman, sack races and eating the lolly off the clothes line game. The food selection was a bit of challenge but I managed. The had gluten free food and food free of peanuts and eggs.

Logan and his friends and cousins had a good time.

WICKED!

We totally surprised Tamika when we got back from the cruise with a day out in the city with mum (Nan). Well, that's what she thought! We had the surpirse worked out for months... we were going to show Nanny around the city... in fact Matt, LOgan and I were going to spend some time walking around the city while she and mum went to see WICKED the musical. When we got the the Capital Theatre and we told her what she was going to do she was totally speechless. And the latest song phase we are going through is.... DRUM ROLL, PLEASE....
POPULAR- from you guessed it WICKED.

 

Brisbane- Last Port of holiday

We had a hire car for the day and just cruise leisurely around Brisbane. The port we docked at was sooo far away and not really a port I would like international visitors to Australia to see, technically it is Brisbane's grain port.

We checked out Southbank. Even though some people think its not a pleasant place to swim in I think it is a great atmosphere for children and families. Why is it that Sydney has nothing like this? We have great scenary but really not that much for children and families to do.

We also went for a ride on the Brisbane wheel.  Quite informative and it was air-conditioned as it was warming up.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOGAN! day 7 & 8

Well, Logan turned 6 years old while sailing out to Willis Island which is located behind the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea 420km east of Cairns.
Another beautiful sunrise and an early walk around the deck then present opening time and breakfast in the buffet ( Logan's choice). We spent the morning sitting around the pool then we all went and played a game of BINGO. Unfortunately none of us won, but it would have been wonderful as the prize was a free cruise. While we were playing bingo we passed  Willis Island which is only 500m long by 150m wide.  It is inhabited by 4 people on a six month rotation and is a weather station. As we passed it they let off weather balloons into the air.
Logan had been waiting for his birthday to climb the rock climbing wall, as on the first day they told him he had to be six to climb it, however there was so much wind  today that it was closed. He was so disappointed.

The kids club had a family volcano activity at lunchtime. Boy did it explode. The kids spent some time this afternoon with their Uncle Chris and Sam. They took them for ice cream and table tennis. Matt and I walked around the sports deck which felt more like climbing a mountain because of the wind.

Dinner- the waited made it very special for Logan and then brought out this massive gluten free chocolate cake (it was even big enough to feed 5 waiters).

Friday - They all finally got to climb the Rock Climbing wall which sits at the back of the ship. It is around 50 foot high. Both kids were so quick! They were also very persistent, throughout the  day they climbed it four times. The look of sheer happiness with themselves when they rung the bell on the top of the wall and the applause they got from the onlookers. Matt didn't struggle at all either and was told that he should try the hardest section. Sat around the pool for lunch today with a yummy BBQ .

A very relaxing day today.

Port Douglas- Day 6

What a day! Another tender day but this time it all ran smoothly. Also no rain.
We actually got our wish of going to the place where the Rainforest meets the Sea. They have had 16 days of constant rain and we didn't think we'd actually get there. Mind you we had to drive over a couple of river (40 cm's above the road) that shouldn't be there and drive around a few landslides to get to Cape Tribulation.

We had a private tour just for the eight of us with Tony's Tours and they were fabulous even before we got on their tour. Tony took us around Port Douglas for a quick tour then we headed out to Mossman Gorge for a rainforest walk. The river we rapidly flowing... and great photo's.

Next stop - heading into the Danitree Forest. We stopped at Bruce Belcher's Daintree River Cruise. A crocodile tour  and guess who was on the window side (if there was a window). We had morning tea and then headed for a boat ( much smaller than our home for the past 6 days). The water was dirty brown but lots of it. You could follow the river all the way around to the bottom of the mountains. We spotted a baby crocodile and a 1m croc. A tree snake and a 3 m python unfortunately we didn't see the REALLY big croc because of all the rain lately. Both Tamika and Logan were very keen to see a croc and eagerly looked for them in amongst the bushes.

We all sat crossing our fingers on the drive to Cape Tribulation and the many looks of disappointment in the car as we saw water flowing across the road. Then Tony drove straight through it. YAY! Except as we reached the lookout at Cape Tribulation we could see rain coming and hoped to gosh that it didn't rain heavy so that we could actually get back.

The view of the rainforest and the sea was glorious, breath-taking. We couldn't hang around for a great deal of time as we  had a set time limit and a fair distance to travel back.

Lunch a delicious BBQ with freshly made damper  - in a hut beside a unique ice-cream shop.
We got back to Port Douglas Marina in plenty of time to wonder around the shops and then caught the tender back.
We had little time to rest as we were always booked into the 6pm time slot for dinner ( the kids wouldn't last much after that). Tonight we are planning on going to the show - Logan is extremely keen as it is an Illusionist . He loves magic!

