Melbourne trip - Part II

Before we came on this trip, I did a bit of research online.  I wanted to make sure that the Little Big Fella would have a great time, and that the whole trip wasn't taken up with me hanging out with my family and friends while he was bored.  I also wanted to have a few ideas of things to do with other people - because sometimes having an unusual experience together is as much or more fun than just catching up.

So our first day in Melbourne included a trip to ScienceWorks with my brother and best friend.  It's a hands-on science musuem where you can learn about all kinds of science-y things by playing with them.

We picked up my brother (and met his housemate), then my friend, then drove to the other side of the city.

When we got there I realised I'd made a silly misjudgment - it was school holidays!!!  There were people everywhere!!!!  We had to park in the overflow parking lot and line up outside to get in!  The air was icy cold (although it was quite lovely in the sun).  And guess who had to use the bathroom right then!!!

Sheesh!  What a great start!!!

Thankfully all was sorted and we got inside (where it was comfortably warm) and started checking the place out.

First stop, electricity!

Then, into the house area.  This photo is where you could watch how sound waves work.

Of course, you have to take photos in wonky mirrors!

This was one of the Little Big Fella's favourite part of the "house".  It's the hose of a giant vacuum cleaner.  You could run through to the other end, where you found yourself inside the main part of a vacuum cleaner.  They had dust and bugs and coins and junk hanging all over the place to make it feel "right" ;-)

Incidentally, his other favourite part of the house was where you could make the fleas jump.  No comment!

We eventually moved from the "house" to the "sports" area.  There was a "sports" sign made of concrete and the Little Big Fella (a.k.a. Batman today) climbed all over it for ages!

Once inside the sports area, the Big Fella and my brother found this exhibit.  The idea was to press the start button (low for kids, high for adults).  The lights on the buttons would then flash and you had to press it as fast as you could.  A different button would then light up.  You had to hit as many as you could in 30 seconds.  We all had a turn, but we had to keep dragging the Little Big Fella away to look at other things!

Like this canoe.

We all tested our grip strength at one station, and how much weight we could pull sitting down with our feet against the wall.  There were a few ball-based skills test, and the Little Big Fella and I raced against Kathy Freeman (unsurprisingly, she won!).

My bro then helped the Little Big Fella have a go on a climbing wall.

We decided it was time for lunch, so we headed outside (brrrr!).  My friend saved us seats in the little amphitheater, because there was a circus show starting soon, while I got food for us and my brother took the Little Big Fella to the playground area to run off a bit more energy.

The circus performers were really good!  The show was informative, funny and very entertaining.  The girl balanced things on her chin - a juggling club, a bottle of wine, a hat stand!  The guy did most of the clown-like roles, but also walked across a bunch of wine bottles without knocking them over.  They both did juggling (together and separately) and some balancing tricks together.

I guess what I enjoyed most about it, was that they really involved the audience - not just by having a dad participate, but they got us engaged with what they were doing; laughing at their jokes, joining in, and following instructions.  Considering that the major portion of the audience were children, they were very clever!

We had a little time to kill so the Little Big Fella had a short play on the playground, then we went into the lightning show.  To be honest, I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would.  There were some great demonstrations - creating an instant cloud in a bottle, using static electricity, and making lightning inside the large cage - but it wasn't particularly entertaining and I got rather cold and uncomfortable.

It was getting late-ish in the afternoon, so we decided to skip the upstairs part of the museum (which is a pity, because I'm lead to believe there's a digger up there!).  We took a couple of goofy photos then it was time to head home.

Unfortunately, we hit peak hour traffic so it took a while to get through the city and out to our suburbs.  We were all a bit tired by then so it was great to get "home" and have dinner with my parents (gotta love the slow cooker!), before bathing the Little Big Fella and heading off to bed.

Baths at Nanna and Granddad's became a highlight of each day for the Little Big Fella... but that's a story for another post!  ;-)

Melbourne trip - Part I

In case you missed it, the Little Big Fella and I have just spent 12 days in Melbourne, Victoria, visiting family and friends.  It was a very busy 12 days!  We had an absolute blast!

But I have to say, I'm still recovering!  I'm looking forward to Tuesday because I'll be home, alone - the Big Fella will be at work, and the Little Big Fella will be at kindy.  I'm looking forward to just having some time alone, being quiet and restful and doing everything or nothing for a couple of hours.

