5 on a Friday

Well! It's been a couple of Fridays since I last posted. Between work, Easter break, in laws staying with us, and the life stuff - its been busy! Here is a short update...

1. The rest of our mini-break last week was wonderful. Waking up after our first night and having a whole day and night ahead just for Al and I to enjoy, with zero parenting or life responsibilities, was magical. It was beautiful weather, and we enjoyed breakfast at a beachside cafe, a long walk along the beach, a bit of shopping, back to the hotel for a "antipasti platter" with cheese, salami, and olives that we made ourselves, and a glass of wine. After a nap and a late afternoon swim, we headed to Caloundra (beachside town) for what turned out to be a perfect evening. We walked a beautiful beach walk and had a wine on the deck at a local surf club, before heading back for dinner at a delicious "nice" Italian restaurant called Amici. We shared some delicious garlic cheese pizza for a starter, each had a pasta for main (I had a Gorgonzola gnocchi), and shared creme brulee for dessert. It was all SO delicious but also just eating at a restaurant without kids to wrangle was so fun. I even had a dessert wine (Muscat) with my dessert which I never do - it was also yum! We had another good sleep, and then early check out and work the next day. All in all it was $286 (special deal for 2 nights) plus the eating out costs, VERY well spent. Extra bonus was the kids had SUCH fun with their grandparents, they spent Wednesday at Australia Zoo and made their own pizzas for dinner.

   

   

2. Our Easter long weekend was a good one! Good Friday is a public holiday in Australia, so we all headed over to my parents' for lunch. The kids had such fun with ALL their grandparents to dote on them, and my parents put on a delicious lunch (with Al's mum bringing dessert - a "milk tart" - a very delicious South African dish). Saturday Al worked and his parents headed out for the morning, so I took the kids to a big park and playground. I stopped by a bakery and picked up a donut, croissant and coffee on the way. When we got there and I spread a towel and brought out the snacks, O said "Is this a picnic day?" It was so cute. The weather was perfect, sunny and mild, and we had a great morning. Then the next day was Easter Sunday, and the kids loved their backyard Easter Egg hunt (in Australia this is all chocolate, foil covered eggs, plus each of them got a chocolate bunny). We had a visit to my parents later in the day, and then Chinese for dinner. Monday was ALSO a public holiday, but I had a grant to write for work (work is VERY busy at this time of year, including writing grant applications, which does NOT fit well with the number of public holidays in April/May - sigh). So I headed to the office, Al headed to the shop, and my in laws took the kids out. Very grateful they could do this, it was their last day before heading home. Altogether it was a nice weekend, although I did struggle a bit, both because I had PMS (argh), and also because having anyone stay for 8 days in your lounge room is a lot, no matter how lovely they are.

   

   

   

3. Our car needs repairs! Oh dear. With have a 9 year old Mitsubishi Lancer, and honestly its been SO good. This is the first mechanical issue it has ever had. It started making a strange grinding noise when cold and first accelerating a few weeks ago, and we got it serviced last week. It was low on transmission fluid, but also there was coolant in the transmission fluid. I'm no mechanic but it was clear this isn't great. Of course, this isn't an issue that just any mechanic can fix, apparently it needs a "specialist" in this kind of transmission. Sigh. The mechanic we were referred to couldn't book us in until later in May, so we've borrowed my Mum's car until then (thankfully my parents have two cars). Very grateful to have a car to borrow in the meantime, and hoping that the cost to fix it will be in the hundreds, and NOT the thousands of dollars!!

4. It was SO nice to get back into routine this week, now that E is back at school after a 2 week break (and O had a 1 week break). Perhaps it reflects what a morning person I am, but I quite enjoy the morning routine, including making breakfasts, E's lunch, kids getting dressed, school drop off etc. Al and I take one kid each in the morning, which I appreciate so much, although it will be even better next year when there will be only ONE school drop off for 4 years! That will be luxurious

5. Just because there haven't been enough public holidays lately, today was ANZAC Day. For those not from Australia or New Zealand, ANZAC stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps, and Anzac Day, celebrated on April 25th, commemorates the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915. The campaign was a disaster, but the comradeship and spirit of the soldiers bound out two countries together and the date is now a time to honour all those who risk and have given their lives for our country. There are dawn services, marches in towns and cities all over our two countries, and lots of commemorative events. E's Scouts group was marching, and we joined to watch the march and then the commemorative event. E did really well marching, and was patient while waiting for the event to finish (it was VERY long), but also it was moving to listen to the reflections of veterans, some beautiful poems, and such lovely music played by the local high school band. I'm looking forward to a more "normal" week next week, without a single public holiday (although there is ANOTHER one the following week on May 5th!).

   

So that was a not so short update of what's been going on - I guess that's what happens when I don't post for 10 days! One other thing to mention is I have been walking every day - it’s what has kept me sane in a very busy week that also included medical appointments, kids activities and more. I didn't have beautiful vistas to share, but I did see some lovely flowers, so I snapped a few of those to share.

Did everyone have a good week? If you celebrate Easter, I hope it was a special one. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, I hope spring is bringing some joy. We've been enjoying the cooler autumn weather here. Still t-shirt weather but not sweltering = lovely. Happy weekend all!