Day 5 - Cairns

What crappy weather! It RAINED and RAINED most of the day.
Happy Birthday Lynne.
We watched as we were pulled into the port of Cairns, right into town. After breakfast we walked straight off the ship. We knew what we wanted to do today and had done our homework, but unfortunately it came undone. Kuranda's skyrail on the way up and railway on the way down was our plan. A landslide occurred last week with the massive amounts of rain that they had and the scenic railway had been temporarily closed (BUGGER!).
Anyway, still made the most of the day - went on the Army Duck  which was a land and water vehicle then headed up the mountain to Kuranda. First stop at Kuranda was the Butterfly Farm. The Ulysses butterflies are beautiful but gosh they don't keep still. While in the butterfly hutch  if you stood still long enough the butterflies actually landed on you.
We walked around wet, rainy Kuranda for awhile and then headed for the scenic skyrail which is a 7.5 km cableway over the World Heritage Barron Gorge National Park.  The kids spent the time looking for Cassowaries, Cockatoo's, kangaroos and other animals then sight disappeared. It was so foggy that you couldn't even see where the cable went in front of us. We got off at the Barron Falls Station to see the waterfall at the three different viewing platforms, however we couldn't see anything at two of them. At the third (lowest point) you could hear it thunder before you could see it.  Wow! Through the fog it even looked amazing.

Once we got back to the ship it stopped raining so we walked around Cairns for awhile. Nothing much to brag about... though I do like their new public pool out in the open in a park. We walked through the Casino to get to the Rainforest Dome.

A good day even with the rain, can't wait for tomorrow. Dinner was pretty funny as the waiters remembered a passing comment from a couple of days ago that it was Lynne's birthday today and they brought out a birthday cake and sung to her. Talk about red faced (HEHE!). It was a small chocolate cake that was gluten free but it was delicious (to die for).

Day 4 - Airlie Beach

An early start today and very frustrating. This morning for the first time we ate in the buffet for breakfast and didn't enjoy the food as much as in the Edelweise Restaurant. I found it very hard to satisfy Logan's appetite.
After breakfast we went downstairs and waited and waited for our tender to be called. We were suppose to be on the first one to Airlie beach, but we were mislead with that information. Finally we got on the tender and onto land. A bit wobbly at first... and late for our tour.

We got a taxi and went to the Whitsunday's Airport. Considering the photos I had seen of this place 2 weeks ago after the cyclone hit you would never have known it had been through there. At this point I was feeling extremely nervous (not a very adventurous people, let alone a flyer), but I was definitely looking forward to the view.
We were given our stinger suits and the emergency talk then boarded the 10 seater sea plane.
Take off wasn't too bad, Logan hated flying over the water as we went against the wind and climbed to 1500 feet (don't blame him really). Once we flew out to the reef which I was amazed just how far out it was the view was SPECTACULAR! All those of you who know my family you can just imagine the cameras CLICKING! The water colour and amount of different reefs  were amazing. We flew over the HEART reef which they use to advertise the Great Barrier Reef.
The sea plane desended right in the middle of the reef near a sub-mergable, then we watched another plane land beside us. We boarded the sub-mergable and drove off to another part of the reef.
Tamika and Matt took off snorkeling straight away. Logan put on all the gear and got in the water with a noodle. He didn't get very far. We ended up swopping the snorkeling gear for pool goggles, he couldn't get over the fear of what was laying beneath the dark ocean as we had to swim a fair way over to get to the reef. But he gave it a go and saw some fantastic colourful fish. After 10 mins he wanted to go back to the boat.
We were at the reef snorkeling for an hour then headed back to the sea planes while some of us were drinking champagne and eating cheese and crackers. We headed for Whitehaven Beach. The view wasn't as spectular heading out there (until we got there) and neither was the weather. Heavy wind and rain came. Both kids feel asleep and I felt quite sick. The pilot tried his hardest to land the plane but decided it wasn't worth it ( and I agreeed). We were disappointed but it wasn't worth a crash landing.

Photos will follow, but it was amazing.

Formal Night

 Saturday night was formal night on the ship. Logan had to go and buy a tie for the event, but couldn't decided between red and silver, so he got both. The rest of us also had to buy new clothes. Tamika looked gorgeous in her new dress and heels.

There were photographers floating around everywhere taking portrait shots and then again at the dinner table. The restaurant was buzzing with activity. The waiters were frantic. The food was divine and oh so filling.  Of course I skipped all the seafood,  Logan ate my portion though - prawns and salmon.
                                 The entire restaurants waiters sung a song which the guests loved as they had to swing their serviettes around in the air. Quite dangerous if you were sitting beside Logan. The night was great, with lots of drinking, good company, entertainment, interesting conversation and fabulous food.

Days 1-3 (At Sea)

Check out the view from our balcony while in Sydney.

Arrived on board Rhapsody of the Seas with plenty of time to explore the ship before departure. The kids were so excited (Logan still hasn’t calmed down- unfortunately). What a massive ship!

Departure from Sydney was slightly cool but what a beautiful view – a glorious harbour to pull out from.

There has been plenty to do during the days at sea. We spent a lot of time relaxing by the pool on the fabulously warm days, walked the walking deck quite a few times, have watched fruit carving shows and a musical. We were sure Logan, especially would fall asleep during the show but he stayed bright eyed through the whole thing.

Logan has loved kids club- Tamika still haven’t gotten her there.

The seas have been relatively calm except for one night when we heading into Queensland water when we all took seasick tablets before going to bed, boy were we rocking from side to side.

The restaurants are always buzzing with people, there is one that is nearly open 24 hours.  We have eaten in the main dinning room most night’s as it hasn’t been a problem for them to cater to the needs of three gluten free and one that is a fussy child. Formal night’s photos, my gosh which ones to choose.