I've finally sorted through all my photos.  Unfortunately none of them are particularly good (mostly because we were often indoors, and because I used my phone instead of my camera), but at least you'll be able to see some of what we got up to.

This was the first time the Little Big Fella has been on a plane (that he remembers - we went to Victoria when my youngest sister got married... when he was 1).  And he was SO excited!!!  We were counting down for about a week, and he wanted to go to the airport as soon as we woke up on Friday (the airport is an hour away and we didn't fly out until 3pm!).

I'd checked in online, but we still needed to drop our bags at the counter.  The lady was so lovely and let the Little Big Fella push the button to send our bags out to the plane!

Amazingly, we ran into one of the students from my college in Melbourne at our little airport!  Talk about unexpected!

Here is my boy inside the terminal.  And that's our plane outside (although I doubt you can see it).

And here he is on the plane.  I bought a bag of lollipops to help us settle the pressure in our ears.  Probably wasn't necessary, but we enjoyed it :-D

Here's the view from our window!

I hadn't really told the Little Big Fella what take off is like, but he loves going fast, so when the plane started picking up speed along the runway, he turned to me with the most excited expression on his face and said, "Mum!  It's going really, really fast!!!!"

Needless to say, he enjoyed flying.

There were only a handful of people on this first flight and the Little Big Fella got the hostess onside immediately.  She then offered him a juice, before we'd even taken off!

When we got to Brisbane we found the gate for our next flight and settled in to have a bit of a picnic on the floor, watching our plane through the window.

We saw our bags go on the plane.

Then we saw a bit of fuss around the tarmac.

Then we saw our bags come off the plane.

Uh oh!

An announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, there is an engineering fault on your aircraft.  At this stage we do not have an estimated departure time for you."

Awesome.

We continued our little picnic, because, let's face it, there's nothing you can do in that situation but sit around, try to be calm, and wait to be told what's happening.

On the way to our gate, we'd run into a guy from the Starlight Children's Foundation who was signing people up for donations.  They grant wishes for seriously ill children - everything from meeting a sports player, to a shopping spree, to a trip to Disneyland.  I'm pretty sure they granted my cousin a wish several years ago when she had leukemia.

Anyway, the guy had given the Little Big Fella a balloon, and he and a couple of other kids were playing with it while we were waiting.  I think some of the older passengers got a bit annoyed about it, but it kept the kids happy so I thought it was fine.

After not long at all, we heard another announcement saying that we had been moved to another plane at a different gate and would depart an hour after our original flight time.

I called my parents (who were picking us up at the other end) and let them know the good news.  Given that our last attempt to catch up with them ended with me and the Little Big Fella in a car accident, this was definitely a much better outcome!

We had a bit of time so I stopped and bought the Little Big Fella an ice-cream for dessert on our way to the new gate.

Eventually we boarded (after another 20 minute delay, we think there were staffing issues this time) and took off.  On this flight we were in a set of 3 seats, and the poor guy sitting with us (who was awfully lovely about it) had to put up with "excuse me" followed by a question or comment from the Little Big Fella every 5 seconds until they turned the seatbelt sign off.  Then I turned the portable DVD player on to distract him.

When we were almost in Melbourne the Little Big Fella finally fell asleep.  Which created some interesting dilemmas getting us out of the plane, because getting a backpack on when your 4 year old is asleep on you is kind of tricky!

We found mum and dad (the Little Big Fella kind of woke up, then didn't really sleep again until we were at their place - almost an hour away), collected our bags and headed back to their place.

I lived in Melbourne until 7 years ago, so it was kind of fun and strange to drive through it that night - seeing what has changed and what hasn't.

My parents have since moved house and it was lovely to see their new place in person.  It really suits them!

So, after a little drama and a lot of excitement, we were finally there and it was time to sleep.  Lots of big days were coming up!

A taste of our time in Melbourne

The Little Big Fella and I have been in Melbourne for a week now.  We'll be heading back home on Friday (very early).

While we've been here we've been to ScienceWorks (a hands-on science museum kind of place), spent time with my family, the Big Fella's family, and a couple of great friends, been in to the city, been to the acquarium, been to the Queen Victoria Market, been to a P!nk concert, done some cooking, had family dinners, made cupcakes, been to a chocolaterie, had a soak in a spa, sat in front of fires, drunk wine (obviously not the Little Big Fella on that one!), eaten delicious and amazing food, seen dinosaurs, shopped, been to a playground, been to a motorbike brunch, gone on a train, a bus and a couple of trams... and there's still three full days to go!

