Messy playdate Tuesday.

After sickness had us cancelling last weeks playdate we finally got our chance today.  Sadly one of our trio was still sick so there were only the two of us today.

I decided not to go with the coloured spaghetti, although I will possibly try that next time, instead I decided to try paintball.  I absolutely love the way these kids take an idea, turn it completely into their own and come up with more imaginative ideas then I could ever have dreamed of.

The ball throwing was interesting for a little while, I had also added the liquid spray bottles into the mix to give the children another option.  It quickly went from throwing balls, to finger painting, then to the inevitable body painting.

 For reasons I am not aware they walked around the yard covered in green paint quacking for ages!

By this point they were covered in paint and having a great time, so to extend the activity and have some more sensory fun with the paint we got the shaving cream out and mixed it in.  This play activity all up lasted about 1.5 hours and both children had an amazing time.  It was the perfect winters day to enjoy being outside covered in paint and shaving cream.

Anyway, there is nothing that a quick bath can't fix.  We just won't mention that both children are still have a slight hue of green on their faces.

Another fabulous day spent with friends.

Hard Friday.

I don't normally post about the challenges of mothering, especially with a new baby, but sometimes it needs to be kept real here too.

Friday had all the hallmarks of being a wonderful day, we were expecting a special visitor in the afternoon and we were heading to the shops to buy a few things for the dinners I had planned.  I am not sure how it all became unravelled, I think it had so much to do with the lead up.

Every now and then like anyone things end up on top of me, there is so much washing, sorting, folding, cleaning, bottom wiping, disciplining, cooking and loving to be done in a day it just feels too big.  Friday it became a mountain.  I had been feeling like I wasn't able to give much of my attention to Hugo of late, whenever I had some moments to sit down with him a disaster would happen somewhere else in the house needing my full and constant attention, and then inevitably by the time that was done it was almost nap time for him again.  I was finally caught up on jobs, the dinner was cooking, and I had made sure that I had a few hours ready to spend with both Otto and Hugo.  Except that didn't happen, there were nappy blow outs, potty training disasters, rice explosions (thanks to Otto) and phone calls that required my full attention and immediate decisions.  This all ended with me trying to bite back the tears and resurrect the day playing with Hugo on the bathroom floor while watching Otto in the bath.

In the end it all worked out, smiles were shared and love was given out but if life has taught me anything so far, time flies, we all know the saying 'the days are long but the years are short', never is a truer word spoken.  My time with these magical boys is so short I want to grab it with both hands and never let go, but I also need to cherish all the time I spend with them, even if at that moment I feel defeated, exhausted and like giving up.

Because at the end of the day there is no better feeling than folding the washing and smiling as you remember the dirt on the knees, and the magic that happened even while you weren't watching.

Poppy comes to visit!

Friday morning deserves it's own post and I will get to that, but thankfully Friday afternoon made up for it big time!

My Dad, commonly known as Poppy around here arrived after a 6 hour drive.  The excitement from Otto was palpable.

These two don't get to see each other as much as either of us would like but when they do, my goodness the fun they have.  My dad always wanted a little boy, and while I am positive that he wouldn't give either myself or my sister back, the fact that he now has two little boys in his life thrills him no end.  

There is magic in all grandparent relationships and dad has the great ability to go from playing with trucks to imaginary tea parties with stuffed animals thanks to all his previous experiences with my sister and I.  A man's man with an excellent raised pinky while sipping tea out of a spotted tea cup is surely hard to come by.

We headed off to the Ipswich rail museum on Saturday for a morning of train fun.  Is there any almost 3 year old boy that isn't obsessed with Thomas and trains in general?  This household currently lives, breaths and reads about Thomas to the point of insanity (mostly Han and I's mental health is at risk!).

Not sure who had the most fun, Han, dad or Otto!  The little nipper section was especially popular with everyone, I couldn't believe how brilliant this museum is, so cheap ($40 for a year pass) and only 20 min from home.  I can see a lot of trains in our future!

Hugo just took it all in as usual, I kept thinking that it wouldn't be too long before I am chasing both boys around this place and nothing could make me happier.

Topped off by a lovely afternoon stroll in the crisp weather before tucking into a pork roast, life can't get much better than this.

Goo Thursday!

Today I had decided we were staying at home, adventures are great but sometimes exhaustion takes hold and the will to leave the house just isn't there, today is one of those days.  We were lucky to have some friends drop around to see us and I put together a few activities for the two boys.

I had 3 stations out but only took photos of the most popular one with my iphone.  The ultimate in lazy!

If there is one sure fire way to get Otto to have some fun it is to bring out the jelly bath, because the weather is so lovely and there was more than one child I decided to set it up outside, in a tub on a tarp.  I think the best part was putting plastic insects all through it that the boys had to dig in to find. (thanks K-mart!).