I don't have a heap of photos to share, but there will be plenty to tell you about when we get home!

Whip it!

What kind of a dream childhood in the country is it without a whip???  Well, that's what the Big Fella thought!  So, he obviously had to rectify the situation!!!

Dad!  Check this out!

This is how you do it - you've got to flick your wrist.

And once the whip starts crackin', people start showing up to check it (and your skills) out.

The Little Big Fella loves it, of course!  He's dragged it around just about everywhere for the past few days and, somewhat amazingly, has allowed others to have a turn too.

In preparation...

I'm a little excited.  Okay, make that very excited!  The Little Big Fella and I are flying down to Melbourne on Monday.  I'm going to the P!nk concert with my brother and youngest sister on Thursday and we'll be visiting with family (both mine and the Big Fella's parents live there, and my sister and brother-in-law, his sister and her partner, and my brother) and friends.

In preparation, I've been looking on the internet to see what awesome activities are on that the Little Big Fella might enjoy, because hanging out with people who don't have kids, and being dragged around the shops isn't a huge amount of fun for him (I have no idea why not!).  He's really good about doing those kinds of things, but I want this to be a fun holiday for him as well.  And I'd imagine being spoiled by grandparents, aunts and uncles will definitely have some enjoyment for him too ;-)

My other sister mentioned ScienceWorks - a hands-on science museum I guess you'd call it.  They have all kinds of fun things to learn about, but also things to play with like a real digger!  Pretty sure that will be a hit!

I found out that there's a place in the city that has an ice rink.  (For those who don't know, there's very little snow or ice in Australia, even in the winter.  You have to travel to the mountains (even that is a debatable term compared to other continents), and they often use snow-makers on the ski slopes to supplement the natural snowfall.)

Anyway, the ice rink has an under 8's morning where they allow the kids on the ice with their shoes, and they have special learn-to-skate props/toys, and piles of snow to play in.  I think that might be a fun morning for us!

For those of you who know anything about Melbourne, it's a bit of a foodie city, so I'm very much looking forward to partaking of some deliciousness.  One thing we'll definitely do is go to the Queen Victoria Market.  It'll be weird going there without the Big Fella (he's a massive fan of the deli section!!!), but I'm sure we'll cope ;-)

Because we'll be flying, and the Big Fella's not coming, I decided to buy myself a suitcase (with wheels, of course!).  Normally when I travel, I have a bag of my clothes, a bag for the Little Big Fella's clothes, my toiletries bag, sometimes a bag with shoes, a bag of toys and things for the Little Big Fella and other clothes (like jackets) spread over the top of everything in the back of the car.  Obviously, that's not going to work on a plane!

So I bought a big suitcase in the hope that I can get it all into that plus my carry-on bag.  I've made my lists (you know how much I love lists!) and I think it will work.  I'm trying so hard to pack light though, because it's pretty likely we'll end up with more to bring back than what we take.

Now to remember to pack my tickets(!!!), chargers and all the other bits and pieces, make sure all the clothes we're taking are ready to go, copy my every day files onto my tablet, make sure the house is in good order before we leave... no problem!

I'm adding this a bit later in the day, just to show you another bit of "preparation" for the trip.  See, it's going to be cold in Melbourne (well, at least in comparison to here).  So, to add a little cheer when I have to pull my nice, warm socks off, I've put a little colour on my nails.

No doubt that will help me feel warm :-D

A dream childhood

I sometimes wonder if my son, despite (or perhaps even because of) being an only child, is having a dream childhood.

If I were to ask you what a dream childhood for a boy might look like, what would you say?

Maybe riding bikes?  Maybe even motorbikes?  Check, and check!

Maybe fishing with dad?  Check!

Maybe doing all kinds of handyman things with dad?  Check!

Maybe lighting fires (not bushfires, obviously) and learning to play with them (safely)?  Check!

Hmmmm, what else goes into a dream childhood???

Dogs!  For a boy, you'd just about have to say dogs, right?  Check!

Playing in mud and dirt and sand?  Check!

Kicking the football around with dad, maybe even with mum too?  Check!

Lots of food?  Check!  A bit of junk food?  Check!

Dressing up as superheroes probably needs to go in there too, right?  Check!  Oh!  And movies!  Check!

And then there's the stories that I used to be told by my parents about the golden era of their growing up years.  I'm sure you've heard similar ones.  You know!  The story that goes something along the lines of heading out to play with your friends, only coming home to eat or when it gets dark?  Running or riding around, playing, getting into harmless mischief, knowing that any of the mums will tell all of you off if you get into not-so-harmless mischief... you've heard that story, right?

Well, the Little Big Fella will now be able to tell his kids those stories because today, at about 10am he raced into the house desperately trying to find me.  A couple of the people who live in the cul-de-sac behind us only get to have their kids during the school holidays, and the kids were calling out to the Little Big Fella to join them.

Who could say no?

So off he went!  And you know what I felt?  Guilt.  Guilt!  Do you believe it???  I felt guilty because my son wasn't under any single person's direct care.

Are you kidding me???

Thankfully I quickly realised that he was living the dream so I put away my guilt and happily fed him when he came home for lunch, before running out again to play for most of the afternoon.

And when one of his new friends climbed over the fence to play at our place for a while, I fed them jelly (it is school holidays after all), and they played until it was nearly dark and they were called inside for dinner.

At one point, late in the afternoon, myself, my next door neighbour and her backyard neighbour met for a quick chat in the corner of our yards.  And we smiled about the fact that our kids are getting to live this dream childhood.

Oh!  And if you're wondering what I did with my essentially child-free day, I cleaned the office and planned for our trip next week.  Yep!  Livin' the dream :-D

Generosity

I've known some very generous people in my life.  People who've been generous with money, yes.  But also people who have been generous with time, skills, love, affection, kind words, praise, encouragement, smiles and laughter.

I'm sure you've met them too.  They are the people who give and give and seem to get such pleasure out of the act of generosity.  They are the ones that, every time you see them, they greet you with a hug or a compliment (or both!).

And generosity seems to just be in their nature!  They seem to do it without thought or concern about how it might affect them.

I love to be around those kind of people!  They make me feel awesome, and they make me want to be better than I am.

I've done a little bragging about my Big Fella.  And I'll do it again (after all, I'm married to the man and I think he's awesome!).  He is very generous!

He's generous with his money.  Not only giving people money, but also in buying things for them (particularly at restaurants with good food and wine - he'll often try to pay the whole bill).

He's generous with his time and skills.  He'll happily give up a day to help a mate build a shed, or fix their car or do whatever handy work needs doing.

He's generous with his praise.  He tells people when he thinks they're great - without going over the top or "blowing smoke up their... ".

My parents hardly had any money when I was growing up but that didn't stop them being generous.  We almost always had people living with us, or staying for a few days or weeks.  And mum would somehow pull food out of the cupboards to feed all the people that would turn up and hang out for the afternoon/evening every Sunday.

I have a new friend on the Fit Yummy Mummy forums who is constantly encouraging others to keep at their weight loss goals, and pointing out where they're winning.

I have a friend who, despite her personal pain and problems, is constantly looking for ways to encourage and help others who have major life issues.

And here's the thing I've noticed: what goes around, comes around!  Call it what you like - karma, sowing and reaping, maybe even fate - but I see it when I look at the lives of these generous people.

They offer their time, goods, love, and encouragement.  And they get it back when they need it.

None of these people are generous because they want to get something from others.  From my observations, they give because they enjoy the ability to give.  Nevertheless, they receive back when they're in need.

And when these people are having a hard time, people seem to jump at the chance to help them!  I've watched the givers being completely overwhelmed by receiving.

And I've watched people who lack generosity.  They are stingy with their money, stingy with their time, stingy with their skills, stingy with encouragement.  In some cases they've even taken from those who have nothing left to give.

And I've seen some of these people fall on bad times.  Then the people around them point to karma or say they got what they deserved.  I've even seen people snicker behind their hands at the downfall of these ones.

It makes me want to give as much as I can, in as many different ways as I can, and find as much joy as I can in the giving.  Not to get anything in return, or even simply from the fear of being the butt of a bad joke, but because I love being around generous people and seeing how happy the act of generosity makes them.  I want me some more of that, please!