Moving it outside and onto a tarp transformed the activity so many times, it went from searching for bugs, to using measuring cups and play kitchen pots, to becoming a slip and slide.  Watching these two boys work and play together was wonderful and gave us mum's a chance to catch up.  It is crazy to think that both these boys were conceived while we lived in South Africa at the same time, what an adventure we have been through together.  But those are stories for another day, today belonged to goo and the boys!  

Sharing.

A subject so fraught with emotion for toddlers and small people would have to be sharing, and why shouldn't it be, often adults haven't mastered the art of sharing themselves!  Otto is ok with sharing some things but try and take his Thomas trains and you will feel the full wrath of an almost 3 year old with exceptional screaming ability.

At the park today we ran into a little boy, Eric who we see there often, Otto and Eric have played nicely a few times, each with their own toy cars and so on.  Today I wasn't planning stopping at the park on our way home but the day was so lovely we were drawn there, however I was unprepared.  Eric arrived soon after ourselves with a little bag full of booty provided by his Grandmother, (who doesn't speak any English), and to Otto's delight there in front of him was a huge amount of Thomas trains.

Otto asked nicely and Eric divided up the trains evenly and they proceeded to play happily sharing for the next hour with these trains.  I fed Hugo while Eric's grandmother and I watched on as these two boys were bound by their mutual love of Thomas trains and lost in their own world of play.

It made my day to see these boys play so well, no shouting, snatching or crying for a whole hour, imagine that!

Our week so far.

Another lovely week so far in our household, we have been duck feeding, pounding the footpath and spending huge amounts of time in the local parks.

One thing I always said while we lived in Jakarta was that when I got home I would take none of it for granted.  Don't get me wrong, Jakarta wasn't all bad but for these misplaced Queenslanders the inability to get outside and play is just so foreign.  We are blessed with pretty much perfect weather year round and an abundance of space to enjoy it, and enjoy it we will.

Tuesday morning we headed to story time in the local botanic gardens, I spent the majority of the time holding Hugo while Otto chased bush turkeys, but the lovely lady reading didn't seem to mind her pauses being filled with the sound of my son screaming "GO AWAY" to the ugly birds, and to his credit he did at least sit down and listen through one story.

I believe these gardens are also one of the few places where you can still actually feed the ducks in the pond.  I luckily remembered the bread as we were screaming (Hugo literally) out of the house that morning.  Feeding ducks equated to one very happy boy.

(excuse the dodgy iphone/instagram pics)

Since we don't have a huge amount of local knowledge of the suburb we are living in I have made it a mission to head to a new park each afternoon for Hugo's late afternoon sleep, it has been great to find new favourites, and new walking tracks.  It has meant that dinner is even more basic and later than usual, and we miss our housekeeper from Jakarta who would whip up amazing meals from nothing but I figure in a few years our meals can become more exciting again, until then, afternoon adventures it is.

I love the afternoon light that comes streaming through our playroom, Otto loves to try and catch the dust in the rays (another good reason to not dust)  while Hugo is entranced by the rays of light hitting different areas, it gives me a few moments after nap time to gather myself and face the afternoon, and the perfect afternoon tea would have to be a boiled egg covered in pepper and salt.

And of course we need a lovely photo of Hugo, this little boy that comes along for the ride each day, all smiles and happiness, as much as we love our adventures it is great to have time at home as well to recharge and stare into those eyes a little as well.

Now it is the downhill slide into the weekend!

Catch up.

After our messy playdate last week things pretty much went downhill, both Otto and Hugo decided to stop napping properly and as a result I spent the week with pretty cranky children!  We still managed to get out and have some fun though.

On Friday we headed to our local botanical gardens for 'The big latch on' event to raise breastfeeding awareness and have a picnic.  The event wasn't quite what I was expecting and over pretty quickly once they got the numbers but still nice to have been part of something to raise awareness.

The picnic afterwards was lovely, a friend and her two children joined us in the park and our two eldest continue to get along so well.  There is over 6 months between them but they play so nicely with one another.

After heading home for the non existent nap time we headed into the city to catch 'The little Ekka', we were pumped, it was meant to be a taste for our local "Ekka" which is the yearly Brisbane Exhibition.  There is no way I am taking an infant and toddler to that just yet so figured this would be just as good, combined with dinner out.  It needs some improvement but I imagine that will come with time, it hasn't been running for that long and needs some more participation from vendors at the Ekka, the best part was that the big kids loved it.

Saturday was blissful for me, I got to take the whole afternoon off from home!  I hit up the hairdresser, shops and even got a pedicure, 5 hours on my own to do what I wanted, you couldn't wipe the smile from my face all afternoon.  Han did a wonderful job on the home front but was very pleased to see me when I got home, with a new appreciation for what I do each day, couldn't have asked for anything better.

Sunday was a 'party in the paddock' at the Mcintyre Centre for riders with a disability, Otto had such a wonderful time, my Mum booked him in to do horse riding and while I appreciate his love of horses and riding them, I am hoping that it doesn't become a full time hobby, I don't think our bank balance would appreciate it!

So now it is Monday, both children are asleep and a new week begins.  I have more adventures lined up for this week with Otto and Hugo and can't wait to start.